kipwinger

I was thinking about Montgomery too. Would be really ballsy, but I'd be okay with it. He's both new blood, but does have some NHL coaching experience. I still think it will be Lambert.

He's obviously done after this year. Gotta wonder who replaces him. Lambert is the most obvious pick IMO. But some people are talking about Gronborg too. Anyone else out there I'm missing?

Berggren with two more points already tonight. The first period just ended. edit: Check out this assist.

What an odd thing to say. Why would you say that? Unless...wait...did Zadina fail to do anything of note, yet again, for the zillionth game in a row? Color me shocked.

#truth

4 points into two games for Berggren after last night. At the point he’s basically Grand Rapids entire offense.

Tonight's Lines (Subject to Change) Ras-Larkin-Raymond Bert-Suter-Vrana Hirose-Veleno-Sundqvist Erne-Pearson-Gagner Out: Zadina (sick) Smith (Injured)

Each and every game I'm reminded of how badly Yzerman bent over the Capitals on that trade. Holy cow it's bad. I can see thinking that a Mantha for Vrana trade would make sense from the Caps perspective. At the time they generally had similar career numbers, and Mantha fits their style better. But at no point did they think to themselves, "Will Mantha stop performing at that level if we take away his ice time and put him on the 2nd powerplay?". Also, "Shouldn't we just try playing Vrana more first?". The answer to both questions is yes. But good god did the addition of the picks put the final nail in that coffin. What a bad trade.

To put it into context, he also called Anthony Mantha an "elite" power forward. I'm not positive he knew what the word meant.

I compared Veleno to Derick Brassard and Jordan Staal and KR lost his mind. He was confident that Veleno was better than THAT. He was confident that Veleno was the next Philip Danault. Lol. I said he'd be a good 3C or a 2nd line winger. No good enough. He was an "elite" 2C dammit, and nobody was gonna tell KR otherwise!

Oh for sure. If I was the goalie I'd beat that defender with a garden hose. Same to the other dude that sorta half ass skated out to pick up Veleno on the wrap around.

Yeah, Veleno looks really solid. Last night's goal was a gimme, but I've still liked his game over the last 5ish games or so. When he's battling, and skating hard, he's able to win and advance pucks into the offensive zone. That's huge for a 3C type guy. I doubt he'll ever be all that offensive, but that's what wingers are for. I would LOVE to see him with Berggren and Sodorblom next season.

He genuinely reminds me a ton of Mikael Samuelson. Their career trajectories are very similar too. SO, all we need to do is find Zadina a Datsyuk or a Sedin and he'll get up above that 20 goal mark a couple times.

I see what you're saying, but I have to push back on the Berggren comparison a bit. Zadina is a "offensive player" whose offensive skill isn't as good as people though. He's the offensive Brendan Smith (a "dyanmic" offensive player according to one LGW member). Berggren has the skill. His brain, passing, and skating are miles ahead of Filip. I'd argue his shot is too (his schot selection is better). The Red Wings really had two concerns about Berggren as best I can tell from what they've said publicly. First, that he's got to get to the inside of the ice more to score more goals. Second, that he's got to use his teammates more in transition. Both are valid. He's a bit of a puckhog in transition and prefers to sit on the outside and look for seam passes to open teammates. But both of those things can be attributed to the fact that he didn't play for basically two years. He lost massive developmental time (i.e. time with coaches telling him how to make adjustments). The issue with Zadina isn't that he plays a perimeter game. The issue is that his skillset isn't as good as people thought. He's a MUCH worse shooter. He doesn't really play with speed. His playmaking is nonexistent. He's good for gaining the zone in transition but the minute he gets there he either A) throws the puck into traffic and turns it over, or B) plays catch with the goalie. He's completely lost in the offensive zone...which was supposed to be his bread and butter. Berggren has no such issues. For him to be as good as he can be he's got to make small adjustments, but the skill he was drafted on is there. When he gains the zone he's immediately finding passing options and executing. His shot continues to improve but will never be his primary way of hurting you. Right now I'd say he's got Gustav Nyquist floor and Viktor Arvidsson ceiling. Both are perimeter players, but neither were ever seriously going to bust. Zadina, on the other hand, might very well be playing in the Swiss League in a few years. Edit: Oh, I wanted to mention deception too. Zadina has ZERO deception in his game. He has tunnel vision. If he's gonna pass he watches the receiving player all the way. When he's gonna shoot he might as well yell to the goalie and let him know where the puck is going. He's so goddamn frustrating.

Or... Yzerman: I'd like to introduce the new head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, Lane Lamb... *Lights Go Out* *Lights Come Back On* Yzerman: As I was saying, I'd like to... *Chelsea Dagger begins to play" Jim Ross: BAH GAWD THAT'S JOEL QUENNEVILLE'S MUSIC! SOMEBODY STOP THE DAYYUM PRESSER! JOEL QUENNEVILLE IS HERE! JOEL QUENNEVILLE IS HERE!

Blash is gone at the end of the season. The boutique pick to replace him is Rikard Gronborg, the former Swedish National Team head coach and current head coach of the Zurich Lions of the Swiss League. The actual pick will be Lane Lambert, because Yzerman isn't a doucheb*g.

