2021 Draft

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

6 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

I said hughes but doubt he’ll be there . If wallstedt  is gone id trade back for another pick and say our prayers we get a decent 2nd line forward/dman and hope destiny is on our side in 2022

If we pass on wallstedt maybe we’ll get lucky and Everyone can pretend and have false hope if we get gaudreau with a late 2nd our goaltending issues will be finally resolved

Yes im  sure he would have been a wall with all that pressure on his back

i was also pissed when we took veleno cause i wanted berggren and it all worked out and he looks super good (who knows what the future will hold) point is do we really need eklund? You want 3 similar swedish wingers all 5’10 on our top 6? Doesnt sound like a smart thing to do

Eklund apparently been also given alot of ice time in his rookie season compared to raymond but im sure that means nothing

Yes once again your right he only moved up some rankings cause yzerman took him. I recall listening to tony ferrari for instance saying he wanted him in his rankings in the top 10 but his buddy convinced him not to do it so he wouldnt look like an idiot . I recall yzerman not trading back and taking him cause other teams might have taken him . You think yzerman asked edmonton if they wanted #6 and said we wanted seider and ken holland was like us too 

Ah so you admit you werent here on this board when i was saying petruzzelli wasnt signing here and got s*** from ppl saying i was stupid and detroit had nothing but spots for a young goalie but yet im a f***en full of s*** . Ok there

Never said i was special but im clearly not as dumb as you think i am (not that i care of anyones opinions) and im clearly not living in a fantasy where we can get a goalie any time we want when our history clearly dictates otherwise

Luckily yzerman is the one makint the choices

Ya cause you weren’t jerking off in the bathroom in your moms basement when nyquist had that crazy run and had 28 goals in 57 games

My mom doesn't have a basement.

And like many realists, I knew Nyquist's shooting percentage was unsustainable and his goal scoring would come back down to earth.

1 minute ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

So what your saying is so long as we dont draft a goalie in the top 10 we’ll be ok .... if only we had 30 yrs of research to tell us otherwise 

Yep. The Wings draft history is totally the same as the other 30 teams.

[krsmith17 7,191]

14 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

I said hughes but doubt he’ll be there . If wallstedt  is gone id trade back for another pick and say our prayers we get a decent 2nd line forward/dman and hope destiny is on our side in 2022

Right. Trade down because we have a better shot at getting a top line player in the 2nd round than 6th overall...

Hughes and Wallstedt are obviously the only two players projected to be elite in the top six. All the other elite players will be taken in the 2nd and 3rd rounds...

17 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

i was also pissed when we took veleno cause i wanted berggren and it all worked out and he looks super good (who knows what the future will hold) point is do we really need eklund? You want 3 similar swedish wingers all 5’10 on our top 6? Doesnt sound like a smart thing to do

Eklund apparently been also given alot of ice time in his rookie season compared to raymond but im sure that means nothing

I don't know. You tell me. Do we need an elite player, in the same mold as Raymond? I'd do it. Always BPA. You can trade from a position of strength to fill a position of weakness later. Besides, Eklund has played some center. There's no reason to think the Red Wings can't develop him as a center.

Ice time matter, but like it or not, Eklund is a very similarly skilled player as Raymond.

23 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Yes once again your right he only moved up some rankings cause yzerman took him. I recall listening to tony ferrari for instance saying he wanted him in his rankings in the top 10 but his buddy convinced him not to do it so he wouldnt look like an idiot . I recall yzerman not trading back and taking him cause other teams might have taken him . You think yzerman asked edmonton if they wanted #6 and said we wanted seider and ken holland was like us too 

Do you really think that Tony Ferrari's rankings have any bearing on what Yzerman (or any GM) is going to do on draft day?

25 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Ah so you admit you werent here on this board when i was saying petruzzelli wasnt signing here and got s*** from ppl saying i was stupid and detroit had nothing but spots for a young goalie but yet im a f***en full of s*** . Ok there

What's your point? You're far from the only one that seen this as a possibility.

