krsmith17

Try harder Jonas... No way Mantha isn't a top 6 forward after another couple drafts... I'll bet anything on that. You already owe me for saying that Sambrook would be better than Cholowski... LOL Having Mantha "over Zadina" doesn't necessarily mean he is the better player (although he could be). Like @Neomaxizoomdweebie mentioned yesterday... Marner is the Leafs best winger. He's on the "2nd line". Kessel is the Pens best winger. He's on the "2nd line". It is very common across the league to have a balanced top six. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket.

Why do you keep comparing our players to Leafs trash? Mantha will likely be a 25-35 goal scorer, so yes (if he reaches those numbers) I would consider him a "goal scorer" despite what other players on other teams are doing...

I'm not being a homer at all, I just find you've been unusually negative lately... I know what Mantha is. He's a goal scorer, not a defensive specialist. Those plays are going to happen with Mantha, but that doesn't mean you sit him... You have to take the good with the bad.

Why?... Mantha f***ed up. He knows he f***ed up. I'm sure he was told he f***ed up. That doesn't change the fact that he's one of this teams best players and he's been all over the puck the past two games. It's amazing how you can be so high on Rasmussen and seemingly so low on Mantha...

Hughes - Larkin - Mantha Rasmussen - Veleno - Zadina

What is a true contender? One player doesn't make or break a team. Is he on the level of a Crosby, McDavid or Matthews? Of course not. Is he a 1C? I think so. He's still only 22 years old and will likely be a 70 point player during his prime years. He's becoming more defensively responsible, improving on faceoffs. I think Larkin absolutely has what it takes to be a legit number one center in today's NHL.

Larkin - 1C. Rasmussen - 2W Veleno - 2C Athanasiou - 2C? 2W? 3C? 3W? Center depth is never a bad thing...

Who?

Darren Eliot just compared Cholowski to Cam Fowler. What a compliment to Fowler...

So you can be pleasantly surprised? F*** that! I'm all about hyping these kids to the max. If they don't pan out. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted... Veleno WILL pan out though... Future 2C.

Like I said, IF Nyquist has a bounce back season (which I think he will), I expect him to fetch a 1st rounder. In my opinion, that pick would be far more valuable than having a weak link in an already weak top six for a few games. If anything losing Nyquist for those 20 games to end the season will just better our odds at (Hughes) a high draft pick, which is a good thing. I'm not for tanking, but I am for gaining future assets while also bettering our draft odds... I'd be okay with any combination of Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou, Bertuzzi, Rasmussen, Nielsen, Vanek in our top six for those games after the trade deadline if we trade Nyquist. As for beyond this season, Zadina should hopefully be ready to take a full time spot in the top six next season, and maybe even Veleno or whoever we draft with our first pick next year. So beyond this season, top six (or top nine) shouldn't be an issue.

I didn't say it was "eye-catching", just giving an update on one of our top prospects... If he finishes the season at 1.4 points per game, I would be mildly disappointed. Not because that would be a bad season (because it's not at all), but because like I said, I expect him to finish top 5 in scoring, which would likely put him at 1.6 - 1.8 points per game. He is 18th in league scoring, and some of the 17 ahead of him have played a couple good games, but will likely finish much lower on the leader board. He's still 18 for another 3 months. I really think you should get on board. Veleno is the real deal. I'm not going to put this in the predictions thread, but here's my Veleno prediction... Veleno - 64 GP - 39 G - 68 A - 107 PTS

Veleno has 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists) in 5 games so far this season. 1.4 points per game, which ranks him 18th in the league. Assuming he remains healthy, I fully expect him to be in the top 5 in scoring by the end of the season. He's also averaging 5.8 shots per game and 2.4 high danger shots per game.

Yeah, I projected him to get 36 points in 57 games before the deadline, which is a 51 point pace. If he's putting up that sort of production, we'd be foolish not to trade him. Like @The 91 of Ryans said...

