LeftWinger

Roster 13/8 WITH Green and XO Bertuzzi - Z - Nyquist AA - Larkin - Mantha OPEN - Nielsen - FRK Abby - Glenny - Helm Witko Kronwall - Daley DD - Green Ericsson - Jensen XO - OPEN ...any combo of taking away XO or Green makes TWO open D spots. Roster 14/7 WITH Green XO Bertuzzi - Z - Nyquist AA - Larkin - Mantha OPEN - Nielsen - FRK Abby - Glenny - Helm Witko - OPEN Kronwall - Daley DD - Green Ericsson - Jensen XO ...again, any combo of taking away Green or XO would leave a spot to compete for even with only having 7 D.

I feel I shouldn't even get into a debate with the 4lifer, but when was the last time Witko played D, he was more used as a forward in the latter stages of the season. You don't HAVE to have him on D. As a matter of fact on CapFriendly he is listed with the FWDS. IF you kept him as a FWD that would make 12 spots up front (without Booth) and 6 spots on D, 5 if you trade XO. Most teams carry either 13/14 forwards or 7/8 D. If you trade XO and sign Green there is 6 D, TWO spots open. Still TWO spots open up front if you go 14/7. ONE AND TWO if you go 13/8. Hicketts and Hronek are not guaranteed a spot but they are included when I say have the kids compete for a spot or spots. If we sign ALL our RFA's here are the guaranteed players: Zetterberg, Abby, Helm, Glenny, Nyquist, Witko, Larkin, Mantha, Frk, AA, Nielsen, Bertuzzi. That is TWELVE (12) Forwards WITH Witko. Leaving 1 or 2 spots depending on 13/8 or 14/7. Kronwall, Ericsson, Daley, DD, Jensen, XO. That is SIX (6) D. Opening up TWO spots if you go with the 13/8 combo. Re-sign Green, it is still ONE spot open if you go 13/8 combo. If XO gets traded or waived we're back to TWO spots 13/8. So if we don't get Dahlin, and we DO re-sign Green and DON'T trade XO, if Holland goes with 8 D, that is still ONE open spot for our draft pick (if its a D) and our younger players to compete for. If Holland goes 14/7, then the D is full (with Green and XO staying) but then there are 2 spots still open up front. I do like the forwards you suggest to fill up the lines. and BTW, the only echo in here is your IP Address...

So, if Green is coming back, that'll leave ONE spot unless XO is dealt/waived. Still TWO up front. What players do you guys think are going to make the jump. I know the Ras situation, I figure he will get a spot up front, sending him back to Jrs. will just hold him back from further development. If Holland is true to his word about the kids coming in, then Ras should be on the opening night roster. Hopefully proving me wrong with his play! Any goalies out there intrigue you guys? I'd like to see us sign one that will at least push Jimmy either to step it up (ya right) or push him right back to the bench.

I believe that Jensen will stay around because he is a good (nicely paid) 6/7 D-man as our D gets better. I am not saying Hicketts is above him ATM on the scale, but until we see what shakes out this draft and training camp, he would make a solid bottom pairing with Jensen. I liked Green, I guess it would not be the worst thing if he re-signed, but I am not in favor of it because we have Daley, Ericsson and Kronwall as the "Vet presence" and God I hope DD re-finds the reason(s) that 30 teams wanted to sign him a few season's ago. Back to our draft position, I really believe that any D we draft NOT named Dahlin with out 1st has a damn good chance of making the team out of this year's Camp. Obviously Dahlin would be nearly a shoe in to make the team, but think about the quality of D in the top 10, we haven't drafted any one D-man of their caliber in a very, VERY long time! IMO, Hughes, Bouchard, Boqvist and Dobson already have skills that are better than most of our D in our system, and some on our NHL club. Like i mentioned in a different thread, the top four "vets" on our team aren't going anywhere, they have a spot come October. They should sit most/all pre-season games and let our D kids compete for those two spots. ESPECIALLY our 1st pick this draft and Cholowski.

IMO, if you're the owner of this team and you want Yzerman as the GM, you don't "ask" Holland anything, you tell him that he's being promoted.

Oops, Must have gotten buried... Nevermind, I guess there is a thread already about it....great vid none-the-less.