47 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

16/21 last cup winning teams had drafted their own goalies ... redwings have been a disaster at drafting goalies in the last 30 yrs regardless the position they were taken but lets pretend we can easily find our own hey ? And 6/21 won the cup by ufa or trade route  so we can do it easy peasy np

but ya lets keep living in a dream world where we can get a goalie in the next decade cause its just bound to happen once and take us to the promise land 

The Red Wings have been a disaster at drafting / developing goalies in the past 30 years. Absolutely. You know what was the one constant in those 30 years? Ken Holland. You know what is different for the past two years? Steve Yzerman. You know who drafted the goaltender you keep raving about, that is about to win back-to-back Stanley Cups? Steve Yzerman. Maybe trust the guy that found Vasilevskiy in the late 1st round. Maybe he can find a goaltender with one of our other 7 picks in the first three rounds... But IF he takes Wallstedt with that first pick, cool. Maybe we have our Vasilevskiy...

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

7 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Cause the more kicks at the can the better? If we can fall to 8/9 and get pick 38-39 as well id do it. apparently its only justifiable to find a goalie in the later rounds so we need as many picks as possible

Ok dude enough of this stupid s*** ... you dont agree with me thats fine , you also cant name a single player that you think we should target at 6 that can be elite . Again you dont agree? Cool i dont give two s***s but theres zero point in rehashing this crap over and over

Well from alot of the podcasts and s*** ive read/seen people seem to believe eklund is a winger and not a center . Sure we can always trade a berggren etc... to fill up another position of need but eklund isnt a target for me . Dont agree? I dont care

ok he’s a similar player . Again i dont care

Did i say it did? Your the one saying seider only went up ranks late cause yzerman took him which makes no sense cause we would have traded back and got an extra pick but we’d have lost him . But somehow we were the only ones who liked him much earlier than rankings would dictate

Dude your the one saying i was full of s*** and never said these things and then you admit to not being here . Just stop 

Yes thats why i trust yzerman will resolve our goaltending issue once and for all at 6 . We’ll see what happens ... I dont look at the fact that he picked a goalie at 19 as a sign that hed never take one top 10 . He picked 5 goalies after vasilevsky that amounted to nothing and we have nothing in our pipeline and our current roster . He wont keep playing russian roulette cause he knows he’ll need to draft a goalie that pans out to be ready in 3-4 yrs and 2021/2022 draft fits the timeline 

 

Goalies take longer to develop. Picking one now means that they would hit their prime after all the other young core players are well into, or past theirs. That significantly narrows the window to win.

Too bad about Petro, but at this point, I think filling out the skating positions and then acquiring a competent goalie thru trade or free agency when the roster hits its prime is a better way to go.

[krsmith17 7,191]

5 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Cause the more kicks at the can the better? If we can fall to 8/9 and get pick 38-39 as well id do it. apparently its only justifiable to find a goalie in the later rounds so we need as many picks as possible

So there's not elite talent available at 6. Is there elite talent available at 8/9?

6 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Ok dude enough of this stupid s*** ... you dont agree with me thats fine , you also cant name a single player that you think we should target at 6 that can be elite . Again you dont agree? Cool i dont give two s***s but theres zero point in rehashing this crap over and over

I've named about 7 players that I'd be okay with taking at 6, that I think could be elite. I'm not going to pretend to know one way or the other though. I'll leave that to Yzerman.

8 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Well from alot of the podcasts and s*** ive read/seen people seem to believe eklund is a winger and not a center . Sure we can always trade a berggren etc... to fill up another position of need but eklund isnt a target for me . Dont agree? I dont care

Oh, people on podcasts think he will be a winger. That's that then. Too bad the team that drafts him doesn't have any say in that...

10 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

ok he’s a similar player . Again i dont care

Raymond is elite #everybodylovesraymond

Don't want / need Eklund

...

11 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Did i say it did? Your the one saying seider only went up ranks late cause yzerman took him which makes no sense cause we would have traded back and got an extra pick but we’d have lost him . But somehow we were the only ones who liked him much earlier than rankings would dictate so i dont know why we didnt trade back

No. I'm saying, again, Seider was a "late riser" because some of these draft "analysts" caught wind that some teams (Detroit and maybe Edmonton) were interested in him...

14 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Dude your the one saying i was full of s*** and never said these things and then you admit to not being here . Just stop 

I never once said you didn't say those things. I'm sure you did. What I'm saying is that you weren't the only one saying those things (many others did as well), and you're not special for predicting Raymond to Detroit, or Petruzzelli potentially (hasn't happened yet) walking.

