Dabura

Fair point. Good call. I haven't been watching the standings much this season. Last I checked, the Oilers were out of the playoffs. I'd absolutely consider shopping the pick. At the very least, I'd put the feelers out. Yzerman wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't at least consider potential returns. So, in that sense, I agree with kip. The opportunity to draft a Lafreniere is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...and so is the opportunity to trade him. A GM could, in theory, turn that one pick into something incredible. And it's certainly fun to think about what that return might look like. But even if I'm 100% down with trading the pick for the 2nd overall pick and a mid-round 1st and a 2nd and a good young roster player/prospect...I doubt I can actually get that deal done. "You could absolutely rob a GM with the 1st overall pick" is a thought that occurs to every GM every season and it's probably the main reason why the 1st never gets moved.

Fabbri turned 24 two days ago Zadina turned 20 two months ago Fabbri has played 43 NHL games this season Zadina has played 26 NHL games this season Fabbri is scoring at a 0.55 PPG clip this season Zadina is scoring at a 0.58 PPG clip this season Fabbri is on pace for 74 games played, 19 goals, 22 assists, 41 points (0.55 PPG) this season Zadina is on pace for 57 games played, 18 goals, 15 assists, 33 points (0.58 PPG) this season Fabbri's current-season shooting percentage is 14.9 (career is 13) Zadina's current-season shooting percentage is 14.3 (career is 12.2) Fabbri's current-season average time on ice is 17:18 Zadina's current-season average time on ice is 14:52 Fabbri's current-season zone starts split is 52% O, 48% D Zadina's current-season zone starts split is 51.6% O, 48.4% D Fabbri's current-season "corsi for %" at even strength is 47.2 and his current-season "relative corsi for %" at even strength is 2.7 Zadina's current-season "corsi for %" at even strength is 46 and his current-season "relative corsi for %" at even strength is 0.9 Fabbri's current-season "expected goals for" is 15.3 and his current-season "expected goals against" is 19.3 (-4) Zadina's current-season "expected goals for" is 10.2 and his current-season "expected goals against" is 11.8 (-1.5) tl;dr Very similar players at this point in time. Zadina is more valuable and more "projectable," as he's performing at Fabbri's level despite being significantly younger and having significantly less NHL experience. Ludicrously small sample size for the rookie, though, so we shouldn't get carried away just yet.

If Yzerman is stone cold confident that the package > Lafreniere, I'd back the move. But there's big risk there, on both sides. That's my point. It *can* be done. Two GMs *can* risk big. "Fortune favors the bold" and all that. But if it backfires spectacularly, for either GM or both GMs, that's possibly career-ending -- and organization-wrecking.

The case you're making is dumb and boring. "Hurr durr well I'll just trade McDavid for a package that's even BETTER than McDavid! Ha! No GM has thought to do this, because they are dumb sports people and I'm not. I'm way ahead of the curve here." Cool story. "In this hypothetical scenario, I'm assuming my scouts and I are just so good that every piece we'd be getting in return for the 1st overall pick is a home run." Cool story. "Getting Forsberg+ for Lindros worked out for the Avs because they won Cups. Getting McDavid hasn't worked out for the Oilers because they still suck. Bad GMing has nothing to do with this. The difference between those Avs teams and these Oilers teams is the (un)willingness to move a 1st overall pick." Cool story. blah blah blah

Let me spell this out for you. I believe that if you're looking for a gamechanging, gamebreaking 2020 draft-eligible, Lafreniere is far and away your safest bet. It's not a big stretch to say he appears to have the highest ceiling and the highest floor of all 2020 draft-eligible players. I believe it's entirely possible that [insert some other 2020 draft-eligible] will ultimately be a better NHLer than Lafreniere. I would consider trading the 1st overall pick in this draft for a package that I strongly believe is worth *more* than Lafreniere. I wouldn't expect to get that kind of offer. Maybe I get it and maybe I pull the trigger. Unlikely. I straight up don't care about the Lindros trade or about what Edmonton could've gotten instead of McDavid. No real bearing on the here and now. We're not winning the draft lotto, so this is all moot.

