kipwinger

Not necessarily. Outside of Hronek, whom I'm not ruling out for the top pair, Bowen Byram is a legit 1D prospect. I'm completely fine taking him with our top pick this year and looking for more help up front in FA. Byram, Hronek, Cholo, McIsaac, Lindstrom is a good start on a defense. A few other thoughts on our defense. Hronek just put up a 40 point pace as a rookie. He'll break 50 next year if all goes well. And he's not a bad defensive player either. Playing all those top pair minutes down the stretch were really good for his development, and for Blashill to gain confidence that Hronek can be trusted. I expect BIG things from him in the next couple years. Also, Alec Regula is probably going to be really good for Detroit in a couple years. He's flown under the radar because McIsaac has been so good, and Regula's numbers aren't great. But when you dig a little deeper you see that he was behind Adam Boqvist and Evan Bouchard pretty much all season long in the depth chart at London so he didn't get all those sweet PP minutes to pad his stats. Almost all his offense came at even strength (which is actually a good thing for a depth defenseman). Prior to Bouchard returning from his NHL stint Regula WAS getting PP time and produced. The kid is a thoroughbred, skates like the wind, and his offense is underrated. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can do in the AHL because I think we might have a Mattias Ekholm type guy on our hands, and I'm a huge fan of his.

You're not the only one. And I don't even think we need to "strike gold". We need our top pick this year to turn into a first line/first pair talent, and we need Veleno, Zadina, Ras, Berggren, McIsaac, Cholo, and Lindstrom to become various degrees of good. Add a couple free agents in a year or two and we're fine.

I don't think it's a bad theory or anything, I just think it's short sighted. It's like the electoral college, people are only against it when their party loses. If Detroit wins the lottery tomorrow nobody will be talking about this anymore. That's all. As far as Edmonton, who cares? They drafted in the top five a billion times in a row and they're still terrible. Buffalo too. So clearly tanking year after year isn't the advantage some people think it is.

Only on LGW could people ***** about Helm, Abby, Glendening, and Nielsen and openly pine for Calle Jarnkrok. Lol. That dude sucks. He's never scored more than 16 goals in the NHL on a playoff caliber team. In retrospect losing Patrick Eaves in the same trade was a MUCH bigger loss, yet somehow people think Jarnkrok is some devastating f*ck up by Holland. You're all a bunch of petulant children.

I know, that's the exact point I'm making. The trouble with the lottery, of course, is that it's only run one and not "over a large enough sample size" so that randomness becomes absolutely paramount in the process. There is not randomness in an algorithm. We're on the same page here bro. I think people only like the idea because it would have worked out for the Red Wings this year. If we were in Ottawa's position nobody would be clamoring for the "Gold Plan".

Not true. They'll win 9.5% of the number of time if you run them reaches a large enough sample. For instance, I just ran Tankathon 3 times and the Wings won the 1st pick 1 time and then I stopped (33.3%). I suspect that if I did it about 2,000 more times the Wings would win about 9.5% of the time.

I'd add, it wasn't just growth from the big four (although that was huge), but also that the veterans could play fewer and fewer minutes and that we'd be better for it. For years the idea was that a bad veteran is still better than an inexperienced young kid. I think this season illustrated that the quality of our farm system has improved enough to make that no longer true. Sure Abby or Helm may be a better option in the top 9 than Jurco or Frk. But they're probably not a better option than Zadina, Ras, or Veleno going forward. That's a big change for this organization. My expectation is that the Helms, Abbys, Nielsens, and Glendenings will continue to see their roles diminished, and the Ehns and De La Roses will disappear.

I'm basically on team Byram OR Zegras if we don't pick in the top two. Largely for the same reasons you are. I'm also totally fine with Kronwall and Vanek returning on one year deals. With or without the top picks I'm very optimistic about the team's future though. Obviously the play of the big four (Larkin, Mantha, Bert, AA) is promising, but so too is the fact that guys who are potentially even more talented are still on the way (Zadina, Ras, Veleno, Berggren). I'm also THRILLED by Hronek. Dude just put up a 40 points pace as a rookie. That could very easily translate to 50-60 pts in a year or two, and he's no slouch defensively. Cholo is also very promising and could be a 40-50 pt. guy. That's two higher end offensive defensemen in your top four, and a lot of promise in McIsaac and Lindstrom too. Add 4 of the top 60 picks this year, and UFAs in the next two years, and I think we're ready and able to make a big push.

Well this certainly doesn't hurt their chances of Landing Panarin considering he's been coached by Quenneville before. I think they've got the talent for sure to be Cup competitive in a year or two. Really good farm system too. Smart move by Quenneville. Where else was he going to coach that much young talent? Please, please, please let him win a Cup with Florida before Babs wins one with Toronto.

Interesting. Best coach in the world joins team full of budding stars. What could go wrong?

Haha, love getting your goat pal. I'll enjoy reading your 5000 word replay.

