kipwinger

Lots of speculation that the Flames are looking to trade one of Gaudreau or Monahan. I don't have any interest in Gaudreau but Monahan is interesting. Probably would need to trade a roster player, prospect, and pick. Thoughts?

Big "no thanks" on Murray from me. He's a skilled player but he's got a chronic back condition that will be with him the rest of his career. It was reported on last season by The Athletic's CBJ beat writer. He'll never play anything close to a full season for the rest of his NHL career.

I'd generally agree with the above. Though I'd add a couple things. Vrana basically had all of Detroit's best offensive chances last night. He hit one post himself, set up Filppula for another that also hit a post, and finally he set up the goal Filppula scored by drawing in the defender and getting the pass through.

My point is that JVR will be left unprotected, not Nolan Patrick. Count on it. But either way, Nolan Patrick sucks. He wasn't really all that good when he was drafted, and he's injured constantly now. There's nothing he could do for us that Joe Veleno or Michael Rasmussen couldn't do as well or better. Secondly, people have to get past this "if we get better we're not going to get a top pick" mentality. If we keep bottoming out every year we're going either A) waste the careers of good young players, or B) begin to lose good players to trade requests/free agency. Sucking every year just to get top prospects is a terrible idea and doesn't seem to have helped Buffalo or Edmonton either. And the reason why is because they have a culture of losing and apathy that can't be changed just by drafting an Eichel or McDavid. I'd MUCH rather draft in the 10-15 range for the next couple years and hope to land a Martin Necas instead of losing year after year in hopes of landing a Jack Hughes.

Van Riemsdyk will be left unprotected. He's on the wrong side of 30, makes a zillion dollars, and doesn't have trade protection. Of the two I'd rather have Dunn than Dumba considering Dumba is a righty and we've got Seider and Hronek on the right side and they're both better than Dumba. As I've said in other threads, I MIGHT take a look at Ryan Johansen via trade. If you could get Nashville to eat some salary AND if Johansen's struggles this year have a good explanation, we might finally have a 2C who's not f*cking horrible.

Totally agree, I see Beniers as another Larkin. He might have marginally more offense in him, but he's basically the exact same player stylistically. The centers with the highest offensive upside are Johnson, Lucius, and Sillinger. Beniers is another Larkin, and Eklund is somewhere in between (I've seen him compared to Barzal stylistically). I've been all over the place on this, but so far I'm leaning toward Lucius. While he's definitely shoot-first, and not as much of a playmaker, there are a few things that I really like as far as his development potential at center. He's really young and underdeveloped but has a big frame so he should be above average in size once he grows into himself. His skating isn't the best, but will also come along with added strength. He obviously shoots the lights out and will kill on the PP. But (most importantly) he's 60% in the faceoff dot. While I generally like playmaking centers, and have advocated for such around here for a long time, I can definitely see a scenario where Lucius stays at center because of his faceoff ability, and he and Raymond create a TON of offense together (especially on the powerplay). That would leave a Larkin-Zadina matchup/even strength scoring line as your 2nd, which I really like the thoughts of.

I do like that the Yzerman/Draper brain trust seems to be much more inclined toward offense than Holland's team was. You look at the guys we've signed/traded for/drafted and offensive skill is definitely a big part of the package. But as much as I think Blashill has done a very good job getting what he could with the hand he's been dealt, I'm just not sure he really knows how to get much out of a team offensively. At this point I'm basically all in on Gerard Gallant. We've got the makings of a fast, tenacious, skilled team and that's basically the hallmark of his systems. I'll f*cking puke if they hire Lane Lambert (Barry Trotz's assistant) and we're back to defense first hockey again.

Here's a microcosm of the Wings' woes: Our shooters in the shootout were Larkin, Gagner, Erne, Svech, and Hronek. Those are apparently the most talented offensive players we had available lol. No wonder our scoring is in the toilet. Also, it's maybe time for us to have the uncomfortable conversation that Dylan Larkin is just not all that offensively talented. He needs to be taken off the half wall on the PP, he can't make plays AT ALL. Starting today Vrana would be in that spot for me.

I definitely don't think he'll ever live up to that pick, at least not offensively. And when you consider some of the guys drafted after him it will always sting a little bit. But with that said, if he ends up scoring 15-20 goals and 40ish points while being a beast defensively (a la Martin Hanzal) he'll be a guy who can really help this team win, which is all I give a damn about.

I think his skating looks great this year. A week or so ago he jumped up into a 2 on 1 and I was super impressed. I think he needed more leg strength TBH. I suspect his skating will only improve as he gets a stronger lower body.

I think Ras is going to be a monster next year. He still hasn't had a full offseason to train, get stronger, gain muscle, etc. He's been hurt and/or playing in Europe. A full summer at Barwis Methods with Larkin and Glendening and he's going to be a beast. The Michael Rasmussen that's squatting 500-600 lbs is going to be a motherf*cker to deal with. You look at him without his pads and he's still kinda skinny for a guy his size.

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out what's going on with him this year. I'd definitely want my scouts to figure that out first. Because he's still on the right side of 30 and has a history of production. I'd be curious to know what's going on with him.

That's why I think we should take the center with the highest offensive upside this year, even if that means taking someone like Johnson or Lucius with a little bit longer developmental curve. Then go out and try to start making the team better in the short term. Being in lottery hell for any more years is going to start weighing on guys like Larkin, Bert, and Hronek. It probably already is TBH. You really don't want to start losing good players because you suck all the time (ahem...Buffalo). In another thread I floated relieving Nashville of Ryan Johansen. He's not going to be a game changer for us, but he'd give us an offensively capable center for a few years who can hold down a second line.

