krsmith17

Remember when Ovechkin scored 70 last year?... Seriously though, not having Athanasiou in your top six, doesn't necessarily make him a "whipping boy". If he's our 3rd line center in a couple years, that means we have a very strong top six. That's a good thing. I love AA, but in an ideal world (assuming Veleno is as good as I expect him to be), I'd love to see Larkin - Veleno - Athanasiou - Glendening / Turgeon as our four centers next season. In saying that, I'm not opposed to having Athanasiou on the wing in the top six either, if we have another player that can fill the 3rd line center role. Also this. By Detroit, I assume he means Michigan? As much as I'd like to see Seider kill it in training camp / pre-season and force his way onto the roster, there's no need to rush it. Ideally he plays a full season in Grand Rapids this season, and makes it full time in Detroit next season.

"Lol" "Holy strawman!" "Lol"

Again, I'm not arguing that he will definitely play center, I'm arguing that he definitely could play center. What's stupid is saying that he definitely won't play center. You think playing your best player at the most important position is "stupid"? Yeah, okay... Because I only cited one article, you think that's the only comparison that has been made? If you haven't heard Lafreniere compared in some way to McDavid and / or Crosby over the past 4-5 years, you've been living under a rock... The comparisons have been there since before he was drafted into the Q. That is an extremely hot take, considering none of the players taken in the past 4 years have been compared to McDavid. And McDavid was the only one compared to Crosby in the 10 years prior... Players get overhyped every year, but not every year there is expectations of a "generational" talent. Why are we still talking about Gretzky? I don't give a s*** about what Gretzky said. The point is, Lafreniere could absolutely play center at the NHL level, and it's not completely out of the question (as you seem to think) for him to make the transition. I will admit, that it probably is more likely that he remains on the wing, but I wouldn't rule out a switch either.

Of that list, only two players (Ovechkin and Hall) were *close* to as highly touted as Lafreniere, years leading up to the draft. Ovechkin is elite shooter and better suited on the wing. As I said previously, I believe Hall could have been a great center, had he made the switch earlier in his career. I also believe a number of those players could successfully transition to center if needed. Please explain why you think a player of Lafreniere's caliber would not be able to play center at the NHL level... If you have never heard any Lafreniere to McDavid comparisons, you clearly haven't been paying attention. Just or not, he is viewed as an elite, maybe even generational talent. https://chl.ca/article/oceanics-alexis-lafreniere-is-the-next-superstar-in-the-making "It takes a special player to live up to the hype as “The Next One”. From CHL graduates like Eric Lindros to Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid, 17-year-old Alexis Lafreniere of the Rimouski Oceanic is next in line and has seemingly had little difficulty in meeting such a billing as the budding superstar took the QMJHL by storm in just his second season." I'm not the one that brought up the Gretzky quote. I just think it's dumb to dismiss Gretzky's opinion just because he failed as an NHL head coach 15 years ago. He was still the best player to ever play the game, and knows slightly more than you or I when it comes to anything hockey...

Most "elite wingers" aren't on the same level as Lafreniere either. This guy is being touted as the best prospect since McDavid. If the player has any hockey sense at all, it really isn't that difficult to transition from wing to center, especially this early in the players' career. I'm sure you would agree that it is much more difficult to transition from defense to forward, or vice versa? Well. there have been several instances in which players made that transition. Brent Burns, Dustin Byfuglien, Andrei Markov, Mathieu Dandenault all switched from forward to defense after being drafted. Wendel Clark switched from defense to forward and Fedorov played center, wing and defense. That's only looking at recent history and not including one of the best all time to make the switch, Red Kelly. I'm sure there are many more examples as well. Gretzky failed miserably as a head coach. That doesn't mean his opinion on anything hockey is irrelevant...

So you don't think an ELITE player with all the qualities of a good centerman (high hockey IQ / vision, great skating, elite passing, etc.) is capable of making the transition from wing to center? I'm not saying Lafreniere will be a center, but he definitely could be a center, and it may be beneficial for whatever team that drafts him next year to convert him to center. As you know, center is arguably the most important position in hockey, and ideally your best players are playing down the middle. Jonathan Ericsson (drafted 291st overall) converted from center to defense. I'm sure Alexis Lafreniere (drafted 1st overall) could convert from wing to center... Hall is another player I think could have (maybe should have) seamlessly transitioned from wing to center at 17-18 years old.

