LeftWinger

IF a goalie is what Yzerman covets, and someone takes Wallstedt in the top 5, maybe look for Yzerman to trade up to guarantee he gets Cossa before 22. Let's say we are looking at the #15 pick, you offer up the #22 and what else? Another pick or prospect? Honestly, I do believe Chicago is the key to getting Cossa though. I think if they lose Subban to Seattle they'll be taking Cossa at 12...there's no way we're getting into the top 10 with a trade unless its the #22 AND a top prospect.

That would be a nice number for him to have as well! Not many goalies with that number. I know Cholowski wears it, but just saying that is a cool number for a goalie. I am tired of the high numbers and of course the regular ones are boring.

Yes, but you're betting on us winning the draft lottery in one of those years. Like I said, I'll trust the pick no matter what, but if we're talking odds, I am thinking that McTavish has better than the 18% odds (of us winning the #1 pick) of becoming a top 2 C. Yzerman cannot hedge his draft on that. Even if he picks a C at #6 then ALSO wins next years lottery, he is still taking Shane Wright. Why "hope" you get to draft Wright or Bedard and pass up on a top 2 C? Dunno, like I said, I there with Yzerman whomever he drafts, but I don't see us winning the lottery next year, and we just may not even be a lottery team in 2023.

...so, to carry on with what @BarkBurgerman brought up in the "2017 Draft" thread, here are our picks in 2018. This seems to be a little better, but honestly, I do believe this is the summer that Yzerman "stepped away" from his duties with Tampa to be at "home" more with his "family." There were always the rumors that he was secretly a part of the decision making process from this particular off-season and up until he was officially hired. Just rumors...plus he's already traded Regula from this draft, one would think if he was in any of the decisions this draft, he would give "his picks" all the chances to make it in this organization. ..that being said, hindsight is always 20/20 and maybe we could've made a few better choices? I will still give Zadina the chances to prove he can be that player he was projected to be, but I will always wish we had gone D instead. I was hoping for Bouchard, but any of him, Hughes or Dobson would've been good. I wonder what we could acquire for Zadina 1 for 1, considering he still has that "potential" tag on him? I really hope McIsaac can shake his injury problems too. The three I am excited about (not mentioning Zadina since I already said I'd give him his chances) are Veleno, Berggren and if McIsaac can actually make it. I know Barton just signed and Brattstrom has one more year left on his ELC. He is 24 now though since he was drafted at 21. I am not too sure he is going to make an jump to N/A let alone The Wings. It's definitely looking as Hughes is the gem D in this draft so far. Yes, he has 10 less points than Dahlin, but he has played in 70 less games...albeit for a much better team than Buffalo. I think whoever made that final decision to draft Zadina (Holland or Wright?) made a catastrophic mistake not taking Hughes.

I certainly hope Yzerman takes a skater. On D, hoping for Hughes, on F, I am gonna go with the rumored McTavish. Obviously I will trust the pick, but I really hope we solidify the D and or the C positions first.

speaking of Seattle, I'm guessing they'll get a pretty good G in the expansion draft, but IF Wallstedt is truly a franchise goalie, it might make sense for Seattle to draft him, no? I mean, IF he is all that he is said to be, why not draft yourself a goalie that may be on your team for 20 years? Doesn't matter who they pick in the expansion draft really, they could draft themselves a the rock that will keep their franchise in contention for years and years once he jumps to the NHL and getts the starting position. Especially with this draft not really having a stud, franchise D or F. Even though Power seems to be the #1 pick, I wouldn't be surprised if Buffalo went with a C, especially if they trade Eichel. Beniers and Wallstedt going 1 and 2 would really mix things up! As a matter of fact, this mock shows Buffalo doing just that. https://thehockeywriters.com/2021-nhl-draft-the-hockey-writers-mock-draft/ also, I like this: ...I really hope Yzerman does this instead of the G. If Hughes is off the board, and they aren't that high on Edvinsson, I say get that impact 2 way C.

