Official 2018 NHL Amateur Entry Draft Discussion Thread

[Dabura 12,207]

20 hours ago, krsmith17 said:

Sure, most players in the league are left handed, and most teams have more left handed shooter than right, but no team has been as right handed deficient as the Detroit Red Wings have been for the past decade or more. We haven't had a top 6 right handed forward since Alfredsson, 5 years ago. Before that it was Lang, 12 years ago. That is a serious issue in my opinion.

Of course we're not struggling solely because of the lack of right handed shooters, but I think it definitely plays a part. The best power-plays (and offensive attacks in general) include both left and right shooting forwards and defensemen. To say it doesn't matter is wrong. There's a reason most teams and coaches in particular value balanced shooters on each side of the ice.

No, handedness doesn't matter as much as skill, but to me, handedness is somewhat similar to position. We should draft best player available, regardless of position or handedness, but all else being equal, we need defensemen and right handed forwards. That's just my opinion. We're talking about the best players in the world for their age group. The difference in skill level in each tier of the draft is negligible. Give me a left handed forward and a right handed forward ranked similarly by various scouts, assuming all else is relatively equal, I take the right handed player because he fills a bigger need on our team.

I've harped on this before, but, again, it really is kind of nuts. The deficiency, I mean. It's to the point now where I'm wondering if there's a philosophical/strategic reason behind it. Frk, Vanek, Brunner, Alfredsson, Glendening, Witkowski. Those are the recent right-shooting forwards I can think of off the top of my head. That's it. And all of them -- with maybe one or two exceptions -- were/are specialists, as opposed to really solid players you could really count on to play big minutes in tough situations and such.

I remember Babcock talking about how important he thought it was to have left-shooting defensemen playing the left side and right-shooting defensemen playing the right side. And I remember joking to myself that when Holland traded for Zidlicky, Holland called Babcock and said, "THERE. YOU FINALLY HAVE YOUR DAMN RIGHT-HANDED DEFENSEMAN. YOU HAPPY NOW? YOU PROUD OF YOURSELF? THE THINGS I DO TO MAKE YOU HAPPY. ALL I DO IS GIVE AND ALL YOU DO IS TAKE."

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

Left-Handed Shooters Lives Matter

[Dabura 12,207]

8 minutes ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

Left-Handed Shooters Lives Matter

Be that as it may, we need an affirmative action program for right-shooting forwards.

[Dabura 12,207]

Bouchard and Dobson talking to the media at the scouting combine:

https://www.nhl.com/redwings/video/nhl-combine--bouchard/t-277443416/c-60517503

https://www.nhl.com/redwings/video/nhl-combine--dobson/t-277437404/c-60517603

[kickazz 5,459]

3 hours ago, Dabura said:

Be that as it may, we need an affirmative action program for right-shooting forwards.

Illegal in Michigan 

[Dabura 12,207]

13 minutes ago, kickazz said:

Illegal in Michigan 

Sorry, the correct response is "You forgot Poland Pulkkinen."

-9,000 points Gryffindor.

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

4 hours ago, Dabura said:

Be that as it may, we need an affirmative action program for right-shooting forwards.

They only have that in red states.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Neomaxizoomdweebie

[SwedeLundin77 460]

Trade up and draft Zadina, screw positional need.

[LeftWinger 4,963]

IMO either draft a franchise D, or package some players (AA and Svech) along with VEG's 1st and our 2nd and then draft Wahlstrom at #6.

My Order of Preference:

Bouchard

Dobson

Hughes

Boqvist

Odds are Boqvist will be gone, but if he truly has no concussion issues, then he would be a great pick for a franchise D too. So honestly, flip a coin if they are all available at #6. But at least ONE of them will be gone.

If we go O, then its Wahsltrom, its a no brainer and there should be no debate at the table. As a matter of fact, the only debate should be do we go D or O.  Funny though, I have seen so recent mocks where they have Tkachuk falling to us at 6.

So, if the team decides to go with O and BOTH Tkachuk and Wahlstrom are there, which do you take?

I admit that because of Tkachuk mostly projecting to be in the top 5, I really don't know as much about him as I do Wahlstrom, but again, I think it would be a coin toss and either one would be a win and on our team this fall...

[Andy Pred 48 337]

Wings are looking to trade up, maybe Zadina is who they want , or could they be looking have the 

[LeftWinger 4,963]

The........WHAT!??!

 

[krsmith17 7,191]

The biggest mistake this team could make is trade up to 3rd for Zadina in my opinion. The price would be way too steep. With this being such a deep draft we should take the best player available at 6, or trade back a couple spots, assuming there are still multiple players we like still on the board. Best case scenario for me would be to take Bouchard (or one of the other defensemen) at 6 and trade up to take Wahlstrom (or Kotkaniemi) with our 2nd pick.

