Dabura

It's sounding like Pavelski could be leaving San Jose. That's pretty big. He's good enough that he could be that '97 Shanahan who puts a not-quite-there team over the top.

My expectations are tempered. You're saying "He's not Hossa!" to people who aren't saying he's Hossa. If anything, I'd say people generally seem kinda bearish on him lately. Like, "Oh yeah, that kid. It's a shame he isn't going to amount to much." Which, again, is hilarious to me. But that's sports fans for ya.

I thought the 3-on-3 tournament and full-strength scrimmage were pretty interesting. In terms of star power and sheer HYPE!, our organizational depth isn't quite at the point where you watch this stuff and go "Holy crap, the future is insanely bright!" (Zadina and McIsaac not participating doesn't help.) However, I was encouraged by what I saw from some of the lesser-known guys. Pleasant Surprises I think the biggest surprise for me was Kasper Kotkansalo. Maybe being a college player gives him an edge over some of the other guys ("a man among boys"), but, regardless, I thought he looked pretty solid for a guy no one talks about. Same kinda deal with the equally unheralded Jack Adams, Otto Kivenmaki, Ryan O'Reilly, and a few others. Didn't notice Gustav Lindstrom a whole lot, but then, that's sort of his thing. He seems to be as advertised: a quiet, steady shutdown defenseman with good puck-moving ability. Something like a bigger Anton Stralman, maybe. We'll see. Moritz Seider Seider flashed brilliance a couple of times. You can tell me he doesn't have the raw skill of a young Victor Hedman and I won't disagree, but, as I've said, I think people are sleeping on his scoring upside. He did this last night... ...and I'd seen him do the same kind of Kamikaze entry routine before in other contexts, pre-draft. (hat tip 2 CRL 4 the gif) I love this: I love it because, if I'm reading it right, he had the presence of mind to try to get the goalie to open the five hole and he knew how to get him to bite. This happens in the span of, like, a second, off a rebound. I feel like the typical Wings defense prospect would simply try to stuff that rebound as soon as the puck had landed back on his stick. These flashes wouldn't mean much to me if we were talking about a high-scoring, high-flying defenseman who really needs to work on his all-around game, but Seider's solid on the defensive side of the puck. So, to me, there's substantially less concern about him than there is with your average defense prospect. He's going to be a good NHLer, the only question is how good an NHLer he's going to be. Joe Veleno Veleno looked good, put up some points. I dunno that he's quite ready for regular NHL duty, but he's definitely one of our top prospects and he definitely looks like it. I 100% understand the concerns about his scoring upside. I don't really come down hard on either side; he's probably a Filppula/Nielsen, but I think there are enough really good stuff qualities there that he could be another Larkin. Goalies I'm not a goalie person at all, so I dunno. heck you, dingus

Well s***.

Because he knows it'll get a reaction from me and you and others. Which is fine. What I think is hilarious/stupid is setting the bar for success at, basically, Tyler Bertuzzi. All this complaining about how he's a total bust...and it's "Yeah, 20 goals, I guess. I'd like to see his +/- improve" that you're looking for? If you're gonna troll, go all in. Demand at least 30 (NHL) goals and serious Calder consideration.

And this is why I accuse you of uncreative trolling.

This is why I hate the Zadina controversy. It's because it's a nontroversy. It always is. Like @Wheelchairsuperhero said, he's got a sore hamstring. And even if he didn't, we shouldn't be passing any -- any -- kind of judgment based on a 15 second clip from development camp. (Even me saying that makes it sounds like there's something worth being concerned about. There isn't.) Dude is young. Dude went pro early. Dude did well in his rookie pro season. Dude actually played very well at the WJC this season, but it didn't show on the score sheet. Dude played very well in his stint with the Wings, but it didn't show on the score sheet. Dude has a surprisingly strong two-way game, but we're going to ignore that because reasons. If that means "Jurco until proven otherwise," ok. But, as I've said before, I think that's silly. He could be a bust, but let's not pretend the body of work is pointing strongly in that direction.

