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LeftWinger

2018-2019 Opening Night Roster - Dedicated to BlueAdams!

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13 hours ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

Hockey guy is bac

His potential rookies to make the team are: Zadina, Veleno, and Cholowski. No consideration to Rasmussen or Hronek or Hicketts. And he lists Helm as a top 6 forward

What a dingus

I love his optimism on Veleno and Cholowski, but I don't see either playing full time with the Wings this season. Both are likely a year (maybe two) away. Maybe Cholowski gets a look at the end of the season, but I wouldn't count on that until next season, unless there are multiple injuries on the back end. I'd be shocked if Rasmussen doesn't make the team and is sent back to Tri-City, unless he's injured or has an awful camp / preseason. Zadina and Hronek could go either way in my opinion. I think it will take an injury or trade for either to make the team out of camp. My guess is both start in Grand Rapids and are first on the list for injury replacements.

I think the team will look something like this...

Athanasiou - Larkin - Mantha

Rasmussen - Zetterberg - Nyquist

Bertuzzi - Nielsen - Vanek

Abdelkader - Glendening - Helm

Frk / Witkowski

Frk is inserted into the lineup for game day / short-term injuries.

Zadina is the first call-up for any long-term injuries.

Svechnikov should be the second call-up. Hopefully he earns a full-time spot in Detroit by mid-season.

Witkowski shouldn't ever play...

DeKeyser - Green

Ericsson - Daley

Kronwall - Jensen

Hicketts

Hicketts is inserted into the lineup for game day / short-term injuries.

Hronek is the first call-up for any long-term injuries.

Howard

Bernier

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^^^ Sounds spot on. Of all the prospects, those are the two I'm most anxious to see get a stint with the big club(Zadina & Hronek), so this should be fun to watch. If Hank doesn't start the season then Helm is probably centering the 3rd line...which isn't ideal, but at least it would increase the likelihood of seeing more Zadina and/or Svechnikov.

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16 minutes ago, solarion said:

^^^ Sounds spot on. Of all the prospects, those are the two I'm most anxious to see get a stint with the big club(Zadina & Hronek), so this should be fun to watch. If Hank doesn't start the season then Helm is probably centering the 3rd line...which isn't ideal, but at least it would increase the likelihood of seeing more Zadina and/or Svechnikov.

Same. I think I'll watch a lot more Griffins games again this season. I used to watch a lot of games, but just had no interest last season. This season, they could have Zadina, Svechnikov, Turgeon, Smith, Pope, Hronek, Cholowski, all of which I see as future Red Wings, as well as Holmstrom, Sulak and Saarijarvi, who have an outside chance of playing for the Red Wings some day...

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15 hours ago, krsmith17 said:

I love his optimism on Veleno and Cholowski, but I don't see either playing full time with the Wings this season. Both are likely a year (maybe two) away. Maybe Cholowski gets a look at the end of the season, but I wouldn't count on that until next season, unless there are multiple injuries on the back end. I'd be shocked if Rasmussen doesn't make the team and is sent back to Tri-City, unless he's injured or has an awful camp / preseason. Zadina and Hronek could go either way in my opinion. I think it will take an injury or trade for either to make the team out of camp. My guess is both start in Grand Rapids and are first on the list for injury replacements.

I think the team will look something like this...

Athanasiou - Larkin - Mantha

Rasmussen - Zetterberg - Nyquist

Bertuzzi - Nielsen - Vanek

Abdelkader - Glendening - Helm

Frk / Witkowski

Frk is inserted into the lineup for game day / short-term injuries.

Zadina is the first call-up for any long-term injuries.

Svechnikov should be the second call-up. Hopefully he earns a full-time spot in Detroit by mid-season.

Witkowski shouldn't ever play...

DeKeyser - Green

Ericsson - Daley

Kronwall - Jensen

Hicketts

Hicketts is inserted into the lineup for game day / short-term injuries.

Hronek is the first call-up for any long-term injuries.