Quick follow up after autopsy. Novi, mi. https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/31764017/columbus-blue-jackets-goalie-matiss-kivlenieks-24-dies-tragic-accident?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab&utm_content=curated

Not saying this to be unsympathetic, and I am sorry to hear about this tragedy, but does this play into whom Columbus drafts now? This could mean Wallstedt isn't even there at 6. https://www.tsn.ca/columbus-blue-jackets-goalie-matiss-kivlenieks-dead-at-24-1.1663959 I admit, I don't know where he was on their G depth chart, this may not even impact their pick.

Well, I saw this on Twitter today, so there's that...

re: Petrotuzzi, ya just trade him to Boston for a pick, if that is where he intends on signing. re: Draft - I know all the hype with Wallstedt, but I feel it would be better to bolster the D and get a G with the 22nd. Hughes/Cossa. Cossa might end up being just as good as Wallstedt, but there's a chance a D at 22 won't be anywhere as good as Hughes. What Wallstedt and Hughes are BOTH gone by #6? re: Hof - What the hell isn't Pat Benatar in the Hall of Fame yet?!?! Come on Man!

Just a quick note on this (and I apologize for taking this thread off subject temporarily) but The Cups that Roy won with Colorado in know way were less talented than the Cups Ozzie won with Detroit. Evenly matched for the most part, but each in their right had superstar players that you can compare 1 to 1. With the exception of Lidstrom that is. But, I get it, and I doubt he ever gets in, but if we're talking numbers and Cups, he deserves it. BTW, I do believe Roy has had a couple of playoff stinkers too! Brings back great memories! anyhow, WTF is up with Petroluuuzzzi? Does he think he is better than the team? Bigger than the game? He could come here and get quality time developing into a starter. Instead he's gonna go sign somewhere and ride the pine or be in the AHL. Unless Yzerman told him, we're not the team for you kid. WTF would he unfollow them on social media? That's a high school move.

Honestly, Belfour has more wins BECAUSE he played 200 more games...BUT if you go by winning % Belfour is at .502 and Osgood is at .538, so you can argue that Osgood was the better winning goalie in less games played. Osgood belongs in the Hall, there no question. But since he was "normal" and wasn't flashy, he always gets crapped on. I don't care what team he played on, how good the defense was, throughout their careers, Belfour and Brodeur played on the 2 of the top 3 defensive teams in the NHL, Dallas and New Jersey always were at the top of the league when it comes to defense. Patrick Roy as well. A great goalie can only take you so far, you NEED that team in front of you to win. So ask yourself this if you think the ONLY reason Osgood was so, well, Good, is because of the Red Wings, then how good would Belfour, Brodeur and even Roy have been on crappy teams? Just look at the year Belfour was traded to San Jose. He was 11 and 15 on a Chicago team that was going downhill, he gets traded to San Jose and goes 3-9. He didn't come back to being a "great" goalie until he went to Dallas, (again) one of the best defensive teams in the NHL. Osgood, for comparison, got picked up by the Isles on waivers (Thanks Holland) and went on to play in 66 games, winning 32 of those and taking them to the playoffs for the first time in 8 years, taking a 5th place (out of 5) team in their division to a 2nd place finish that year. Also, when comparing him to Hasek (not saying he's Hasek) but in 2008, Hasek was struggling (ya he was older, but so was Ozzie) and Osgood came in a literally took that playoff by storm. He should've won the Conn Smythe, hands down. If they would've repeated in 09, he WOULD'VE won it, he was the best Goalie in that series too. Ozzie belongs there. Who cares about individual awards, sure, they're nice to look at on the mantle, but it's more about winning Cups and being the guy who helps your team more than helping yourself. BTW, #30 should be in the rafters too.

FWIW, Osgood has better stats than MAF. Even after factoring in the years he spent on crappy Isles and Blues teams. He's also won 2 Cups as a starter, MAF only 1 and it took a goal post to even win that. Ozzie deserves the Hall...especially if MAF gets in. Back on subject.

