kipwinger

Also, huge opportunity for Mantha to step up here and show that he can be an offensive leader on this team. Unfortunately he didn't take advantage tonight.

It would be huge for AA to play the season out as the top line center and have a few more games like he did tonight.

Shut Larkin down for the rest of the season. Green already is. I wanna see the Filips and AA going berzerker as much as possible.

Hronek is soooo nasty in OT.

I'm streaming the Rangers feed and their announcers just mentioned something about Brendan Smith's "offensive ability"...in a season in which he's scored 9 points. I wish to Christ I knew what that guy does to convince so many people he's doing something that he's so obviously not doing. He's like the Derren Brown of hockey.

Thanks babe. Nice to know you'll do as you're told.

Custance didn't even "rumor" we're going to offer sheet point. Custance insinuated that IF an offer sheet were going to be made, and IF Brayden Point were the player getting the offer sheet, and IF he were inclined to sign an offer sheet, then MAYBE Detroit would be involved because Steve Yzerman MIGHT be the GM by then. You paraphrased that as " the rumor I'm hearing from Custance is we're gonna offer sheet Brayden Point" and " That's what Custance has been suggesting is our big "speed up the rebuild, splash move". That's a pretty big reach considering he didn't rumor the Wings were going to do anything, nor did he "suggest" that they were going to do it as part of an effort to "speed up the rebuild". If you don't want to be called out on rumor mongering then be more accurate next time. Or better yet, just copy and paste the actual text of the article since you're clearly a subscriber. Though I suspect that making things up is part of the fun for you.

So Custance definitely didn't say the Red Wings "were going to offer sheet Brayden Point" then?

That's not what Custance said at all. This is literally the extent to which Custance addressed the Wings and offer sheets. "If Lightning GM Julien BriseBois is concerned at all about a possible offer sheet for RFA Brayden Point, he did a good job of hiding it. One of the teams you hear as most likely to consider an offer sheet is the Detroit Red Wings, a franchise that has cap space, a need for elite young players and a desire to get better quickly. Factor in the Steve Yzerman connection, if he ends up back in Detroit, and there are certainly lines to be drawn to Point. BriseBois wasn’t sweating any possible threats, echoing the talk coming from Point’s camp that he likes it in Tampa and wants to make it work there. That gives BriseBois confidence a deal is doable. “I really don’t foresee this being a problem,” BriseBois said. “I think it makes sense for both parties.”

Same here. I spend so much time imagining how things COULD be with just the tiniest bit of luck. Trouble is, if you draft a Byram you HAVE to find another center somewhere. Go hard for Duchene or hope you get lucky later in the draft. Otherwise your center depth is still trash. Bert-Larkin-Zadina Ras-Duchene-AA Svech-Veleno-Mantha Abby-Glen-Nielsen Byram-Trouba McIsaac-Hronek Cholo-Lindstrom.

Imagine, with a little luck on UFA day in a couple years you could have this defense: Byram-Trouba McIsaac-Hronek Cholo-Lindstrom

I'll admit I've been sleeping on the kid because I want a center, but he's pretty impressive. Definitely a big fan of his tool kit. Has a little of the Doughty or Keith in him in the sense that he's really good offensively but also is pretty mean and feisty.

I'd be targeting Buffalo and Colorado in a trade back. If we get a little lucky, and the lottery doesn't turn out as well for one of them as they'd like, we might be in a position to offer our higher first and one of our 2nds for both of their firsts. We would need luck on our side, but it's not that much of a stretch.

Don't look now but Bowen Byram is having one heck of a season. Kid has all the tools to be a top defender in the league. Hard not to think about a trade back scenario here. I still think I want Zegras at 3, given that I think he's going to be that damn good, but depending on how the lottery shakes out there's potential here to get a really good player and another higher end pick.

I wasn't even sure Ted Lindsay COULD die, so in a way this news sorta restores faith in my worldview.

Why does Sean Avery look like an old lesbian now?

It's not that I don't like Turcotte, it's that I like Zegras a lot. Turcotte is a two-way guy that coaches love, and I presume he gets a lot of minutes as a result. With Larkin and Veleno already in the fold I don't want another two way guy. His coach has already called Zegras a "one and half way player", insinuating he doesn't play a two-way game yet, and looks primarily for offense. That's what I want. I'd prefer the high end offensive guy, let him develop his defensive game along the way. Zegras is putting up REALLY good offensive numbers on a team with Hughes. On any other team he'd likely be the top line center and score even more than he already does. As a matter of fact, with Hughes out of the lineup during the WJC and with Turcotte injured Zegras was promoted to the top line center position and scored like a madman. At one point he had the same PPG as Hughes did until Jack returned and got the lion's share of the offense back. I'd probably rank Turcotte right after Krebs in my list above, though I view the two of them as being largely interchangeable.

