krsmith17

Yzerman?

So you're saying all of Cholowski, Rasmussen, Veleno and Zadina start in Grand Rapids? Possible, but I'd bet on at least one or two of those guys making opening night roster along with Hronek.

Define "kid"...

Same. I'm really excited to see what this kid can do. At the time I wanted Vilardi. Now with all the injury concerns, I'm happy we took Rasmussen over him. In hindsight though, I wish we had taken Necas...

F***ing stud!

Zadina was technically an underage pro last season, so he does not need protection. If he had played that 10th NHL game, he would need to be protected, which was the reason he was limited to 9 games last season. I guess that's what would make Seider or any other underage prospects playing pro last season exempt as well.

Yeah, it is professional seasons, not NHL seasons. Two or fewer seasons would not need protection. I'm not sure how it would work for players that played in pro leagues prior to being drafted... Technically Seider will have played three pro seasons prior to the expansion draft (2021), but I'm not sure if that first year would count where he wasn't yet drafted?... I don't think it would count though. If that were the case, technically Zadina would need protection too since he played 25 games in the Czech league in 2016-17...

Yes, Cholowski would need protection. On the back end, it would like be Hronek, Cholowski and one of DeKeyser, Bowey or Lindstrom... Up front, Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou, Bertuzzi, Rasmussen, Svechnikov, and one of Glendening, Turgeon or Smith... We won't be losing any major pieces in the Seattle expansion draft.

I'm happy we made qualifying offers to Turgeon especially, along with Hicketts and Rybar, but we're not getting picks for any of these players... I guess Frk was too right-handed. Can't have too many of those on the roster...

Marner would have to sign the offer sheet. I doubt he would. And Toronto would have to not match. They most definitely would. The only purpose offer sheeting Marner would serve us right now, is potentially f***ing the Leafs over... But with Mantha, Athanasiou, Bertuzzi, etc. upcoming RFA's, I wouldn't do it. What goes around, comes around...

LOL, yeah okay. You believe what you want to believe. I'll believe that Yzerman isn't a complete moron...

Well, No S***! That's literally what I've been saying all along... Of course I'm talking about the best player available on the Wings list... What other list is there?

How do I know what? My point is, none of us have seen THE lists for NHL teams. Therefore, none of us know where Kotkaniemi was on Bergevin's list or Seider was on Yzerman's list. We've seen the same lists (give or take) circulated all season, and because none of Bob McKenzie, Craig Button or Corey Pronman had Seider high on their lists, some of you think it's impossible that Yzerman had Seider at the top of his list... Yes, I do think if we had 6 forwards ahead of Tuomisto, we would have taken one of the forwards. However, if we had Tuomisto and 6 forwards ranked similarly, it is possible that we could have taken Tuomisto ahead of the forwards based on need. I'd disagree with that decision because I think one of the 6 forwards would have filled a bigger need, but whatever. So you'll bet all the internet money on Yzerman telling his scouts to specifically target defensemen, despite him saying otherwise before and after the draft? Cool... If Seider truly was picked 10 spots ahead of where he should have been, that would make him a player that should have been picked in the 16+ range. How many GM's think it's realistic to get a true number one defenseman in that range? How many GM's think it's wise to take the 16th best player on their own list at number 6? A) You're right. Nobody knows what Yzerman is thinking except Yzerman. So all we can go on is what Yzerman had told us, and that is, he did not pick based on need, he picked what he and his scouts believe were the best players available... B) You're right. Yzerman isn't an idiot. An idiot would pick a player "10 spots ahead" of where he had him ranked. I'm glad Yzerman didn't do this... No, he isn't going to divulge everything he's thinking, but he did give us a pretty good idea of his thought process before and after the draft... C) I'm not pretending like anyone is blaming Yzerman. I'm just saying that Yzerman picked what he believes was BPA. No, I didn't see his list. No, I can't read his mind. I'm basing this on two things... what he's told us, and common sense... I know that last part is difficult for you to comprehend...

What "list"? People keep bringing up this magical list, as if they've ever seen an NHL team's rankings... You're assuming the Habs had Zadina ahead of Kotkaniemi, but decided to take Kotkaniemi anyway? Yeah, okay... I know teams draft for need, but like I said, only when players are comparably ranked by their scouts. No GM is going to knowingly take a lesser player just because he fills a position of need. It doesn't happen, and if ever did happen, someone is losing their job...

91 days...

You're the only person on here that I resort to the ol "you're dumb" argument... Read into that what you will...