I got 2003 seniority!

I honestly would prefer the trade with Tampa (or someone who needs cap relief) in order to get assets and keep our #6 and use it on a LHD (my preference) or a forward that we may need, rather than use it for a G. Even if we acquired Alnefelt, I am still good if we were able to get Cossa at 22 though! Those two right there would potentially turn our G pool 180 degrees.

No, I am not talking some big revelation, but in all this talk about our G prospect pool and how important it is to get that spot filled via a young kid I just felt that with all the talk about whether or not you take a G in the top 10, we may have lost sight of the trade possibility with a team that needs to dump salary. I didn't look at Columbus, but they are not in need to dump salary, so acquiring one of theirs may cost too much, plus they are 27 already, not sure if that fits the rebuild timeline or model. Alnefelt is only 20 and Tampa will be desperate to shed salary. Not sure if they want to play the "cap-circumvention" game for a whole 82 games season this time.

So here's where I sit with my trades from above and re-signing our RFA's and the 3 UFA's. I also signed Ullmark as our 2nd G. Disregard to salaries because I just threw some numbers in there to get the rosters together. We have plenty of cap space so give or take whatever with the salaries I did. I am at 26 players without removing one for Seattle. Both Alnefelt and Newpower can safely be sent to GR with waiver exposure. I am in a pickle. I can probably do without Staal, but he was one of our solid bright spots last season back there. Also I forgot I am using a buyout of Nielsen, so that helps. So I now sit at 25 before removing a player to Seattle. Do I trade for both of the Tampa guys or sign Ryan? Do I not re-sign Staal? I feel I have to re-sign Glenny. But anyhow here's how I look, remember one of these players will be off to Seattle. Also, I did not align them to position,so disregard that too. Honestly though, as much as I want him here and make the roster, Veleno can also be safely sent to GR to start the season. So remove him, lose a player in expansion (unless they sign one of our UFA's) and I am right at 23. Bring it on! I agree 1,000,000% but has Cholowski earned it over Lindstrom? Shoot, maybe they sign Helm as a UFA and that would count as our loss. I think, right? Because they have two days of expiring UFA negotiating before the draft, so technically Helm would not yet be a UFA.

One thing we do have to remember is Givani Smith is out of waivers. If he gets protected, odds are he'll get a 2-3 year deal and he will have to be in Detroit to avoid the waiver wire. Same goes for Cholowski and Lindstrom, no waivers exemption. So in my scenario above, losing a player to Seattle, then having Smith here puts me back at 25 players if I re-sign Ryan and Staal. If I am acquiring salary to gain assets then I guess I can let Staal and Ryan go. But I will screw around with the Armchair GM a bit to see what I can do. This will be a tough go if Seattle takes a FWD or Heaven forbid, Yzerman leave Stecher unprotected and they choose him.

That is why I think it would be a good deal both ways. We have the cap, we need the G prospect, they need the cap. We could use them as TDL fodder to get a couple of 3rds back maybe. The only thing is, with the RFA's that will be re-signed, acquiring those 2 plus Pettersson fills up our roster pretty quickly! Might not be room for Ryan or Staal, but I'd be ok with that too. Depending on who who lose to Seattle also.

If anyone can do it, Yzerman can! Look what he got from The Rangers!

The only issue is, all of them have some kind of control (M-NTC) where they go. Obviously NTC and even NMC can be waived, but would any of those three waive it to come here? I went with Palat because he had the highest salary plus it was only one year. But ya, to get that G prospect, I'd even take two of these guys! prefer Palat and Killorn. I'd also up the pick to a 3rd! to TPA : 2021 3rd round draft pick to DET : Andrej Palat, Alex Killorn, Hugo Alnefelt I'd have to change up the Pit trade though since I don't want to lose both 3rd rounders: to PIT : 2021 4th round draft pick, rights to Evgeny Svechnikov (or maybe a D prospect) to DET : Markus Pettersson of our UFA's I resign Ryan, Glendening and Staal. Then I sign either Ullmark or Driedger to play with Greiss. I still draft D at #6( prefer Hughes or Edvinsson) but if a hot FWD is there, maybe him.

