2021 Draft

[kipwinger 8,524]

1 minute ago, The 91 of Ryans said:

Well, as you very very much know, this team needs to solve it's 1C/2C problem before they can knock on some doors. It won't be Joe filling either of those two spots. And Rasmussen will make a fine 3C. So, unless you want Veleno as your 4th line center (hint: you prob don't) then switching him to wing makes a ton of sense. 

Agreed. Been saying it for awhile. I actually think he'd be good in a Tyler Bertuzzi type role opposite a skilled winger like Vrana or Raymond. It's not that I don't think he's a good player, I just don't think he's a good CENTER. He doesn't seem to be able to process the game quickly enough offensively to be a good playmaker and he's totally incompetent defensively. If they move him to wing he'll have less defensively responsibility, which should open up his game a bit.

[The 91 of Ryans 3,014]

3 minutes ago, kipwinger said:

Agreed. Been saying it for awhile. I actually think he'd be good in a Tyler Bertuzzi type role opposite a skilled winger like Vrana or Raymond. It's not that I don't think he's a good player, I just don't think he's a good CENTER. He doesn't seem to be able to process the game quickly enough offensively to be a good playmaker and he's totally incompetent defensively. If they move him to wing he'll have less defensively responsibility, which should open up his game a bit.

So I wonder why the team insists on playing him up the middle right now? To see what he's got I suppose. 

[kipwinger 8,524]

Just now, The 91 of Ryans said:

So I wonder why the team insists on playing him up the middle right now? To see what he's got I suppose. 

What other center prospects do they have? Someone's gotta play there in Grand Rapids. I know Berggren played center a little as a junior in Sweden. I wonder if they'll try him there again? After those two you've got Niederbach, Sodorblom, Ethan Phillips, and Red Savage. I think the organization really WANTS Veleno to be a center because they've got nothing else.

[Akakabuto 1,750]

11 minutes ago, The 91 of Ryans said:

To see what he's got I suppose. 

 

8 minutes ago, kipwinger said:

Someone's gotta play there in Grand Rapids.

Both probably true. And playing him at center now certainly can't hurt his development even if they see him as a winger in the future.

17 minutes ago, kipwinger said:

I actually think he'd be good in a Tyler Bertuzzi type role

But does he have a good trollface?

[kipwinger 8,524]

1 minute ago, Akakabuto said:

But does he have a good trollface?

Veleno? Have you seen how beautiful that guy is? No way.

[Akakabuto 1,750]

36 minutes ago, kipwinger said:

Veleno? Have you seen how beautiful that guy is? No way.

Somebody knock a tooth out of that mouth fast!

[Akakabuto 1,750]

On 10/17/2021 at 4:25 PM, kipwinger said:

It is entirely possible that Raymond and Edvinsson turn out to be better player than Lafreniere and Power.

It’s also entirely possible that if Detroit got the top pick in the last draft, the guy they drafted would still be named Edvinsson. 

[kipwinger 8,524]

1 minute ago, Akakabuto said:

It’s also entirely possible that if Detroit got the top pick in the last draft, the guy they drafted would still be named Edvinsson. 

I heard Ken Daniels say as much on a podcast. Would have been a ballsy move but that's par for the course with Yzerman.

Also just another reminder that tanking for "top talent" is a bad strategy.

[Akakabuto 1,750]

3 minutes ago, kipwinger said:

I heard Ken Daniels say as much on a podcast. Would have been a ballsy move but that's par for the course with Yzerman.

Also just another reminder that tanking for "top talent" is a bad strategy.

Yzerman got his eyes on the prize. He doesn’t give f***. I don’t think the hype around certain prospects even register with him. 

[kipwinger 8,524]

2 minutes ago, Akakabuto said:

Yzerman got his eyes on the prize. He doesn’t give f***. I don’t think the hype around certain prospects even register with him. 

It shouldn't. Year after year there's more and more evidence that hype is just hype. These days the top guys don't consistently out perform the next four or five guys taken. Think about this, Trevor Zegras was taken 9th overall. The centers taken before him were Hughes, Turcotte, and Dach. Does anybody really think those three guys are obviously better than Zegras?

[Akakabuto 1,750]

On the subject:

 

[The 91 of Ryans 3,014]

1 minute ago, kipwinger said:

It shouldn't. Year after year there's more and more evidence that hype is just hype. These days the top guys don't consistently out perform the next four or five guys taken. Think about this, Trevor Zegras was taken 9th overall. The centers taken before him were Hughes, Turcotte, and Dach. Does anybody really think those three guys are obviously better than Zegras?

Turcotte might be busting a bit. Dach? Who knows. 

I think Hughes is obviously better that Zegras though. But that's just me. 

 

[kipwinger 8,524]

1 minute ago, Akakabuto said:

On the subject:

 

This tickles my pickle.

Edvinsson was the one guy I wanted Yzerman to stay away from on draft day. Said so many times. I was very wrong about Simon Edvinsson.

[The 91 of Ryans 3,014]

2 minutes ago, Akakabuto said:

On the subject:

 

 

 

Just now, kipwinger said:

This tickles my pickle.

