Dabura

Fair. But the point isn't that Larkin is Bergeron. Rather, the point is that if you put Marchand and Pastrnak on Larkin's wings, the "Larkin is a wholly inadequate 1C" criticism likely disappears.

Yup, I agree with all of this. I've said this a number of times and I'll say it again: Jonathan Toews has never been a monster scorer, and that's with *PATRICK KANE* glued to his hip for the entirety of his career. Larkin's had good-not-great talent on his wings, absolutely zero help behind him on the center depth chart, and an ocean of ass behind him on the blue line. Every team's game plan against the Wings is three words: "Shut down Larkin." That's it. It's all they have to do. Larkin's not the kind of player who can put up a ton of points with no help. For a guy who was billed as "Darren Helm with hands," that doesn't come as a huge surprise. HOWEVER, what Larkin's been able to do with the lack of high-quality help is pretty impressive and suggests the best is yet to come.

Like I said, there's risk there. Personally, though, I don't feel Lucius is significantly more boom/bust than a lot of the other candidates. You could argue that a guy like Johnson is more rounded and therefore has a higher floor, but to that I would say if Johnson doesn't live up to his potential, he's going to be a run-of-the-mill bottom-sixer. Would that be more valuable to us than a goal-scorer who can't score goals? I mean, I guess...? Then again, this assumes Lucius does not in fact have much else to offer, which isn't necessarily true. He's good on faceoffs. He's got great hands, as mentioned. He's not an elite playmaker, but he can thread passes and make plays that the average Wings prospect can't. Great stickhandler. Can hold the puck and run a cycle. Likes to drive the net, buzz around the net. Not afraid to battle along the boards. His defensive shortcomings are more an "I'm a goal-scorer and my team needs me to score goals, so of course I'm gonna cheat and fly the zone early" thing than they are a "I don't know how to play defense and I don't want to learn" thing. The Wings have drafted lots of rounded players, lots of pass-first playmakers, lots of great skaters. One thing we've been sorely lacking is players who just flat-out know how to put the puck in the net. Our power play has cost us countless games over the past several years. Not being able to find that one goal in the third period has cost us countless games over the past several years. An inability to seal the deal in OT has cost us countless games over the past several years. So we definitely have an organizational need there. If we can trade down and add Lucius at, like, 11OA? To me, that sounds great. But I'm not Steve Yzerman or his scouts.

Where Johnson (LHC/W) is more a playmaker than he is a finisher, Lucius (RHC/W) is a pure goal-scorer. Lucius's skating and defensive game are lacking, but his scoring prowess is undeniable. Like Johnson, Lucius has great hands and a flair for the dramatic. He missed most of this season due to an injury, but his 2019-20 season was outstanding and he was great in the dozen games he played this season. So, yeah, there's some risk with Lucius. But, as a Wings fan, I really like the potential reward, which is a flashy, exciting, RH goal-scoring 1C/2C.

Was just about to do a post about him. Against all logic, something in my gut is telling me he's right near the very top of the Wings' list. I'll go ahead and say that if we do "reach" with or trade down from 6OA, it'll be for Lucius. McTavish (sort of a reach but not really) or Lucius. That's my gut feeling hot take.

Sup yo. How's life? I know of Viro, but I'm not super familiar with him (yet), so I'll take your word for it. McIsaac seems to be ludicrously injury-prone, which concerns me. Wallinder seems like a good player, but I need to see more of him before I feel comfortable slotting him anywhere. Basically, the point I'm making with the two ???s on the left side is we have a lot of unknowns and no one I want to hang my hat on at the moment. Tuomisto is in my lineup because, beyond Seider, he's the only RHD prospect in our pipeline with pedigree and some HYPE! I omitted Cholowski, Lindstrom, and Smith mainly because it's possible one of them gets claimed in the expansion draft but also because I feel like they're all trending towards expendable. Had Erne not performed the way he did this year, he definitely wouldn't be in my lineup. We'll see what he does next year. Probably nothing close to what he did this year. I omitted Pearson only because I like the idea of a strong 1-2-3-4 in Larkin-???-Veleno-Rasmussen. I'm hoping Pettruzzelli or Larsson becomes something at the NHL level, and I think it's entirely possible it happens. I only omitted them to make the point that I'm genuinely not concerned about our lack of a truly HYPE!-worthy goalie. As for superstar talent...my position on this has very slowly been shifting over the past several years. Do we lack superstar talent? Absolutely. Would we love to add superstar talent? Absolutely. Do we unequivocally NEED superstar talent? That's the big question. Several years ago, I would've said yes. Hell, this time last year I would've said yes. But right now? Right now I'm at the point where I think the need for superstar talent – whether we're talking the Wings' supposed need or any other team's supposed need – is kind of overstated. I talked about this in another thread, but I love what the Habs are doing. I also loved what the Knights did (and what they nearly pulled off) in their inaugural season. I also love what the Blues did in their Cup run. I also love that this season's Isles and Hurricanes are as good as they are without any players that fit the conventional "superstar" profile. I look at these teams. And I look at our s*** lotto luck. And I look at Seider. And I'm thinking I'm ready to embrace the idea of a perpetual underdog Wings team, one that's scraped and clawed its way back to relevance and earned a collective PhD in f***ing "better" teams' s*** up. The league wants Parity™, so why not give them what they want?