I'm not sure if he's "best" or not. Not even sure what that means considering teams need different things and so the best fit for one may not be the best for another. Except in rare circumstances it's usually worth considering whether the "best" prospect will be the "best" player. Not a single person said Leon Draisaitl was in the same category as Aaron Ekblad in 2014, but would you trade one for the other now? Same with Haiskenen, Patrick, and Hischier in 2017. If you're unwilling to even consider the possibility that the player you think is "best" really isn't, then you might actually miss out on the real "best" player. Jack Hughes has been annointed the #1 draft pick for about 3 years now. Not many people have been honest enough in their evaluations to even ask, "what if he's not". All I'm saying is that these days it doesn't seem so cut and dry.

Don't look now Hughes fanboys, but Pronman penned an article for the Athletic (paywall) today on Jack Hughes. Some of the highlights: Hughes is elite But he's not McDavid, McKinnon, or even Kane level elite. He isn't likely a top 10 player in the league. And would you look at that, he also penned an article on Kakko. The highlghts: Kakko dominated at a higher level than Hughes, against men in Liiga. Some NHL scouts feel Kakko's skill set translates better to the NHL game. Where have I heard these arguments before, @Dabura?

Washington has been by long time 2nd team, but given that they won last year I'll go with the Blue Jackets as well. And the Preds in the West. I'd be happy with either team winning it all.

Ahahahaahahahahaha. Case in point.

I think I"ll smile for weeks if Yzerman goes to NY. The meltdowns around here would be prime viewing.

Can't wait to hear the Hall of Fame introduction. Glen Sather should be lauded by the NHLPA for all the hard work he put in inflating player salaries. Who knows where contracts would be if not for Sather's annual massive overpayment for marginal talent.

"Weapons grade offense" was your quote I think lol. Something, something, multitalent superstar. Ubermensch. Seems like you might have got caught up on the HYPE my man. Better hope he's the next Kane, and better hope your "chess prodigy" outscores Kakko next year or else I'm going to talk MAD s***.

Do you feel the bottom falling out from underneath you? More and more commentators beginning to come around to things I've been saying all season bro. You've got a lot riding on this one.

Top ten in order of who I want. Hughes Kakko Zegras Byram Cozens Dach Newhook Krebs Turcotte Podkolzin

The contract they just gave Blashill and the comments they made at the presser certainly suggest that the Wings are not looking to be a basement team for the next two years. My guess is this year is the lowest they'd like to fall in the standings. Seems like management will be looking for considerable improvement next year and looking to push for the playoffs the year after that. Which makes me think that unless Hughes or Kakko fall into their laps, they'll take Byram with their first pick and hope that the forward group we have, plus one or two UFAs, can be dangerous going forward.

I'm not sure why what I'm saying is all that controversial. We saw it happen with Tkachuk and Zadina last year. By just about any objective measure Zadina is a more skilled hockey player thank Tkachuk. Certainly the preponderance of pre-draft rankings, scouting reports, etc. thought so. But Tkachuk is producing in the NHL while Zadina is developing in the AHL. Why? Because his game translated more easily to the NHL maybe? We saw it happen with Mantha, were everything came so easily to him in Juniors that he didn't learn how to play the right way. He basically racked up points doing stuff that would never work in the NHL. It's not unheard of. It's pretty obvious both Kakko and Hughes are going to be stars in the league. I'm suggesting that if there's a reason to not take Hughes it's probably that the other future star (the ones carving up a very tough men's league) is probably closer to playing an NHL style game than the 160 lb. kid on the all-star team playing against USHL competition and college kids.

I think he's going to be a ******* monster in like two years. He's still a skinny, gangly, teenager. Give him one or two years of legit NHL caliber offseason training and he's going to be a f*cking savage. He already protects the puck really well, skates fine, net front skills are as advertised and his passing is underrated. Add to that the fact that he'll be one of the most physically imposing guys in the league to play against and you've got a pretty good recipe for success. It's certainly possible the kid is the next Martin Hanzel. But the more I watched him this season, and the more I think about how much more he's going to physically develop, the more I think we've got a potentially game changing player on our hands.

Right, but I said his style is not conducive. Not his skill set. We clearly both agree that his skill set is elite. But the NHL is a WAY more structured game. Coaches demand that you play the system and don't free wheel. Even the best centers don't hang on to the puck and weave and bob around looking for open ice. You have to play give and go hockey in the NHL. You have to be in the right spots and play your systems without the puck. Blashill talked about it all the time with Larkin, "stopping on pucks", meaning gaining the zone, dishing, and getting open again rather than hanging on to the puck and kinda dancing around waiting to make a play. Knowing when to dumb the puck in rather than try to skate around on the perimeter looking for open ice. Hughes, more than Kakko, seems to generate a ton of his offense by hanging on to the puck and literally skating circles around the defense. He will not be able to do that in the NHL and so he'll need to change. He won't be able to do it because if the defensemen don't kill him his coach certainly will. That was my point. I still think that Hughes will go first, but if there's an argument to be made for Kakko it's that one.

He's a righty, he's got a good frame, he skates like the wind, and he's 23. All good reasons to keep him around for a while. Have to figure that Cholo, Hronek, Lindstrom, McIsaac have the best shot as future top 4 guys, but more and more it seems like teams are looking for good pairs that can be used situationally rather than just sticking their 4 best guys on the top two pairs. If he can stay cost controlled, finds a way to contribute on the PK, and pairs well with one of the more offensive lefties I think he's got a real good chance of sticking around and playing some decent minutes.