krsmith17

Helm scores on rebound of Mantha shot / pass.

NHL app on PS4, but I'm sure it would work on mobile as well. Reddit usually has alternative ways to watch games as well...

Red Wings aren't broadcasting the game tonight. I'm watching it (legally) on NBC Sports Chicago via the NHL app. I'm not sure of any (illegal) streams...

What a shot by AA. He's been unreal so far in the pre-season. Hopefully it continues into the season.

That was quick. Vanek buries one 16 seconds in. Athanasiou creates the scoring opportunity with speed down the wing.

I basically changed mine to Veleno because I noticed that @The 91 of Ryans had changed his to Rasmussen. Did it really take me changing my avatar for you to come to that conclusion though? Veleno has been my boy since before we drafted him, even more so than Vilardi was the year before. I mentioned several times leading up to the draft, and on draft night that I wanted to move up to get Veleno because he's going to be a special player. He amazingly ended up dropping all the way to 30... Still shocked... BTW, I don't think I ever had a Brendan Smith avatar. My love for Smitty always got a little overblown because I was basically the only one saying he didn't completely suck (I was wrong). However, I never claimed Smith to ever be that good. I fully expect Veleno to be borderline elite, in the same mold as Larkin (maybe even better). There, I said it. I've said it before, the sky is the limit for this kid... Anyone else want to jump aboard the Veleno hype train?

Svechnikov?

And if that's the battle, who do you think should get in based solely on the small sample size of training camp / pre-season thus far? In my opinion it should be Cholowski by a landslide, then Sulak, then Hronek.

Vilardi missed the beginning of last season due to a back sprain suffered during summer training. He finished the season and dominated the OHL for the few months he was able to play. His back flared up again at the end of the season and he missed the World Junior Summer Showcase this summer. He also missed all of rookie camp / training camp and has yet to play a single pre-season game. I think the disclaimer is warranted. Maybe the Red Wings staff knew something about a back issue last June, and that's why they picked Rasmussen over the much more skilled Vilardi. IF Vilardi can get healthy (I think he will), I still think he'll end up being the better player, but IF he doesn't and ends up being a bust, I'll still give Holland the credit (and eat a heaping plate of crow), because at the end of the day, he picked the right player, regardless of circumstances.

I was hoping to see him in one more preseason game, but oh well. Looking forward to see how he does in the Q this season.

I think Hicketts has played well. He's made some great plays in the offensive zone, but I agree, he hasn't been the best of the young defensemen. In my opinion that's been Cholowski by a wide margin. I might even say that Sulak has been slightly better than Hicketts as well. Hronek has struggled a little. I think he could use another season in Grand Rapids to be honest. Cholowski looks NHL ready, but it might not be the worst thing if he starts in GR as well. I'd be fine with Hicketts and Sulak making the Wings in a smaller role, and Cholwski and Hronek getting big roles with the Griffs. Although that may push Saarijarvi further down the depth chart once again.

Yes, that is correct. However, I think it's way too early for anyone to eat crow on our 2017 1st round pick. I think Rasmussen will end up being a better player than Tippett, but that's far from guaranteed at this point, and it certainly doesn't mean anything that Florida decided to send him back to junior for another season. I still think Vilardi will be a better player than Rasmussen though, as long as his current back issue doesn't hold him back too much.

I hear ya. I'm not saying we need to keep Jensen. I'd trade either in a heartbeat, along with every other defenseman on last year's blue line. But between the two, I think Jensen is the better player. The fact that he's younger and cheaper is just a bonus. Jensen is a good depth defenseman in my opinion. I like Ericsson, always have, but it's soon time for Holland to make some tough decisions, get rid of some of the old guard and bring in some young blood.

Very unpopular, but might I ask why? Jensen is better that Ericsson in just about every facet of the game. He's also 6 years younger and $3.5M cheaper.

Cholowski continues to impress. I think he's making a strong case to be first in line to grab one of the defense spots on opening night.

Trade Ericsson. DeKeyser - Jensen (until Green is healthy) Cholowski - Daley Kronwall - Hronek Sulak (first injury recall)

Ya think?

Thanks for the insight, and I can say I agree with everything you said from what I've seen of the prospects tournament and Red and White game. Good to hear Svechnikov has exceeded expectations, even if they were (rightfully so) at an all-time low. Still hope he can be a player for us, and not go the way of Jurco... I agree on Cholowski having a higher ceiling than Hronek. Cholowski seems to excel in all areas of the game, whereas Hronek is purely offensive minded. I hope you're right about him developing into a top pair defenseman, but I still see him as a very good middle pairing guy at this point. I'm not that high on Veleno. He's a decent prospect... Yeah, he looked great. One of the best throughout the entire prospects tournament and Red and White game in my (unbiased) opinion... The thing to keep in mind with Veleno though, is that he will be AHL eligible after this season because of that exceptional status, giving him 4 full seasons in the CHL. I agree on Zadina, Rasmussen, Smith and Saarijarvi as well. I've never been too high on Vili, but he definitely opened my eyes a little in this past week. It's going to be interesting to keep an eye on him this season in Grand Rapids. With Hronek likely making the Wings, he will likely be the top power-play quarterback for the Griffins this season.

Svech didn't stand out much to me (aside from banging in that rebound), but maybe you seen something I didn't. I'm still hopeful that he can develop into a decent middle six, 30-40 point winger. You were at the game weren't you? How did the other kids (Zadina, Veleno, Rasmussen, Smith Cholowski, Hronek, Saarijarvi) look up close and personal?

Yup, should be a good 3rd line.

Zadina finishes off a beautiful tic-tac-toe with Athanasiou and Vanek.

There's definitely offensive upside there, and I agree that the sky's the limit with this kid. The funny thing is, I never heard any of that "no elite upside" nonsense predraft. It's almost as if that narrative was created when he started to slip to justify why so many teams passed on him. It looks like Zadina will he a steal at 6, but Veleno will go down as the biggest steal in this draft in my opinion.

He looks amazing. So f***ing smooth. I've said I think he has the potential to be almost as good as Larkin. I think he looks better (more polished) than Larkin did at the same age. I'll leave it at that... They're playing two 25 minute periods. First 20 minutes of the first was 5-on-5, last 5 minutes was 3-on-3. Penalties called were penalty shots (Helm and Turgeon) rather than power-plays. I'd rather see two minute penalties called. Work on special teams... Veleno and Cholowski continue to impress.