Dabura

I like Kasper @ 8. Say "Marco Kasper, Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider" out loud. Rolls off the tongue. Feels right. 10/10. Would draft. Savoie screams "Yzerman guy," but I'm not sure he'll be available. Nazar would be great, though the thought of taking a winger with our first pick after the absolute dogs*** slog that was the second half of our season kinda makes me wanna punch myself in the face idk.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/21995154/nhl-realigning-divisions-based-seattle-expansion-team-norris-smythe-patrick-adams Discuss.

It's utterly surreal. Feels a bit like 20 years ago, when we were losing key vets and things were getting stale and we were all wondering what the hell we were gonna do...and then Datsyuk and Zetterberg just kinda happened.

This, except every team and GM and player. This team – with Vrana – is capable of ruining a top seed's season in the first round. It has that f***-you energy.

Wings fans should be deliriously happy. I certainly am. Why? Because the impossible dream seems to have been realized; YzerMADMAN seems to have pulled a gem from each of the past three drafts. 1. RAYMOND Raymond is a monster – and this isn't even his final form. He's still... As I've said before, he's going to bulk up. He's going to get stronger, quicker, faster, more confident. When the rest of his body catches up to his brain and eyes and hands...look out. "Fluke?" Not really. The eye test, the underlying numbers, and his pre-NHL body of work all tell us he's this good (though, of course, he's probably not a legit 82-point player right now). Even so, I can barely believe he's been this good this soon. Dude leads all rookies in points and goals and +/-. 14 points through his first 13 NHL games. 14 points! FOURTEEN! "OK, yeah, but what about all NHL skaters, not just rookies?" Dude's tied for 6th in the league in points. At 19 years old. (Turns 20 in late March.) We needed a Pettersson/Pastrnak-tier forward. It appears we found one. (Hence needed.) F***ing pinch me. 2. SEIDER Seider's been exactly the player we all know he is. The only question was point production. As with Raymond, we knew the production would come...just not this much this soon. Dude's 3 points off from leading all defensemen in points. "Fluke?" Nah. Like I said, he's been exactly the player we all know he is. He's not, like, riding an unsustainable shooting percentage. His production isn't tied to an Ovechkin/McDavid-tier. I don't think he's really catching teams off-guard. We badly needed a defenseman you could mention in the same breath as Hedman. We found one, and quite possibly two... 3. EDVINSSON One of Edvinsson's teammates – a vet, I think – recently said Edvinsson's the best defenseman he's ever played with. In explaining this, he said something to the effect of "Dahlin was amazing. But Edvinsson is something else." Nuff said.

In all honesty, I've been avoiding posting because I don't wanna jinx the run Raymond and Seider are on.

Eventually kip will have had sex with EVERYONE here and then there'll be nothing left for us to do and Matt can finally shut this place down for good.

I like that it's donuts of all things. lmao

Evander Kane is based af.

The way I see it, there are three big obstacles... ONE - We don't have the pieces. Or, rather, we do have the pieces, but we're not in a position to be moving any one or two or three of them and hoping for anything more than a wash (at best). No one cares about Zadina or Veleno or any of our prospects not named Seider, Raymond, or Edvinsson. Our 1sts are probably going to be later than 6OA from here on out. We don't really have any established stars on our roster, players that make other teams' fans drool. We're not trading Larkin. TWO - Buffalo would have to face Eichel multiple times a season – and you *know* Eichel would make a point of sticking it to them each and every time. Bigger picture: I really don't think "The Sabres and Wings were basically in the same boat and then the Sabres traded Eichel to the Wings and now the Wings are a powerhouse and the Sabres are shopping Cozens and Dahlin" is something they're willing to risk. THREE - I heard Eichel once suplexed a baby. Who the hell does that? Jack Eichel, that's who.

The league needs to find a way to rig stuff so that we squeak into the playoffs and face the Bolts in the first round. I'm not even being snarky. Over the past couple years, Wings-Bolts games have slowly become must-see hockey TV. I fear the world is being deprived of some outstanding hate-filled playoff hockey. Larkin did nothing wrong. Being pushed in the numbers like that can't be tolerated. Eye for an eye.

HYPE!