Howard

Bernier

He doesn't seem to understand the prospect pool as well as he understand the main roster. But then again he aslo listed Helm as a top 6 forward when he was the #8 forward last year.

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12 hours ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

He doesn't seem to understand the prospect pool as well as he understand the main roster. But then again he aslo listed Helm as a top 6 forward when he was the #8 forward last year.

I think that's because he wasn't counting Z tho? That said, the top 6 w/o Z should be DBoss, AntMan, Bert, Nielsen, Goose, AA or Abby. No Helm.

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What I want (semi-realistically):

Mantha  Larkin  Zadina
Rasmussen  Zetterberg  Nyquist
Athanasiou  Nielsen  Vanek
Bertuzzi  Helm  Abdelkader
Glendening, Frk/Witkowski

DeKeyser  Green
Ericsson  Daley
Kronwall  Hronek
Jensen

What I'm expecting:

Abdelkader  Larkin  Mantha
Rasmussen  Zetterberg  Nyquist
Athanasiou  Nielsen  Vanek
Bertuzzi  Glendening  Helm
Frk, Witkowski

DeKeyser  Green
Ericsson  Daley
Kronwall  Jensen
Hicketts

Edited by Dabura

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15 hours ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

He doesn't seem to understand the prospect pool as well as he understand the main roster. But then again he aslo listed Helm as a top 6 forward when he was the #8 forward last year.

2 hours ago, Neomaxizoomdweebie said:

I think that's because he wasn't counting Z tho? That said, the top 6 w/o Z should be DBoss, AntMan, Bert, Nielsen, Goose, AA or Abby. No Helm.

He had Vanek-Zetterberg-Nyquist / Helm-Larkin-Mantha in his "How bad is it?" video. Said the lines and pairings were taken straight off of some website. Seems like he just went with that info again for the season preview video, which is kinda dumb/lazy. (To be fair, though, Vanek outscored nearly all of our forwards last season and Helm-Larkin-Mantha was pretty good for us late in the season.)

Didn't even mention Rasmussen or Hronek or Athanasiou in the season preview. If he did, I missed it.

Veleno only has a shot at making the team if Zetterberg retires, and even then I doubt he makes it.

Edited by Dabura

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2 hours ago, Dabura said:

What I want (semi-realistically):

Mantha  Larkin  Zadina
Rasmussen  Zetterberg  Nyquist
Athanasiou  Nielsen  Vanek
Bertuzzi  Helm  Abdelkader
Glendening, Frk/Witkowski

DeKeyser  Green
Ericsson  Daley
Kronwall  Hronek
Jensen

Yes please...at least for pre-season. ...and if #40 doesn't answer the bell, I'd like to get a look at Veleno. I suspect Joey V isn't that far away from NHL ready...at least if he's allowed to play wing to acclimate to the reduced time and space.

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3 minutes ago, solarion said:

Yes please...at least for pre-season. ...and if #40 doesn't answer the bell, I'd like to get a look at Veleno. I suspect Joey V isn't that far away from NHL ready...at least if he's allowed to play wing to acclimate to the reduced time and space.

If Zetterberg starts on LTIR, I wouldn't mind seeing Veleno get at least a short audition beyond training camp. However, even without Z, I'm not sure there's room for him in the top nine, and if he's playing on the fourth line then it'd probably be best for him to just go straight to junior anyway. Exhibition action should give him a big enough taste of pro hockey for now. I expect him to challenge for a roster spot next season.

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23 minutes ago, Dabura said:

If Zetterberg starts on LTIR, I wouldn't mind seeing Veleno get at least a short audition beyond training camp. However, even without Z, I'm not sure there's room for him in the top nine, and if he's playing on the fourth line then it'd probably be best for him to just go straight to junior anyway. Exhibition action should give him a big enough taste of pro hockey for now. I expect him to challenge for a roster spot next season.

