krsmith17

There are a lot more elite goaltenders drafted beyond the 1st round than elite goaltenders drafted in the 1st round (top 10 (or top 4...) in particular)...

Of course there's a chance he'd get claimed, but I wouldn't bet on it. If we did waive him, I would be hoping he'd go unclaimed to send him down to GR for added depth. But if he were claimed, and placed on waivers again a couple weeks later, and we didn't put in a claim to immediately send him down to GR, I'd say it was a bad move by Yzerman. At which point, I'm sure you would both agree...

I'm not "ignoring the bottom six", I just don't see Ehn as a long term option in the bottom six. You're lumping Ehn and Glendening together, and that's where we disagree. I think Glendening is one of the better bottom six (4th line) players in the league. I think if Ehn were waived tomorrow, he'd go unclaimed. Maybe he becomes as good / valuable as Glendening in a few years, but I don't see it. I've also advocated re-signing Glendening. He's become one of my favorite players on this team. He's exactly what you want in a 4th line center. Capable of shutting down the opposing teams top lines, and also chip in a little offensively.

For the most part, I've only defended players I feel have top 6 / top 4 potential, Jurco and Smith foolishly included, but also Larkin, Mantha, DeKeyser, etc. I don't feel Ehn has that sort of upside. I see him as a very replaceable 4th line winger. To be fair, I'm not really defending Comrie as much as I am bashing the non-move to bring him back into the organization for added depth. I would have liked to see him stick with the team a little longer, but it is what it is... I don't think Glendening should ever play up the lineup either. I love Glendening for what he is, but what he is is a 4th line center / winger. He can play on the 3rd line in a pinch, but he should never see time in the top six. I think it's totally fair to be down on a player, but to say he sucks is dumb to me, but this is just the Larkin argument all over again. I don't get it, but whatever. You do you. I just finished watching the Griffins game, and Poulin played well. We lost 2-1 in a shootout and Poulin stopped 25 of 26 shots, 1 of 3 in the shootout. Hopefully he can keep that going.

I'd take Ott over Nielsen...

I hope you're right. Askarov has already been compared to Price by Canadian media...

Nah, no midday drinking for me today... unfortunately... I guess that's sort of the same thing. Kind of... I think Ehn could possibly improve, slightly. But I don't think he has "potential" as a long-term NHLer... I don't see anything spectacular with Ehn's defensive game, and he provides little to no offense. In my opinion, there are guys that can step in, and provide what he does defensively, while providing more of an offensive punch. I don't see Ehn lasting much longer in the league, but if he turns into anything close to Glendening, I'd be more than happy to admit I was wrong. Yeah, he should have more potential because of where he was drafted, but I don't agree with your "he sucks" just because he hasn't yet reached that potential. I don't think the year Bernier entered the league has much to do with what Comrie could become. Rinne didn't crack the NHL full time until he was 26. Does that mean he could become as good as Rinne? No... We disagree on the timeline of goalies and how difficult they are to project. I guess that's also why we disagree about taking Askarov with our 1st round pick. Yzerman should care about goaltending depth. Which is why I think he made a mistake not sending Comrie to GR. To be honest, I think maybe Comrie let it be known he didn't want to be here, and if that's the case, f*** 'em. I can't think of a logical reason Yzerman wouldn't retain an asset he just traded for. "Maybe he didn't like what he seen". I get that, but again, after two games? I don't buy that. Maybe it was his attitude? That makes more sense than what he showed (or didn't show) in those two games... I don't know... Anyway, I'm done disputing the Comrie situation. We clearly disagree. No big deal.

Lol nah, I have a full head of hair. Starting to get some grey's though... Doesn't matter. Yzerman destroys both...

Babcock may have nice hair, but he's an ugly son of a b****... Blashill is a better looking dude, even with his lack of hair and facial expressions...

Great point. That's a tough one... Who would we have signed the following season though?...

I've never once said that Ehn can not improve. Sure, he may have potential, but potential to be what? I don't see him as anything more than a 4th liner (at best) at the NHL level. Svechnikov also has potential, but in my opinion, his potential is much higher. He could, if he can stay healthy and everything goes right, become a middle six winger at the NHL level. Comrie also has potential, but goalies take a lot longer to develop, and are so much harder to gauge, so he could be a career AHLer, or he could become a decent NHL starter / back-up, similar to Bernier. This is the first time you've admitted that Comrie has potential though, so maybe all of this back and forth for days wasn't completely useless... So now explain to me why you thought / think it was a smart move by Yzerman to let Comrie go for nothing, when he could have sent him directly to Grand Rapids? I mean, it took a full week for the trickle down effect to hurt the Griffins. They play tonight, and could have had a reliable goalie like Comrie, but instead Poulin will start with Nagle backing up. Our goaltending depth is aaawwful...

