Dabura

Was literally just about to say.

Was just about to say.

Cholowski (5) from Ehn (2) and de la Rose (4) - LAK 0, DET 1

Obligatory penalty immediately following a goal. And of course it's Ericsson.

CHOLO SNIPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vanek, what're you doin'?

Those lower bowl seats tho.

LET'S GOOOOOOO

Check PMs ftw imo irl

Only half an hour until it's only an hour until it's only ten minutes until puck drop!

Robitussin? That bum? Dude literally couldn't stop a beach ball, much less the common cold.

Top 10 Anime Crossovers

GODZILLA HYPE!

We're due for a blowout loss win, methinks.

Right. I think I'm coming off as disagreeing with you when I'm more just sort of riffing on the topic of trading up into/within the top 10. "Would that it were that simple" is basically just me lamenting how tricky this whole business is. Even if you identify a guy as "worth it" and you're able to get the necessary pick for a not-entirely-insane price, the odds are still probably against that player becoming anything truly special. So. Target a player you're over the moon about? Sure. Go for it. The Wings probably aren't getting back to Cup contention without making at least one bold move that pays off in a big way. But you've gotta be careful and you've gotta be really, really sure. Icarus and all that.

Antti Raanta's out indefinitely, probably for the rest of the season. *cough*

Don't get me wrong, I know where you're coming from and I agree that this is something the Wings should take a hard look at if our first pick falls outside of the top 10. But it's one thing to say, "OK, we trade some stuff for a shot at drafting a guy who looks like he's going to be a legit gamechanger," and it's another thing entirely to 1) pull off that trade and 2) really hit a true home run with that pick (such that three years later you have zero regrets about trading what you had to trade in order to get your man). Once you get outside the top three, it's pretty much a crapshoot. The older I get, the less certain I am that the 6th overall pick in any given draft is infinitely more valuable than the 12th overall pick in that same draft. We can talk about "gamebreaking ability" and whatnot, but there's always going to be multiple players that appear to have that kind of upside and most of them will ultimately fail to deliver on that promise. And every night Ken Daniels is going to tell us about some stud on the opposing team who we now know should've been taken much earlier than he was. Trading into or within the top 10 pretty much doesn't happen these days and I wouldn't expect the Wings to do it in the upcoming draft. There was talk of the Wings seriously considering trading up in the 2018 draft in order to secure Zadina, but, as we know, Holland didn't go through with it. And it's a good thing he didn't, as we ended up getting both Zadina and Veleno "for free." Maybe trading up into prime draft real estate is one of the things Jimmy D has in mind when he talks about outside-the-box moves. It's certainly possible. But, again, talking about it and doing it -- and knocking it out of the park -- are two different things. Everyone talks about it, almost no one does it.

Note: When I say there doesn't appear to be any real separation, I'm talking about the pool of players who fall outside the current consensus top names (those top names being Hughes, Kakko, Dach, Cozens, Byram, maybe a couple others). Note #2: This is a deep draft class, that much is clear.

If all those players are available at 10, I trade back. No, but srsly. I still don't know a whole lot about these players, but my rough impression is that there isn't any real separation between them right now. Seems like it's Hughes > Kakko > Dach, Cozens > [everyone else]. And, as always, selecting from the [everyone else] pool is gonna be a crapshoot. That being said...I'm currently liking Krebs, Newhook, and Lavoie. If you put a gun to my head right now, I probably go with Krebs. Seems like Broberg is throwing up red flags, mainly a lack of puck skill and limited scoring upside. Defensemen are such voodoo that I'm not taking one with our first pick unless I'm really sold on him. From what I've gathered thus far, I'm not going to be sold on Broberg. Not at 10th overall.

Would that it were that simple.

HYPE! LGRW!

I'm not really clear on that. Could be precautionary (i.e. the Czechs not wanting him to get hurt between now and the tournament), could be that he actually is a bit banged up and they're not taking any chances.