krsmith17

Nemeth is solid defensively. Daley is not. Nemeth was also seven years younger. If Nemeth is still around in six years (he won't be), we should not re-sign him to another three year contract. Daley sucks, and the fact that you're insinuating that it has anything to do with race, shows what a tool you are.

"Still whining", says the guy that brings up a dumb debate from nearly a month ago... Larkin is / will be a legit 1C. Get over it.

Nope, I wasn't expecting much from a 34 year old, declining journeyman defenseman... and yet, he still fell short of my expectations. It was a bad signing.

Exactly. It's been more of a team problem than a goalie problem. It usually is. Improve the offense and defense at the top of the draft, and maybe take a flyer on a goalie in the later rounds. Or not. I'd personally never spend much time and resources scouting / drafting / developing goalies. There are always capable goaltenders every year in free agency, or on the trade market for relatively cheap.

I think we already have knocked some skater picks out of the park, and we'll continue to do so. I still think we'll get a monster (skater) at 4th overall this year. Any team in our position would have a lot riding on this lotto. Unfortunately, the team that is going to win it, is not one of those teams in our position... I'm all for thinking outside the box, but for me, that doesn't include taking a goaltender 4th overall, or at all in the top of the draft, in any trade back scenario.

Whatever you say bud...

You would have been okay with the Wings picking Knight last year, and having him over Seider? Really?... Yes, picking goalies is and likely always will be a huge risk, which is why, in my opinion, you should never waste a top pick, especially top 5-10 on one... Why? This seems like a terrible strategy... Take the best players available in the draft, and take a swing at free agents when you're ready to compete. No! I'd say leading up to the draft, it's more likely that Askarov slips than any other player in the top 20 this year. I highly doubt he slips all the way to 32, but no one thought Veleno would slip to 30 a couple years ago either.

Price is one of the very few that has worked out. Askarov is being compared to Price. Therefore, Askarov will work out as well... Knight hasn't done s*** yet, and odds are against him ever becoming the stud that you're looking for in the top half of the 1st round. Bottom line, there are way more goalies taken in the 1st round that become busts than Carey Price level... To each their own, but I personally wouldn't waste a 1st round pick on Askarov or any goaltender. If he drops to 32, I'd consider it, depending on who else drops there...

Yup. I said so in my previous post... The "+" usually implies a lesser piece. I'm not interested in any trade involving Hronek for the main piece being a late 1st round pick. Adding a mid level prospect doesn't change my opinion on that... Goalies are very different in my opinion. I would never use a top 5 / 10 / first round pick on a goaltender. They're way too unpredictable. If you look at the success rate on goalies drafted in the first round, it's very low... like less than 10%...

You'd trade Hronek for a late 1st round pick? Why am I not surprised? If we're considering trading a player like Hronek, it needs to be for more of a sure thing than Peterka or Gunler... I'd lean forward for this reason, but always BPA...

... says everyone every year. The more I think about it, the more I think the top three will be anything other than what has been projected upon us forever, and we'll end up with one of Byfield or Stutzle... Or maybe that's just the optimist in me... If not Los Angeles, it's also possible that Ottawa takes Drysdale with their first pick (3rd overall). If they're set on taking a forward and defenseman, thinking Yzerman might be eyeing the defenseman at 4, and knowing there will still be a plethora of high end forwards still available at 5...

What are the chances that LA, being pretty well stacked at forward, draft Drysdale at 2, leaving Ottawa the choice between Byfield / Stutzle, and the other to Detroit?... I know, probably not likely, but possible? Stranger things have happened... Almost every year, one of the "consensus top three" picks drops out of the top three... 2013 - Jones, 2015 - Marner, 2016 - Puljujarvi (apparently for good reason), 2017 - Makar / Pettersson (weren't considered top three, but probably should have been), 2018 - Tkachuk / Zadina, 2019 - Byram. Point is, we're not getting Lafreniere, but we could still possibly get one of Byfield or Stutzle... And even if we don't, we'll likely be getting a damn good player, and possibly the best player this organization has drafted in 20+ years... My order of preference after the top three is Raymond, Drysdale, Rossi, Holtz... If the draft does go as expected, I'd be more than okay with Yzerman trading back at 4 to 6 or 7, picking up another late 1st / early 2nd round pick...