Potentially the greatest video ever made! And no, it's not me!

I noticed on the list (and the whole one at eliteprospects.com) that there is another Foote, Suzuki and Bertuzzi gonna be drafted in 2019. Cal's brother, Nick's brother and Todd's son.

...and no, don't even mention Franzen as a joke.

The more influx of high end draft picks, the more we can and will attract that 27 year old UFA in his prime down the road. Mantha, Larkin, this years high end pick, (plus the 3 late 1sts) and next years high end pick, will no doubt help this team with the high end "home grown" talent, but then we can go back to adding a 27-30 year old UFA or two here and there to make us that much better. Here are some of the top prospects for the 2019 draft: - Alex Newhook (F) Victoria Grizzlies BCHL 45 22 44 66 10 - Kaapo Kakko (RW) TPS U20 Jr. A SM-liiga 38 25 30 55 16 - Peyton Krebs (LW) Kootenay Ice WHL 67 17 37 54 40 - Dylan Cozens (C) Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 57 22 31 53 20 - Arthur Kaliyev (LW) Hamilton Bulldogs OHL 68 31 17 48 20 - Jack Hughes (C) U.S. National U17 Team USDP 24 13 35 48 10 - Alex Turcotte (C) U.S. National U17 Team USDP 39 15 32 47 14 - Kirby Dach (C) Saskatoon Blades WHL 52 7 39 46 12 - Samuel Poulin (LW) Sherbrooke Phoenix QMJHL 55 16 29 45 42 - Ryan Suzuki (C) Barrie Colts OHL 64 14 30 44 10 - Nolan Foote (LW) Kelowna Rockets WHL 50 13 27 40 31 - Henri Nikkanen (F) JYP U20 Jr. A SM-liiga 50 20 18 38 10 - Dmitri Sheshin (F) Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk MHL 51 12 26 38 12 - Xavier Parent (F) Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 63 13 16 29 30 - Albin Grewe (C/RW) Djurgårdens IF J20 SuperElit 36 10 17 27 54 - Bowen Byram (D) Vancouver Giants WHL 60 6 21 27 52 - Sasha Mutala (RW) Tri-City Americans WHL 68 11 15 26 28 - Alex Vlasic (D) U.S. National U17 Team USDP 52 8 18 26 18 - Marshall Warren (D) U.S. National U17 Team USDP 52 6 19 25 26 - Matthew Robertson (D) Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 67 7 17 24 44 ...and here is just an example of some of the UFA available come 2020, when hopefully we'll be on an upswing and attractive to some players. (of course having JT and or Karlsson on our team beforehand would help too.) 1. Nicklas Bäckström UFA 30 C Left $8,000,000 $6,700,000 2. Alex Pietrangelo UFA 28 D Right $7,500,000 $6,500,000 3. Patrick Marleau UFA 38 LW, C Left $4,250,000 $6,250,000 4. Braden Holtby UFA 28 G Left $5,000,000 $6,100,000 5. Taylor Hall UFA 26 LW, C Left $6,000,000 $6,000,000 6. Corey Crawford UFA 33 G Left $5,000,000 $6,000,000 7. Ryan Callahan UFA 33 RW Right $4,700,000 $5,800,000 8. Mikael Granlund UFA 26 C, LW, RW Left $6,500,000 $5,750,000 9. Tyson Barrie UFA 26 D Right $6,000,000 $5,500,000 