Speaking of Palat, to go along with the below quote from me yesterday and one that I put in the draft thread, Tampa will be in DIRE need to shed salary this off season. Palat has the one year left at $5.3M. It won't solve all their problems, but it would bring them just under the cap, although they would need about 4-5 more players signed, they'd be at 18. Anyhow How about Palat, Alnefelt for a 4th at the draft? Then we can use #6 on skater that we need. Aslo, more specifically regarding the below idea, Pettersson for a 3rd at the draft. we have two 3rds and two 4ths and of course plenty of cap space. Palat can be a salary dump to help them and get us a top goalie prospect, and Pettersson can be a salary dump for Pittsburgh as they look to reload for better run. Like mentioned below, Pettersson fits the age range, and rebuild timeline, PLUS is a higher end prospect on the LH side. In reagards to G's, I am pretty convinced Bernier is going UFA and trying to land on a team with Cup chances, maybe even back to Colorado. I am ok with that because with better D, Greiss will be better and I am also ok with trying to get Mrazek back. But there are other options like Ullmark for example. Another one to consider could be Chris Driedger from Florida. With Bobrovsky tied up and Knight emerging, Driedger could be looking to go somewhere for playing time. Plus he's only 27. We can acquire Alnefelt, get Petruzzelli signed and maybe even draft a G later in the draft...or maybe even Cossa if he's there at 22. I brought this back up, because all the back and forth about Rasmussen was clogging the subject up. There is nothing we can do about 2017 now, we just need to hope he turns out to be that middle 6 guy, net front presence that he was touted to be when drafted. Unless we're talking about trading him in this off season. sidenote: the difference between Ras and Zadina is, in 2017, I don't think anyone knew if they had their eye on anyone, so even though it seemed Ras was taken a bit early, other than fan favorites being passed on, there wasn't any instant loss. With Zadina, everyone and their sisters knew Holland was eyeing D, the consensus was Hughes, but rumors was Bouchard, either way, D was the way they were going, then when Zadina fell (for good reason I believe) Holland totally flipped on the plan and drafted him. Although in hindsight, taking Ras instead of a few other names mentioned already, looks like a mistake years later, taking Zadina instead of Hughes looked like a mistake more quickly. But can't change it now, I only hope they both continue the trend from last season and get better and better, or both of these could end up another Keith Primeau/Joe Murphy screw up.

Nah, actually I hope he doesn't draft a G at #6. But if he does, then it's all part of the plan!

I'll take those lumps! I was pretty annoying back then, especially during that draft! I forget, did we pass on Hague or did someone select him in the 2nd before us? I'm cool though! The difference between now and then is now it's a legit joking point, back then I seriously pissed you guys off! But honestly, with all the name changes, I am not even sure who I am talking to! edit: looking at the draft, I see Vegas indeed selected him before us. We took Lindstrom. But (to bring in another older version of myself (just for fun)) Holland would have drafted the Swede anyhow! Ok, ok, now back to the newer me! Honestly I like and support Rasmussen, but hindsight, which doesn't really matter, maybe Suzuki or Foote. (obviously Necas is the handsdown one that stands out, so I was avoiding mentioning him.)

I, for one, am hoping for more scenarios like this, instead of just signing aging UFA's (which I am not against either, but this is more exciting!) https://thehockeywriters.com/penguins-red-wings-trade-partners-marcus-pettersson/?fbclid=IwAR1XslsMLjotTVV8RlJ_a8tsTqb9PqIL9OjD_fZpXUfmksibjkzMAV8NkLc What do you say to Pettersson? LHD D, high potential, only 25, under contract for 4 more years. Fits the age for the rebuild as well!