Nah man, Zegras is where it's at. Dude's gonna be awesome. I think he's got the most offense out of the top guys (except Hughes). He's been buried behind Hughes and Turcotte and still is putting up really good points for the USNTDP.

In the 3-5 range I like Zegras/Dach/Cozens in that order. Then Newhook/Krebs if we draft later than 5th.

What do you mean "no"? Rasmussen is on the same trajectory. Fact. Both were drafted, played a draft plus one year in their junior leagues, and then skipped the AHL and went to the NHL. There's no debate there. You're making it seem like the Wings' were forced to do that when the truth is they could have easily left Rasmussen with Tri-City if he wasn't NHL ready. He was. And that's not really surprising given that he was a top ten pick. You're welcome to interpret Draper's comments however you want to. Twice in that interview he brought up prospects getting to the NHL quicker than they had previously, and even compared Rasmussen to Larkin. If you think that's just a coincidence then have at it pal. Draper said this in February of last year, sure sounds like a plan and not a team "stuck" with a guy because he's not eligible to play in the AHL: "Dan Cleary is out west right now watching Michael Rasmussen and Dennis Cholowski. Those guys have really made some big strides. We hope they can continue in their development, that they have a big summer. We need to expedite this process. We need to get these kids bigger and faster and stronger, quicker, to come in and start challenging for spots." " We think Dylan Larkin is going to be an outstanding Red Wing for a long time. In him, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Bertuzzi, we feel we have four real good young players. Then we have Cholowski who’s made a big step from last year to this year. Rasmussen, too. They can get here to the NHL faster these days with all the training they have at their disposal, like skating coaches. Then they need the passion, they need to love the game of hockey, and if they have all that, then they can get here faster than what we used to see. But that’s on them to come in and have an opportunity and take it. It starts with development camp, prospect tournament, training camp."

As I've stated elsewhere he's on the exact same developmental trajectory as Larkin was and Zadina is. Totally befitting a top ten pick. Also, prior to the season both Ryan Martin and Kris Draper discussed how the Wings were interested in speeding up the development process to get some of the more talented prospects into the NHL faster. They did exactly that with Rasmussen and now you and KRsmith are suggesting that they didn't really want to do it, but HAD to because he was ineligible for the AHL. Seems like confirmation bias to me.

First Bold: So Rasmussen jumped several NHL players on the depth chart and you're using this as proof that he would have started in the AHL if he could? Ok, man. Rasmussen (and Zadina) is on the exact same developmental trajectory as Larkin. Drafted, played outside the NHL in his draft plus one season, played in the NHL the year after that. Given how skilled he is, and now physically mature he is, this seems totally reasonable to me. Zadina, being more skilled than both Larkin AND Rasmussen is playing his draft plus one in the highest non-NHL league in North America, he'll be in the NHL next year. So kudos to him. But they're all on the same developmental trajectory and should be. Second Bold: Yes, I did watch the games. He did everything he should have done to prove he'd be dominant at the AHL level. Won puck battles, scored goals in front of the net, hung on to the puck and made plays (particularly below the goal line), was great on the cycle. And did it all against top AHL competition. Maybe the reason he didn't seem dominant to you was because he was recovering from injury, and not because he's not obviously too good for that league.

That's a different question. You asked "Do you think if he was AHL eligible he would be playing in the NHL regardless?". My answer is "yes" because clearly Detroit had a need for two rookies this season, and he's one of the best two. Here you go changing things again. Is the question now "what's best for Michael Rasmussen's development"? It has everything to do with it. There were two open roster spots in Detroit at the beginning of the season. Rasmussen and Ehn filled those spots. You're making it seem like Rasmussen is only in the NHL because he can't be sent to the AHL, when in reality two rookies were going to make the NHL team this year and I don't know why Rasmussen wouldn't have been one of them.

Again, Christopher Ehn made the team out of camp and played most of the season. Is your position that if Rasmussen had AHL eligibility that he'd be lower on the depth chart than both Ehn AND another GR forward? Someone has to take that spot. I don't think the evidence backs this up at this point. If there was reason to believe, based on his play this year, that Quinn Hughes was going to be a better NHL player than Rasmussen then I'd make the trade. But I don't think his play has backed that up. He might be better, he might not. And because I don't feel convinced, I wouldn't make the trade. Edit: Further, Hughes' play hasn't convinced me that he's any better than the small, offensive, power play specialist we've already got (Filip Hronek). So I DEFINITELY wouldn't trade away someone with Rasmussens's upside for him.

Don't know. I know in the three AHL games he played he looked totally dominant. Enough to earn a call up had he started the season there. So, maybe? I mean, Christopher Ehn made the team out of camp and played a bunch of games. So, why do you think Rasmussen would play in the AHL? There were open NHL roster spots and Ras is clearly better than Ehn and Frk, so yeah, he probably would have made the big club regardless of AHL eligibility.