Would you stop muttering these words

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After an article I saw today from Kenny Holland it most def seems like Z isn't coming back.  The biggest hit we take from this imo is we seem to have a ton of wingers in the wheel house ready to go but who centers them?  I believe Nielsen is best suited for a 3rd pairing role SO is the AA playing center thing done because he'd help us create 3 lines that can help score on a regular basis if he could play center

Mantha    Larkin    Zadina

Rasmussen  Athanasiou  Vanek

Bertuzzi   Nielsen  Nyquist  

Abby  Helm  Frk

Glendening (faceoff champion)/Witowski (face punching champion)

Danny D     Green

Ericsson     Daley

Kronwall    Hronek

Chowlowski

 

 

 

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On 7/12/2018 at 11:28 AM, LeftWinger said:

Ok, with the roster almost set (barring a trade for a defender) give us your best guess at what the opening night roster will look like and what line combos you'd like to see. It's a given that we'll get Larkin signed, I am going with a 2 year $4M bridge deal. Unfortunately the chatter about Z is getting too frequent, so I have to go with he is done. So even if we signed  Also, just because I have Kronwall listed in the #7 spot, does not mean he will be scratched every night. I just put him there because with his knees there is a good chance he may the guy rotating in and out more frequently than Jensen or Hronek, but he may play 80 games, who knows with him!

 

You could flip AA and Nyquist around, but I like AA in the top 6, plus he had great chemistry with Helm and Vanek prior. Other than that, I really like what our roster will (could) look like come October. It may not be Cup or even playoff worthy (yet) but it's moving in the right direction. (it also may get us about the 11th-12th from the bottom finish, and we know what that means, #1 or #2 overall! :lol: )

Still going with something like this. I'm even more convinced now that Z will not return. I was a bit short on Larkin's cap, but this is still what I expect and hope to see.

Edited by LeftWinger

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4 hours ago, 13dangledangle said:

After an article I saw today from Kenny Holland it most def seems like Z isn't coming back.  The biggest hit we take from this imo is we seem to have a ton of wingers in the wheel house ready to go but who centers them?  I believe Nielsen is best suited for a 3rd pairing role SO is the AA playing center thing done because he'd help us create 3 lines that can help score on a regular basis if he could play center...

Unless he has made some major strides over the summer, AA is not suited for a 2nd line C role, particularly not with a rookie and a defensive liability for wingers. He'd be fine for a depth center role though, where he could be sheltered. But most likely Larkin, Nielsen, Helm, Glendening will be the centers if Z is done. We can do three scoring lines:

AA-Larkin-Mantha

Zadina-Nielsen-Nyquist

Ras-Helm-Vanek

Abby-Glen-Bert

AA is probably better at this point than Bert, and Helm is a better center than AA. Probably even better to swap AA and Ras, but I think Ras should be eased in a bit. Four scoring lines would be even better but without Z I don't think we can pull it off. 

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29 minutes ago, joesuffP said:

I think Ras is penciled in for the top six. Anyone playing in the bottom six will have a hard time putting up points, especially a rookie that the team is counting on to impress as a rookie

Most of the reports I've heard have Rasmussen penciled in on the 3rd line left wing. There's no reason we can't have three decent "scoring" lines.

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1 hour ago, joesuffP said:

I think Ras is penciled in for the top six. Anyone playing in the bottom six will have a hard time putting up points, especially a rookie that the team is counting on to impress as a rookie

30 minutes ago, krsmith17 said:

Most of the reports I've heard have Rasmussen penciled in on the 3rd line left wing. There's no reason we can't have three decent "scoring" lines.

What little "official" info we have has Rasmussen slotted as our 3LW.

Personally? I have Rasmussen on Z's wing because Z likes having a "piano puller" on one of his wings. And with the whole back problem thing, giving Z a big-ass linemate who can really battle around the net and open up space just makes that much more sense.

I'm not sure Rasmussen's ready for a demanding top-six role. But, in theory at least, Rasmussen-Zetterberg-Nyquist feels like your standard post-Lidstrom Zetterberg line.