I think (hope) Ehn will be sent down when Svechnikov is healthy. I agree about having Abdelkader - Helm - Glendening as our 4th line, but I disagree that they're "not very good". All three a very good penalty killers, and in a limited role (8-12 minutes a night), can help the team win games. Sure, they're overpaid, but who cares? We'll have a ton of players on ELC's over the next several years, and we don't need the cap space. If a team is inquiring about either of them, I'd trade them (and call up Turgeon), but I don't think it's a must to ship any of them out right away.

There have been many, many nights to complain about Blashill's usage over the past few years (including Thursday night). Last night was not one of them though. Our 4 best forwards (Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou and Nyquist) all had 18-20 minutes, and our 4th line (Glendening, Helm and Ehn) all had under 10 minutes. Our best defenseman (Cholowski) also lead the team with nearly 25 minutes. As a result, we carried the play for most of the night. DeKeyser has been much better these first two games. Jensen played really well, and showed why he should be in the lineup every night. Cholowski continues to impress. Hronek has been playing better. Sulak was good and bad.

What about the Wings goalie that was drafted by the Kings?!?!?

I watched both Griffins games and I didn't even notice... He had such an awful training camp / pre-season that he's kind of fallen off the radar. I thought he'd come in and possibly steal a spot in the Red Wings' bottom six, but he can't even crack the Griffins' bottom six... He had a solid finish to his college career, but at 24 years old, I don't expect he'll ever become an impact player in the NHL... Maybe he figures it out, but I have my doubts.

Also, Zadina was involved in that one goal (getting the 3rd assist...). I will say though, Zadina didn't look great in either of the first two games. I think he'll be fine, but it's going to take him a bit of time to get up to speed of the pro game. Not as easy as the kid thought it was going to be...

Who's Kahm? And why are you posting fake news? They practiced with the same lines today as they played with Thursday night...

Both. We have a lot of very good, young players, and we'll likely have another top 5 pick next year (I think we'll get in the top 3, maybe even number 1). With the continued development of what we already have in the system as well as the additions we'll make over the next 3 years, I think we'll be contenders in 3-4 years. I think a core of *Hughes*, Larkin, Mantha, Zadina, Veleno, Rasmussen, Athanasiou, Bertuzzi, Cholowski, McIsaac, Hronek, etc. has the potential to be VERY good in a few years. Not every one of those players will pan out, but I'm sure for every player that doesn't meet expectations, another player in the system will exceed expectations. We'll still need to add on the back end, but I'm sure that will be addressed in the next couple years. I really like the long-term outlook of this team. There's a bright light at the end of the tunnel.

Larkin - 82 GP - 19 G - 52 A - 71 PTS Mantha - 82 GP - 34 G - 28 A - 62 PTS Athanasiou - 78 GP - 21 G - 25 A - 46 PTS Vanek - 67 GP - 14 G - 29 A - 43 PTS Rasmussen - 82 GP - 19 G - 22 A - 41 PTS Bertuzzi - 74 GP - 17 G - 24 A - 41 PTS Nyquist - 57 GP - 16 G - 20 A - 36 PTS (before the trade deadline) Svechnikov - 47 GP - 4 G - 11 A - 15 PTS Zadina - 70 GP - 28 G - 23 A - 51 PTS (all in Grand Rapids) Cholowski - 82 GP - 7 G - 35 A - 42 PTS Hronek - 24 GP - 2 G - 7 A - 9 PTS Sulak - 16 GP - 1 G - 3 A - 4 PTS Red Wings - 76 PTS - 26th - Wins Draft Lottery!

2018-19 - Bottom 5 Team 2019-20 - Bubble Team 2020-21 - Playoff Team 2021-22 - Contender 2022-23 - Favorite

Cholowski emerges as a legit number one defenseman, puts up over 0.5 points per game and runner up for the Calder. I just want to point out that I posted this 2 minutes before he scored his first NHL goal...

Kind of surprised they elected to scratch Jensen and go with 4 rookies...