No. I agree that Muzzin slew footing him shouldn't be held against him. The injuries are piling up, though. I think we can afford to be patient and count on him having some dynamite seasons in his late 20s. Ideally, those seasons would be part of legit pushes for a Cup.

I dunno that trading the 1st would be "HIGHLY unpopular." Like, have you met actual hockey fans? Have you read the HF Boards? 50% of hockey fandom is masturbatory blue-skying. And, frankly, I'd file the argument you're making into that category. It's easy to say trading a 1st overall pick gets you an Eichel and a Ristolainen and a Fabbro, but there's no guarantee it would work out that way. Trading Hischier for Pettersson seems like a no-brainer *now*, but if hitting on under-the-radar gems were a science, every organization would be doing it. Trading MacKinnon for Barkov and another high pick and a young roster player might've made a ton of sense at the time, but I'd say the 2020 Avs are pretty happy with MacKinnon. I think that's why 1st overall picks don't get traded in this, The Age of Parity™. The case you're making for moving that pick is also a case for not giving up what it ought to take to acquire that pick. I mean, yeah, I like the idea of taking the Habs to the cleaners, because OF COURSE they'd move heaven and earth to get Frenchy Wonder Kid. But, truthfully, I dunno that they actually *would* move heaven and earth to get Frenchy Wonder Kid. No GM wants to be The Guy Who Traded Nathan MacKinnon for Magic Beans, and no GM wants to be The Guy Who Traded Miro Heiskanen/Cale Makar/Elias Pettersson and Several Other Pieces for Nico Hischier.

I'm down with moving him if it nets us a really good defenseman or a really juicy 2020 pick (+ prospect).

I assume these conversations happen every year. If we win the draft lottery, Yzerman will probably have these conversations. And he probably won't move the pick. Because 1st overall picks don't get moved these days.

$6-6.5M x 5.

To be fair, he's missed time out of every month this season, not just January.

HYPE! LGRW!

Avs score. Kadri again. mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Baby steps!

Get puck. Shoot puck. Get puck back. Repeat.

End of 2nd. Wings trail 1-2. Could be worse, I guess.

Don't get me wrong, I believe Hronek is establishing himself as a legit top-pairing defenseman. And I think Seider has all the makings of a monster cornerstone guy. I just think it's funny/sad/infuriating that the Wings have managed to miss the boat on an entire subspecies of defenseman. To be fair tho, I wasn't super-keen on taking Quinn Hughes at 6th overall, so I don't have any room to talk.

That sequence that happened just now, where the Wings were applying some o-zone pressure and Bertuzzi tried to force a long pass back to the point, which led to the Avs breaking out with purpose and ultimately getting a couple of quality scoring chances...at the risk of hugely oversimplifying things, I want to say that that sequence kind of sums up our meltdown pathology. Basically, we seem all too willing to back off from an attacking mentality and go through the motions of low-percentage playmaking. When the going gets tough, you dig your heels in and push back in kind. Put pucks on net. Don't force adventures that very likely wouldn't work out even if you execute them perfectly.

Every team not named the Red Wings seems to have a powerhouse waterbug defenseman who skates like McDavid and scores seemingly at will (like McDavid). I look forward to Seider picking them up and throwing them over the glass.

Avs take the lead. Turns out Cale Makar is, in fact, as good as advertised.

Avs tie it up. Kadri's a punk, but credit where it's due: he's a really good, really underrated player. Maybe Ehn's a bigger drain on the team than we'd thought.

I'm all for a Jimmy Howard redemption arc. Bring it on. Helps the team, helps him feel better about himself, and maybe pushes forced retirement off for another year. Everyone wins.

End of 1st. Wings lead 1-0. This is the Wings team we'd all hoped we'd be watching every night this season.

TRUE. Um, I mean FALSE.

I remember when a 3:00 start time was a death sentence for the Wings. The times they are a-changin'? Maybe?