krsmith17

Why do you still keep saying this as if it's even a remote possibility? If we're trading for a top defenseman like Hamilton, Trouba or Fowler, it's going to cost minimum our 9th overall pick plus a roster player like Tatar or Nyquist, plus another pick or prospect. Forget about getting the other teams first back, it would never happen.

I want one of Glass, Suzuki, Tippett or Liljegren. It's possible all could be gone before we pick at 9, but I would think at least one will drop to us.

F***!!!

Darren Raddysh was just named OHL's Overage Player of the Year... With the season he's had (is having), I'm sure he will get a LOT of attention from NHL teams once the playoffs are over...

Skating seems to be his biggest issue. Here's a quote from Brock Otten: "Raddysh is an excellent two-way defender. He doesn’t possess elite athleticism or size, which is likely why he has never been drafted. His skating has improved a lot over the course of his OHL career, to the point of it being average now. His straight line speed and acceleration will never be elite, but he’s worked hard to improve his overall mobility to make himself one of the better defenders in the OHL. His gap control and defensive awareness is excellent and he plays with a lot of moxy, be it battling in the corners or putting his body on the line to block a shot. Offensively, he has one of the best stretch passes in the entire OHL and has fantastic vision. His ability to start the breakout is a major asset, as he’s always got his head up, looking to get the puck to Erie’s high powered, skilled forwards. Again, he’s not a dynamic skater and isn’t the type to be a major factor leading a rush deep into offensive territory. Instead, he uses his passing skills, vision, and intelligence to carve apart gaps in the defense. He excels as a powerplay QB for this reason as well." I watched a couple Erie games this year to watch Sambrook and both stood out in a positive way to me. One of the games I watched was a blowout where Darren scored a goal and added a couple assists and looked dominant in all three zones. His skating didn't appear to be that off to me. I'd definitely be okay with giving him a contract. Still disappointed we didn't draft his brother Taylor in last years draft though. Of course Yzerman snagged him late in the 2nd round... EDIT: Beat me to it Nondescript...

Here's my argument AGAIN... There are stars picked every year at or after the 7th pick. We can find a star player wherever we end up picking. That's not to say we will, just that we "can"... Please explain what you disagree with there... Now here's where we do disagree. I believe there is skill involved in making these selections. Of course no one knows for certain which players will boom or bust, but based on hours and hour of watching these kids play, meeting with them and their parents several times, the better scouts can use this information to better determine what type of player / person they will develop into. You think it's pure luck. Whatever...

I'd be a little disappointed with Liljegren to be honest. I feel like we have two very similar style / size players in Hronek and Saarijarvi. I'd prefer to draft one of the many forwards that will be available and trade for a defenseman over the summer. Either way, can't wait to see where we end up on Saturday. Then the speculation will really begin to heat up...

Rangers in 6.

Where the f*** did I ever suggest this? Literally all I'm saying is that there are elite players picked every single year after the 7th overall pick. There will be this year and next year and forever. You know why? Because of the reason you just mentioned, and I've mentioned in the past. It's not an exact science, and there are always going to be players that exceed or deceed expectations. What you said, or at least the way I interpreted what you said, was that there is absolutely no skill involved and it is pure luck of the draw. This couldn't be further from reality. There is a ton of skull involved, otherwise, why would team spend millions of dollars every year on scouting? Please tell me this is a joke...

No skill. All luck. I think I'm getting it now... But you give LeftWinger a hard time because he thinks some here would make good scouts... I guess you feel people on here wouldn't be lucky enough... Anyway, what does this have to do with anything I was saying? There are stars picked after 7th overall every single year, in every single draft. My point is, there will be stars available for us to pick wherever we end up, we just need to pick the right player (or luck into it...).

Maybe I shouldn't have said "franchise type player", because I assume you took that strictly as the Yzerman, Sakic, Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, McDavid, types. What I said initially -elite, is what I'm referring to, and there absolutely are elite players available every year at or after the number 7 pick. The bolded I completely disagree with. Sure, there is some luck involved, but there's definitely a ton of skill involved in drafting of these 17/18 year old kids.

