krsmith17

Not even if it were Chiarelli 2 bottles deep... Dubas is one of the brightest young GM's in the league. I don't see any trade scenario with the Leafs, which I'm okay with. Nyquist to Nashville and Daley back to Dallas. Make it happen Kenny! I'd be okay with a 2nd, but I think he can and will fetch us a 1st... Hopefully...

Unfortunately, I don't see Holland making any of these big, multi-player trades. I think the most we'll see is Nyquist, and maybe one of Howard, Daley or Jensen traded for draft pick(s). Aside from that, I expect it to be a fairly quiet trade deadline in Detroit again... Unfortunately, I think getting any top prospects, like Puljujarvi, Bean, Fabbro, Liljegren is a pipe dream... I'd be happy with Nyquist for a 1st, and Daley for a 4th...

My trade proposal was totally tongue in cheek, but because it's Chiarelli... it's not THAT crazy... Throw in Daley and Spooner... Retain salary on one or both of Nyquist / Daley... I just want to see Holland get creative and make a move for a high end prospect / young player... Puljujarvi has been very underwhelming in Edmonton, but there's still a ton of potential there and a change of scenery could be good for him. I'd also love to see him go after a Fabbro or Makar (although the latter would likely be VERY expensive)...

Nyquist for Puljujarvi...

Fixed...

https://www.tsn.ca/duchene-tops-tsn-s-trade-bait-board-1.1242403 Nyquist and Howard sit 8th and 9th on TSN's trade list board. Kronwall is 38th.

OR we take Hughes AND Newhook (with the pick from the Nyquist trade) when he drops all the way to the end of the 1st, ala Veleno...

Kuznetsov did that as a 23 year old. Larkin is still only 22, and playing with lesser linemates in my opinion. I guess I misunderstood. I agree that we need a center *almost* as good as Larkin, as our 2C. I just disagree that we need a center to displace Larkin as our 1C. If Larkin can develop into a point per game center, and Veleno can develop into a just under a point per game center, I think we're in good shape going forward. I think most would agree that Larkin could get there, I guess it just depends on if you think Veleno can. I think he can. We shall see...

I think people are seriously selling Larkin short if you don't think he is / will be a capable 1C. He's already on pace for a 70+ point season as a 22 year old, with bad to mediocre wingers. I think Larkin could easily be a 90+ point center, given two quality wingers, over the next couple years. I don't think Kuznetsov is close to a point per game center without the best goal scorer ever on his wing. Give Larkin a winger half as good as Ovi, and I'd bet on his point totals being at or above Kuznetsov. Veleno is still an unknown at this point, but I feel more comfortable with Larkin / Veleno as our future top two centers than I do any other position right now. Adding a couple elite scoring wingers is more important right now in my opinion. Hopefully Zadina can be one, and maybe whoever we draft in the first round this year.

Is that third dollar sign ($) supposed to be an (s) or a (d)? Because it should be past tense (d). Bertuzzi has been on the top line with Larkin and Nyquist for the past few games, while Abdelkader has finally been demoted to the bottom six. I do wish he would demote Vanek and promote Athanasiou though, despite Vanek's two goal game last night... If Vanek were willing to waive his NTC before the deadline, I'd be completely okay with him playing in the top six to try and pad his stats a little. However, everything I've heard and read indicates that Vanek isn't going anywhere this season. So why give him the minutes when he's played terrible hockey all season? And why stick Athanasiou with two grinders when he's been one of our most dangerous forwards all season? Stupidity... That's what pisses me off about Blashill and this organization in general. We'll always play veterans big minutes, no matter how poorly they play. And supremely skilled young players, like AA, will always get knocked for not being good enough defensively, despite being better than the veterans... I'm not sure who said 40, but he could have hit 30 (which most people believe he's capable of) if he didn't get injured. He was really starting to heat up and was on pace for that before he f***ed up his hand again...

