krsmith17

Looks like we'll be calling up two players (forward / defenseman) today. I thought Miller might be inserted for Abdelkader, but maybe the coaching staff has finally come to realize that both Ott and Miller should not be in the lineup... I'm assuming the defenseman is being called up for Kronwall to get another rest day on Sunday... Who will get the call? I'm assuming Frk after scoring 2 goals and adding an assist in last night's 4-3 shootout loss to Iowa, but it could also be Callahan or possibly even Nosek. On defense I assume (hope) it will be Russo...

Yeah, Svechnikov is third in the league in scoring as a 16 year old rookie. The two guys ahead of him are 18 and 19 years old, playing in 3 and 6 games more than Andrei... He leads the entire league with 1.5 points per game. Barring any serious injury over the next year and a half, I can't see him being available outside the top 3-5...

Love this kid. I agree with the Abdelkader with more skill comparison. It might be a stretch but I hope he develops into a Wayne Simmonds (says he models his game after) type power forward...

Coreau has been unreal in Grand Rapids. I'm assuming we'll see him in his first NHL game tomorrow night. I expect good things from this kid...

That's because no one really talks about draft eligible players two years in advance, unless your Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid. I have no idea how high he will go, but from anything I've heard / read, he should be a top 5 pick. Evgeny hasn't been off to a great start, struggling to adapt to the pro game, like most first year guys coming from junior (the Q in particular) do. He's looked good in most of the games I've seen though, granted I haven't watched the past 4 or 5 Griffins games...

Again, realistically we're not getting either. Svechnikov is likely going to be a top pick in the 2018 draft as well. It doesn't matter where a kid plays prior to being drafted, and it definitely doesn't matter where he wants to be drafted... I'm sure if he's still on the board when the Wings pick in two years time, they'll look long and hard at drafting him...

No he wasn't... He was drafted as a defenseman, and the Wings wanted him to convert to forward in an attempt to get themselves a 4th line goon that could wreck people. He played as a winger up until this year (if I'm not mistaken), probably because they realized he is not fast or skilled enough to ever make the NHL... Guy sure can throw 'em though...

You said "I doubt you've ever watched him play". I haven't. Where did I claim to have watched him play? I didn't. But I do know what kind of player he is from scouting reports... Skilled winger. He is projected to go that high, and both Patrick and Svechnikov "could" go number one... since they're not in the same draft class... Where did I say anything about center depth? I said we should be looking to beef up, as in adding quality over quantity, a few high end players not a dozen mediocre players... Zetterberg will be gone long before anyone from the 2018 draft ever plays a game for the Red Wings. Nielsen is a number 2 now, who knows what he'll be at the end of that contract. Larkin and Athanasiou (if both even end up as centers) have a ton of upside, but nothing close to what a Nolan Patrick has. Helm, Sheahan, Glendening, Ott, Turgeon, Nosek, etc. are all bottom 6 guys at best. Some won't be here in 3-5 years, others won't ever make it... I guess since you didn't bother bringing up the defense, you're well aware how weak we are in that position...

Sure, it would be "cool" to have the brothers on our team, but I wouldn't draft a player for that reason... Our strongest position for the past few years and for the upcoming few years was / will be forwards, in particular wingers. We should be looking to beef up the back end and to a lesser extent center, not drafting more wingers just because of bloodlines... We have just as good a chance at drafting Patrick as we do Svechnikov... So not only have you not seen the kid play, you also know very little about him. He won't be available in the 2nd round, let alone "rounds 2-7"... He is likely to go top 5, possibly as early as 1 or 2 overall...

Nope, can't say I have seen many 2018 draft eligible players yet... I suppose I'm in the minority there... I find it pretty funny that people have been clamoring for this kid for over a year now, just because we have Evgeni in our system... There has seriously been more talk about this Andrei Svechnikov kid than Nolan Patrick...

Exactly what this team needs... another left-handed skilled winger...

Larkin isn't going to be our savior, nor should he be expected to be. He's not on the same level as an Yzerman or a McDavid, but if all goes well he will be a very good top line center. He's still only 20 years old. But for this team to be successful, we're going to have to rely on depth and score by committee. I don't see any of our top young players becoming 80+ point players, but I think we could have a few 60+ point players. We're going to need Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou, etc. all producing, in order for this team to have any future success. I could really care less about the points our kids are putting up in comparison to the rest of the league. They'll be fine.

Why are you comparing our leading goal scorer with the league point leaders??? Makes no sense...

Smith out 4 weeks, no word on timeline for Bertuzzi yet... Jurco activated off LTIR. Will likely play on Tuesday.

Ott was a healthy scratch last night and should be every night if / when this team ever gets 100% healthy...