Edvinsson was the one guy I wanted Yzerman to stay away from on draft day. Said so many times. I was very wrong about Simon Edvinsson.

Weren't you wrong about Seider too? Why are we even reading your posts LOL

[Akakabuto 1,750]

2 minutes ago, The 91 of Ryans said:

Turcotte might be busting a bit. Dach? Who knows. 

I think Hughes is obviously better that Zegras though. But that's just me. 

 

To hell with the Hughes. All of them. 

[kipwinger 8,524]

1 minute ago, The 91 of Ryans said:

Turcotte might be busting a bit. Dach? Who knows. 

I think Hughes is obviously better that Zegras though. But that's just me. 

 

I guess a better way of putting it would be that I don't think it's obvious that any of those guys will have better careers. I think Hughes is more developed than Zegras, further along in his development, but I think they'll end up having very similar careers. They're both going to be offensive top six centers, and I almost guarantee they'll end up with very similar ppg when all is said and done.

1 minute ago, The 91 of Ryans said:

 

 

Weren't you wrong about Seider too? Why are we even reading your posts LOL

Seider wasn't even on my radar. With Edvinsson I specifically said "Don't take Edvinsson". I never dreamed Yzerman would take Seider so I never even commented on it. Afterward I did say that I would rather have had Zegras, and I still might rather have had Zegras. But I'm obviously happy with Seider.

[Akakabuto 1,750]

On 10/17/2021 at 4:25 PM, kipwinger said:

Let's talk about the fact that Simon Edvinsson has scored 6 pts in 11 games in the SHL, as an 18 year old, and has had ZERO powerplay time.

It is entirely possible that Raymond and Edvinsson turn out to be better player than Lafreniere and Power.

Thats about to change

 

 

 

[The 91 of Ryans 3,014]

3 minutes ago, Akakabuto said:

Thats about to change

 

 

 

[kipwinger 8,524]

We need to trade for Jack Eichel right now. We literally have everything else we need to win. Trade our next 4 first round picks for all I care. We genuinely don't need anything else really.

 

 

[kipwinger 8,524]

2 minutes ago, BarkBurgerman said:

We're a team that can afford it to... since we're not in win now mode. Get him. Fix is neck. Draft high. Play him next year.

1st (2023) + 2nd (2022) + Namestnikov + Zadina + Veleno + McIsaac

You'd have to think we're a darkhorse.

-We have cap space

-We have tradeable assets

-We have a need at 1C

-Eichel is buddies with Larkin

-He's lived and played in Michigan

-There's no chance we're getting a 1C any other way.

[Akakabuto 1,750]

Only if he pinky swears he will extend his contract. Giving up alot of assets otherwise for only three years of play.

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

59 minutes ago, Akakabuto said:

Only if he pinky swears he will extend his contract. Giving up alot of assets otherwise for only three years of play.

Or a chronic neck condition. Those are tricky. He could end up as good as before, but he could end up on permanent LTIR too. It would be risky.

 

1 hour ago, kipwinger said:

We need to trade for Jack Eichel right now. We literally have everything else we need to win. Trade our next 4 first round picks for all I care. We genuinely don't need anything else really.

 

 

Still could use another high end winger and a 2nd pair LHD IMO.

[Dabura 12,207]

1 hour ago, kipwinger said:

You'd have to think we're a darkhorse.

-We have cap space

-We have tradeable assets

-We have a need at 1C

-Eichel is buddies with Larkin

-He's lived and played in Michigan

-There's no chance we're getting a 1C any other way.

The way I see it, there are three big obstacles...

ONE - We don't have the pieces. Or, rather, we do have the pieces, but we're not in a position to be moving any one or two or three of them and hoping for anything more than a wash (at best). No one cares about Zadina or Veleno or any of our prospects not named Seider, Raymond, or Edvinsson. Our 1sts are probably going to be later than 6OA from here on out. We don't really have any established stars on our roster, players that make other teams' fans drool. We're not trading Larkin.

TWO - Buffalo would have to face Eichel multiple times a season – and you *know* Eichel would make a point of sticking it to them each and every time. Bigger picture: I really don't think "The Sabres and Wings were basically in the same boat and then the Sabres traded Eichel to the Wings and now the Wings are a powerhouse and the Sabres are shopping Cozens and Dahlin" is something they're willing to risk.

THREE - I heard Eichel once suplexed a baby. Who the hell does that? Jack Eichel, that's who.

[Akakabuto 1,750]

9 minutes ago, Dabura said:

THREE - I heard Eichel once suplexed a baby. Who the hell does that? Jack Eichel, that's who.

He’ll fit right in with the new Wings. Bert ties kittens to back of his dirtbike when he’s out making donuts in the Lil Ceasars parking lot. Just for the lulz. 

[The 91 of Ryans 3,014]

3 hours ago, kipwinger said:

You'd have to think we're a darkhorse.

-We have cap space

-We have tradeable assets

-We have a need at 1C

-Eichel is buddies with Larkin

-He's lived and played in Michigan

-There's no chance we're getting a 1C any other way.

So either trade for eichel or spend the next decade in purgatory? Dude! Bleak. 

Edited October 18, 2021 by The 91 of Ryans