10. Mikko Koivu UFA 35 C Left $5,000,000 $5,500,000 11. Justin Schultz UFA 27 D Right $6,000,000 $5,500,000 12. Nathan Horton UFA 32 RW Right $3,600,000 $5,300,000 13. David Clarkson UFA 34 RW Right $3,250,000 $5,250,000 14. Torey Krug UFA 27 D Left $5,000,000 $5,250,000 15. Jared Spurgeon UFA 28 D Right $5,500,000 $5,187,500 16. Mike Hoffman UFA 28 LW, C Left $5,650,000 $5,187,500 17. Zach Bogosian UFA 27 D Right $6,000,000 $5,142,857 18. Brayden Schenn UFA 26 C, LW Left $4,500,000 $5,125,000 19. Andrew MacDonald UFA 31 D Left $5,750,000 $5,000,000 20. Andy Greene UFA 35 D Left $5,000,000 $5,000,000 21. Alex Galchenyuk UFA 24 C, LW, RW Left $4,900,000 $4,900,000 22. Sami Vatanen UFA 26 D Right $4,500,000 $4,875,000 23. Justin Faulk UFA 26 D Right $6,000,000 $4,833,333 24. Craig Anderson UFA 36 G Left $4,000,000 $4,750,000 25. Carl Söderberg UFA 32 C, LW Left $4,000,000 $4,750,000 26. Martin Hanzal UFA 31 C Left $4,000,000 $4,750,000 27. TJ Brodie UFA 27 D Left $4,838,000 $4,650,400 28. Clarke MacArthur UFA 33 LW Left $4,750,000 $4,650,000 29. Chris Kreider UFA 26 LW Left $4,000,000 $4,625,000 30. Tyler Toffoli UFA 25 RW, LW Right $4,800,000 $4,600,000 31. Troy Brouwer UFA 32 RW Right $4,500,000 $4,500,000 32. Christopher Tanev UFA 28 D Right $5,250,000 $4,450,000 33. Dmitry Kulikov UFA 27 D Left $4,333,333 $4,333,333 34. Michael Frolík UFA 30 RW, C Left $3,000,000 $4,300,000 35. Craig Smith UFA 28 C, RW Right $4,750,000 $4,250,000 36. Jonathan Ericsson UFA 34 D Left $4,250,000 $4,250,000 37. Evgeni Dadonov UFA 29 LW, RW Left $3,600,000 $4,000,000 38. Jake Muzzin UFA 29 D Left $4,450,000 $4,000,000 39. Marco Scandella UFA 28 D Left $4,750,000 $4,000,000 40. Mikkel Boedker UFA 28 LW, RW Left $3,000,000 $4,000,000 41. Roman Josi UFA 27 D Left $4,000,000 $4,000,000 42. Johan Franzen UFA 38 RW, LW Left $1,000,000 $3,954,545 43. Travis Hamonic UFA 27 D Right $4,875,000 $3,857,143 44. Cody Eakin UFA 26 C Left $3,850,000 $3,850,000 45. Matt Beleskey UFA 29 LW Left $3,000,000 $3,800,000 46. Justin Braun UFA 31 D Right $3,800,000 $3,800,000 47. Jacob Markström UFA 28 G Left $4,000,000 $3,666,667 48. Michael Stone UFA 27 D Right $3,500,000 $3,500,000 49. Vladimír Sobotka UFA 30 LW Left $3,000,000 $3,500,000 50. Radko Gudas UFA 27 D Right $2,500,000 $3,350,000 51. Thomas Greiss UFA 32 G Left $3,750,000 $3,333,333 52. Brenden Dillon UFA 27 D Left $3,900,000 $3,270,000 53. Charlie Coyle UFA 26 C, RW Right $4,250,000 $3,200,000 54. Trevor Daley UFA 34 D Left $2,200,000 $3,166,667 55. Patrick Eaves UFA 33 RW, LW Right $3,000,000 $3,150,000 56. Sam Gagner UFA 28 C, RW Right $3,200,000 $3,150,000 57. Jean-Gabriel Pageau UFA 25 C Right $3,400,000 $3,100,000 58. Conor Sheary UFA 25 LW, RW Left $3,000,000 $3,000,000

