Dabura

We really, really need another 1st, gosh durnit. Getterdun, Steve.

Speak of the devil...

I literally haven't thought about the draft for about a week. Coming back to it now, I'm like "Holy s***, we could get Kirby Dach!" I am so pumped for this draft. All these players are great.

Don't do drugs, kids. And don't win the Stanley Cup.

I want all the cap space. I want all the cap flexibility. Get on my level, Callahan-lovers. i seen ur noodz

I said Callahan *probably* doesn't make much sense for us. That's assuming we're not getting a 1st or Foote or Raddysh. I get that getting any assets in return for taking on a salary dump for one year is usually going to be considered a win, but I still wonder if that $5.8M in cap space wouldn't be worth more to us this season than, say, Tampa's 2020 2nd. Cap flexibility hasn't really been a thing in Wings World for a long time. I guess I see the potential for a ton of cap flexibility in the upcoming season and I feel like Yzerman could really speed up this rebuild if he plays his cards right.That being said, maybe BriseBois gives him a prime asset and my concerns are rendered moot. Maybe we get Callahan + 2020 2nd and then we flip Callahan for another 2nd around the trade deadline, which could be a big win. Fair enough. I'd take him at 6. But I don't think I'd trade up for him (unless it's a comfy deal) and I'm not sure he'd be the clear-cut best choice at 3 or 4 or even 5. I love his game. I love the numbers he's put up this season. I love that he's younger than most of his peers. But, knowing what we know about defensemen, I think there's a certain degree of risk there that's maybe a bit higher than it is with a top-rated forward.

This is why I'm feeling pretty optimistic about the future and it's why I don't feel there's a pressing need to move AA or Mantha at this time. I live for s*** that makes me laugh maniacally and nothing in hockey makes me laugh as maniacally as overwhelming forward depth does. There's a saying that you'll see obsessive Oilers fans throw around online: "Get good players. Keep good players." That's how you build the foundation for a perennial powerhouse. Don't worry too much about perceived positional need until that need has directly led to your defeat in a best-of-seven series. Don't trade Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson. Don't place an arbitrary limit on how many 30-goal scorers you're going to allow yourself to carry. We're getting an elite forward prospect next month. Let's say that player is Dylan Cozens. All of a sudden, with just that one addition, we've got a guy whose floor is a solid 2C and whose ceiling is a better-than-Larkin 1C. All of a sudden, with just that one addition, the idea that Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha will be our top line a couple of years from now seems almost quaint. All of a sudden, there's a bit less pressure on every single player in the system to overachieve and become a total stud. There's strength in numbers. This, in theory, is strength in numbers: Athanasiou Bertuzzi Cozens Larkin Mantha Rasmussen Veleno Zadina Now, granted, the salary cap system means that even if we could get this group together on the Wings roster, it probably wouldn't last for more than a season or two. But I say you cross that bridge when you come to it. Maybe something falls into your lap on your way to that point and you end up trading AA for a Brett Pesce. Cool. Do that. I'm just saying I think the default mindset should be "Patience, patience, patience. Hoard, hoard, hoard."

Yeah, this is pretty much where I'm at. I love Byram. But, if I'm being honest, I dunno that I love him much more than I love [insert any number of other guys in that 3-12 range]. He's an elite D prospect and we do desperately need an elite NHL defenseman, so in that sense he stands above the rest. But defensemen truly are voodoo and I do feel there's something to the notion that Byram isn't quite Heiskanen-tier, let alone Dahlin-tier. (Granted, I totally slept on Heiskanen in his draft year, so I guess I don't have much room to talk.) I dunno that I'd want to be the team that takes a defenseman in the top five in this center-heavy draft.

I don't know that the Bolts give us a key asset for taking on Callahan. I mean, it's certainly possible. But I've been conditioned to assume the worst in these matters.

Turris does appear to have legit chemistry with Mantha and it's got me thinking it might be nice if we could find a way to add him. However, apart from that chemistry wiith Mantha, I'm not sure he makes sense for us. Still, I like where your head is at. And I like where krsmith's head is at. As with Turris, Callahan probably doesn't make much sense for us (albeit for slightly different reasons) -- but I wouldn't be surprised to see Yzerman make a low-key shrewd trade or two this summer.

Zegras is lazy and he sucks. Needs more cowbell. Broberg clappin' bombs out here and playin' 5-on-5. I don't see Zegras skatin'. Where is my 5-on-5, damn it.

Zegras. Zegras. Zegras. "USDP are just power play specialists" is the new "lazy and sucks."

AA 4 Selke

Same. It's tough because I truly don't know how much of the appeal he holds for me is more siren call than actual honest-to-goodness substance. I watch him, I see the second coming of Pavel Datsyuk on a few sequences, and I see not much worth writing home about on other shifts. He teases. But then, that's the case with all but two or three or these players. You're not getting a sure-thing superstar at 6th overall. You never are. That being said, I dare say it's pretty rare that a guy who can do stuff like this is available at 6th overall: A player who can make plays like that is a player who owns many of the unteachable, God-given qualities that today's NHL amateur scouts lust after, including but not limited to 1) the ability to process and execute at top speed/on a dime and 2) outstanding skating ability (particularly his edges). This profile nails it: https://www.diebytheblade.com/2019/5/1/18525289/draft-profile-trevor-zegras If you're a Wings fan, this part of the above passage should have you salivating: If he's a couple inches taller (like Elias Pettersson) and a lethal shooter (like Elias Pettersson), I think he probably goes 3rd overall in this draft.

If you snip long into the snipshow, the snipshow will snip back into you. F

It's pretty clear what Kip is saying. Which is that the Q is a weak league and Zadina was about as unprepared for the AHL as Mantha was. (How true those claims are is up for debate.) Hudler was a ray of sunshine and debauchery in an ocean of boring good bois. Hudler did nothing wrong. Free Hudler.

Are you a real person? Honest question.

I miss the Hoods.

Podkolzin is a really good player. I never really bought the "ACKSHUALLY, it's a big three: Hughes, Kakko, Podkolzin" talk tho. The club production is a bit concerning, as is his underwhelming WJC. Feels like people have concerns about his hockey IQ. He's a complete player, an extremely hard worker, a leader's leader...but maybe he just isn't an especially high-level processor. Not sure I'd go that far, but I suppose it's a valid criticism.

Fair. I don't think we're *too* far apart on all this stuff. I can understand why someone would fear he's just another Tatar. It's entirely possible he is. But, personally, I've seen enough of him that I feel he has very real "better-than-Tatar" potential. Anything can happen, but I'm optimistic about Filip Zadina. I mean, like I said, I would've liked to have seen him produce at a higher clip. I'm not necessarily saying his teammates were holding him back, because I know how stupid that sounds. I'm just saying it felt to me like things weren't quite clicking, weren't quite gelling. I thought he looked more in-his-element when he was playing on Red Wings scoring lines.