Richdg

Mock drafts are always changing. For example I saw 1 today with Nico as the #1 pick ahead of Patrick.

How about just being open and honest? We are going through a tough time and have a ton of work to do so that the team can return to the top. Would that be to hard to say? Most of us fans already know it, so admit it so we all can move forward. There is no hiding who and what we are. Tell us where we want to go! The past is the past, so it no longer matters. The present sucks, but the future can be whatever we want it to be.

2nd round, Jake Ottinger G https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=jake+ottinger+hockey+highlights#id=4&vid=56afbf8b9a9a61d12a80b1ccf8ade7c2&action=click https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=jake+ottinger+hockey+highlights#id=7&vid=4ff55b419000be8dc7ccd3e7390ef331&action=view

Some 2nd round options: Adam Ruzicka 6-4/205 LHed C/LW Sarnia Sting

Hague: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=nicolas+hague+hockey+highlights#id=1&vid=9caec6bca2f33cd41c5b72cb9cc07024&action=click http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/scouts-take-mississauga-steelheads-defenceman-nicolas-hague/ Any one of those 4 in the 1st and I am a happy happy man. 3 of the 4 could play for Detroit next season-all may get "overrippened".... Hague needs the most time.

Foote: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=callan+foote+hockey+highlights#id=1&vid=fac539d74ed019bace8ac575eaae0abd&action=click https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=callan+foote+hockey+highlights#id=2&vid=7d134ca2e8d4000df28445827ae7856d&action=view https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=callan+foote+hockey+highlights#id=6&vid=d1f26c2f3cba3dacf00e4b3d8ade8e17&action=view

Some video's for your viewing pleasure: Patrick https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=nolan+patrick+highlights#id=1&vid=19d4912ffc8a5885b6bd8071d8eb0607&action=view https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=nolan+patrick+highlights#id=3&vid=9cc47b5f1c5f6135664e513a2918fed8&action=view https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=nolan+patrick+highlights#id=5&vid=dcea0cebc43e7b42153dc4571a399d20&action=view Rasmussen: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=michael+rasmussen+hockey+highlights#id=2&vid=4965db36c3bca512ac0ce3c91dcbc062&action=view https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=michael+rasmussen+hockey+highlights#id=1&vid=a2e92450f9b2ba8cfbd067e554895df4&action=view https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=michael+rasmussen+hockey+highlights#id=3&vid=e645db9a52a743cde0296a7b8f9a4066&action=view

For years Holland joked about retiring when Lidstrom did. if only........

I was driving home from work listening to the game. After the game during the post game show while talking about the POG, Paul Woods said "Lots of rumors flying around Detroit about trading Mantha for a Dman". AAARRRRRGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do we have a #1 Dman? Nope. Many teams don't. Yes I use #1 and elite as the same. Every sport has this as well. Ace of the staff in baseball is a classic example. Many teams don't have an ace. They have their best pitcher, but that don't make him an ace. We have our best defenseman (I am really stretching the word best here) but that don't make him a #1.

Maybe, but to what point? Oh well that is why they play the games.

He said it over the summer. Don't remember the month. It was part of his parity/hard to win rant trying to excuse himself about letting the team fall apart.

That is your opinion, which is fine. Offensive Dmen are ALWAYS overrated. You brought up Coffey a couple of posts ago. Yes one of the all-time great offensive Dmen. HOFer. But Bowman fired him twice. Why was that? If he is so good and makes a team so much better then why would the best coach of all time chase him out of town twice? Because there is more to it than just points. A defenseman has to play defense.

It means what I said. Nothing more. The team has earned 5 out of 8 points without him in the lineup. It is a small sample.

Yes. Clear the decks. I would look to move everyone over 26 for picks and prospects. We need to free up the cap space and get younger and more athletic. New coach and GM would also help.

It was a great day and game. MANtha is growing up and becoming a star before our eyes. BTW has anyone noticed our O has been playing better without Green? For the season we have averaged 2.33 goals per game. But in the last 4 games without Green we have scored 14 goals or a 3.66 goals per game average. That is a big jump. Yes it is a very small sample, but it is interesting......

Kronwall was never a #1 Dman. He was a #2 at best. his D has always been average at best, but his O has been very good in the past. But again these are my opinions. Others may not take such a strict look at guys. I do. But that gets us back to the point. With so few true #1's in the league, how many teams will give them up? None. Of the much larger group of #2's how many are available? Only a couple. Holland missed on them this summer, let's hope and pray he doesn't do so again this summer when everyone believes more moves will happen. I would love to see a top 4 of DD, Shattenkirk, Fowler, and Trouba. That would be one of the better BL groups in the NHL. Do I think that will happen? Nope.

Sure. First they have to be great defensively. The first and primary job of all defensemen is to prevent goals from being scored. Second do they run the backend of their team?They are the one directing traffic, calling out who takes who. Third are they a physical presence? Clearing the crease, getting the loose pucks in the corner, making F's pay for daring to go in front of the net, etc.... Fourth do they score? I care more about the goals scored from the BL than the assists. Can a Dman get to 12-15 goals scored each season. Fifth, are they durable? do they play 75+ games each year? No player helps his team from the training room. Sixth, do they show the leadership needed? Now some of those things are very subjective. But some are not. Let's actually talk some different examples. Letang. he might be the best offensive Dman in the NHL. Do I consider him a #1? No. Not even close. he doesn't play D at all and offers 0 from the physical standpoint. Keith and Seabrooke. Keith by far gets the most press-he is the more offensive guy, but IMHO Seabrooke is the better Dman. To me Seabrooke is the #1 and Keith is the #2. But there is no doubt about the fact that they are the best pair in the NHL. Burns and Buflyglein (Spelling). same size, same age, both are great offensively. But Buff is a #2 at best. he doesn't play D very well. Burns however is good at D and why I would consider him a true #1 Dman. Others that are true #1 in my opinon: Webber, Subban and Doughty. Soon to be joined by Ekblad and Jones.

