Dabura

I hear ya. I've been trying to prepare myself for 4th -- mentally, physically, spiritually. It's tough. The rise of Stutzle, Rossi, et al. makes it a little easier, though.

I like Rossi a lot, don't get me wrong. I also like the idea of the Wings pulling a St. Louis and winning a Cup with a hard-working, blue-collar, decidedly unsexy lineup that, on paper, is the underdog against every one of its four postseason foes. Live by the parity, die by the parity. I don't even strongly believe being 5'9 has to be this huge obstacle to becoming an NHL centerman if the player is otherwise physically built for it (and Rossi is) and he plays harder and smarter than ~97% of his opponents (and Rossi does). Hell, my main concern with man mountain prospects like Rasmussen and Cozens and Byfield is that life has been easy for them because they're so much bigger and stronger than their peers. If you're a 5'9 centerman and you're performing so well that you might as well be 6'4, you're a baller. Yzerman, as we know, likes that kind of player. (See: Tyler Johnson, Braden Point, Yanni Gourde, Ethan Phillips.) I'm just sayin'. Our 2020 1st is a really, really important pick. "Yeah, he's 5'9, but I'm not sure that'll matter. And, yeah, maybe he isn't your typical '1C,' but I'm not sure that'll matter" isn't really where my head and heart are at right now. But I hear your logic and I don't necessarily hate it.

Wouldn't be surprised if Kotkaniemi broke his hand tho. Looks like he got a lot of helmet.

daayyyum

I would trade Larkin + AA for Draisaitl in a heartbeat.

I'm pumped too. I was afraid no one would step up and make things really interesting. Rossi's 5'9, so I wouldn't bet big money on him becoming a gamebreaking 1C -- and a future gamebreaking 1C is what we should be hoping for if we're taking a centerman in the top 4. That's not to say Rossi isn't awesome, mind you.

This is one of the reasons I like Button. He says how he feels, doesn't worry about prevailing narratives.

Stutzle up to #2 *and* Button believes he's a center at the next level.

Where we at? How we feeling? Blackpilled? Whitepilled? On the fence? Angry? Apathetic? I'm...I dunno. I'm of multiple minds on multiple things. I'm trying to focus on the positives tho. "What positives???" Well the most important thing (IMO) is that we seem to have identified a solid young top line in Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha and a solid young top-pairing defenseman in Hronek. That gives us something to build on and it takes a little bit of pressure off of the next wave of kids. Does that position us for a return to respectability within the next two years? Your mileage may vary. Personally, I'd like to think the answer is "Sure, why not." We'll need a number of things to go very right for us, but I at least feel like I can post mockups of what a relevant 2021-22 Red Wings team may look like and not feel like I'm just desperately wishcasting. Like, I get it, this current team is very bad and it's probably going to be a long while before we're back to being a perennial playoff team. A dramatic turnaround between now and 2021-2022 season is not something we can count on happening. I get all that. I don't necessarily disagree with all that. But just for the sake of argument, tell me how much of the following 2021-2022 projection is totally implausible: FORWARDS Tyler Bertuzzi -- Dylan Larkin -- Anthony Mantha Andreas Athanasiou -- Quinton Byfield -- Kyle Palmieri Michael Rasmussen -- Erik Haula -- Filip Zadina Evgeny Svechnikov -- Joe Veleno -- Givani Smith (Luke Glendening, Chase Pearson) DEFENSEMEN T.J. Brodie -- Moritz Seider Danny DeKeyser -- Filip Hronek Dennis Cholowski -- Haydn Fleury (Gustav Lindstrom) GOALTENDERS Robin Lehner Filip Larsson The bolded names are acquisitions. Breakdown: Via Draft: Quinton Byfield (2020) Via Trade: Haydn Fleury (2020) Via UFA: Erik Haula (2020), T.J. Brodie (2020), Robin Lehner (2020), Kyle Palmieri (2021) (No, I can't see us getting back to the playoffs within the next couple of years without some key free agent signings. But these aren't blockbuster pipe dream pickups.) What say you? Share your thoughts on the rebuild.

[insert hype] [insert music] [insert lgrw] [insert alcohol]

I'm still not *super* familiar with the relevant players, but atm my guys are Stutzle, Raymond, Drysdale. I'd say Raymond is the most "Yzerman guy" of the three. Smallish, shoots right, tenacious, plays The Right Way, instinctively understands the finer points of two-way hockey and possession and high-level playmaking. Here's a nerdy analysis:

I remember when Datsyuk was "a soft Euro who can't get the job done in the playoffs." And y'know what? I'd be lying if I said I myself didn't entertain those thoughts. That's one of the hard truths of a rebuild: Getting back into the playoffs is only half the battle. Even elite players and powerhouse teams typically need to experience at least a couple of disappointing postseason exits before they're truly ready to go on a deep, serious playoff run. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The NHL has become "a young man's game," sure, but if you're gonna win a Cup, the sweet spot for your core players on your hypothetical Cup-winning team is 27-32 years old, not 20-25 years old.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Larkin and Mantha are the new Datsyuk and Zetterberg. I'm just saying 1) the Euro Twins were always surrounded by high-end talent, which undoubtedly helped them, and 2) it took them a little while to reach their potential.

When was the last time this team was bag skated?

Smith scored his first NHL goal. So the night isn't a total downer, I guess.

Sup loo. I think they're lazy and they suck and they need to be punched in their heads. And I know just the man for the job...

Fire everyone. Trade everyone. IDGAF at this point.

I feel ya.

I straight-up do not want to watch this game. But maybe I'll force myself to do it.

I'm going to assume this Joe Louis guy's tweet is just worded weirdly and that he's the one who's bringing Kapanen into the equation. I can't imagine Ferraro would say, with a straight face, "How about Bernier and Daley for Kapanen and a prospect." Can I get a Canadian friend to confirm/deny?

Are...are they s***posting irl?