Much of the bloat should be gone by this time next year. And we might have something vaguely resembling a bona fide young core at that point, maybe even Lafreniere. Until then? Do (mostly) nothing.

Regner apparently doesn't know there's no "n" in "Lidstrom." How he doesn't know that and goes through the whole game saying "Team Lindstrom" is beyond me.

Regner confirms Berggren was the guy we were targeting with the pick we ultimately used on Veleno.

Alternative link: https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1yNxavkkXldKj I'm liking Jack Adams.

I have so much respect for Oilers fans.

This is the quietest post-draft period for the Wings in recent memory, so I'm expecting an exceedingly boring July 1 and an exceedingly long, boring summer.

Game recognizes game.

Found the boomer.

I don't know how they're actually doing it, tbh. I guess I just trust that they are in fact doing it, or at least working hard on figuring out how to do it. I suppose I could be giving them too much credit, but they do at least seem to understand that growing hockey really starts at the ground level, i.e. appealing to really young kids and their families. I'm willing to accept it was a reach by conventional standards. But I think those standards are dumb and outdated and I should be running every team's draft.

lmfao

I know some Canadians who believe the US eclipsing Canada is an inevitability. And I guess it makes sense. There's way more people in the US. Hockey is always gaining new fans in the US. USA Hockey is going HAM on its "Hockey is for everyone" initiative and trying to remove or at least reduce the standard entry barriers that have, historically, helped keep hockey firmly in the "niche sport" category in the States (high costs, difficulty finding rinks, the perception that it's strictly a sport for white people, etc.) tl;dr Canada: "THIS IS MY FINAL FORM!" USA: "THIS ISN"T EVEN MY FINAL FORM!"

I just feel like the people who are criticizing the pick are doing so because bloggers and media slept on Seider, not because they've seen Seider play and didn't like what they saw. "Corey Pronman had him going later in the 1st and he said he lacks puck skill, so this was definitely a reach." Which, I mean, fair enough. I'm not trying to flex on anyone. I'm questioning this narrative that Seider was, without a doubt, a reach. I also think this whole thing about "dominating" Euro leagues is built on shaky ground. I think it's a superficial, overly reductive way of looking at Euro prospects. So we agree that talk is cheap and Yzerman doesn't need to go out of his way to sell Seider to fans and media. I guess I just don't really see it as much of a risk. I was really hoping for Zegras, but I had concerns with him. It's very possible he's a middling middle-six winger in the NHL. Cozens is bigger and faster than his peers and that probably artificially inflated his scoring. At his core he's a solid two-way player who doesn't necessarily own gamebreaking abilities beyond his skating. I'm really not sure there's significantly less risk with a guy like him than there is with a guy like Seider.

Point taken.