So what is your original point? Just to say that we aren't guaranteed a star at #7? Because that I agree with, and the same can be said if we win a lottery pick as well. It's common sense that the later you draft in each round, the less likely you are to get a star, especially with the way scouting is today. My point is that just because we aren't guaranteed a star at #7 (or wherever we end up), it is still very possible that we could land an elite, build-your-team-around type player. Will it be Vilardi? Glass? Tippett? Suzuki? Liljegren? Or some other lesser known? Who knows...

I understand why you used that criteria, I'm just saying that, in my opinion, it should be expanded beyond the picks made at #7. If we do end up picking 7th overall, we have the opportunity to pick from a dozen or so players, any of which could become anything from a complete bust to a future Hall-of-Famer... Look at the 2008 draft where Nashville took Wilson at 7. Chances are they had their eyes on many other players before they made their final decision. Maybe one of them was Karlsson (maybe not). The point is, at number 7 you're not always going to get an elite talent, but there is always elite talent available.

This. Why constrict it just to the players that were picked at number 7? We should be looking at players that have recently been "available" at number 7. There are steals in every single draft, it's just a matter of finding that gem. There will be a franchise type player available for us to pick wherever we end up picking, I just hope we make the right decision...

Griffins win 3-2 in overtime. They deserved the W, after hitting 4 or 5 posts in the 3rd / OT...

Soft Euro's like Konstantinov, Emelin and Gudas.

Oilers in 7.

Preds in 6.

Sambrook is turning a lot of heads. He's quickly moving up my list of favorite prospects. Great pick in the 5th round.

Thanks! Good catch. I don't know how I missed that first tweet. I still can't see it. Oh well, makes sense now.

I found it weird, when I was scrolling through my Twitter last night, I came across a tweet from "Red Wings Prospects", that said "Ejdsell (C/LW, 6'5", 214) lead the Swedish Allsvenskan (SWE-2) with 57 pts in 50 games #RedWings"... For those that are unfamiliar, they tweet nothing but Red Wings prospect news and stats (great follow). I've never seen them tweet any information about a player that wasn't Red Wings property. Has he already agreed to a contract, and the info just hasn't been released to the public yet? Maybe?... Either way, I don't expect him to go to any team and immediately become a top player, but he could be a solid middle 6 guy. Who knows though, we could luck out and he could be another Panarin... No harm in giving this kid a shot.

I said Jackets in 7 last series, only because it's what I wanted, not what I actually thought would happen. I'm going with the same mindset here... Caps in 7, although I think it will be Pens in 5 or 6...

I want a player that plays exactly like Simmonds, but I wouldn't give up a significant amount (not close to what it would cost) to get him at this point in his career. He will be 29 years old to start next season, and the style of game he plays, he won't likely be close to the player he is now, in 3-5 years from now (when we will be ready to contend again). I'm stillness hoping we have our very own Wayne Simmonds in the pipeline, in Givani Smith. Although I doubt he becomes anything close to the beast Simmonds is (offensively speaking), he could develop into a lesser version, that plays a similar game in the middle 6...

Yeah, I'm sick of having none skilled guys fill out our bottom 6, because they bring all sorts of "intangibles"... There's absolutely no reason to bring back either Miller or Ott when you have Glendening, Abdelkader, Helm, Sheahan and Bertuzzi that can all play a similar role. And you can also fill the bottom 6 with guys from Grand Rapids like Svechnikov, Nosek and Frk as well as one of the top 7 guys (Zetterberg, Nielsen, Nyquist, Tatar, Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou) that gets pushed out of the top 6. All of this of course, is assuming there are no changes to the roster up front (I hope there will be) and everyone is healthy...

Agreed. I don't see anything special with this kid. Kind of surprised they offered him a contract to be honest. I expect he will start with the Griffins / Walleye next season, and will be back in Sweden within a year...