[The 91 of Ryans 3,015]

33 minutes ago, krsmith17 said:

The biggest mistake this team could make is trade up to 3rd for Zadina in my opinion. The price would be way too steep. With this being such a deep draft we should take the best player available at 6, or trade back a couple spots, assuming there are still multiple players we like still on the board. Best case scenario for me would be to take Bouchard (or one of the other defensemen) at 6 and trade up to take Wahlstrom (or Kotkaniemi) with our 2nd pick.

Agreed. BPA according to Wright and his staff not Button, MacKenzie, and LGWs. 

Point being, I believe they thought Rasmussen was BPA at 9 last year. Didn't get much affirmation around here. 

[Andy Pred 48 337]

7 hours ago, LeftWinger said:

The........WHAT!??!

 

The Svech boys,  my keypad keeps loc

[krsmith17 7,191]

6 hours ago, The 91 of Ryans said:

Agreed. BPA according to Wright and his staff not Button, MacKenzie, and LGWs. 

Point being, I believe they thought Rasmussen was BPA at 9 last year. Didn't get much affirmation around here. 

Well yeah, they're obviously going with BPA according to who the organization feels is the best player available, not what any outsiders are saying. They thought Rasmussen was BPA last year, despite what many others believed, and maybe he was, but there's also a chance that he wasn't... I just want them to have a crystal ball and know who is the BPA. I really don't think that's too much to ask...

[SwedeLundin77 460]

1 hour ago, Andy Pred 48 said:

The Svech boys,  my keypad keeps loc

Not going to lie, I know we need a top D more than anything right now, but I would be freakin' ecstatic about having the Svech brothers, especially Andrei.

[krsmith17 7,191]

It's kind of surprising how well Evgeny understands and speaks the English language and how poorly Andrei does. Apparently he understands a lot, but can't really speak it much at all. Still, it would be pretty cool to see the Svech bros together, but it's obviously not going to happen. Not in Detroit anyway. Maybe we'll end up trading Evgeny to Carolina (assuming they take Andrei 2nd overall).

[LeftWinger 4,963]

Not sure how we'd get up to #2 but I hear ya...they say Svechling is the real deal superstar in waiting.

[Dabura 12,207]

Here's the piece reporting the Zadina thing, just so we're all on the same page:

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2018/06/detroit_red_wings_trying_to_mo.html#incart_river_index

Personally? I doubt we're really serious about moving up to 3. Like @krsmith17 said, it would be way too high a price to pay. And we'd be paying [insert way-to-steep price] to the frking Habs. Frk that noise, man.

To me, the bigger "story" here is that Khan has again named Bouchard, Dobson, Kotkaniemi.

[SwedeLundin77 460]

I could have sworn I saw Wahlstrom listed as a C/RW. If so, I have to hope he's considered at the very least.

[LeftWinger 4,963]

On ‎6‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 9:34 PM, SwedeLundin77 said:

I could have sworn I saw Wahlstrom listed as a C/RW. If so, I have to hope he's considered at the very least.

You read correctly, lets hope this is the C/RW they take instead of the other C/LW.

 

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/241370/oliver-wahlstrom

Quote

“awesome. I love them. It’s my dad’s favorite team, so it was cool. Meeting Kris Draper was awesome — I had his stick when I was little, so it was awesome, it was a really cool experience. I was like, 'whoa.' I’d seen him on TV winning the Stanley Cup, so it was just really cool.” - Oliver Wahlstrom talking at the combine about his time spent with Detroit staff.

 

Edited July 23, 2018 by LeftWinger

[SwedeLundin77 460]

14 hours ago, LeftWinger said:

You read correctly, lets hope this is the C/RW they take instead of the other C/LW.

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/241370/oliver-wahlstrom

 

I'm obviously no expert, but it seems like he could step right in, too. Then they have the option of making some moves for a good young D. Perhaps we can finally put a package together and get Trouba, for example. They also have the option of getting a good solid D prospect late in the first or early in the second. I like the D prospects that are available, but I have this nagging feeling that Bouchard may not live up to the hype (since that seems like our #1 option).

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

Will The Wings Make a Play for Kovalchuk?

Article: Red Wings have shown interest in the past, but Kovy wants to go to a contender. More likely we sign Vanek.

The more interesting parts of the article are: Detroit prefers Zadina to Svechnikov and would still consider trading up. Detroit also prefers Bouchard and Dobson over Boqvist and Hughes because of size.

[SwedeLundin77 460]

4 minutes ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

Will The Wings Make a Play for Kovalchuk?

Article: Red Wings have shown interest in the past, but Kovy wants to go to a contender. More likely we sign Vanek.

The more interesting parts of the article are: Detroit prefers Zadina to Svechnikov and would still consider trading up. Detroit also prefers Bouchard and Dobson over Boqvist and Hughes because of size.

I feel like if we trade up and get Zadina... you'll know Holland has changed a little (not a typical move by him). I also feel like they are correct in their assessment of those 4 defensemen. It's also tough since Hughes is just so dynamic and fast (literally like having another Larkin on defense).

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]