Vrana -- Larkin -- Raymond Bertuzzi -- ??? -- Zadina Fabbri -- Veleno -- Berggren Erne -- Rasmussen -- Niederbach ??? -- Seider ??? -- Hronek Johansson -- Tuomisto UFA/Trade goalie UFA/Trade goalie So, three holes: 2C, 1LD, 2LD. It's entirely possible Veleno or Rasmussen becomes a legit 2C, but for the time being I'm going to assume they ultimately settle in as bottom-six centermen or complementary wingers. If Hronek or Seider can play the left side, we may already have a future top pairing in Hronek/Seider -- Seider/Hronek. Just some food for thought. We can address one of our key holes with our first pick in the upcoming draft. Then we can address one of the remaining two holes with our first pick in next year's draft. The UFA and trade markets are always an option. I'm fine with getting our goalie(s) via free agency and/or trade. Bernier and Greiss have performed well behind an AHL-caliber Wings team and each of them is arguably good enough to win a Cup as a 1G. Guys like Bernier and Greiss will always be available.

I'm kind of tired of defending Larkin's honor. However, it's worth noting Yzerman did confirm in his end-of-season presser that he wants Larkin to be a Selke type guy, isn't concerned about Larkin's less-than-stellar production (because Selke type guy), and feels Larkin's production will improve as the team around him improves. Which is what I and others have been saying. Realistically, the team Yzerman's building isn't going to be a high-octane offensive juggernaut. Which is fine by me. We just witnessed the Habs beclown the Leafs with a center group of Danault-Suzuki-Kotkaniemi-Staal. And the Habs have taken the first two games against the Jets. Meanwhile, McDavid and Matthews are golfing. It all comes down to knowing what your team's strengths and shortcomings are; implementing systems that maximize your team's strengths and minimize your team's weaknesses; and getting your players to buy in and embrace their roles. If you have that and sneaky-good depth, you have a shot at winning a Cup.

I'm always very big on the consensus #1. You all know this. kip s***s on me for this. (Probably rightfully so.) But this year? Meh. I like Power, don't get me wrong. I just feel like the theme with these players, including Power, is that their success at the NHL level is probably going to be more strongly tied to and determined by their NHL linemates/partners than is normally the case with a set of top 10 draftees. And I suspect (based on not much, admittedly) that's how scouts and teams are approaching this draft, or at least within the top 10(+). GMs will talk up BPA like they always do, but I'm thinking a lot of these picks are going to be need-based. So, in addition to what you said re: the Sabres taking Power, I'll add that I think having a smart all-around defenseman in Dahlin should largely cancel out Power's poo brain (that being the big knock against him) and, in theory, allow him to reach his full potential. I reckon Yzerman doesn't even know what Yzerman is gonna do lmao. Everything hinges on who goes in the top 5.

I would like to re-assert my belief that Danault is a pretty good hockey player.

Yeah, how that top five will play out is anyone's guess and will probably stay that way. I'll say this: I don't think we take Wallstedt. With Bernier and Greiss performing well behind a glorified AHL team, I don't feel the "In a few years we're going to need quality goaltending and it won't be available outside of the players we've drafted, so we need to take the goalie at 6" argument is a persuasive, winning argument right now. The "Wallstedt projects as a franchise guy while the skaters project as merely very solid players" argument is a bit more persuasive, but not persuasive enough, IMO. Yzerman needs to put together a skating core. Ideally, 6OA is used on a guy who we think can essentially wrap up our rebuild either on the back end or at center.

