Dabura

Daniels-Ferraro confirmed. What a pleasant surprise.

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Holy s***, are we actually getting a Ken Daniels-Ray Ferraro combo on an NBC broadcoast?! Sweet!

Thank God it's Friday!

Only an hour and 20 minutes until it's 10-15 minutes until puck drop. Also: NBCSN. Plan accordingly.

Whoa whoa whoa, let's not get libelous here!

I think his body's just failing him at this point. Kinda hard to watch at times. There could be some laziness mixed in there tho,

THERE'S A REASON WHY HE SLID ALL THE WAY FROM 3 TO 6

Thing is, I think he actually *is* giving his all. I'll be surprised if he doesn't retire after the season's over.

Vanek is pissing me off lately because he makes the most braindead plays you'll ever see but at the end of the night he's got a couple of points.

To be fair, I base my opinions of these kids largely on what I see of them, be it in person or through streaming services or both. So, while I don't really see eye-to-eye with mackel on Zadina, I wouldn't say I or anyone else here is any more credible than he is. I flipped out when we drafted Rasmussen and I hadn't even seen the kid play, so I really don't have much room to talk. I do think it's way too early to cast judgment on Zadina, though. Kid is 19 years old and he's putting up points in the AHL. That's not a bad thing. It's only "bad" relative to some people's expectations. Personally, I'd figured he'd be playing in the NHL by this point, but I was clearly way off in my assessment of how NHL-ready he really was. Could it be I was wrong about him in other ways, i.e. maybe he wasn't worth taking at 6th overall? It's certainly possible. The fact that most people thought it was a great pick at the time makes me feel better about it, but drafting is voodoo, so who knows. In conclusion, mackel eats poop.

Notes: Larkin ready for challenge of Oilers' McDavid [DetroitRedWings.com] Let's hope he's more ready than he was the last time he said this.

Yeah, I'm kind of on the fence about Dach. There's a lot to like about him and I could see him becoming a Getzlaf-tier playmaking center with crazy-soft hands and great vision, but, at the same time, I could easily see him not really amounting to much. The skating isn't an issue if you're sold on his playmaking and his ability to slow down the game. If you're not totally sold? Then I probably wouldn't take him in the top five. He might end up sliding outside of the top ten altogether. Seems like Broberg would be a project. Great size, fantastic skating, but his puck skills are lacking.

Hockey Guy says what we're all thinking (10:56): In other news... I love Peter Chiarelli.

mods plz ban

Sad!

Despite my back-and-forth with you earlier, I think trading back could be a really smart play here, as long as we're not passing on Hughes or Kakko. I agree with most people that there's a drop-off after Kakko and that there isn't much separation between the next [however many] players. If you ask ten different people for their 3-10 rankings, you're going to get ten different orders. Zegras, Cozens, Dach, Turcotte, Krebs, Podkolzin, et al. -- lots of good forwards all on roughly the same level, at least two or three of whom should become centermen at the NHL level. In terms of defensemen, Byram's really growing on me. Seems to have all the tools needed to become a really good defenseman in today's league. I feel like this draft, more than most drafts, is one where a basement team would really, really like to have two 1sts. Ideally, the second 1st is a mid-rounder, but I think you could see some really good players slide to the back of the 1st round, so even a late 1st could be huge. That being said, f*** the Avs. They've gotta be licking their lips right now. I hate it.

cool story i'll keep it in mind

Oscar nominations have been revealed. Now is a good time to remind everyone that Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday -- one of *the* great supporting actor performances -- didn't even earn him a nomination.

Will consider!

Maybe, maybe not. Lots of high-quality centermen will be available.

Zadina is a 19-year-old playing in the AHL. Most prospects don't go straight to the AHL after the draft. This means Zadina is a year or two ahead of the standard development curve; he's learning tough lessons about the rigors of pro hockey a year or two before most prospects learn these lessons. Despite the difficult transition from junior to pro, he's still managed to put up 20 points in 33 AHL games. If he can put up 20 points in 33 AHL games as a struggling teenage rookie, it's fair to expect good things from him in the future. Or, y'know, we could declare he's a bust and trade him ASAP. Tough call.

Here's where I'm at. TIER 1 - Best player in the draft Jack Hughes (C) TIER 2 - Second-best player in the draft Kaapo Kakko (W) TIER 3 - Players I would happily select 3rd overall (if I'm the Wings) In first-name alphabetical order: Alex Newhook (C) Alex Turcotte (C) Bobby Brink (RH C) Bowen Byram (D) Dylan Cozens (RH C) Kirby Dach (RH C) Peyton Krebs (C) Trevor Zegras (C) TIER 4 - Some players I would happily select if no TIER 3 player is available (if I'm the Wings) Cam York (D) Cole Caufield (RH W) Connor McMichael (C) Mikko Kokkonen (D) Moritz Seider (RH D) Philip Broberg (D) Thomas Harley (D) Vasili Podkolzin (W) tl;dr If I'm not getting Hughes or Kakko, I'm probably looking to trade back. Or I take Peyton Krebs, who I absolutely love.