He wasn't very good offensively until *he got traded from a very bad Saint John team*. Ever since he's been traded to a competitive Drummondville team, he's been lighting it up (between 1.5 - 2 Pts/G). It's not really his production in juniors that I'm basing my "Veleno will be a 2C" opinion on though. It's more so what he showed in this season's training camp / preseason. The fact that he made team Canada as a draft +1, and what he was able to do in a limited role there doesn't hurt either. Probably the biggest thing for me though is his overall skill set. He's an elite skater / passer, and has elite vision / hockey sense. The biggest knock on him has always been his inability to score goals, and he's proven this season that he can do that, albeit as a 19 year old in junior, but still impressive what he's been doing so far this season. Of course he will still have to prove it at the NHL level, but if the little sample (preseason) was any indication, I think he'll be a damn good player. I've made the Larkin comparison in the past, and while he may not have quite that ceiling (I think he could), I think it's a very apt comparison.

Fake News...

Griffins tied 2-2 in the 3rd. Zadina with both goals.

Why the f*** is Vanek still getting ice time? He's soooooo f***ing bad...

It's been 7 so far hasn't it? 1 more and they'll have the all time record for number goalies in one season, passing the Nordiques back in the 70's or 80's...?

Flyers 1 point back (with a game in hand), and Kings 2 points back... What is going on in Philly and LA? How is a team with Giroux, Voracek, Couturier, Van Riemsdyk, Simmonds, Konecny, Patrick, Provorov, Gostisbehere, Sanheim 2nd last in the NHL??? How is a team with Kopitar, Kovalchuk, Carter, Brown, Taffoli, Doughty, Muzzin, Quick dead last in the NHL? Their core is getting old, and they should soon be looking to rebuild, but still. I don't think anyone could have predicted either of these teams to be THIS bad... Either way, the Wings have a real shot at finishing this season dead last, and I think at worst we'll have top 3 odds in the draft lottery. Sell, and sell hard at the deadline Kenny!

Who did better? Yzerman.img

Well he's a winger, so no, it's Nyquist, Vanek, Frk, Abdelkader and Helm that are clearly holding him back. Kids obviously going to be a stud.

2... obviously.

https://streamable.com/y7axa Lane Zablocki wound up for the big 1-T last night, ripped it and broke the puck in half... Hardest. Shot. EVER!!!

Most of those aren't really "busts" though, relative to where they were taken in the draft. Kindl and Smith were the only 1st round defensemen in the past 15 years, and even they played over 300 games each. If Cholowski has a similar career as either of these guys, it would be a huge disappointment for sure, but I still wouldn't really consider him a "bust". A little over half of the players selected in the 20-30 range go on to successful NHL careers. Quincey had a great career for a 4th round pick. Lashoff had a solid career for an undrafted defenseman. Ouellet and Sproul never panned out, but less than half of 2nd rounders do. Marchenko had a great little career for a 7th round pick. Russo was a 4th round pick, that we traded for using a 3rd round pick. The chance of him panning out was always slim. Sambrook was a 5th round pick, which rarely pan out in any meaningful way, but he's still only 20 years old. Who knows, he may still play a short time in the NHL. Granted, not likely with the Red Wings... Up until the past few years, we've never really had the opportunity to draft high enough to get any real impact players. We're finally starting to draft higher and more frequent in the first couple rounds, so I think (hope), we'll get a few high end players in the next few drafts, as well as the last couple...

ROW then head-to-head.

I agree to an extent. I agree that elite players are elite no matter who you play them with. Connor McDavid currently has 63 points in 42 games playing in between Zack Kassian and Jujhar Khaira (Who?)... I consider Larkin to be a very good top line center, but I wouldn't consider him elite. Not yet anyway. However, putting a couple competent wingers on his line could put him in the conversation in a few years. Players like Larkin are going to need some help to get there. If he does end up playing with two high end wingers over the next few seasons, and explodes offensively, I'm not going to discredit him, just because he finally has players to play with (not saying this is what you're saying).

So are we (you) going to just assume that if (when) Kronwall is not traded that Holland "hung up the phone" and "didn't ask him if he'd like another shot at a Cup"?...