19 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Yes thats why i trust yzerman will resolve our goaltending issue once and for all at 6 . We’ll see what happens ... I dont look at the fact that he picked a goalie at 19 as a sign that hed never take one top 10 . He picked 5 goalies after vasilevsky that amounted to nothing and we have nothing in our pipeline and our current roster . He wont keep playing russian roulette cause he knows he’ll need to draft a goalie that pans out to be ready in 3-4 yrs and 2021/2022 draft fits the timeline 

Yes. We'll see what happens. Only a few more weeks...

[F.Michael 4,590]

Just my dos pesos...Me thinks if the tall lanky left Dman Swede Edvinsson is available at #6 - he'll be wearing the Winged Wheel on stage with Grand Master Y and Co on draft night...If not available - I'll beat the dead horse with Wallstedt.

Edited July 2, 2021 by F.Michael

[krsmith17 7,191]

7 hours ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

I dont know you tell me? Your the one whos convinced there’s elite talent at 6 so you would know if theres elite talent a 9 . Perfect scenario for me would be trading back to 8-9 and getting wallstedt + pick 38/39 but thats not the best care for most people here so

Yes, there will be top line talent available at 6. You know how I know that? Because there has been top line talent available at 6 in every single draft ever. This year will be no different. Oh, and also, someone told me there would be top line talent available in the 2nd round, so there's that too...

7 hours ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

People on podcasts do alot more work scouting on these players than you or i do so sorry if i trust their opinions more than someone on a wings board . Obviously the teams that draft the players always have the last say with how someones developed

Every one of these podcast guys can watch every single game Eklund plays, and say he "projects more as a winger than center". That's not going to change what Yzerman thinks, or how Yzerman will want to develop him. 

I haven't watched a single game Ekland has played in the SHL. Just some highlights, and the same podcasts and articles you've listened to / read. I'm not pretending to know that he will develop into a center. All I'm saying is that maybe, just maybe Yzerman thinks he can develop into a center. 

8 hours ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Just stop keith’s walking . Coolz your predictions and opinions are nothing special as well so at least we agree that we dont give two s***s about eachothers takes

I've never said he wasn't. I've thought (like most people) that it was a strong possibility after Yzerman was asked in his last presser. It's even more likely now, but still hasn't happened yet.

I'm not the one trying to tell people "I called Raymond to Detroit, and now I'm calling Wallstedt to Detroit. I was right last year so I'm obviously going to be right this year"...

[krsmith17 7,191]

35 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Arent you a clever lad ... did someone tell you theres also a rasmussen type talent in the top 10 every year and we might end up with one of those? Considering theres way more a chance we pick up one of those at this years draft at 6 considering its a weaker draft than id rather take a chance at the goalie ( yes its been said its a weaker draft than usual years despite what you think by ppl who do this for a living)

Holland drafted Rasmussen. Yzerman drafted Seider and Raymond. Completely different regime.

This draft is extremely under scouted. I highly doubt it's as weak as some are saying. I guarantee there will be top line / pair talent available at 6 (I trust Yzerman to take said talent), and I'll bet when we look back on this draft in a few years, we'll see that it wasn't really THAT weak of a draft after all...

47 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

I never said that did i? Any gm will do whatever they want ... doesnt mean he’ll end up being a C though just cause your looking up at the sky and asking god pretty pretty please let us draft him and let him be a C for us

I never once said I want to draft Eklund specifically. Again, there are half a dozen or so guys I'd be okay with drafting at 6. I trust Yzerman to make the right decision. Although I kind of want Edvinsson now...

10 hours ago, F.Michael said:

Me thinks if the tall lanky left Dman Swede Edvinsson is available at #6 - he'll be wearing the Winged Wheel on stage with Grand Master Y and Co on draft night...

10 hours ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

I hope not man .

LOL

I also don't think if we do draft Eklund, it's the be-all, end-all that he's developed into a center. I do however know that he has played center in the past (switched to wing as a 17/18 year old in a men's league), and if Yzerman (or whoever drafts him) wants to develop him into a center, he has the skill and ability to make it happen.

[The 91 of Ryans 3,015]

 

 

f***. NOW I hope we draft Edvinsson. I am so here for it if that happens! 

