kipwinger

Look, I'm glad we lost so I hate that I'm in a position to defend anyone here, but we got outshot 41-27 after going up 4-1. This is hardly Howard's fault. If not for the posts, and Howard's second period play, we probably lose this game 7-4 in regulation. Like most of our problems, this is largely on the league's worst defensive unit.

Not really. Any faceoff that's important enough to match up righty/lefty is important enough to send out your best FO guy, regardless of which hand he is. In 2008 we were the best FO team in the league with Dats, Z, Filppula, and Draper. All lefties. I don't really think in the long run it matters much. I realize that in some really particular instances you might want to win a FO to a particular spot, but over the course of the season I don't think that matters all that much.

Your entire position is based on the premise that we would only get a 5th rounder for him, i'm not sure where this comes from. Given the prices that other similar talents have fetched I'd say he'd return more (despite the fact that a 5th might have been the initial ask). I mean, if he's as valuable as you say why wouldn't he get a bigger return? Secondly, our penalty kill is ranked 22nd in the league, and we are 23rd in faceoffs. So a) it's not like these are team strengths that we need to maintain in order to have a competitive advantage, and b) you're probably overestimating how good he really is at these things because he happens to be marginally better than a bad cast. For instance, his 58% FO is pretty high but it's really only because he doesn't take that many faceoffs. Riley Sheahan has a 54% record but has taken about 320 more faceoffs this season than Glendening. Compare these to truly exceptional FO men and you'll see why it's overblown. Ryan O'Reilly has won 60% of 1949 faceoffs. That's 1306 more faceoffs than Glendening has even taken. So while Glendening is one of the better FO guys on our s***ty team, he's not actually all that good in absolute terms. Certainly not good enough to keep around on a rebuilding team when picks (especially this year and next) are so valuable for a quicker rebuild.

Because while he's not a problem, he's not a solution either. And because Helm can do the same job and is harder to trade. And because even the best 4th liners are replaceable. And because they're replaceable it's rare that anyone offers anything for one so you should jump at it if you have an extra one you don't need. And because if we want to accelerate the rebuild (as Holland and Draper and Martin have said) then we need picks sooner rather than later. I don't dislike Glendening, but he's not so good that we can't live without him. Right now we need the picks. I'd SERIOUSLY entertain any offer for guys over 25-26 who can get us picks now and who will likely be too old to be helpful in 3 to 5 years when we are good again.

Agreed, but that belies the point that both Ericsson and Dekeyser play for the same moron coach, so the coaching factor is a wash. Nevertheless, I agree with you overall premise. Dekeyser is absolutely a 2nd pair defenseman on the 5th worst team in the league. He's Marc Staal or Dan Girardi...but without the track record of offensive success lol. In short...he's pretty mediocre. Maybe worse than that.

I hope Dekeyser gets traded, or falls in a well, or something between now and then. I genuinely cannot believe that teams were interested in him, Helm, and Glendening at the trade deadline and none of them got traded. FML

I think he mean an ineffective ***** who is currently putting up the same points per game as Jonathan Ericsson.

I presume you mean aside from Weber, but your point is taken. They weren't really talking trash, just pointing out the obvious (our defense is awful and slow and unskilled) in its current iteration. They referred to our defense as "old school", which is true, but probably the most damning indictment of the current state of the Wings. In an era where everyone else is doing what we used to do (drafting on skill and speed instead of size), we're trying to be the 1995 New Jersey Devils. Ugh.

I've never seen the kid play but his offensive number for the NCAA are pretty good and he was doing it early in his college career too, so it's not like he's just benefiting from being an upper classman. One scouting report said his speed was good but not great, which is a concern, but I'll temper that criticism with the knowledge that pretty much every player who isn't blazing fast is criticized for their speed so it's hard to tell if it's a legitimate criticism.

I don't think he'll even be a bottom pairing guy. He's smaller and slower than any of Ouellet, Jensen, or Sproul were, and isn't noticeably better offensively. I see no reason to believe he'd fare any better than any of them have. Small guys can make it in today's NHL (Ryan Ellis), but you have to be able to skate. This kid is going to get dominated if he plays consistently for us. But it's just like the Red Wings to hold back a better player because Hicketts "earned" it or whatever. I was watching the Montreal feed of the game last night and their announcers were going on and on about how awful our defense was. Particularly how slow and susceptible to the forecheck we are. In response we called up a guy who's both slow and small. Bang up job with personnel management this team is doing.

I'd rather see Hronek. Hicketts has no future in Detroit. Maybe if he could skate, but alas. Small and slow really doesn't have much use in the NHL, despite how good his story is.