Looking at the roster, if we don't re-sign Booth or Green that leaves 2 open spots up front and 2 open spots on D for kids to make the roster 13 and 8. We also need a B/U goalie. Do you think Holland just puts Coreau there or does he look to UFA? Are there any NCAA goalies out there that are undrafted or unsigned? 13/8/2 with Witkowski being able to rotate if needed. Bringing up 4 kids would be a good thing if we don't land JT or if Holland doesn't bring back Vanek.

Tkachuk. Not a bad piece at 8 eh?

Don't forget complacency. They are set in their ways.

At this point, I don't care who wins the Cup, just someone please knock off the Penguins!

On the O side, it seems Zadina has passed Svechling into the #2 spot, but because of his local ties I'll say if we're going O, Svechling would be Holland's 1st choice, after that: Zadina Tkachuk Farabee Wahlstrom Hayton Looking further down with our 3 more picks, a ranking I saw had Noel at 22, Miller at 30 and Samuelsson at 31. If they inched down a wee bit, we could haul in a draft that could rank 2nd behind 1989.

On the spot time. You're Holland, you're drafting a D with your first pick. With the obvious #1 being Dahlin, what is your order preference after that? For me, because of our need of a RH puck mover first: Dobson Bouchard Boqvist Hughes Really though, they're all elite and IMO can ALL challenge for an open spot this season. Trade XO, do not re-sign Green, that leaves two spots to vie for. If Hicketts is going to be a 6/7, with Jensen or injury replacement, we need to give our draft pick every chance to win a spot in the top 5.

What have you done with the rest of our Current D? You mention giving Karlsson top dollar, that will be next summer, we'd still have DD, Daley and Eriksson under contract at that point.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/john-torchetti-will-not-return-to-detroit-red-wings/ar-AAvYYL2?ocid=spartanntp&ffid=gz Yep...

It also needs to be said that the Wings aren't the only NHL team that holds prospects camp there. I think they host 4(?) team's prospects in the tourney that comes there every year. So it would most definitely be beneficial that the arena do the upgrades. Costly, yes, but worth it IMO.

Ya, I didn't think of them, but I try not to think too much about the Penguins. Veleno would be a great addition, man there is so much to choose from! Can we somehow get 17 1st rounder's?

Basically what we are all trying to say is this top 10 is so good, we really can't go wrong! The only way Holland can screw this up is if he gets #1 and doesn't draft Dahlin!

Thing is, Larkin is our future #1 Center (if not already) Sure Veleno would be a great pick up, but would we be squandering one of them on the 2nd line? They both cannot be #1 C's... Personally, If I am not getting Dahlin, then if we trade AA, VEG's pick and a 2nd to get another top 10-12 pick, I am taking another D. Lets say I get Hughes with our pick, then trade up to #9 and Bouchard or Boqvist is still there, I am taking one of them. I know we need a lot of things, but man if we could score BOTH Hughes Bouchard, my goodness! Hell even if we got Dahlin, making a deal for another top10-12 is not a bad idea either. Could you imagine Dahlin AND Hughes for example? Nice! Honestly though, I think just trading AA and VEG's pick can get us somewhere around 10-12. I might offer up one of those 3rds, but I like our 2nds, we could really score big with two picks in the top 12 and two more in the top 5 of the 2nd.

I think the best thing to do, whether we get Dahlin or not, is to trade XO. He obviously does not make the Dean's (Bashill) list when it comes to his preference of players. W/Dahlin (in no particular order) Dahlin - Kronwall Daley - Jensen DD - Ericsson Hicketts w/o Dahlin (re-signing Green) DD - Green Daley - Jensen Ericsson - Krownall Hicketts I like the idea of having Wit to play D or O, he can be the 12th/13th FWD and 8th D on an emergency basis. Like I said before though, we KNOW that Kronner, E, Daley and DD aren't going anywhere. If we draft one of the other D (Bouchard/Hughes/Boqvist/Dobson) I would give him and Cholowski ALL the opportunity to make the club by playing in all the pre-season games competing for a job against Jensen, XO (if not traded) Hicketts and whomever else. I don't think its a bad thing if our D consists of: Daley - Kronwall DD - Hughes/Bouchard/Boqvist/Dobson Cholo/Hicketts - Ericsson Its is not a bad thing to have your top 6 drafted player playing on your team in the 1st year. It won't hurt.

The idea of two towers like Miller and Samuelsson one day on our blue line sounds great! If we could snag both of them with Vegas and Ottawa's pick, all would be good in thed world! We may get one, but I am not sure either of them get to the second round, even if it is 33 and 36. If we stay at 5 or drop, and we cone out of June with Hughes/Bouchard/Dobson and Miller and Samuelsson with our 1st three picks....wow! But really there is so much talent available, how could anyone screw it up?

If we draft any one of Hughes, Bouchard or Dobson, I'd give them every pre season game to try to make the team. Kronner, E, DD, they're not going anywhere, they can sit out most of the pre season games.