kipwinger

9. Dvorsky 17. Yager/Honzek/Barlow 41. Anton Wahlberg 42. Oscar Fisker Molgaard 43. Beau Akey

He's definitely a specialist, and probably not someone you want playing a ton of even strength minutes. But the Wings can't score, and Chiasson does that fairly well. Not a bad option to have coming out of the press box in my opinion.

He would genuinely help our powerplay a lot.

So what does everyone think about bringing back Chiasson as the 13th forward? Guy can still score goals and keep up. Thoughts?

Mazur was a full year older than James before he played in the NCAA because he was an overage draft pick. When Mazur was a 1st year draft eligible player he was passed over because his USHL production was terrible. Much worse than James at the same age. Obviously Mazur developed quite rapidly thereafter, but at the same age James was a MUCH better player. That's why this year is going to be a big one for Dylan James. He'll be going into this season the same age that Mazur was when he started at Denver, and ideally you'd like to see similar levels of production.

Not really sure it's an "either/or" type of thing. Teams need top of the lineup studs. They also need bottom six role players. A 12/15 goal, penalty killing, winger with some jam to his game will be an asset. Not to mention the fact that I'm excited about all kinds of "project" players in Detroit's pipeline. Two of which you mentioned. Both Cossa and Wallinder were considered "projects" on draft day. So were Buchelnikov and Lombardi. Sodorblom still is. No team fills out their roster with guys entirely drafted in the 1st round. None. So if that's the only thing that gets you excited you're probably in for some disappointment.

I'm expecting a big season out of Dylan James this coming season. He started and finished quite well in the NCAA this season, but during the middle of the year he sagged. In part this can be explained by A) his status as a freshman, B) he's on a very deep and veteran ND team, and C) he dealt with some injuries. It was hard for him to get the kind of ice time he needed to keep up his production. This is a prospect I really like long term as a middle six two-way guy in the mold of a Blake Coleman.

Depends on if we make a move for center in the offseason or not. Kasper has a long way to go winning faceoffs. During his one game he did not perform well on the dot and Copp (who played on his wing that game) ended up taking a bunch for Marco. If we run with Larkin-Copp-Kasper down the middle that only leaves Ras as a winger who can win faceoffs and ideally you wouldn't have him on your third line. However, if we make a move for a 2C we can flex both Ras and Copp to the wing and one of them could ride shotgun with Marco.

Yep, they were beaten before they stepped on the ice last night.

I was a big Jack Hughes detractor during his draft year so I'll answer for this one. Nobody said Hughes wasn't good. People (myself included) said he would struggle to acclimatize to the NHL because of how he played in junior hockey. He was very slight and relied on his elite skating to hang on to pucks for WAY longer than you can in the NHL. That's not gonna fly in the big leagues where your skating advantage isn't as great and everyone is bigger and stronger. Not surprisingly that's exactly what happened. I was also critical of the narrative around him. That he was a "generational" talent who was on another level than most other players. I still stand by that. He's an outstanding offensive player but A) he's sheltered at even strength (Hischier does the heavy lifting), and B) the playoffs exposed just how far he's got to go to beat top centers in the league. Right now he's a really really good scorer but he's absolutely NOT on some other level. I have the same criticisms of guys like Johnny Gaudreau or Quinn Hughes. Sure he scorers a ton, but when games get tight in the playoffs you'd rather have Mark Stone or Miro Heiskanen than either of those two (right now).

Totally clean. Textbook. Anybody complaining about that hit is a homer.

Agreed, I have no idea how to handicap this one. They're both playing so good. I guess I'd take Florida, by a hair. They just seem to get better and better. Last night's game was absolutely dominant. And I've got more faith in Bob than I do in Vegas' goaltending. But I think it's a really close, hard fought series. Florida in 6. BUT every game is going to be a nail biter.

Hell yeah!!! Rats everywhere!!! This final's gonna be really really good. Vagas and Florida are both ripping through teams. They're both good at pretty much everything. And Vegas has got some timely goaltending (out of nowhere). Also looking forward to seeing Eichel and Tkakuk go head to head. Both those guys are playing like beasts right now.

Tkachuk is so f*cking good. Oh c’mon, the rats are fun!

Why not? Lots of teams have 40 pts power wingers in their top six. Florida does in Bennett, Washington does in Tom Wilson. I think it can work.

Florida’s fans are going bonkers. Pretty good atmosphere for a team that’s not traditionally in this position.

Short of injury Rasmussen will never play center again. We have Larkin, Copp, Kasper, and Veleno. Fabbri can also play there as well. Ras solidified himself on the wing last season

How will the league respond to an attempted murder at an internationally sanctioned hockey game and how did Greg Kruppa "get it right" despite talking about a whole different on-ice incident? I'm sure one of your dozens and dozens of fake accounts will be sure to let us know. And there's absolutely nothing pathetic about that at all.

None of it matters, at all. You're trying to turn this into something because you're bored and you think it makes you clever to debate nonsense on the internet.

Benn's punishment will come pretty swifty I suspect. Remember that he's been in management's doghouse for a while. Anybody remember the Jim Lites comments about Benn and Seguin? Lites is old friends with Jim Nill and the two were more or less raised in hockey together. Not hard to surmise that Lites' comments may well closely reflect those of Nill. At the time of those comments Dallas' owner was also apparently very unhappy with the duo. If Dallas loses their next game, resulting in a sweep, and their Captain wasn't on the ice for (more or less) two of those losses he's toast as the captain of the team. He's clearly about to get suspended. Imagine getting suspended, losing pay, losing your captaincy, losing the respect of your teammates for not being on the ice, and watching your team lose in the the conference finals from the pressbox...all based on one stupid play? That seems sufficiently punitive.

Those are three pretty significant things to get right tho. So kudos to you. You've clearly demonstrated that you're able to think about the game more intelligently any almost every single one of your countrymen.

Evil Jamie Benn nearly decapitates Mark Stone with his barbarian club only days after bloodthirsty Joe Veleno practically severed Nino Niederreiter's leg with his foot sword. Hockey must be reigned in for it's own good. Just think of the impact on the children.

He's too violent, kill him!!! KILL HIM!!!!

"YoU MeAn tO tEll mE hoCKey leTS pLaYers haVE feeT WeAPons?!?!!? WhAT iS THiss, ThUnDerDome?!!"

Shout out to Jamie Benn for running away from the media last night after failing miserably to provide quality leadership to his team in arguably the most important game of his career. Who knew that the consequences of your actions could be so damaging to one's own psyche?