 

 

16 minutes ago, BarkBurgerman said:

Another interesting ripple in the Petruzzelli story.

This may just be a rumor the organization is spreading to save face. The kid can probably find a job in any of Edmonton's, Tampa's, Boston's, New York's, or Seattle's farm systems. Maybe this kid is trying to leverage his covid inflated season and UFA options to max out his ELC and bonuses on the Red Wings? And Yzerman just doesn't value him like that and told him to pound sand?

It will be interesting to see what Yzerman has up his sleeve. If there's some killer net move he's waiting to execute, maybe it's true and he really doesn't feel he needs Petruzzelli.

Goalie depth looks like this:

Greiss - 1 year left
Bernier - UFA
Pickard - UFA (GR)
Boyle - UFA (GR)
Fulcher - 1 year left ELC (ECHL) -----> appears to be a perma depth goalie
Larsson - 1 year left (loan) ------------> likely done in NA
Brattstrom - 1 year left (loan) ---------> nothing interesting

Additionally we own the rights to:

Gylander ---------------------------------> nowhere near ready
Eliasson ----------------------------------> nothing interesting
Bednar ------------------------------------> nowhere near ready

I assume Yzerman wants to re-sign Bernier or at least someone similar in UFA. After that it doesn't appear we have many options besides leaning on perman AHLers like Pickard's or Boyle's, or one of our very meh draft selections. Sorta hard to believe he wouldn't want a Petruzzelli in the system at least for depth and to see how he develops... maybe he does plan on drafting Wallstedt or Cossa and fast tracking them? Maybe he has someone else in mind like an Arvid Soderblom (signed with the Hawks)?

In Tampa Yzerman sorta leaned back on 1B goalies like Roloson and Garon (Greiss and Bernier) and then waited to fleece others for their young goalies. He tried and failed to do it to Nashville for Lindback. Successfully did it to Ottawa to bring in Ben Bishop. Then successfully did it to us by flipping Quincey for Vasilevskiy. Starting to think that extra 1st for Mantha will be going towards Cossa... just like he did with Vasi.

Someone on another board mentioned that a goalie expert talked to the Winged Wheel podcast and basically said the Red Wings are known throughout the league for their terrible reputation with goal-tending. That the Wings basically just don't spend any money on scouting or coaching goalies.

GoalieMattDamon and his agent in a staring comp with Yzerdog

 

Edited July 2, 2021 by The 91 of Ryans

[krsmith17 7,191]

10 minutes ago, BarkBurgerman said:

I assume Yzerman wants to re-sign Bernier or at least someone similar in UFA. After that it doesn't appear we have many options besides leaning on perman AHLers like Pickard's or Boyle's, or one of our very meh draft selections. Sorta hard to believe he wouldn't want a Petruzzelli in the system at least for depth and to see how he develops... maybe he does plan on drafting Wallstedt or Cossa and fast tracking them? Maybe he has someone else in mind like an Arvid Soderblom (signed with the Hawks)?

In Tampa Yzerman sorta leaned back on 1B goalies like Roloson and Garon (Greiss and Bernier) and then waited to fleece others for their young goalies. He tried and failed to do it to Nashville for Lindback. Successfully did it to Ottawa to bring in Ben Bishop. Then successfully did it to us by flipping Quincey for Vasilevskiy. Starting to think that extra 1st for Mantha will be going towards Cossa... just like he did with Vasi.

Someone on another board mentioned that a goalie expert talked to the Winged Wheel podcast and basically said the Red Wings are known throughout the league for their terrible reputation with goal-tending. That the Wings basically just don't spend any money on scouting or coaching goalies. Yzerman hasn't bothered to replace Saljako yet... but he did bring over his goalie scout with him from Tampa (whom Tampa replaced with Petrruzzelli's goalie coach from Qunnipiac)

No doubt Yzerman needs to and will address the goaltender situation (or lack thereof) in the next year or so. If he thinks Wallstedt is that guy, and sees him as best player available at 6, cool. If he thinks there's a better player available at 6, and thinks he can get Cossa at 23, great.

I still think the best route to acquire a goaltender is to trade for one. If he can swing a trade with his old buddy BriseBois to get Alnefelt, that would be an immediate replacement (upgrade?) over Petruzzelli.