I read an article saying that Nashville will likely leave both Duschene and Johansen exposed and may even sweeten the pot (picks, salary retained) if Seattle will pick one of them. If Nashville were to retain enough money to get him down below Larkin's salary, would any of you trade for Ryan Johansen? Edit: Say Nashville eats 2.5 million, making him cost 5.5 for the next four years (when he'll be 33).

Agreed. I see a team that's playing good teams really tough (and beating them a lot too). The COVID thing hurt. Losing Bertuzzi hurt. But we've still hung around and been very competitive most nights. And that's with a roster with some glaring holes, even at full strength. Full credit to Blashill here too. This is still a very patchwork roster that is regularly beating the top end teams in the conference (Tampa, Carolina, and Florida) despite having a piss poor defense, abysmal powerplay, and no 2nd line center. Start addressing those issues, see continued growth from guys like Rasmussen (who's going to be a monster next year) and Zadina, and you've got a .500 team.

Because I don't think having an "elite" goalie really matters all that much. I probably wouldn't even draft a goalie in the top part of 1st round if there was some way of knowing FOR SURE that he'd be the next Price. Maybe with a late first rounder, but NEVER with a top pick. Goalies simply don't matter that much. Bernier is currently playing as well, or better, than every top goalie in the league and we got him for peanuts. Our goalie tandem, both free agents, are better than most goalie tandems in the league. There just doesn't seem to be any evidence that elite goaltending matters in this era. Maybe when Hasek was carrying s***ty Buffalo teams to the playoffs, but not now when the worst defensive team (Ottawa) and the best defensive team (Vegas) are separated by about 1.5 goals per game. What that tells me is that even non-elite goalies (and defenses) aren't THAT much worse than elite ones. Pick the center or defenseman.

If you consider Lundquist and Price two of the top goalies of the modern era (which they pretty clearly are) then they're prime evidence that you shouldn't draft a guy like that in the top five. Neither of those guys have ever won anything. It's not like the old days were a great goalie can drag a mediocre team to success. You NEED to have a good team, and then you can win with a good(ish) but not great goalie. I'd rather be the Blackhawks with Corey Crawford than the Rangers with Lundquist every single time. Edit: Look at the last 10 Cup Champions and only Vasilevsky is a really elite goalie. Maaaaybe Quick too. But nobody else really.

Aside from my normal arguments against drafting the "best player available", I don't mind drafting for "need" this year in particular because there doesn't seem to be any agreement on which player is "best". It's not obvious that Owen Power (for example) is going to be any better a defenseman than William Eklund will be a center. And I don't really think it's because the players aren't talented or top of the lineup caliber players. I think scouting has just been so much harder this year so there's a little more uncertainty.

I think you basically have to do it now, because if all goes according to plan the team should start improving every year from here on out. This might be the very last time we pick in the top five for a while. And it's going to become MUCH harder to find a top end center picking in the 6-10 range. I'd probably go center with both my first rounders this year, offensive left-shot d-man next year, and power winger the year after. Kent Johnson still intrigues me, but I'm starting to sell myself on Lucius too. A shoot-first center isn't ideal, but considering Raymond is more of a playmaker you could have a Matthews-Marner type dynamic.

While there doesn't seem to be any agreement on the top of the draft this year, there are some interesting options at center. Kent Johnson is probably the most purely skilled playmaker, but he's slight and needs a lot of physical development. William Eklund is having an insane year as a draft eligible in the SHL, but I've seen mixed reviews about whether he's got dynamic offensive upside. Chaz Lucius scores is a natural center, is competitive and good in the faceoff dot, but he's a shoot first type center (a la Seguin or Zibanejad) and may end up getting moved to the wing. Sillinger is supposed to be very good offensively, but his skating needs a lot of work. And finally Beniers is basically Larkin 2.0 with a lower ceiling and a higher floor. He's also probably the surest thing. There doesn't seem to be any consensus on which of these guys will be the best in 3-5 years though.

Yeah, this kid's legit. I think it was Craig Button who was all-in on Viro, and had him ranked as a 1st (or early 2nd) round talent. Pretty much everyone else had him in the 3rd round where we took him. He's definitely been a stud though.

Larkin's offense is abysmal for a "top line center". It's comical that anyone thinks this team is going anywhere with him as a 1C.

#12 in ice time, #1 in our hearts.

For sure. I'm definitely excited to have him as part of the package. He's by no means a throwaway player IMO. I think Washington is just going to be that cap strapped in the offseason.

I think a lot depends on what we land this year in the draft. Total wildcard. This is probably going to be the most under-scouted draft in the modern era. Everyone keeps saying there's no consensus top guy this year, and I think that's largely built on the fact that most of these guys haven't been seen regularly in a season and a half. That increases the chances that you draft a guy that's not as good as you think, or maybe that you draft a guy who is better than you thought. In addition the pandemic has a lot of these draft eligible players playing up an age or in leagues they otherwise wouldn't. It's really hard to know how good guys like Power, Beniers, Johnson really are because there's almost no chance that any of these guys would be playing NCAA hockey in their draft years in a normal season. With 5 picks in the top two rounds I think we're primed to find some really quality players.