kipwinger

Generally I'd agree, but the situation is fluid because we're actually a better team this year than anticipated. If teams want to have long term success they need to take advantage of entry level deals and undervalued deals. You lock up Horvat now, while you've got guys like Kubalik, Perron, Vrana, Raymond, Seider, Husso, outperforming their contracts you're in a really good position next year. The alternative is that you wait a year or two and a bunch of those guy are either gone or making so much more that you can't afford that missing piece or two if you need it.

Optimistic how?

I wouldn't say "thin" but I agree that behind centers our biggest need is RHD. Wallinder will be a top 4 dman for a long time. McIsaac, Buium, and Johansson have 3rd pair floors with room to grow into bigger roles. After that it's more of a crap shoot. I'd still consider defense the strongest part of our organizational depth. Essentially we have a top 4, all 25 and under, already in the organization (Seider, Hronek, Edvinsson, Wallinder) with McIsaac, Johansson, Buium able to be in that conversation too. That's not too bad when you consider that between Kronwall and Hronek we really didn't draft and develop a single top 4 defenseman. If I have to pick an organizational weakness it's still at center, though Larkin-Kasper-Ras-Veleno isn't as weak as I once thought our center depth was. Followed by goalie, but again, Husso-Ned-Cossa isn't terrible either. Honestly, at this point I'd be drafting for dynamic skillsets. You've got all your foundational pieces in place. Now start looking for guys who can be game changers at whatever draft position you're sitting in. And for the love of god SY, please sign Bo Horvat in the offseason. Bert-Larkin-Raymond Copp-Horvat-Kubalik Perron-Ras-Vrana Fabbri-Veleno-Berggren Chiarot-Seider Maatta-Hronek Edvinsson-Whoever ^^^^^^^^^^^This is a Cup Contender^^^^^^^^^

From the guys you listed here I'd rank them (in order of "Definite Top 4 Dman" to "Will not play NHL games") Wallinder McIsaac Johansson Buium Sebrango Viro

I wouldn't hate it at the right price. The Caps are on a downward trajectory, maybe he wants to ride some Red Wings coattails. He's pretty much exactly the kind of guy I'm talking about.

If Edvinsson is up and on the 3rd pair next season (and I think he should be) he's going to need a Maatta-like partner to stay at home and cover for him. Edvinsson's game is built on puck transportation, and he's best when he's up in the play. I don't care who that partner is, but a solid veteran right hander (Pysyk?) makes sense. Chiarot-Seider Maatta-Hronek Edvinsson-Pysyk Wallman/Hagg/Lindstrom/Oesterle

I see what you're saying, and I agree for the most part. But I'd just clarify that it's not that I'm trying to minimize Chiarot as much as maximize his value. Like Hronek I think he's probably MORE effective with slightly fewer minutes against lesser competition. If he's not out there against top lines he won't be defending as much and we might get a little more offense out of him.

Meh, you're underpaying for Seider and Hronek so it comes out in the wash. Not ideal, but not a difference maker. Give him 12-14 even strength minutes and another 3.5 on the PK and he's earned his keep. I just don't think Seider can be as dynamic as we'd like to see him be with Chiarot. I'd rather see Seider with a true stay at home guy (like Tampa does with Hedman-Cernak).

The only big change I'd like to see is getting Chiarot off Seider's pair. I always thought of Chiarot as a shutdown, stay-at-home guy because of his physicality but that's really not his game. He wants to play in the offensive zone too. Ideally I'd like to see all of Seider, Hronek, and Chiarot playing with a more defensively minded partner to allow their offense to flourish. Without bringing someone in from outside the team I'd do something like below, but obviously longer term I'd want to see someone better than Hagg on that top pair. Hagg-Seider Maatta-Hronek Chiarot-Lindstrom

This was the most complete Red Wings game of the season. And it should have been. Columbus is decimated by injury and were basically playing with an AHL team. We were supposed to dominate that game, and we did. Every single aspect of the game, even strength, special teams, you name it. These are the kinds of games that improve a team because they're more than practice, but not as high stakes as a game against the league's best. Just high level reps for a team that needs them. Huge win.

