Dabura

If we pick Hughes, it won't be "because Michigan." It'll be because he's a fantastic prospect. I mean, yeah, playing in the Wings' backyard means the Wings have had a lot of time to thoroughly scout him. But you could say the same thing about anyone who's come up through the USNTDP. (And it's not like the Larkin pick hasn't worked out for us.) Hell, Hughes isn't even from Michigan.

Oh, I know. Just saying. Conditioning isn't an issue with any of them. At least, as far as I'm aware.

If anything, Bouchard is "Carlson 2" and Hughes is "Shattenkirk 2" (as @krsmith17 said). This is literally one of the things people love about Bouchard. He's a workhorse. Hughes has a year of college hockey under his belt. College hockey is tougher than junior, especialy if we're talking about a rookie defenseman. Despite this, Hughes played big minutes for the Wolverines and had an outstanding rookie campaign. Conditioning is not a concern with him. Even if it were a concern, his skating is so effortlessly good and every NHL organization's development program is so on top of things that it wouldn't worry me at all.

Let's be honest: most 17-year-old hockey players have probably been sidelined with or (unknowingly) played through at least one concussion.

No way they have Helm and Abby both on the fourth line, at least not at the start of the season. I do like those lines, though. I'm ok with Frk being in and out of the lineup because we pretty much know what he is at this point and it's not an essential top-six winger. I'm really interested to see what happens with AA. I think I'll be somewhat surprised if he isn't moved at the draft.

I've been trying to understand it for several years now. Is it an actual organizational bias/preference? Is there some sort of perceived strategic advantage to icing a forward corps made up almost entirely of left-handed shooters? Brunner, Vanek, Frk, even Glendening...why are the exceedingly few right-shot forwards we've seen get regular minutes in recent years all bottom-six specialists? I want to understand.

Everything is pointing to Rasmussen being a Red Wing next season, straight out of training camp. http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2018/05/red_wings_prospects_kaden_fulc.html Michael Rasmussen's season ended Monday night when his Tri-City Americans lost 6-5 in overtime against Everett in Game 6 of their WHL semifinal series. Rasmussen, Detroit's top pick in 2017 (ninth overall), was tied for second with 16 goals and second with 33 points in 14 playoff games. It might have been his final junior game. The Red Wings are hoping Rasmussen makes the NHL roster out of training camp. They have him projected as their third-line left wing next season before transitioning to center, his natural position, the following season. If he doesn't make the NHL roster he must be sent back to Tri-City because he has another year of junior eligibility. He can't play in the AHL next season.

https://www.nhl.com/redwings/news/detroit-adds-goaltender-matej-machovsky/c-289223570

The Wings hate right-shooting forwards. They've only recently warmed to right-shooting defensemen. I blame Samuelsson.

I recently read an interesting theory regarding Hughes' shot/lack thereof and his goal-scoring prowess/lack thereof. Basically: Hughes uses a long stick (for obvious reasons), which takes a lot off of his shot, because the release point isn't really where it should be. According to the theory, he's well aware of this, accepts the tradeoff, and focuses on passing, skating, playmaking. I was a tall defenseman who used a relatively short stick, so I can't really relate. But it makes sense. I slightly prefer Boqvist, largely because he's so much younger, as @Buppy pointed out. I go back and forth between Boqvist and Bouchard as my top preference. But, really, we could take any of those four defensemen -- Hughes, Boqvist, Bouchard, Dobson -- or Wahlstrom and I'd be happy.

I don't think other people's rankings matter. Assuming the Wings have done their homework and scouted the bejesus out of all of the top talent, all that really matters is how the Wings rate these players.

So what you're saying is it's...checkmatej.

sux

Nah, even with that pick in the package, I don't make that trade. I get why someone else might make it, but I'd rather take my chances with Dahlin. Part of it that I haven't mentioned is that Eichel and Ristolainen are older and are already making big money. For an organization like ours that's probably at least a couple of years away from truly competing for the Cup even with Dahlin or Eichel, Dahlin being a teenager and on an ELC for a few years makes him that much more appealing to us.

Eichel's a really good 1C. I'm not sold on Ristolainen. So I'd be giving up on the most promising teenage defenseman in decades for a really good 1C and an I-don't-know defenseman. My name is Peter Chiarelli. Don't overthink this. You keep the prospect with the blank check potential. There will always be an Eichel and a Ristolainen available. It's taken decades for a Dahlin to emerge. Is Dahlin guaranteed to become a perennial Norris finalist? No. But he's as close to being a sure thing as teenage defensemen get.

Oh, I definitely remember the weird format, I just couldn't remember if they bookmarked 4-15 and 1-3 around the first period of the game like they're doing this year. I pretty much mentally checked out when they revealed that the Wings had been knocked back three spots. In that moment I said to myself, "Oh, ok, they're going HAM on this 'A bottom-three finish guarantees you nothing' angle. Makes sense, I guess." S*** was rigged!

@krsmith17 was actually dead-on when he said McDavid. Many people believe Dahlin is the most promising young defenseman in decades. (I'm one of them.) You don't give up a player with that kind of potential unless you're getting a comparably singular young player in return. McDavid's the only one who fits the bill, IMO. And even then... Eichel + Ristolainen doesn't come close. Even if Buffalo throws multiple 1st-round picks at you, can you reasonably expect to get a Dahlin-caliber player with any of those picks?

Just checked, it's a new thing.

I don't have that kind of hate-on for any team. And that makes me sad. I miss hating the Avs. I miss hating the Ducks. I miss hating the Pens. I miss hating. A renewed Wings-Leafs rivalry would be good for hockey.

Old news, ya dingus. Kinda lame that they're splitting the 4-15 reveal (before the game) and the 1-3 reveal (first intermission). Did they do it that way last year? I honestly don't remember.

He's way op. Blizzard's gonna have to nerf him.

"Congrats, Caps! You survived your epic seven-game war against the defending Stanley Cup Champions! Now you get to face the Lightning/Bruins!" Man. The Hockey Gods really hate the Caps.

Babcock presides over yet another Game 7 fail. No upsets in the first round, the best eight teams advanced. Second round should be intense.

By my reckoning, any of Hughes, Boqvist, Bouchard, Dobson, Wahlstrom, Tkachuk could've easily gone 3rd overall in last year's draft. While, yeah, last year's draft class was relatively meh, that's still pretty remarkable. Point being: the HYPE! is real!