If you're pinning your hopes and dreams as a Wings fan on the Wings winning lotteries (or even just one lottery) and drafting sure-thing superstars (or even just one sure-thing superstar), you're setting yourself up for disappointment. That ship has sailed. We have to do it the hard way – and that's what we're doing. Fortunately, the returns on Yzerman's 1st round investments are looking pretty good so far. Seider? He's about as good a 20-year-old defenseman as a rebuilding organization could realistically hope to have. He projects as an all-situations cornerstone 1D. I see Sergachev as his floor. Raymond? He's about as good a 19-year-old scoring forward as a rebuilding organization could realistically hope to have. You're right that Raymond and Point are similar players. You're wrong, I think, to believe "Raymond = Point" is in any way problematic; Point is indisputably one of Tampa's best, most valuable players. Fun Point facts: Point's 2020 playoffs – 33 points in 23 games en route to winning Cup Point's 2021 playoffs – 23 points in 23 games en route to recapturing the Cup Granted, playing on a team with Hedman and Stamkos (et al.) helps Point's numbers. But, worth noting: Stamkos played a grand total of one 2020 playoff game. 2021 was a different story; he played 23 games. How many points? 18. So, five fewer than Point. Edvinsson? He's 6'6. He was #1 on Dallas's draft board. He's a top-pairing SHLer in his D+1 season. He could end up being better than Seider.

Raymond Supremacy Gang

What I'm getting from this is... Raymond + playoffs vs. No Raymond + no playoffs + drafting 6-10th overall NICE TRY, LOTTO GODS, BUT WE DON'T ANSWER TO YOU ANYMORE. #KissMyTuchusGiveMeLucas

I liked Vanek. Bobby Ryan is American tho, so f*** Vanek.

Which, honestly, wouldn't even be a huge shock. I talked about this at length in a different thread, but it bears repeating: Going into that season, everyone was expecting Raymond to 1) make a decent – possibly strong – case for going 1st overall, and 2) go 2nd or 3rd overall. Dude's been a known stud for years. Sure, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sour over missing out on the guys who ended up going 1-2-3. But getting Lucas Raymond as a "consolation prize" is insanely good fortune. No one wants to say it, but there's more than a little Datsyuk and Zetterberg in Raymond.

Yup. Was nice to see him get on the board last night with a goal and an assist. Was especially nice to see his goal come off a half-slapper clapper (albeit on a screen), as his shot – or lack thereof – is pretty much the only deficiency in his game. But he's been working on it and I don't think it's going to be much of an issue. Of course, scoring isn't really the story with Seider. The story is he's 20 and he hasn't played a single real NHL game and I already trust him in a heavy-lifting role more than I trust any of our other defensemen in a heavy-lifting role. Dude is going to be the definition of a cornerstone player. Same with Raymond. On paper, we had no business making that game competitive. I don't like moral victories, but...statement made, message sent.

Like I said, Raymond is winning the Hart.

I played against him a few times in peewee, so I have to root for him. Because sports. Seems like a good dude. Been through a lot. (Some of it completely out of his control, some of it maybe not so much.) Mainly, he had to play for the Ducks and Sens, which is something I wouldn't wish on anyone.

I love Bobby Ryan. But if he's on our second line, I am going to make the loudest mouthfart noise the world has ever heard. We're supposed to be taking a step forward this season.

All I'm saying is Raymond is winning the Hart this season.

In our defense, Matha Larkin Bert are lazy and they suck.

No need to rush Raymond, but I don't think you've really refuted the idea that there's a spot available for him, if he earns it. My lineup checks out. Bertuzzi Larkin Zadina Fabbri Suter Raymond Veleno Rasmussen Namestnikov Erne Stephens Gagner (Rowney, Smith) If Bertuzzi gets traded, things get *very* interesting.

Are there tho? Bertuzzi Larkin Zadina Fabbri Suter Raymond Veleno Rasmussen Namestnikov Erne Stephens Gagner (Rowney, Witkowski/Smith/Hirose/Ryan) I drew that up just now, straight off the top of my head – so it's possible I'm missing a player or two. But I think that's everyone. In which case, the only question would be how ready Raymond is. I'll say this: He looks more ready than I was expecting.