9 hours ago, Buppy said:

Unless he has made some major strides over the summer, AA is not suited for a 2nd line C role, particularly not with a rookie and a defensive liability for wingers. He'd be fine for a depth center role though, where he could be sheltered. But most likely Larkin, Nielsen, Helm, Glendening will be the centers if Z is done. We can do three scoring lines:

AA-Larkin-Mantha

Zadina-Nielsen-Nyquist

Ras-Helm-Vanek

Abby-Glen-Bert

AA is probably better at this point than Bert, and Helm is a better center than AA. Probably even better to swap AA and Ras, but I think Ras should be eased in a bit. Four scoring lines would be even better but without Z I don't think we can pull it off. 

Yeah. If Z's done, it's likely Larkin-Nielsen-Helm-Glendening down the middle. Certainly Larkin and Nielsen would be the top two. Maybe AA could hack it as our 3C, but with both AA and Larkin being less-than-stellar defensively, and with two green rookie wingers entering the top-nine mix (in Z's absence), Helm probably makes more sense as our 3C. Glendening's keeping the 4C spot warm for Turgeon/Ehn/Holmstrom for one more year, or so I tell myself.

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2 hours ago, Dabura said:

What little "official" info we have has Rasmussen slotted as our 3LW.

Personally? I have Rasmussen on Z's wing because Z likes having a "piano puller" on one of his wings. And with the whole back problem thing, giving Z a big-ass linemate who can really battle around the net and open up space just makes that much more sense.

I'm not sure Rasmussen's ready for a demanding top-six role. But, in theory at least, Rasmussen-Zetterberg-Nyquist feels like your standard post-Lidstrom Zetterberg line.

Yeah. If Z's done, it's likely Larkin-Nielsen-Helm-Glendening down the middle. Certainly Larkin and Nielsen would be the top two. Maybe AA could hack it as our 3C, but with both AA and Larkin being less-than-stellar defensively, and with two green rookie wingers entering the top-nine mix (in Z's absence), Helm probably makes more sense as our 3C. Glendening's keeping the 4C spot warm for Turgeon/Ehn/Holmstrom for one more year, or so I tell myself.

Yeah, I could see Helm being slotted in as our 3C IF Zetterberg isn't able to go, but I wouldn't mind seeing Athanasiou be given an opportunity either.

I hope Turgeon makes Glendening expendable over the next season or so. I'm not really sold on either of Holmstrom or Ehn in that role.

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29 minutes ago, krsmith17 said:

Yeah, I could see Helm being slotted in as our 3C IF Zetterberg isn't able to go, but I wouldn't mind seeing Athanasiou be given an opportunity either.

I think you have to at least give it a try. Given how important Z is to this team and how big a hole he's going to leave at center (at least for the next year or two), it wouldn't surprise me if they tried a bunch of different things with the 3C and 4C spots, if only to get a better idea of what we have. With this being another transitional year, you could definitely make the case that running Helm and Glendening as your bottom-six pivots -- in Z's absence -- isn't really playing the long game, is more of play-it-safe-in-an-effort-to-squeak-into-the-playoffs strategy. On the other hand, with the team getting younger and more inexperienced, maybe you want the veterans at center, at least for the 2018-19 season.

41 minutes ago, krsmith17 said:

I hope Turgeon makes Glendening expendable over the next season or so. I'm not really sold on either of Holmstrom or Ehn in that role.

I'm hoping Turgeon picks up right where he left off before the blood clot scare. But, yeah -- even if he does, the earliest I could see him straight-up "taking Glendening's job" is the next trade deadline, if Glendening is traded.

I've cooled on Holmstrom. I like Ehn as a potential future 4C; he's a big body, good skater, thinks the game like a pro. Kinda-sorta reminds me of the Johan Franzen we thought we were getting when we drafted Johan Franzen, i.e. a big, strong, two-way checking-line centerman. Maybe Sheahan is a better comparable.