lol leafs

Aaaand we're back. We'll be getting a reelgud player at 6. Furthermore, I'm expecting at least one "reach" in the top 5. At the moment I could see it going like this: BUF - Power SEA - Beniers ANA - Edvinsson NJD - Clarke CBJ - McTavish DET - Hughes SJS - Eklund ANA takes Edvinsson because Edvinsson--Drysdale. NJD takes Clarke because everyone wants a Clarke (and the Ducks already have one in Drysdale). CBJ "reaches" for McTavish because they desperately need a centerman and McTavish's physicality fits the BJ's brand. I'll go for the hot gut take and say DET goes into the draft prepared to take McTavish. They're surprised Hughes is available at 6 and, after some heated internal debate re: Eklund at the draft table, Yzerman says "Hughes--Seider motherf***ers eat s*** Drapes shut up Hakan you f***ing nerd ass" and we take Hughes. The teams ahead of us passed on Hughes only because they simply like the players they took more than they like Hughes. We pass on Eklund because he's a small playmaker and probably a winger at the NHL level and a Hughes--Seider future pairing is just too sexy to pass up.

A good read: 3 Takeaways from Yzerman's Year-End Press Conference [The Hockey Writers]

Some Seider clips:

That's mainly gonna be other teams' fans tho. As for Wings fans? The stats nerd blogger commentariat class and the Calder Trophy voters – these people don't represent the average Wings fan. The average Wings fan will be delighted to have someone who 1) is roughly as effective as Rasmus Dahlin and 2) actively tries to murder opposing players. And we're getting him at 20 years old, as opposed to the standard 22 or 23 that we're so used to. So dude's got some leeway and runway. The murder thing is gonna be big. That alone will earn Seider so much goodwill and love. If the "Vladdy 2" branding catches on, he's golden. Because what was great about Vladdy, what we LOVED about Vladdy, wasn't point totals. Vladdy was never a monster scorer. What we loved about Vladdy was that he was a complete player. Who actively tried to murder opposing players. Other Seider propaganda campaigns I'm currently formulating in addition to the aforementioned "Vladdy 2": "Moritz Seider Is Going to Finish What Vladimir Konstantinov and Jiri Fischer Started." "Remember Brad Stuart Crushing Sidney Crosby? Wasn't That Great?" "The '96 Wings Weren't Mean and Then They Got Mean and That's Why They Won in '97 and '98" "The '08 Team Had Kronwall, Stuart, Chelios, Lilja. This Is the Way." "Seider Does Not Suck. It's the Team That Sucks. And That Is on Cryin' Chris Ilitch, Who Refuses to Retire #91. Cowardly!"

Snark aside, I don't expect fan hate for Seider to be much of a thing next season, or ever. Well, not *Red Wings* fan hate...

Seider is lazy and he sucks.

All I know is the Mantha trade has left me wanting more Yzerman trade crimes. Throw Bertuzzi/Fabbri into the mix and make another multi-piece masterpiece. #TeamDGAF

I say this every year, but...whichever player we take with our first pick in this draft is probably going to more or less wrap up the drafting portion of our rebuild effort at [insert given player's position]. And that's assuming the pick is 6-8OA. (I'm assuming the pick is 6-8OA.) If it's William Eklund? We're either loaded on the wing or set at center. If it's Kent Johnson or Chaz Lucius? Same as above. Jesper Wallstedt or Sebastian Cossa? Goalie pipeline problem resolved. If you put Luke Hughes/Simon Edvinsson/Carson Lambos on Moritz Seider's left side? That's a monster pairing. If Seider or Brandt Clarke can play the left side? Same as above. It's gonna be interesting. Also, I'll just put this out there: Jim Benning and Chuck Fletcher are looking to make some moves and they own picks ~9 and ~14, respectively (subject to change).

The Seider lovefest on Twitter is glorious. People from all around the globe are loving on this dude and he hasn't even played in a single NHL game yet.

1. Vrana + 1st + 2nd 2. loloilers

Psh. Yzerman is, if nothing else, a trade ninja. Why did you watch Sabres hockey? I know you were/are in the area...but, still. What is wrong with you? Why do you hate yourself so much? AYO I HEARD Y'ALL LIKE DEFENSE

Isn't Kulikov kinda mean/dirty? Or am I thinking of someone else? Well, in any case, Kulikov's a pretty good left-shot shutdown guy and I think that's looking like an area of need, assuming Merrill doesn't return. Cholowski = Kindl until/unless he proves otherwise. Djoos was ultra-sheltered this season and may or may not be returning. DeKeyser is DeKeyser. Lindstrom's a RH shot and he hasn't impressed me. Johansson's 20 and he's coming over from the SHL. I want next season's team to be more skilled and more dynamic than the team we iced this season, and I agree that we should be trying to get a better class of player in our top roles. I just figure we're at least another year away from that being a legit thing with our team. So let's get Kulikov and Nikita Zadorov.