Sutter, Todd Richards, Tippett. None of the rest of those hacks even get an interview if I'm the GM.

I like Wahlstrom, Hughes, Kupari, or Dobson with our pick, and I like Bernard Docker, Groulx, or Kotkaniemi with Las Vegas' pick. I also really like McBain with Ottawa's second rounder. Given how bunched together guys are I have a feeling some really good players are going to fall to us. Boom or bust picks for me are McLeod and Wilde.

I'm intrigued by Ryan Merkley as a later round steal. Seems to have all the same pros and cons as guys like Boquist and Hughes, but will go later because of "attitude issues" which too often in Canadian hockey is what a kid get labeled if he isn't a robot.

This is kind of a silly debate. Two defenseman draftedhigher than Cholowski are also still playing in Juniors and are having worse seasons. There's nothing really unusual about his being in juniors this year, not in his having a good but not spectacular season. It's pretty typical. All it really tells you about Cholowski is that he's probably not better, right now, than Charlie McAvoy is. He's not behind many of his peers at all.

In that scenario I'd shop the pick to someone who REALLY wanted Svech, and take whatever futures they're willing to give. If we don't draft #1 then I'd be fine with drafting somewhere 5-10. Especially if that meant we'd get another 1st round pick. Like I said elsewhere, I'd rather draft the best available defenseman at 5-10, and then a center at 15-25, than anything other than Dahlin. Drafting someone like Dobson, Bouchard (who Buppy turned me on to) or Hughes early in the first, and Veleno or McBain later, plus getting additional picks for trading back from 2nd would be much better than taking a winger with the 2nd pick. As deep as this draft is, I want as many picks in the top two rounds as possible and at least two in the first. If I were the GM I'd trade Green AND one of Nyquist/Tatar and draft in the first three times. Can you imagine how far along it would move our rebuild with three first rounders? Take Larkin/Mantha/AA, plus Rasmussen, Cholowski, and Sarijaarvi/Hronek/Sambrook, plus three first rounders this year and your rebuild is very nearly done.

Because A) Wingers are less important to team success than centers and defensemen, B) This year's draft is heavy on offensive defensemen, C) Winger is a position of strength for us, D) There's the potential to get good centers later in the first round given that the top of the draft is full of defensemen. We need another good center, and a really good defenseman going forward. We'll likely have two picks in the first round. We can get two things that we need if only we don't use one of those picks on a winger.

I don't.

I think Veleno could be a steal. He's got the skill, but because he's never lived up to the "exceptional status" tag people are down on him. I'm always a big fan of drafting on guys with dynamic skill sets and he's got one. I literally cringe when I watch the World Juniors and see Casey Mittelstadt eating up his peers while remembering how he got s*** on for being too weak at the combine and not playing good enough competition. I know less about Wilde and McIsaac, but I really like Dobson too. And like I said above, McBain as a mid-rounder would be a nice choice as well. Given the talent that will be available mid-round, I think it would go along way toward our rebuild if we could somehow get multiple first round picks. I hope Green will land us one, but if not I would certainly dangle one of Nyquist/Tatar if that would get us a 1st.

Outside of the top two picks, which are boring to talk about, I'd like to see us take a high offensive defenseman, and a lower ranked center (with the pick we'll hopefully get from Mike Green). I'm thinking Boqvist, Hughes, or Dobson on defense, and Veleno or McBain at center. I'd be pumped.

I'm actually not as worried about our defensive prospects as I was a year ago. Saarijarvi and Hronek are playing well in the AHL. Cholowski and Sambrook are playing well in juniors. Hicketts is still a "maybe" to me, despite the feel good story. If we hit high in the lottery this year and take another standout defender I'll feel really good about our puck moving defensemen going forward.

Just curious what folks around here think is the PRIMARY reason for the teams' apparent improvement, if any.

It's honestly hard to pick one thing, which is why I asked the question. This far, probably goaltending. Much is also being made right now of some systems changes that has us playing faster and attacking more. The team seems to like it. So that might be a big factor but I'm not smart enough with systems analysis to say if it's b.s. or not.

While I don't think it's even close to a primary reason, I'm also really glad that's Frk is on the team. Had Nosek not been claimed by Vegas, and Bertuzzi not hurt, there's no way Frk gets a shot and proves he can play NHL. I really think he helps make our PP a little more effective, and his 5 on 5 play has been a pleasant surprise.

I'd trade Nyquist+ for Matt Dumba, then keep two of Cholowski, Hronek, Saarijarvi, or Hicketts. Trade the other two. Sign veteran partners to play alongside them, provided the partners have excellent possession numbers (whomever the 2020 version of Jason Demers or Trevor Daley is).