Dabura

Yes to Thorne, meh to Clement. Thorne-Ferraro would be cool. Does Thorne even have his Amazing Voice anymore tho?

HOLY HECKING CRAP I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING #Mid-August

But then we'd only have five veterans on the blue line.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/edmonton-oilers-andrej-sekera-achilles-injury-1.4785402 Daley for McDavid. GetterdunKen.

We lost so many one-goal games this past season that slight improvement is probably the safest bet. At the same time, Z's health and our garbage D corps could easily sink us. It's shaping up to be a pretty interesting season... Like you, my big hope -- beyond the younger roster players having big seasons -- is that we get lucky in the 2019 draft, even if we finish dead last in the league.

A lot of questions, variables. How many of their top players are traded? When exactly are they traded? What are they traded for? Do Stone and Karlsson play out of their minds, because "Moneymoneymoney" and "Get me the hell out of here"? Does Anderson have a big rebound season, because Anderson? Do the Sens surprise everyone and overachieve, because Sens? I agree that they're the early favorite to finish 31st overall (with Vancouver being a close second). But I guess what I'm trying to say is the Wings aren't clearly better than any other team. I'm starting to hate the Avs again. O Avs Hatred, how I have missed you.

I'm not expecting the Wings to finish dead last in the league, but it wouldn't shock me if they did. Because, really, which teams are unequivocally inferior to the Wings on paper? At this point in time, I don't feel comfortable saying any one of Buffalo, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Arizona is thoroughly outclassed by the Wings. (Also, remember: Colorado owns Ottawa's 2019 1st. So, I might pump the brakes on the "Ottawa is determined to finish dead last" narrative.) It also wouldn't shock me if the Wings finished just barely outside the playoff picture or even just barely inside it. I'm really not sure what to expect from this team this season. And that excites me. Every GM is trying to win. The only thing Holland is stubbornly refusing to do is a complete teardown. Which, to me, is fine. Considering some of the trades Holland has pulled off recently and the hugely successful draft he just ran, and considering we're only about a season and a half into this rebuild effort, I'd say we're in a pretty good place. Personally, all I need to hear from Holland is that his focus has shifted from the present to the future. He's explicitly stated that's the case, and the way he's been stockpiling draft picks proves it, so I'm content. That's just me, though. I get that not everyone feels this way and I respect that. Eichel and Dahlin are Buffalo's reward for being awful for years and years. McDavid is Edmonton's reward for being awful for years and years. Matthews is Toronto's reward for refusing to commit to a rebuild for years and years -- and even when they did commit, they didn't get Matthews in their first rebuild draft. Andrei Svechnikov is Carolina's reward for being perpetually bad. New Jersey had to endure some trying years before they got lucky in the draft and landed Hischier. Kevin Cheveldayoff has been extremely patient; Winnipeg didn't get all of Connor, Ehlers, Laine, Trouba, Hellebuyck, Morrissey, Scheifele in one draft. Arizona's been bad for a good long while now and they've picked 1st overall exactly zero times. If anything, non-Wings fans should be complaining about the Wings being rewarded with Zadina and Veleno and Berggren and McIsaac after only two bottom-ten finishes.

Setkov will be converted to forward and become a rich man's Dustin Byfuglien circa 2010. Sulak is the 6D. He will struggle, we will waive him, he will be claimed by Colorado, he will wind up in Tampa, and we will trade Tampa a 1st to get him back. Tamp will draft Mike Green with that pick. Sulak becomes the 6D. He will struggle and we will replace him with Kronwall. When Kronwall retires in 2025, Setkov will be moved back to defense and become a rich man's Brent Burns. This is great for us because it means each of our defensemen will be good for at least 40 points every season. I have done the math and it checks out. God Bless America.

I think getting Hughes would probably lead Holland to make a bold move or two to address the defense. Maybe Hughes is enough to convince Karlsson to come aboard...