Hronek > Chychrun Hronek + Cholowski (or whatever we get in a trade) >>> Chychrun

Different positions. Different prime years. Different developmental paths. All been disgused... Now explain why a (no too long ago) highly regarded 23 year old winger that missed a significant amount of time to injury, sucks. But another 23 year old winger that has shown very little at the NHL level in his year and half, still has potential... This should be good...

But isn't Gallant exactly that? "The Old Boys Club"?

I already answered that question... Why does a 23 year old player that has put up 11 points in 95 games still have potential, but a 23 year old player (7 months younger, and missed an entire season to injury) that has put up 4 points in 20 games, suck?

As you know, I've long been a Blashill supporter, but at some point someone needs to take the heat for all the blowouts. There's been a LOT. That's usually the coach. I agree though, if Yzerman doesn't see a suitable replacement out of the coaches available now (/this summer), I'm completely fine with riding it out with Blash. I could see Yzerman and Gallant reuniting though, and I wouldn't hate it.

If we were talking about a highly skilled player, that just hasn't yet gotten an opportunity, I'd agree. At this point though, Ehn has shown very little skill, and has had plenty opportunity. Another player you say "sucks", is exactly what I just described. Highly skilled player (high draft pick), that just hasn't yet gotten an opportunity (due to injury). At worst, I think (sucky) Svechnikov could be a significant upgrade over Ehn (the player you're so eager to defend)... Could Ehn be a reliable 4th line winger? Sure, I guess, but I see him out of the NHL within a couple years...

I don't disagree. We badly need an upgrade between the pipes. But are you saying we should keep Blashill around?

In my opinion, yes. Organizational depth... Do you think Andersson is no longer with the organization because he wasn't good enough for the AHL? No. Andersson is no longer with the organization because he wasn't good enough for the NHL. He couldn't hack it in Detroit, so rather than playing in Grand Rapids, he moved back home to Sweden to play in the SHL. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Ehn take a similar path, but if he wants to stay in North America, I'm all for re-signing him to play in Grand Rapids.

Why keep things status quo though? I'm far from a Blashill hater. I think he's a lot better coach than he gets credit for. This team isn't winning s***, regardless who's behind the bench, but losing this often, this badly, something's gotta give. Consistently getting blown out in games is not good for morale. If Gallant wants a job tomorrow, it should be his. In saying that, I wouldn't be completely against letting Blashill finish off the season, but after an 8-2 thumping last night, now is as good a time as any to let him go. I'm sure Gallant has a soft spot for Detroit and the Red Wing, and is great friends with Yzerman, so I'm sure he'd take the job, if Yzerman wants him...

Players (forwards) prime / developmental path is much different than goaltenders... but you know this. He can... I'd be okay with signing Ehn to another two-way contract this summer, with the purpose of sending him to Grand Rapids for organizational depth...

I don't really think saying that a 4th line plug "sucks" is all that comparable to saying that a 1st line center "sucks"... I sure hope he can bounce back to his 12 point pace of last season (yet to score 12 points in his career). If he can, we'll have a real player on our hands...

Holland is awful at evaluating defensemen... The conservative Kenny Holland has made two trades since becoming GM of the Oilers. The first was the Lucic for Neal trade. Great trade for Holland. The second trade Holland made was defense prospect, John Marino (2015, 6th round pick) to Pittsburgh for a 2021 6th round pick. Marino just turned 22 years old, and never played a single pro game for the Oilers / Condors. He went to Pittsburgh and impressed enough to make the team out of camp. He has since put up 23 points (4 goals, 19 assists) in 44 games. So Holland got a 6th round pick for a defenseman that would rank second on his team in points behind only Klefbom, ahead of Nurse, and 8th among NHL rookies, 4th among NHL rookie defensemen...

I disagree. I see a lesser skilled Joakim Andersson.

At the age of 23, Ehn's is a borderline NHL player. What will he be when he enters his prime?