Dabura

Speaking of Podkolzin... Prospect Deep Dive: Vasili Podkolzin [DobberProspects]

If I could settle on a list for more than five minutes, it probably would be similar to yours. I think I like Byram as my #3 guy. But it's really close between Byram and Cozens. And if I think about it for five seconds, I dunno that I like Cozens much more than I like Podkolzin, who's probably in my 7-9 range but could be as high as 4, depending on my mood. So, for me (and for most people, it seems), there still isn't a clear hierarchy in that group behind Hughes and Kakko. If our top pick falls outside the top two, drafting based on perceived need -- as opposed to BPA -- might be the way to go. "We need a stud defenseman" --> Byram "We need more goal-scoring prowess up front" --> Cozens "We need more playmaking prowess up front" --> Dach, Zegras "We need a two-way, all-situations warrior up front" --> Krebs, Turcotte, Podkolzin

Ramblings (March 11) [DobberProspects]

Ramblings (March 11) [DobberProspects]

For the record, I'd love to see Yzerman take over. And I do get why people are fed up with Holland. And I'm not saying people are necessarily "wrong" for wanting a big change. I just think the Holland hate is a bit much (and I say that as someone who has hated pretty hard on the man in the past), as is the lusting after GM Yzerman.

Name these players. I want a list of all the good players we surely would've signed or traded for were it not for the contracts in question. I also want a list of all the good RFAs we've been forced to lose to waivers and trades as a direct result of the contracts in question. Relevant, maybe. But is it actually damning? Does it actually matter? Is it alarming? I submit it's only "alarming" to people who want to be "alarmed" by Holland's actions. Does it matter? You're saying things as if it's self-evidently true that they're deeply problematic. I'm saying they're not deeply problematic. We're a bad team with a high payroll. Big whoop. Some old guys will be coming off the books over the next couple of years and we'll also be adding some great ELC kids and we'll be seeing the current young leaders maturing. The Wings aren't in cap hell. Wasn't too long ago that Datsyuk put us in a genuinely bad spot with the cap. Holland traded Datsyuk's contract and the 16th overall pick to Arizona in exchange for the picks he used to get Cholowski and Hronek. If Holland feels he has to do something drastic and out-of-character, he'll do it. Has he? Or is he a dime-a-dozen bottom-four stay-at-home defenseman (the kind every team has) who's been forced to play up in the lineup because of a lack of high-end talent? We can buy out one or both of them. I believe we haven't done so because there isn't a pressing need to do so. We're not sitting here staring at a Cup-worthy roster and saying, "Damn, if only we had a bit more cap space, then we could definitely add Erik Karlsson and we'd be set." We need an Aleksander Barkov. We need an Aaron Ekblad. The only way to get those players is by drafting them. So we wait. And we run out the clock on some contracts. And we see where we are at the end of every draft. The hope is that we get an instant gamechanger in the upcoming draft, specifically Hughes or Kakko. Though, even if we do, we're still probably at least a year away from getting back into the playoffs. That's just the nature of the beast. It's how rebuilds work. I would say you're moving the goalposts (you asked what promising prospects we have in the system, I named some), but I suspect you were always going to say, "Yeah, well, whatever. We'll see."

I'm hoping Holland's decision to part with Nyquist means he's learned. Time will tell...

Everyone keeps pointing to our bad contracts. Are they what's holding us back? Does it really matter that we have bad contracts on the books when we don't have the pieces needed to open up a Cup window (i.e. elite young talent)? Ericsson has a year left. Green has a year left. Kronwall has a year left (assuming he doesn't retire in the offseason). Daley has a year left. DeKeyser's actually a pretty decent shutdown defenseman when he's healthy. I'd be more worried about Helm and Nielsen and Abdelkader and [insert anyone else] if I actually felt like they were holding us back from being a really competitive team. But I don't think that. I think what's really holding us back is a lack of high-end talent, mostly of the young, cost-controlled variety. How do we get that kind of talent? By sucking and stockpiling draft picks. Which is what we're doing. And is what Yzerman would be doing. Filip Larsson and Keith Petruzzelli are the headliners. Hronek, Cholowski, Jared McIsaac, Gustav Lindstrom. Hronek's quietly having a really good rookie season. Cholowski showed glimpses of top-pairing potential this season. McIsaac's been a revelation in the QMJHL this season. Lindstrom's an under-the-radar two-way workhorse. Bowen Byram is the consensus top defenseman in this year's draft class and there's a good chance he's going to be available when we make our first pick. The drafting has been fine for where we've drafted. And we've only had two tank drafts. Rome wasn't built in a day. This team's entire future is not banking on this upcoming draft and this upcoming UFA class. Realistically, it'll be at least one more year of pain and stockpiling picks before we have all the pieces we need.

Ramblings (March 8) [DobberProspects]

Here's the rest of our schedule, FWIW:

Wings went into the second intermission with ten shots on goal; the team was a total disaster. I do want to see more out of Mantha, but, at the same time, I'm trying to keep my expectations realistic. That being said, I don't think he's a "core player" like Larkin is a "core player." Mantha and AA are looking like our new Nyquist and Tatar: decent top-six wingers, nothing more, nothing less. Then again, it took Franzen a few years to become The Mule. (And he had the benefit of playing on powerhouse teams.)

Fans have been clamoring for a painful rebuild for years. Now that we're finally getting it, those same fans are complaining that the team is bad and Holland doesn't know what he's doing. Being terrible for a few years is how we get back to being good again. GM Yzerman didn't have to tank because the Bolts had already drafted Stamkos and Hedman (by being terrible). We don't have a Stamkos and we don't have a Hedman. Being in 30th place (at the moment) potentially puts us in a position to get a guy who could turn out to be as much of a gamechanger as Matthews has been for the Leafs. Speaking of the Leafs, they were in much the same boat before they got Matthews. Nylander was a good prospect but wasn't seen as a gamechanger. Marner was a good prospect but wasn't seen as a gamechanger. The team was bad and Nylander and Marner were held off the Leafs roster for most of the Matthews Tank Season because being a Leaf was such a miserable experience that season. Then they got Matthews.

LA won! We're back in 30th place! https://www.nhl.com/standings/2018/league

I'm going to armchair psychoanalyze and say that playing for the Red Wings has killed Frans Nielsen's love for the game of hockey.

Yep, that sounds about right. Just remembered krsmith was at this game.

Now we need LA to beat Anaheim tonight, preferably in OT.

It's over. Thank God.

PK Zero shot suppression tonight. Absolutely none. Any given Panther is essentially unguarded at any given moment in our zone. Not sure I've ever seen anything like it in all my years of following this league.

On the bright side, Tuesday's game can't possibly be as ba--oh, right, Montreal. Cool.

1-6.

Jimmy's gonna pull a Roy and demand a trade.

Panthers score. Another kid gets his first career goal. Set up by Sheahan. 1-5.

Panthers score. 1-4. What if we're all just the same person?

Literally just ate a Reese's peanut butter cup. Folks, I think we're spending too much time around each other.

there's still 20 minutes left in this game whyyyyyyyyyy lmao, great minds