The additions of the new guys, and specifically the fact that those guys are flourishing, will be Zadina's death knell. He's the same s***ty player he's always been. But you add Suter, Kubalik, Perron, Berggren, and (sorta) Vrana in two years and suddenly Zadina's run out of track. Sucks because if he'd been traded a year ago we'd have gotten something for him. Now he'll be a throw in. I'm actually more excited to see Pius Suter get traded than I am for Zadina. It's clear which player has more value.

Nifty pass to gain the zone by Berggren on that goal by Veleno.

I'm pumped to see Berggren tonight. Really think he'll make a difference on the powerplay as he settles in.

Awwww, thanks boo.

Man, this aged like fine wine. With Mazur, Lombardi, and Buchelnikov ripping it up in their respective leagues one has to wonder why I'm not already an NHL front office executive.

Three point night for Amadeus Lombardi: And Carter Mazur continuing what he started last year:

And like clockwork...

Well the US has the USHL and the USNTDP, but I think the big difference is that pretty much no American player is treated anything like an equivalent Canadian player. Like, half the puds accused of sexually assaulting this lady aren't even that good, but because they're on Team Canada they're given the keys to the city and treated like rock stars. Not surprisingly they develop an unhealthy attitude vis-a-vis the consequences of their behaviors and how their actions affect other people. Jack Hughes or Jack Eichel are probably the best American players to come from the US system in the last 10 years or so, and while they both have some entitlement issues and definitely have oversized egos, is there any doubt how much worse they'd be if they were Canadian? s***, Canada got their hands on Matthews as an NHLer and now he's posing in fashion magazines and hanging with Beeber. That kind of adulation is bad enough for a 20-something, but WAY worse for a 16 year old.

Hockey Canada exists for the same reason the NCAA does in American college sports. Junior hockey in Canada is a business. A big business. Governing bodies exist to profit off this business. They are not, and never have been, about the kids playing. It's a way for non-players to siphon money off the industry.

Fully agree, he needs to be in GR to clean up his game. Defense is hard and he's really really young. My overall thoughts on his long term projections remain the same, but he's very obviously not ready for the NHL.

I find what's happening in Canada really interesting. There seems to be some sort of reckoning happening and it's fascinating. Almost monthly there's some new terrible story involving rape, racism, bullying, or whatever. And of course all the prognosticators are in the background screaming "Change Hockey Culture!", which is totally bogus. There is no "hockey culture". They play hockey in Sweden, Finland, and Germany too, but miraculously they're less assholey about it. Maybe, just maybe, the problem is that in Canada these kids are treated like superstars from the time they're 15 and acquire a healthy dose of entitlement and self-righteousness along the way.

Edvinsson was absolutely out to lunch pretty much the whole game. In the highlights package below you can see him getting beat pretty bad 1:15, 4:15, 6:15, 7:32 (of the video, not the game). Three of those ended in goals, one should have.

At least you're honest enough to admit it. He was baaaaaad last night.

Bud, you REALLY need to pay attention. Last game, against the Pens on 10/3, Raymond and Vrana combined for ZERO points. neither the box score, nor the "statcards" I posted above suggest they were good in that game. So I'm not sure what you're basing your opinion on here? The game before that, when they combined for 4 points against the Blackhawks they WERE the best players on the ice and both the box scores and the "statcards" I posted above support that. You're right, stats don't lie. You clearly don't have a clue though. Hard to imagine why I don't put any faith in the eyeball test though.

I've watched every single game. If you have, you haven't been paying attention closely because Johansson wasn't on the ice for the first even strength goal of that game, the 2nd he got burnt on, the third was a powerplay (he's never been a penalty killer before), and the fourth was an empty net. So it's safe to say "he was on the ice for three goals against" is lacking a fair amount of context. At no point have I said he's been perfect in the preseason, I said he's been a net positive at both ends of the ice (he has) and that he's been better than Edvinsson (who's also been on the ice for more than a few goals against). I also never said he WOULD start in Detroit, I said I'd start him there over Edvinsson (who's struggled badly).