YOLO

To be fair, neither Helm nor Glendening is much of a playmaker/offense-driver. But, yeah, I think we're on the same page here. I'm not really expecting any of the three to become anything more than Andersson or Sheahan. I'm hoping one of them does, but, like I said, 4C is a mostly inconsequential position for this team right now. In a perfect world, we get Jack Hughes and he quickly establishes himself as our 1C, pushing Larkin down to 2C, Nielsen down to 3C, and maybe Helm down to 4C if he's still with the team. And soon after that, Veleno pushes Nielsen down to 4C. And maybe we find a way to trade Nielsen without having to bleed assets. And maybe we sign a mercenary journeyman to hold down the 4C spot for a year or two if we feel we're a little too young and inexperienced at center. Keep in mind: Rasmussen-as-potential-top-six-C is still a thing.

Dahlin is going to bust so hard and Hronek, Cholowski, Lindstrom, Saarijarvi, McIsaac are going to be perennial 40-point players. Book it, nerds.

This. Without Jack Hughes, I'm (cautiously) optimistic about the future of our forward group. With Jack Hughes, our group of young forwards is comparable to Toronto's and Winnipeg's.

I think you have to at least give it a try. Given how important Z is to this team and how big a hole he's going to leave at center (at least for the next year or two), it wouldn't surprise me if they tried a bunch of different things with the 3C and 4C spots, if only to get a better idea of what we have. With this being another transitional year, you could definitely make the case that running Helm and Glendening as your bottom-six pivots -- in Z's absence -- isn't really playing the long game, is more of play-it-safe-in-an-effort-to-squeak-into-the-playoffs strategy. On the other hand, with the team getting younger and more inexperienced, maybe you want the veterans at center, at least for the 2018-19 season. I'm hoping Turgeon picks up right where he left off before the blood clot scare. But, yeah -- even if he does, the earliest I could see him straight-up "taking Glendening's job" is the next trade deadline, if Glendening is traded. I've cooled on Holmstrom. I like Ehn as a potential future 4C; he's a big body, good skater, thinks the game like a pro. Kinda-sorta reminds me of the Johan Franzen we thought we were getting when we drafted Johan Franzen, i.e. a big, strong, two-way checking-line centerman. Maybe Sheahan is a better comparable. Fortunately (?), 4C isn't really an important position for a rebuilding team, so I'm fine with pretty much anyone being in that slot. Incuding Glendening.

Lidstrom is arguably the greatest defenseman of all time. Ovechkin is arguably the greateast goal-scorer of all time. Hasek was pretty good at goaltendering. Et al. To me, generational = consensus top-two-or-three winger/centerman/defenseman/goaltender (compared to his contemporaries) for 8-10+ years. Or something along those lines. Maybe that goes against the spirit of the original definition (though, I'm not really sure what that original definition is), but I kinda feel like the word "generational" doesn't do the all-time greats justice anyway. The top tier should be something like "Legendary," capital L. Tier 2: generational. (Like I said, semantics tar pit.)

What little "official" info we have has Rasmussen slotted as our 3LW. Personally? I have Rasmussen on Z's wing because Z likes having a "piano puller" on one of his wings. And with the whole back problem thing, giving Z a big-ass linemate who can really battle around the net and open up space just makes that much more sense. I'm not sure Rasmussen's ready for a demanding top-six role. But, in theory at least, Rasmussen-Zetterberg-Nyquist feels like your standard post-Lidstrom Zetterberg line. Yeah. If Z's done, it's likely Larkin-Nielsen-Helm-Glendening down the middle. Certainly Larkin and Nielsen would be the top two. Maybe AA could hack it as our 3C, but with both AA and Larkin being less-than-stellar defensively, and with two green rookie wingers entering the top-nine mix (in Z's absence), Helm probably makes more sense as our 3C. Glendening's keeping the 4C spot warm for Turgeon/Ehn/Holmstrom for one more year, or so I tell myself.

You misspelled "Alex Edler."

Zetterberg is lazy and he sucks.

Taylor Swift is generational.

Dahlin is lazy and he sucks.

https://www.nhl.com/news/2018-19-detroit-red-wings-season-preview/c-299675206?tid=290471364

Mantha is 23 years old. Rasmussen turned 19 a few months ago. Mantha had to bulk up and didn't reach "optimal bulkiness" until last summer. Rasmussen is thin, like Mantha was at his age. He'll bulk up like Mantha did. There's no problem here.

shhhhhhh