With that logic, Kevin Fiala is better than Taylor Hall... For sure. Not even close. Mantha also has a higher hockey IQ, better shot, better passer, better in the corners, better in front of the net, etc...

He seems like it, except that he's not...

Do you have a link? I would hope that Yzerman plans on adding to the analytics as well...

Same. What made it worse is I was watching it with my Leafs fan buddy and it was a terrible giveaway by Berggren (DET) on the stick of Robertson (TOR) that went in and scored on Eliasson (DET)...

I still think Zadina will be a top line winger, so if McIsaac is better than that, that's great news. I agree. However, if we're drafting in the top 3-5 next year, we're very likely to take another forward (Lafreniere, Byfield, Raymond, Holtz, Perfetti, etc.), and I think we need another top 3-5 pick, regardless of position. The last thing this team needs is another left-handed winger, but I'm sure we'd all be thrilled to get Lafreniere. That is a solid four to build around, and if they can all reach or at least come close to their ceilings, that should be a very solid top 4. I'm not as sold on McIsaac as you, but I think the other three are locks to be top 4 defensemen. After you fill your top 4, it's gravy. We also have DeKeyser and Bowey, and I'm sure a couple of Lindstrom, Johansson, Kaski, Tuomisto, Kotkansalo, Setkov, Regula, Barton, etc. will become players of some capacity. There's also the option to dip into free agency. Goaltending is a crapshoot, but I'm comfortable in saying that at least one of our goalie prospects should pan out. Larsson is the best goalie prospect we've had since Mrazek. We all know how that panned out, but from what I've seen Larsson is much more level headed and composed than Mrazek ever was. Eliasson, Brattstrom, Petruzzelli and Gylander are all decent to good prospects as well. This seems to be a popular opinion by a lot of hockey fans, and seems to be a bit of an old school mentality. "DeFeNsE WiNs ChAmPiOnShIpS"... But me personally, I'd rather have a lethal offense, good defense and a capable goaltender than an elite goalie, great shutdown defense and capable forwards...

Yup. Really underwhelming return for Vegas. Wish Yzerman could have snagged him...

Never implied that he couldn't. Of course he can gain weight in the next few years. He's still very undersized right now though...

He'll never wear that number in Detroit... Very skilled, but also very undersized... 5'8", 150lbs. soakin wet...

Kivenmaki has been centering Finland's 2nd line.

Joe Veleno (along with Alexis Lafreniere), expected to play major role for Team Canada in WJSS. https://www.tsn.ca/video/which-canadian-players-are-in-the-spotlight-at-the-world-junior-summer-showcase~1739828 Veleno expected to be on the top line centering Lafreniere and Akil Thomas

The draft lottery doesn't affect picks beyond the 1st round.

I don't know about that. I highly doubt Yzerman would have taken Seider in the top 2 or 3. It would be interesting though to see their draft board. I wonder if Yzerman had Seider as the number one ranked defenseman, ahead of Byram?...

I haven't heard a single comparison of Lafreniere to Kane. Maybe you're thinking this year's 1st overall pick, Hughes? Hughes is very similar to Kane. Lafreniere, not so much in my opinion...

Transitioning from center to wing is much easier to do than transitioning from wing to center. In saying that, if an elite player like Lafreniere wanted to / was asked to play center, I'm sure he could do it. Honestly, I find it kind of odd that a player as talented as this kid, hasn't been playing center. He checks all the boxes, good size, great speed and acceleration, elite hands, good shot, great passing, high compete level, etc. It's rare to see a player with that elite tool kit playing the wing. He may not be at the level of Crosby or McDavid (he may be), but I think he could be in the same conversation as Stamkos, Tavares, MacKinnon, Matthews, etc. The only similar forward that was this highly touted in recent years that never played center is Hall, and I think he's a step above Hall.

No.

We've drafted plenty defensemen over the past few drafts. 5 (out of 11) in 2019, 3 (out of 10) in 2018, 5 (out of 11) in 2017 and 4 (out of 7) in 2016. The one thing we haven't done up until this year, aside from Cholowski (20th overall in 2016), is take one with a high 1st round pick. I'll admit though, unless a defenseman truly is elite, I'd prefer to take forwards in the 1st round, and defensemen in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. I just didn't really like some of the "reaches" in this year's draft. By most accounts, Seider was a reach at 6th overall. Although I really like that pick, one of the many forwards available, *might* prove to be the better players in a few years. The Tuomisto pick was a big "reach" as well, and there were several forwards available that I think will end up being much better players in a few years... Time will tell...