kipwinger

The thing is, as much as I want to see them tank (and I do), I'm not really setting them up for failure too badly. If all the young forwards take the next step (like they need to for us to be successful anyway) then we'll be a better team than last year. If they don't, oh well, we get a high draft pick. Either way, I pump Frk up with powerplay time and hope someone will give us a 3rd for him. I trade Nyquist at the deadline. Zetterberg is gone. Vanek is gone after the season is over. Kronwall and Jensen too. Plenty of spots for the kids the following season and they'll be chomping at the bit after a long year in the AHL.

In the off season news department: Jared McIsaac is currently playing alongside Evan Bouchard on Canada's top defensive pairing in the World Junior Summer Showcase. Berggren on Sweden's 3rd line.

Fun question I posed on hockey Twitter... If AA only ever turns out to be as good as Michael Grabner, meaning he's a 3rd line penalty killer who chips in 20-25 goals for between 3-4 million does that make him MORE or LESS valuable to the Wings going forward?

What I'd love to see barring any injuries (other than Zetterberg). Bert-Larkin-Mantha Nyquist-Neilsen-Ras Vanek-Helm-AA Frk-Glendening-Abby Ericsson-Daly Dekeyser-Green Kronwall-Jensen Hicketts

I'm almost certain that you and I would define "top pair" defenseman differently, and I'm even more convinced that we'd disagree on what makes someone "a number one" defenseman (I actually don't even think that's all too relevant anymore). I'm far more interested in how they are used, and more importantly, if they (meaning the defense as a whole) can score a bunch. In this case I think they can and will. I think Hronek, Saarijarvi, Cholo, and maybe Lindstrom will put up good point totals (35 to 50 pts) in the NHL, if only because two of the three will get powerplay time down the road. I think McIsaac has that potential as well but want to see what he does this year before making any judgements about his skill set. Either way he'll make a good "defensive defenseman" potentially. I feel basically the same way about Sulak. Plus we will almost certainly pull from outside the organization at some point as well. In short, I don't care if we have a "true number one guy" because I think that notion overblown. I'm far more concerned with modernizing our defense and I think we've got a lot of guys that can play modern defense effectively.

Looking forward to seeing Saarijarvi carve up the AHL this season now that he'll finally get some playing time with Russo gone and (likely) Hronek with the big team. I'm probably one of the few who thinks our defensive prospects are better than advertised.

We could pretty easily have had a couple more on this list. Rasmussen and Cholowski should both be in the discussion. Cholowski especially looked right at home in the WHL with Foote, Valiimaki, and Clague.

I don't think he's better than Mike Green and is only as good as Daly. its possible that either of Hronek or Cholowski may be as good at some point in the near future as well. But you're avoiding the questions I'm asking. Would you give him the 7 million per year he's asking for? Also, put together a realistic trade proposal for him?

I do disagree with that. Let me ask you this, since he's a "top pairing defenseman who can log huge minutes" would you lock him up long term at 7 million like he's asking for? Seems like a good deal for the player you're describing right?

Well, AA plus what? And I don't think a guy that's hurt all the time and has never topped 33 points can be classified a "top pair defenseman". He's the 3rd best right handed defenseman on his team.

Neither AA nor Mantha are as good as their skill level would indicate they could be. And they're not getting paid top dollar so I don't care. Both are still valuble players though .

I swear to God some of the player valuations around here are insane. I wish we were all NHL general managers. I'd fleece you fools daily. I'd start by trading Jacob Trouba to KRS for whatever haul he would gladly part with, and then laugh all the way to the bank as Trouba's already modest offense dried up completely in Detroit. I'd trade Faulk to Jonas for Mantha and Detroit's 1st (likely to be a lottery pick no less). I'm not sure what I'd trade for Nyquist and AA, but given that half of LGW are willing to part with them for peanuts I suspect I'd win that one too.

Depends. Michael Grabber is a third liner who's s***ty defensively but gives you 20-30 goals a year for like 3-4 million per year. Almost all of which come off the breakaway or by blowing the zone. If AA only ever turned out to be that he'd be worth his current contract and all future contracts in the same ballparkk and every Wings fan should be thrilled by the prospect.

I suddenly feel really good about our future forward depth. Holy s*** this looks pretty. Zadina-Larkin-Mantha AA-Ras-Bert Svech-Veleno-Berrgren Smith-Turgeon-???

So considering we just drafted a solid top six scoring line with our first three picks im assuming the writing is on the wall for Andreas Athanasiou.

I still like Kupari at center too.

Smith or Miller

Smith, Addison, Merkley, Miller, Wilde, all still available on defense.

I like this: Mantha-Z-Abby Bert-Larkin-Svech Frk-Neilsen-Vanek Helm-AA-Ras Glendening Also, I traded Nyq+30th overall+2019 3rd for Edm's 2018 1st. With that I take Wahlstrom at 6 and whatever top end defenseman is left at 10. Probably Dobson.

For sure but every American has the right to bear arms, and who are you to say who should and should not use their constitutionally granted rights to hold a chainsaw?

They've decided they're not going to sign him? I just had heard they needed to before training camp. Edit: Looks like you're right. Hmmm. Oh well, must be he stalled. I really hadn't watched him or anything.

I agree with the "could maybe" part. Assuming most of the guys we drafted late last year (many of whom were gigantic), we're still looking at Cholowski who's up to 6'2 and over 200 lbs, Sambrook (6'2, 200), Sulak (6'2, 200), Lindstrom (6'2, 200), some of these are projections of course. Hronek, Hicketts, and Saarijarvi are smaller for sure though. While that first set of guys aren't huge, they're all above average by NHL standards. I'm definitely not opposed to taking a bigger defenseman, espacially with our late 1st or early 2nd rounders, I don't know that we're so small on the back end that size needs to be a priority with our early 1st. I'd still much rather we take someone with elite level offensive upside.

I mean, the guys most likely to be gone from last year are Booth, Ouellet, and Green, followed by Z and Kronwall in the coming years. All of those guys are average or below average size for the NHL. I think we'll get noticeably bigger despite anything that happens at this year's draft.

The size and weight thing should change pretty quickly though given how big our prospects are. Remove any three smaller forward and replace them with Rasmussen, Svech, and Smith and suddenly we've got one of the bigger forward groups I'm sure.

It's odd to me to see some many references to needing size. While that may have been true at one point, it really isn't now. We're not noticeably smaller than most other teams, and we've drafted for size since Mantha. We're actually pretty big going forward. If anything, I'd say we need more skill.