[Akakabuto 1,757]

45 minutes ago, BarkBurgerman said:

but he did bring over his goalie scout with him from Tampa

Who told him: ”Dude, this guy sucks huge balls and will never be close to an NHL goalie. Why did Holland draft this loser!? Whether he wants to play here or not doesn’t matter. Let him walk, he’s useless anyhow.”

 

[krsmith17 7,191]

34 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Dude ive said multiple times when we look at the draft yrs on we’ll see players who slipped to later rounds that we’ll be shocked about . Players projected to go first round arent under scouted and teams have done their homework on them . I think the overall first round elite talent compared to other drafts are under whelming . We’ll see

Okay. I think I'm starting to get it...

Teams have done their homework on players "projected" to go in the 1st round, but not on players "projected" to go beyond the 1st round... There won't be any top line talent available at 6, but there will be top line talent available in the latter 1st and 2nd round...

It all makes sense now...

[The 91 of Ryans 3,015]

2 minutes ago, BarkBurgerman said:

Only 3 teams in the cap era have won a cup with a goalie they didn't draft.

2011: Boston with Rask
2010: Chicago with Niemi (undrafted, Chicago his first NHL team)
2007: Anaheim with Giguere

It's been 10 years since a team won a cup with a goalie they didn't draft. And only 3 have done it in the last 16 seasons if you count Niemi.

STATS!

How many of them were first rounders? In the cap era. 

I got: Vasilevskiy, Ward, and Giguere

 

 

[Akakabuto 1,757]

9 minutes ago, BarkBurgerman said:

Or Brisebois made a calculated play for a good college goalie by going after ours through Qunnipiac's coaching staff after Yzerman stole his staff

I find what I wrote more likely.

[The 91 of Ryans 3,015]

12 minutes ago, BarkBurgerman said:

Or Brisebois made a calculated play for a good college goalie by going after ours through Qunnipiac's coaching staff after Yzerman stole his staff

Seems like a deep operation. I hope they make a movie.......

Just now, BarkBurgerman said:

You're forgetting Rask, and Fleury and this years champ Carey Mr. Saturday Night Price

I was talking about 1st rounders drafted by team they won with. 

Pitts won with Murray and you already mentioned Rask as being drafted by not Boston (Toronto) and he rode pine behind the little pudge nut job in 2011 anyway. 

[F.Michael 4,590]

20 minutes ago, BarkBurgerman said:

Only 3 teams in the cap era have won a cup with a goalie they didn't draft.

2011: Boston with Rask
2010: Chicago with Niemi (undrafted, Chicago his first NHL team)
2007: Anaheim with Giguere

It's been 10 years since a team won a cup with a goalie they didn't draft. And only 3 have done it in the last 16 seasons if you count Niemi.

Or Brisebois made a calculated play for a good college goalie by going after ours through Qunnipiac's coaching staff after Yzerman stole his staff

[The 91 of Ryans 3,015]

Just now, BarkBurgerman said:

I count 7/16 of the last cups were won by first round goalies (48% of cups in the cap era). Only 2 of which were not drafted by their team they won with.

2006 - Ward - that's 1

2007 - Giggy - 2

2008 - Osgood 

2009 - Fluery - my bad - that's 3

2010 - Niemi

2011 - Thomas

2012 - Quick

2013 - Crawford

2014 - Quick

2015 - Crawford

2016 - Murray

2017 - Murray

2018 - Holtby

2019 - Binnington

2020 - Vaz - 4

2012 - ? 

 

I got 4 

 

[The 91 of Ryans 3,015]

1 minute ago, BarkBurgerman said:

Aw s***. Forgot my favorite Republican! Make that 38% of cups are won by 1st round goalies in the cap era

38 is a cute way of saying 25

[F.Michael 4,590]

1 minute ago, The 91 of Ryans said:

38 is a cute way of saying 25

Tim Thomas carries a .38 on his ankle...