Yeah, that's more of a personal thing. I f***ing loathe the Habs...

There was a higher probability that one of the "play-in" teams would win the lottery, with 24.5%, than the team with the worst record in the NHL, with 18.5% chance... Worst case scenario was dropping back to 4th. That obviously happened. I was pissed. I am pissed. But what makes it even worse, is the fact that a team that clearly doesn't need the help, at least not as much as the bottom feeders, will end up with one of the top prospects in the past 10+ years. A franchise player... If Lafreniere ends up in Toronto, Montreal, Pittsburgh, or Chicago, I will be pissed... Hopefully he ends up in Columbus or Arizona. I know most would be pissed if he ends up in Edmonton, but I'm here for it...

Why tho?

Get the f*** outta here with that s***...

This is great news for Detroit. I was hoping it would dip to around $78-80M next season, but I'll take a flat cap for the next three. This is a prime opportunity for Yzerman to acquire some major assets (prospects / picks) from teams like Toronto, Tampa, St. Louis, etc...

More of this. Less of this. And this. And this. Yes. Break out the good stuff tonight. We f***ing celebrate!

Completely agree. I'd be open to re-signing Gagner this off season, and Glendening and Helm after next season, all to short-term, 1-2 year contracts.

I've heard most people say that we should buy out Abdelkader over Nielsen, because of the extra year on his contract, but I completely agree with you here. I'd much prefer Abdelkader as a 4W, over Nielsen as a 3C. Ideally though, either would be scratched, which would also play in Abdelkader's favor, since he makes a mil less per. Neither provide much offensively, but at least Abby adds a bit of physicality. #grit... None of those players will be under contract after next season. The most likely candidates for Seattle are probably one of Svechnikov or Lindstrom, as the roster stands right now. Of course, a lot will likely change in the next 12+ months, so who knows... You misread the comment... It was about Ottawa getting bumped down to 6 (the lowest they can drop), meaning we would be bumped down to 4... Not Ottawa jumping up to 1, which is statistically the most likely outcome... The bold, I think everyone would agree with. Things will be broken.

There's no way there will be two. Maybe one. Which would still be great.

If either of them did end up on the "third pair" it would likely just be to balance handedness, not because any of them are actually third pair quality defensemen. I'm also of the mind that we need more balance handedness all over the ice (defense and forwards). It makes every aspect of the game that much easier, defending, breaking the puck out, passing cross ice, setting up one-timers, holding the offensive zone, etc... Which is why if we did have an elite right-side, and a subpar left side, I'd prefer to trade one of the right-handed defensemen for an equally skilled left-handed defenseman, rather than playing one of them on their off side. Top tier right-handed defensemen are always in high demand. If we have three, we'd be dealing from a major position of strength. Anyway, we're getting WAY ahead of ourselves talking about IF we draft Drysdale, and IF all three of Hronek, Seider and Drysdale develop into top tier defensemen, and IF Tuomisto and Lindstrom develop into quality NHL defensemen... I just want to find out tomorrow where we're drafting (hopefully #1), so that we can all agree that Lafreniere is our guy... I think defense is already a position of strength for this organization, relatively speaking, without drafting Drysdale. Maybe it's just because I value offense more than defense, but I'm more confident that we have four quality defensemen in the system, than I am that we have nine quality forwards in the system.

We're on the same page for the most part here.

You also don't wanna be another Toronto. All offense, no defense, and no Cup... There needs to be a balance. In saying that, I agree that we need offense, more than defense, but we also don't have an offensive defenseman that can push the play quite like Drysdale (is projected to be). I still say one of the big three forwards with any of the top three picks, but if we drop to four, it would be between Drysdale and Raymond for me.

Huh? If anything I'd say Byfield has the lowest bust potential of any draft eligible, outside of Lafreniere. He has the ceiling to be an elite 1C, and in my opinion, his floor is no worse than a middle six center. He already has the physical build, and the tools to be a quality NHL player.