I liked both the new Wings tonight. Sundqvist especially. I'd really like to see him take over the 4th line center role permanently (after he gets to know the systems) and move Rasmussen to the wing on the 3rd. Ras looked very solid on the wing in his few games there this season. Walman moves well but otherwise I didn't notice him much tonight. I'll give him a little more runway considering he's supposed to be an offensive d-man and I'd imagine he was playing pretty conservatively in his first game for the Wings. Edit: Also, this happened.

That's a really tricky situation to navigate. Say he's playing really good, and the team scratches him a few games, keeps him and RFA, and costs him a bunch of money. No exactly the way to endear a guy to his new organization. Especially if he appreciated the opportunity and was inclined to stay before you did so. Conversely, if he stinks and completely flops maybe you want to give him the full 20 so he becomes a UFA and you don't have to worry about dealing with a qualifying offer or having him count on your roster. I'm not sure how I'd handle him if I were Stevie Y.

I will lose my s***. We've been looking for a legitimate 2C since signing Stephen Weiss. NINE YEARS. It genuinely reminds me watching Rafalski, Lidstrom, and Stuart leave over the course of a year and then watching Holland replace them with nobody. People are always like "pretty sure So-and-So General Manager knows more than you do", and then you see these glaring mistakes and wonder how true that actually is. I'll allow for the fact that we drafted Ras and Veleno each in the first round and maybe the HOPE was that one of them would be a 2C, but there were some pretty strong signs (even on draft day) that wasn't gonna happen. But to have shot after shot in the top ten of the draft and not walk away with a top end center is a problem at some point. HAVE to take one this year.

Yeah, I think he plays a lot like Claude Giroux...who plays a lot like Datsyuk. So I see the comparison. Also, all three are really feisty for smaller guys. Rossi doesn't get pushed around on the ice at all. He was my guy in his draft year, and while it's hard to be mad at the Lucas Raymond pick, I wouldn't be heartbroken if we'd ended with Marco. The fact that him and Zegras (another guy I wanted in his draft year) both went 9th overall gives me a lot of hope that we'll nab a difference making center in that general area this year.

The guy's insane. He's 20, and AHL rookie, didn't play for a full year, and nearly died...and now he's the best center in the AHL. He's a freak.

Nazar is the 2C for the USNDTP this year. I've seen some folks say they think he might be a winger in the NHL because he's smallish and they always say that about any guy who isn't 6'3/200lbs/freakishly skilled. They said the same things about Rossi, Zegras, Turcotte, Kent Johnson, etc. I think Nazar will play center because of his skillset. He's a great playmaker, highly competitive, and defensively responsible. Lekkerimaki is the opposite. He WAS a center at lower levels but probably won't be at higher levels because he's not competitive/physical, doesn't play defense well, and his best attribute his is shot (very Vrana-like). Kasper is a true center. The question with him is his upside. A lot of folks don't seem to see the high end skill to be a true top center. I agree with them, in part. Most of his production in the SHL has been of the rebound/deflection/crash the net variety. But he's big, athletic, fast, and defensively responsbile. So I think his floor is that of a Bo Horvat or Ryan Kesler type player. But, I've seen enough flashes of skill to make me wonder if he's not playing conservatively because A) his coaches told him to, and B) that's how you grab minutes on a league-best SHL team when you're 17. Think Seider in the German League here. If that's the case then you're looking at more of a Larkin/O'Reilly type guy at his ceiling. I also like Kasper a lot because of the three he's probably closest to NHL ready. The other two probably need a few years to develop their bodies.

I'm really at a loss for who we'll pick this year. I liked Nazar and Kasper when I thought we'd be picking in the 12-15 range. I might like Nazar higher than that still. He's now outscoring Cooley (the consensus #2 pick) and has probably worked his way into the top ten. I think Kasper continues to climb draft boards too. He's having a great 17 yo year in the SHL and gets nothing for minutes on one of the SHL's best teams. Worth noting that Yzerman seems to really like the SHL and USNTDP/College guys with his higher end picks. Aside from Cossa he hasn't taken anyone in the CHL with his 1st and 2nd rounders and both Nazar and Kasper would continue that. I'd be pretty pissed if we took another defenseman considering we're pretty stacked there. And I don't really want any wingers (aside from maybe Slafkovsky) in that range. So I guess I'd target Nazar with my first pick, using my extra 2nd to move up if necessary. If he's off the board when we pick, along with Slafkovsky, then trade back and take Kasper and try to get some extra draft capital for doing so. My wildcard pick is Lekkerimaki, but only on the condition that we somehow nab a young (and legit) 2C before the draft. He's scoring VERY well in limited minutes in the SHL and reminds me a lot of Vrana. He's going to be good, just not what we really need right now. Finally, I've mentioned these guys before but look at the following guys for depth picks in rounds 2 and 3: Ostlund (2nd) Bystedt (2nd) Kaskimaki (3rd) Sjodin (4th)

Aaaaaand, looks like we're done. Edit: NOT SO FAST!

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but you're gotta imagine there's at least one more Red Wings trade in there. Normally by this time the GM has scheduled a presser and/or told beat writers he's done dealing...if in fact he's done dealing. I think there's more out there for Stevie Y. Edit: And just like that...