Fortunately (?), 4C isn't really an important position for a rebuilding team, so I'm fine with pretty much anyone being in that slot. Incuding Glendening.

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3 hours ago, Dabura said:

I think you have to at least give it a try. Given how important Z is to this team and how big a hole he's going to leave at center (at least for the next year or two), it wouldn't surprise me if they tried a bunch of different things with the 3C and 4C spots, if only to get a better idea of what we have. With this being another transitional year, you could definitely make the case that running Helm and Glendening as your bottom-six pivots -- in Z's absence -- isn't really playing the long game, is more of play-it-safe-in-an-effort-to-squeak-into-the-playoffs strategy. On the other hand, with the team getting younger and more inexperienced, maybe you want the veterans at center, at least for the 2018-19 season.

In theory, a line like Bert/Abby-AA-Frk/Svech could be effective, but it would rely on AA finding the ability to create offense for his linemates rather than just himself. Also, at any given time someone is probably going to be hurt, so it'd be more like Glen-AA-Svech. I expect we'll see AA some at center, but mostly when one of the other centers is hurt.

 

3 hours ago, Dabura said:

I'm hoping Turgeon picks up right where he left off before the blood clot scare. But, yeah -- even if he does, the earliest I could see him straight-up "taking Glendening's job" is the next trade deadline, if Glendening is traded.

I've cooled on Holmstrom. I like Ehn as a potential future 4C; he's a big body, good skater, thinks the game like a pro. Kinda-sorta reminds me of the Johan Franzen we thought we were getting when we drafted Johan Franzen, i.e. a big, strong, two-way checking-line centerman. Maybe Sheahan is a better comparable.

Fortunately (?), 4C isn't really an important position for a rebuilding team, so I'm fine with pretty much anyone being in that slot. Incuding Glendening.

One of Turgeon/Holmstrom/Ehn will probably be the next Emmerton/Andersson, and the other two cast off. Hopefully Glendening's "replacement" will be Helm/Nielsen being pushed down the depth chart by Veleno (or maybe someone we draft next year).

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7 hours ago, Buppy said:

One of Turgeon/Holmstrom/Ehn will probably be the next Emmerton/Andersson, and the other two cast off. Hopefully Glendening's "replacement" will be Helm/Nielsen being pushed down the depth chart by Veleno (or maybe someone we draft next year).

I agree that one of Holmstrom / Ehn will likely be the next Emmerton / Andersson, if even that good, but I don't see much reason to doubt that Turgeon could be the next Glendening, if not better. He has the defensive acumen, great penalty killer, and good faceoff guy, and he may have a little higher offensive upside. I'd like to see him, like Dabura said, be given an opportunity to take over that 4th line center role in the next year, year and a half.

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10 hours ago, Buppy said:

In theory, a line like Bert/Abby-AA-Frk/Svech could be effective, but it would rely on AA finding the ability to create offense for his linemates rather than just himself.

To be fair, neither Helm nor Glendening is much of a playmaker/offense-driver. But, yeah, I think we're on the same page here.

10 hours ago, Buppy said:

One of Turgeon/Holmstrom/Ehn will probably be the next Emmerton/Andersson, and the other two cast off. Hopefully Glendening's "replacement" will be Helm/Nielsen being pushed down the depth chart by Veleno (or maybe someone we draft next year).

I'm not really expecting any of the three to become anything more than Andersson or Sheahan. I'm hoping one of them does, but, like I said, 4C is a mostly inconsequential position for this team right now.

In a perfect world, we get Jack Hughes and he quickly establishes himself as our 1C, pushing Larkin down to 2C, Nielsen down to 3C, and maybe Helm down to 4C if he's still with the team. And soon after that, Veleno pushes Nielsen down to 4C. And maybe we find a way to trade Nielsen without having to bleed assets. And maybe we sign a mercenary journeyman to hold down the 4C spot for a year or two if we feel we're a little too young and inexperienced at center.

Keep in mind: Rasmussen-as-potential-top-six-C is still a thing.

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