ChristopherReevesLegs

So youre Holland and everyone in the league knows youre desperately trying to offload Mrazek. Philly finally shows interest, but theyd like to speak to Petr in order to feel comfortable finalizing the deal... and youd say no? Why?

All that does is set our timeline back further, and seeing as hes probably our best draft pick outside of Larkin and Mantha since 1999-2000, no I wouldnt.

The last 2 whole seasons prove that statement wrong. I knew the vibes around the board were too upbeat and positive today. Thank you Brett for your complete lack of joy. People like you even us out.

Jimmy Howard will make a great GM one day.

I didnt say teams could talk to any player under rival contract. I said I believe teams can talk to a player under rival contract with that rival teams permission. Why would a team allow such a thing? To offload said player and complete a deal. Why wouldnt't a team offer permission? Just like you said, in order to get something for a player that may be going UFA anyway. If you want to dig through the CBA go for it, im not positive im correct. But right now youre misconstrewing my assertion.

Hooooya

May the rage flow through you

They're definitely making it hard for him. I think he will probably Stamkos the league and re-sign last second.

Hamilton not on the market I guess

Sounds like Bergevin is in full Bergevin-mode again this year. Excitement to come. Chia couldn't move Lucic I see

Ha ha exactly We might be out of luck on Tkachuk Mikey Arizona picks 5

IMO, at this point it's just tradition. Just like not touching the eastern/western championship trophy, or throwing octopi. It's just what you do, and I think Bettman has the same attitude as he's pretty much embraced at this point.

Take all them Leaf bois money please I'm not this year, but I've been to one before. It's pretty boring just sitting around watching the tables and the picks slowly get made, but if you wanna see/meet staff of any kind it's really good for that. Scouts, coaches, and GM's will walk around the arena like normal folks for once. In one day I exchanged words, however brief, with John Chayka, Tony Granato, Brad May, Brian Burke, a Montreal scout, and Bob Mckenzie and his son (who I believe is a scout). I saw a lot of other recognizable faces too, but I can't remember now. But like I said the draft itself I found pretty anticlimactic... probably something I recommend doing once though.

You and I are gonna be the only ones happy when we draft Tkachuk. Cheers!

Well that's 4 pm for me and I'll have to at least start watching at work... Perhaps a good time to bust open the filing cabinet bourbon?

Anybody know when specifically drafting starts tomorrow? I can't seem to find a start time oline

And opposing fans would say: "The Red Wings are no good, dirty, pieces of s***!!" And I'd say: "YES... YES WE ARE"

Yup, the way Button spoke of Hughes makes me think it's him

And I agree, we are an outside option. But I will still hit my pipe and pray... Karlsson's become available very rarely Oh I think if Karlsson was a pending UFA his rights could go for a 1st rounder... I have no evidence to support that notion though

Listening to Craig Button on the Red & White Authority right now... here's his general opinions on our draft: Bouchard - Like Larry Murphy, and he's big, which is an element the Red Wings would like to add to the defensive prospect pool. Dobson - Complete 3 zone player. Also big. Extremely high compete level. Plays efficiently allowing him to eat big minutes (like a top pairing guy) Boqvist - Really good offensively, Karlsson style, but has compete level issues (Button really soured me on this player) Hughes - Button seems to love Hughes, gave him very glowing praise, incredibly skilled and confident with the puck on his stick, going to be a go-to guy in the NHL one day Zadina - Can score from all areas of the ice, cant go wrong here. Button doesn't believe Zadina will be there when we draft. Tkachuk - Has all the intangibles, hard nosed, very good at making plays in tight, understands the temperature of the game and elevates his game accordingly in big moments, makes life incredibly difficult on opponents. Hayton - Reminds Button of Bergeron in terms of style of play. He's never out of position. Wahlstrom - incredibly hard shot, incredibly quick release, incredibly good accuracy. Button believes he may end up the best goal scorer of this draft. Kotkaniemi - Reminds button of Kopitar. He simply does it all. You're getting a good player. Button believes we will take one of Bouchard, Dobson, or Hughes with the 6th pick, and then a center (he specifically mentions Ty Dellandrea out of Flint) with the 30th. However, if we take a forward with the 6th, Button believes we will draft a Dman (he specifically mentions Nils Lundkvist out of Sweden) with the 30th. Nils Lundkvist sounds especially intriguing to me. He's a 17 year old Dman that shoots right. I came away from Buttons interview really liking Hughes and Tkachuk...

Unfortunately, I don't have the patience to dig through the CBA at the moment. Yeah I think any team would and should want to speak with Karlsson before finalizing the trade. It is risky to a complete a trade of this size with a UFA period right around the corner. And if Ottawa wants the deal done, I'd think they'd allow it. I don't remember a single player whose had their rights traded being anywhere near Karlsson level. Usually they're traded for a low level pick and the risk is fairly low. Which is probably why conversations never took place, like in the instance of Vanek and Wisniewski's rights being traded to the Isles, only to be shipped out again. Karlsson is not UFA yet though, he can always be traded again, if necessary, if he refuses to re-up with the Wings.

IDK, but won't it be hilarious and so Islander-like if John decides to jet anyway after all these changes?

I believe you can speak with the player when the team grants permission. The conversation could be as simple as: "Erik we want you to re-up long-term around the ballpark of 9 million AAV, are we a team you'd be willing to commit to?" If there's any hesitation you don't do the deal.

I disagree actually. I don't think Karlsson needs another phenomenal partner to be paired with him, he just needs a partner that compliments him. I firmly believe that player is Ericsson. Remember Karlsson/Methot... Methot was nothing to write home about alone, but together they were a fantastic pairing. Methot did the boring stay at home stuff that freed up Karlsson to wheel and deal. I very much think we can recreate that with Karlsson/Ericsson. Ericsson - Karlssson -------- I think that's a legit first pairing in this league Dekesyer - Daley ------------ Not a phenomenal 2nd pairing, but definitely not bad either. Kronwall - Jensen ------------ Jensen's mobility paired with Kronwall's skills and immobility could be an underrated 3rd pair Hicketts A player like Karlsson would simply change the entire face of our defense.