Dabura

That'd be the concern, yeah. Though, I'd argue that each of the three Habs assets is better than his Wings counterpart was at his age. At any rate, it's all moot, like kr said. And it's probably bulls***.

Also, adding all of those pieces would make some of our other pieces more expendable. Maybe you swing big with an AA+Veleno+Cholo package.

Like marc, I'd want to know exactly what that 1st is. Unlike marc, I think I'd have to give this offer some serious thought even if the 1st is outside of the top 3, e.g. 4th or 5th. Consider: Suzuki is the Habs' top center prospect. He's put up 33 points in 54 games as a 20-year-old NHL rookie this season. He shoots right. Romanov is the Habs' top D prospect. He's playing in the KHL and is coming off an outstanding WJC. He's NHL-ready right now. He shoots left. Primeau is the Habs' top G prospect and one of the better goalie prospects out there. And on top of that, you're (hypothetically) getting a top 2020 prospect, e.g. Drysdale. So, we'd be filling our 2C hole with a guy who's seemingly well on his way to becoming a 1C, we'd be adding a quality LHD prospect who's ready to step into the NHL right now, we'd be adding a quality goalie prospect who's already got a couple of NHL games under his belt, AND we'd be adding a guy like Drysdale or maybe even Stutzle (I'm not at all convinced that Stutzle is a lock for the top 3).

I promised Mabus I would liveblog the s*** out of this game. That was before I knew this was an NBC broadcast. FML. lol

Madison Bowey

I'll do the GDT tomorrow and spam it with liveblog updates. Just wasn't feeling it at all this weekend. Didn't even watch the games.

Yup.

It's weird. On the one hand, yeah, we're in a deep hole. On the other hand, what we're missing at each position is one really good player (IMO). If we find another Larkin, we're set at center. If we find another Mantha, we're set on the wing(s). If we find another Hronek/Seider, we're set on D. If we find an NHL goalie who doesn't suck, we will have dramatically improved our situation in net. We're probably getting at least one of those guys in this upcoming draft. Hopefully by July 2021 we will have found at least two of them and we can start talking about the playoffs.

Right. That's the point I'm making with the Drysdale hypothetical. Missing out on Lafreniere would suck, but this year's pool of consolation prizes is going to be unusually deep. Pretty much what marc is saying. I mean, look, I'm not gonna be super-picky. We need help everywhere. Byfield would be an enormous boost. Stutzle would be an enormous boost. Drysdale would be an enormous boost. Askarov would be an enormous boost. Lundell would be an enormous boost. I just think it's kind of wonderful that the "worst-case scenario" in the lotto draw would likely still allow us to get a defenseman who would immediately elevate our pool of young defensemen from "decent" to "disgusting." Drysdale is that good, IMO.

I mean, fair enough. But don't we also need elite defensemen? Mind you, I don't like Drysdale just because he's a defenseman. I like him because I feel he's as good a defenseman as Byfield/Stutzle/Raymond is a forward. I think you could make a case for him being the #2 guy right now.

No promises!

The HYPE! lives in you.

Thanks, Mabes. I wanna let other folks get in on the GDT action. I've been phoning it in for most of the season anyway.

If Askarov is a franchise goalie, Drysdale is a franchise defenseman. Sleep on Drysdale at your own peril! (I'm preparing myself for the 1st --> 4th death slide. )

Honestly, fam, I wouldn't worry about it. My big takeaway from this latest round of rankings -- McKenzie's and others -- is that this top 10 is going to be loaded and that, just as with the past few drafts, the exact order these players get taken will be very much up in the air until the names are actually called. A number of Wings fans would be disappointed with our first pick in this super-important draft being a smallish right-shot defenseman @ 4th. And y'know what, that's totally fair. Personally tho? I feel January 2020 Jamie Drysdale > January 2019 Bowen Byram. Drysdale is a hell of a hockey player. Having Hronek, Seider, Drysdale, McIsaac could conceivably mean the most challenging phase of the D rebuild effort -- the "We need to draft two or three cornerstone defensemen" phase -- is more or less over.

No doubt. Just sayin', if you look at the way the recent Bolts teams have been constructed, there's definitely a smol forwards + swol defensemen theme.

Found the shill. You've been bought off by Big Fab. Sad. Truly sad.

January Draft Report: Mid-Season Rankings Breakdown [Dobber Prospects]

My impression is Yzerman values size in defensemen but doesn't really give a s*** about it with forwards. Big, mobile, two-way defensemen. Smallish, tenacious forwards. Loooots of smallish forwards in the top tiers of this draft class, so I fully expect us to take a forward with our first pick.

if u love fabbri so much why don't u marry him

"Zadina's playing pretty well. Looks like things are finally clicking for him. If he's scoring at this kind of clip as a just-turned-20-year-old on a garbage team that can't score goals to save its life, it's safe to say he's going to be a really solid player. The jury's out, but I'm optimistic." "Wrong. Here are Nail Yakupov's stats for the 2012-13 season. (I have not provided them here, because reasons.) Also, Hughes is scoring at an astonishing 0.698 PPG clip. Zadina, on the other hand, is scoring at a miserable 0.514 PPG clip. And Hughes isn't the only one who's making Zadina look like the bum he is. CHECK THIS OUT. Look at all those superior players we could've taken instead of Zadina. smdh."

Yup, I agree with all of this. Exactly. The argument for why GM A should try to fleece GM B is also an argument for why GM B should be extremely wary.

If we take out the 9 games he played with the Blues, yes. It's a pretty big difference. If we add those games in, it's a very small difference. Regardless, I don't think it's necessarily problematic that half of Zadina's points are power play points. He's 20, he isn't getting a whole lot of playing time at even strength, he hasn't spent much time on Larkin's wing, and our power play needs all the help it can get.

I'm just busting your balls, tbh. We're not all that far apart on this issue. I think you're leaning a little too hard into the idea and I feel it's leading to some sloppy reasoning on your part. Do I agree in principle, though? Well, I don't strongly *disagree*. I'm definitely open to the idea of trading the 1st. No good reason why anyone shouldn't be open to it. I just don't think it's a clear-cut no-brainer. Even if you've got an offer that you and your scouts and your draft team and everyone in the front office are all super excited about, you can't be sure it's the best path forward. Could be a win, could be a loss, could be a bona fide case of each party getting what it wanted and needed. You won't know for a few years after the draft. That's true of anything you do(n't do) in the draft. It's the nature of the beast. Getting Zadina and Veleno and Berggren and McIsaac seemed like a big coup at the time. Fast forward a few years and it's looking like taking Quinn Hughes 7th overall might've been a bigger win. So...we can look back on a past draft and say, "They could've had Eichel and Ristolainen and Fabbro," but, to me, that isn't particularly meaningful or useful. Maybe you get an Eichel and a Ristolainen and a Fabbro. And maybe that's worth more than McDavid. (Debatable.) But you could just as easily screw it up. I'd say that's the more likely outcome. Yes, three or four kicks at the can is better than one, in theory. But will it work for you? Do you, GM Steve Yzerman, believe in your bones that it will? Tough call.

HYPE! LGRW!