I can't say I've seen a whole lot of the DEL, but what I have seen has given me the impression that it's actually a pretty respectable league and that people should probably be paying more attention to it because "the German wave" could become an actual thing in the coming years. Basically the same deal with Seider: I haven't seen a ton of him, but the few games I have seen sold me on him being worth a top 15 pick and possibly a top 8 pick. I think the whole "lacks skill" thing is overstated. I think people really like their flashy, high-scoring Bowen Byrams and have been conditioned to assume that a young defensemen who isn't piling up points in his draft year "is the kind of guy you take in the 2nd or 3rd or 4th round," even if he's playing in a pro league. I think we could see a change in that mentality in the coming years. Indeed, that change is arguably already taking place. Would I have taken Seider at 6? No. But I'd been saying for the past six months that it's really hard to pick and choose between the kids in that range. If a realistic projection for guys like Zegras and Cozens and Krebs and Newhook is a 2C or a first-line winger...and a realistic projection for Seider is a 2D who logs 25 minutes a night...I don't know that there's much of a difference there. If anything, I'm tempted to say you should take the defenseman in that scenario, because good top-pairing defensemen are so hard to come by (as we well know). And, I mean, 6th overall is a swing-for-the-fences pick, no? Why not invest it in the Alex Pietrangelo Cream Dream Fund? "F*** outta here. 2019 Moritz Seider is not comparable to a young Alex Pietrangelo." Are we sure about that? Are we really, truly sure about that? http://forecaster.thehockeynews.com/player/6590 I get where you're coming from re: Newhook, but, to be fair, the DEL is a pro league. Newhook torched a Junior A league. If Seider spends the 2018-19 season in the WHL, he probably crushes it. If Byram spends his season in the DEL, maybe he doesn't crush it. As for the Wings brass doing a bad job of selling Seider to the fans...I dunno, that doesn't really bother me. *shrug* Yzerman's pretty no-nonsense and boring and he's been known to undersell things. It's possible he's shielding Seider. "He could be our Hedman" isn't really something I'd want to saddle a kid with just to please fans and media. I'll go ahead and say Seider could be our Hedman, but I'm not the GM of the Wings.

Thanks, Bupster. Definitely seems like Seider was an Yzerman pick. I didn't know Tuomisto was a Wright pick. I was actually quite pleased with Tuomisto. Admittedly, I was hoping for a slightly sexier haul, starting with Zegras at 6 and then maybe Lassi Thomson (who went earlier than I'd expected), Egor Afanasyev, and Mikko Kokkonen in the 2nd. But I agree that it's almost splitting hairs with some of these discussions about who we *should've* taken because *that* player was *clearly* the BPA. And, like I said earlier, Yzerman cleary has strong preferences. I think it's pretty safe to say he knows what he wants his Wings team to look like and play like and that team is the Lightning. Big, mobile defensemen and smallish, hard-working, sneaky-skilled forwards. I don't know if that will make the controversial picks any easier for disappointed Wings fans to accept, but I do believe there's a method to the pereceived madness and it isn't simply drafting for need.

Fair point!

...On the other hand, I'm surprised that people are so suprised that an Yzerman draft haul would look like this. Big defensemen who don't flash spectacular skill but are mostly smart and mobile and well-rounded and effective? Check out Tampa's D: Cernak: 6'4 Coburn: 6'5 Foote: 6'4 Girardi: 6'1 Hedman: 6'6 McDonagh: 6'1 Rutta: 6'3 Sergachev: 6'3 Stralman 5'11 Slater Koekkoek was traded to Chicago in January, but he's an Yzerman pick. (2012, 10th overall. *cringe*) He's 6'2. The aforementioned Erik Cernak was drafted 43rd overall by LA in the 2015 draft. A couple of impressions of Cernak from 2015: https://dobberprospects.com/player/erik-cernak/ Sound familiar? Now check out the latest report on that page: 5 goals and 16 points in 58 regular season games as a 21-year-old rookie defenseman. 3 assists in 4 playoff games as a 21-year-old rookie defenseman. And check out that characterization at the top of the page (not sure when it was written): 6'4...mobile...RH...physical maturity has never been an issue...smart player...not super flashy...projects as a solid two-way player... Small hard-working forwards of the "Literally who?" variety? I'm sure I don't even need to name names, but I will: Gourde (a centerman): 5'9 Johnson (a centerman): 5'8 Kucherov: 5'11 (178) Point (a centerman): 5'10 Ethan Phillips, for example, has "Yzerman guy" written all over him... https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/305096/ethan-phillips So. Yzerman's history is the main reason why I'm inclined to believe him when he says he went BPA in this draft. I think he simply has strong personal preferences, a short list of specific things he always looks for...and this year those preferences led him to pick 2-4 players that most people would not have taken at those spots in the draft. People wanna say Yzerman is the best GM in the league and then when he does Yzerman things it's all "WHAT IS HE DOING?!"