Nah, you're just too dumb to understand it...

I highly doubt that. I bet it would be closer to a 50/50 split than every single GM in the league thinking Brannstrom is better than Rasmussen... You're missing the point... again... General Managers rarely ever "reach" or "go off the board" with their picks, especially picks in the top 10. I'm sure it happens, but those GM's are dumb, and eventually get fired... The ONLY time a GM should ever pick a player of "need", is when that player is viewed by the scouting staff to be the best player available, or at least in the same tier as the best players available. I'm sure Bergevin had Kotkaniemi in the same tier as some of the other players mentioned, but decided to take the center. Same goes for Sieder. I'm sure Yzerman had him in the same tier as a few other players, but decided to take the defenseman. Whatever though. Don't believe Yzerman when he says that he had Seider "right at 6" on his list...

I'm sure Holland had several names on his list as well. You wanted one of Brannstrom, Valimaki or Liljegren? It's still very possible that Rasmussen ends up better than any of those players. Unfortunately you couldn't have picked all three, so which one would you have taken? Brannstrom? He's a high-end prospect, but he could top out as a decent 2nd pair defenseman that puts up 25-35 points per season. What if Rasmussen becomes a 2nd line winger that puts up 45-55 points per season? Which player is more valuable? Debatable... We're also using hindsight of the past two seasons, something teams don't have on the draft floor. Like I said, I wanted Vilardi. He may end up being a complete bust... I see you're not going to give up on the "targeting a need" bulls***, so whatever. I'm done trying to convince you otherwise. I will say one last thing regarding the bold though... The Habs would not have picked Kotkaniemi if they thought Zadina or Tkachuk or anyone else was going to be the better player. I highly doubt they thought Kotkaniemi was going to be a 2nd line center and Zadina and Tkachuk were going to be 1st line wingers, and took what they believed was the lesser player... They likely seen Kotkaniemi as a 1C and Zadina as a 1W, and because they seen the two players similarly skilled, they decided to take the center that also fills a direct need. Maybe Yzerman sees Zegras as a potential 1C, Cozens as a potential 1W and Seider as a potential 1D. He feels that their ceiling respective to their position is more or less equal, so he took what you and others believe to be the "biggest need". I believe Cozens would have filled a bigger need, but what do I know...

Why is 2017 "turning into s***"? Because our late round picks turned out to be s***? That's going to happen more often than not. It's still very possible that Rasmussen could be a top six winger / power-play specialist, capable of 25 goals, 25 assists. Would I have taken someone different? Absolutely. However, the player I was pushing hardest for was Vilardi, and who knows if he'll ever play, let alone be an impact player. I also liked Necas and Liljegren over Rasmussen, but whatever. It's also possible that Lindstrom could be a top four defenseman / penalty killer, capable of 10 goals, 20 assists. We also have Petruzzelli that could still become an NHL goaltender... I think any year you "hit" on 3+ players, it's a very successful draft. I don't think a single person would argue that we undoubtedly took the best players available with each and every selection. A few people, including myself, mentioned players we would have preferred with our first 5 picks. I would have been happier with this draft if we had taken Cozens, Lavoie, Leason, Legare, Beaucage, but I'm not going to assume Yzerman and co have no idea what they're doing because they "went off the board" or "reached" based on other scouts / analysts rankings...

Did you see "star upside" three years, two days after we drafted Cholowski and Hronek? I doubt it... Most Red Wings fans were pretty meh on those picks three years ago, and yet most Red Wings fans are pretty high on those picks today. "Top 4 potential". Point is, it's very difficult to gauge where any of these players will be in their development a year from now, let alone 3-5 years from now.

THIS! All you doofuses that keep claiming that Yzerman "reached for Seider"... please read this ^ ...

Yup, that's exactly what's going to happen...

You're so dumb. It's even more funny now that you think the Seider pick had anything at all to do with "missing out on Karlsson and Trouba" (Yzerman may or may not have ever been in on either)... I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. I also never once said that Seider was the BPA. I said that I believe that Seider was the BPA in the eyes of Yzerman and / or the scouts. You can choose to believe whatever you want, but I have a hard time believing that Yzerman knowingly decided to pass on the better player, and "reach" for Seider. But hey, you do you...

What's your argument here? I'm not going to speak on other sports, but professional hockey players do learn "how to eat" at a very young age, and it's a huge part of development camp, which goes along with "how to be a pro"... These athletes also know "how to train" to an extent, but none of these kids know everything there is to know about training, eating, even sleeping, etc...