Yeah, I don't get why some still feel the need to talk like that a** hat Don Cherry... "Soft Euro's"... By the way, you can call a lot of players in this league soft, European, Canadian, American, whatever, but the fact that you're calling out Vanek for being soft is what I find most puzzling... Vanek is probably one of the hardest guys on the puck on our team. He's certainly not "soft"... I also agree that if we are trading a Vanek or Green at the deadline, that picks would be better than prospects. We should be trying to stock pile picks and possibly trade up in the draft. We need quality, not quantity. So Holland, F*** off trading our first for 2 seconds, or our second for 2 thirds...

Trade him at the deadline. If he's open to signing another short(ish) / cheap(ish) contract in the offseason, by all means, but I think he will be looking to get paid if he continues at a similar pace for the rest of this season... If that's the case, look to fill his spot elsewhere. I'd be open to trading Green as well if we're not in the mix around the deadline. I'm not sure though if Holland would sell, even if we're 10+ points out at the deadline...

I like this much better than TSN's awful prediction... If Howard continues this level of play though, you would think we might be able to get something for him before the draft...

I agree. The insistence of this organization to try to turn players into something they're not is what frustrates me the most. Not every player should be expected to play a defense first game. Sure, every player should play responsibly, but don't sit / demote a kid that generates offense because he lost his man on one shift. Let the offensive guys do what they do best, produce offense, and let the defensive guys defend... One thing I will say though is that I've been impressed with how well Sproul has been utilized thus far. And whatta ya know? The kid is actually starting to gain some confidence and has been playing great...

I think if a Sheahan or Jurco really turned it on and started to show some promise, and it came down to protecting one of them or Zetterberg, the right decision is to protect the kid with the upside over the declining vet. This team isn't contending for the Cup with or without Zetterberg, and we need to start thinking about the future, not the now. I don't care that Zetterberg is leading the team in points now, I care about who is going to be the better player in 3+ years from now. Realistically, I don't see either of Sheahan or Jurco making enough of an impact this season that this would become an issue anyway, but let's say Zetterberg finishes the season with 44 points in 76 games, Sheahan has 34 points in 80 games, and Jurco has 30 points in 55 games... I don't think it's as cut and dry as "well Zetterberg had more points, so he's the obvious choice to protect"... I will say it again though, I'm on the fence about protecting Zetterberg. He's one of my favorite players, I named my dog after him for f**** sake, but I don't necessarily think it's the right decision for the team going forward, IF a talented kid has to be exposed... In saying that, if Holland does protect Z, I definitely will not be upset with that decision, regardless how this season plays out... Now, if he wastes a protection on any (or dare I say, all...) of Kronwall, Ericsson, Glendening... I will be beyond pissed...

Must protects for me would be Nielsen (NMC), Mantha, Athanasiou, Sproul, Mrazek. Next in line would be Nyquist, Tatar and DeKeyser. That leaves two forwards and one defenseman, between Zetterberg, Abdelkader, Helm, Sheahan and Jurco / Kronwall, Ericsson, Green, Ouellet and Marchenko. I'd hate to waste a protection on a declining Zetterberg over a kid with potential, but I'd also hate to see Zetterberg end up in Vegas... In the end, I'd probably protect Abdelkader and Helm, unless Sheahan and / or Jurco show their worth in the next 6 months. On defense, it would be between Green and Ouellet for me, and even though Green only has one year remaining on his contract, I'd probably protect him over Ouellet. Of course some of this could change depending on how the rest of the season plays out, and if there are any trades made in that time (one can hope)...

I think he will protect Zetterberg and Kronwall out of "loyalty", regardless of whether or not we make the playoffs... I might consider protecting Zetterberg depending on what players are in play by the time the expansion draft roles around, but there's no way I'd protect Kronwall at this stage of his career...

I'd agree that he probably won't be protected, but I'd definitely argue that being the right decision. IF Jurco manages to crack the lineup on a regular basis, and puts up decent numbers, I'd without question protect him over two or three guys that Holland will protect...

If the expansion draft were today, then of course he wouldn't / shouldn't be protected, and definitely wouldn't be claimed. However, there are 60+ games left to the season, and if Jurco is able to crack the lineup and maintain a spot for the rest of the season, there's no reason to think he couldn't out produce Sheahan (who most seem to believe will be the one claimed). Jurco does have the skill to play at the NHL level, the only questions are, does he have the compete level and mental toughness... Also, will Blashill give him the opportunity with capable line mates for more than one game... By the way, Jurco scored the only goal last night for the Griffins, on the power-play, in a 3-1 loss. He also lead the team with 4 shots on goal.