Just because a player is listed as a #1 or #2 etc.... doesn't mean that is what they really are. Go back a few years. Kronwall was our #3 Dman behind Nicky and Rafalski. They both retire, and Kornwall became the #1. But was he really a true #1 Dman? No. Good yes, but not a true #1. To be fair I have a really high standard for guys being a #1. There are maybe 10-12 of those guys in the NHL, that is it. Then there are another 15-20 guys that are strong #2's. Getting a top 10 player at any position makes your team better. Mantha is not yet but neither is Fowler. Arguing which is better and which you prefer is like asking who would you rather have, Gretzky or Orr? I would prefer Gretzky but I can see why some would take Orr. At this point in time we don't need to move 22 year olds for 25+ year old players that are UFA's in 1.5 seasons and have big cap hits. Heck we might be able to pick Fowler up this summer for much much less as teams try to not loose guys to the GK's.

That is a maybe. We had babcock and were barely any better than we are now in the standings. He is the best in hockey. The has less talent than when he was here. Yes Blashill has been subpar as a coach. But even if we get the next Babcock we are what? maybe 5 points better in the standings? The team needs to face the trueth so that we can put together a plan for the next 3-5 years that will have us moving back towards winning SC again. It is going to take some time. That means we needs to play the under 25 guys 20+ mins per game and find out what they are.

A page or 2 ago Cayden Primeau G (Keith's son) and Kelton Hatcher D (Darien's son) were mentioned. As best as I can tell Primeau is a mid round pick anywhere from mid 3rd to early 5th. Hatcher is a late round/undrafted guy. Neither is anywhere as big as their dad's....... To bad! A couple of more son's of former players over the next 2 drafts. Adam Foote's next son Nolan is a 2019 kid. He is a LW and is already 6-2/175 and projected to be a top 20 guy in that draft. The next guy is one I am getting very interested in and that is Mattias Samuelsson LD 6-3/210, Kjell's son. He is a top 15 guy for the 2018 draft and is already committed to play at Michigan. If we go Foote this year and samuelsson in 2018, they get added to Dekeyser, Sproul, Oullett, Marchenko, and Cholowski, that becomes a very very good defensive group.

Ok the next 9 for the draft, no order: 1. Hischier C 6-0/175 LHed. Plays for Halifax, 31 games 23 goals 25 assists. Known for his vision and passing. More quick than fast. 2. Tolvanen LW 5-10/180 LHed. Plays for Sioux City, 23 games 16 goals 11 assists. Speedy undersized sniper. 3. Foote RD 6-3/200 RHed. Plays for Kelowa, 38 games 3 goals 27 assists +12 on the year to date. Good skater great passer and shooter from the point. Good defensively, lacks dad's snarl...... 4. Pettersson C/LW 6-2/161 LHed. Sweden, 27 games 12 goals 15 assists. 5. Mittelstadt C/LW 6-1/200 LHed. Plays for Green Bay, 16 games 8 goals 13 assists. Fast riser, college bound, considered to be an all around offensive force and solid defensively. 6. Hague LD 6-6/215 LHed. Plays for Mississauga, 33 games 13 goals 16 assists 60 PIM's. Big physical Dman with good shot from the point. 7. Tippett RW 6-2/205 RHed. Plays for Mississauga, 34 games 26 goals 16 assists. Great speed and great shots: slap and wrist. Good defensively. 8. Valimaki LD 6-2/201 LHed. Plays for Tri City, 32 games 12 goals 23 assists. Good solid Finnish Dman. 9. Comtois LW 6-2/201 LHed. Plays for Victoriaville. Has good size, good speed, and good skills. But what is really good at: he keeps coming at you over and over and over again. He play play a speed game a skill game or a gritty game. Not the best at any of those but very good at all. He doesn't give up, great work effort. That is a total of 16 guys for us in the 1st round. To bad we can't take 2 or 3! I don't care if we go F or D we need both. The one thing I do want is a guy that is ready and able to play in the NHL next season. we need the help now and can't wait 3-5 years for a guy to develop.

It is the same. You can get the 1st overall if you are the 14th team. Now it is a very small chance-1% but you can get it. Vegas has been guaranteed a top 6 pick with the same odds as the 3rd worse team- 11.5%. There is no guarantee about how far you can drop like before-no more than 1 spot lost in the lottery. The odds say we will pick between 5th and 10th overall.

Yes we stepped back and some of that was the coaching change. But some of that is/was the players. Nyquist and tatar began their return to normal last season. Z was terrible the second half-which I expect to happen again this year with the way we are over using him. But these are all symptoms. Fact is there is no one part of the team that anyone can point to and say we are set at this position. G was going good but now Howard can't stay healthy. Mrazek has stepped back and Coreau isn't the answer. We need help everywhere: coaching, forwards, defensemen, and G's.

To be clear, this was based on the preseason rankings. I haven't checked for the midseason rankings yet. I know Nico is on the rise. Player will rise and fall between now and draft day. For the 5th time, its a lottery. As long as we miss the PO's we can pick anywhere from 1st to 14th. Where is YTBD.