[krsmith17 7,191]

15 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

There only talking first rounders though nevermind the fact that almost every single cup winner drafted a goalie regardless of position .Forget that we havent drafted s*** in 30 yrs we’re bound to strike on one of them one of these decades . Sounds like a solid plan not to waste pick on a top notch goalie prospect

Except for the fact that this isn't true... We HAVE drafted a goaltender good enough to win a Stanley Cup in the past 30 years. Jimmy Howard at his peak was more than capable of winning a Stanley Cup. He was far from the reason we didn't win. The reason we didn't win in the past dozen years, is because we didn't have enough young, elite talent on the ice. The reason we didn't have elite skaters, was because from 2001-2012 we only had 4 1st round picks (all varying degrees of busts including a goaltender), and up until 4 years ago, we haven't had a single top 10 pick, and still haven't had a single top 3 pick.

Maybe we draft one that pans out this year. Or maybe we do what half of the other Stanley Cup caliber teams are doing, and trade for one, or sign one in free agency...

[krsmith17 7,191]

11 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

YOU think we have i dont . Howard was nothing but an average goalie ... surprise surprise something else we dont agree on (we’ve already had this discussion numerous times)

Yes, Howard was an average goaltender. That, we do agree on. What we disagree on, bringing us back to the root of this entire debate... You can win a Stanley Cup with average goaltending... We did it in 2008 with Osgood. Chicago did it in 2010 with Niemi, and twice with Crawford in '13 and '15. LA did it twice with Quick in '12 and '14. Pittsburgh did it twice with Murray in '16 and '17. None of these goaltenders were significantly better than Howard, and none of these goaltenders were 1st round picks, let alone top 10 picks...

[Scott R Lucidi 483]

Glad everyone finally came around to Howard = Average!!!!

[krsmith17 7,191]

16 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Quick was one of the best goalies in the league in his prime... Your dream basically is to have a such a super stacked team that you can just put any joe blo in nets and we’ll win . Thats fine except we dont have a toews/kane .... malkin/crosby ... kopitar/doughty .... and we’re along way from that happening and likely wont find one here  this draft . You seem to think we can i dont (we’ve endlessly gone through this already)

Quick had one or two seasons where he was lights out. Outside of that, he was pretty average. Same goes for the other guys mentioned, including Howard.

I don't think we need to be "super stacked", but we definitely need to add two or three elite players. If that's in goal, great, but it wouldn't be the way I'd construct a team.

Maybe some of those pieces are already in the system (Seider? Raymond?)... Maybe we take the best skater at 6 and he becomes one of those pieces (Eklund? Hughes?)... Maybe we luck out and get a top two pick in next year's draft (Wright? Lambert?)...

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

7 hours ago, krsmith17 said:

No doubt Yzerman needs to and will address the goaltender situation (or lack thereof) in the next year or so. If he thinks Wallstedt is that guy, and sees him as best player available at 6, cool. If he thinks there's a better player available at 6, and thinks he can get Cossa at 23, great.

I still think the best route to acquire a goaltender is to trade for one. If he can swing a trade with his old buddy BriseBois to get Alnefelt, that would be an immediate replacement (upgrade?) over Petruzzelli.

https://thehockeywriters.com/the-grind-line-red-wings-goalies/

The first option they have is something similar.

6 hours ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

Ya but given our track record of drafting goalies We can find one in the later rounds eventually

You complain that the Red Wings suck at drafting goalies.

And your solution is to draft another goalie.

Makes sense.

[Dabura 12,207]

what are we even arguing about

[krsmith17 7,191]

19 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

2x cup winner , conn smyth ... vezina nominated but ok 1 or 2 seasons ... whatever

Yes, 2 time Cup winner, which was my point, and Conn Smythe was in that 2012 Cup run (his only really good season)...

Howard retired with a career 0.912 SV%, while Quick currently has a 0.913 SV%, with likely some bad years ahead of him, if he continues his current trend, and the same downward trend Jimmy had at the end of his career...

Either way, you can't really argue that a LOT of really good teams have won it all with average goaltending over the years. Not many average teams have been carried by elite goaltending. I think Price will be the closest we've seen in forever, but will come up just short...

34 minutes ago, Hookersarethefuture said:

this could easily end up being a 2012 draft for all we know and a dozen guys end up being ok nhlers .

Sure. It could. It could also end up being a 2013 draft (without a MacKinnon) or a 2015 (without a McDavid or Eichel). For all we know a dozen (or more) guys end up being really, really good NHLers...

Skip to 1:05 of this video...