Less than a PPG in the USHL is tearing it up in regards to James? And Buchelnikov is a overager. Not saying they're bad, just notable caveats to that claim.
At 17/18 and a rookie in the league? Absolutely. I don’t love the picks but not upset with them. Yzerman likely let Hakan have the first pick then let Draper do Draper things.
Big fan of the Anton Johansson pick. .27 GPG as a 17 year old in a great U20 league as a defenseman. And at 6’4” with plenty of weight to gain.
Was looking at some of the picks, any reason why Brennan Ali presumably dropped a bit? I know rankings can be all over the place and it's not the same as what scouts see, but he was generally rated around 100 and we took him at pick 212.
Kind of meh draft in my opinion. I liked the Kasper pick fine and the Husso trade was well worth it. Nothing else is too inspiring and feels like they may have missed an opportunity to get creative. This is all a little too patient for my liking especially if we are quiet in free agency.
I truly have zero clue about any of these guys beyond Kasper. Most of these kids have lost two years of development due to Covid, so who knows. I like the overage Russian kid even though it seems like a massive reach. No idea what happens with him though.
I have no idea what we do in FA. Copp is fine but like with any of these guys, I don’t want to go beyond 4-5 years and longer term is how you end up with these players.
I honestly don't really care if we make a push in FA. I'm confident Yzerman won't do something just to do it, but unless it really helps the team move forward over the next 2-5 years. If I'm being completely honest/have some beers later... I really wouldn't mind being a lottery team again given the strength of the upcoming draft. Luck out and get one if the top guys, that would be better than anything else we could do in free agency. Just as long as we're a regular bad team, not historicallly bad
Yeah I am of a similar mindset but there are a few teams that are going to be so her we can’t reasonably expect to top em.
Three big time prizes at the top next year. We are due to get lucky once, right? Six years in a row in the lottery though. Loser’s mentality sneaking in.
Thinking more about things, here would be an ideal FA. - Sign Andrew Copp: 28/5 - Sign Ian Cole: 2/5 - Sign Josh Manson: 4/18 - Sign Nick Delauries - 3/6 - Trade Erne for peanuts or just waive him outright - Trade Zadina for Puliujarvi and a 3rd and sign him to a 4/16 deal - Trade Lindstrom for a pick - Re-sign Stephens - Re-sign Walman Head into the Opener as follows: Bertuzzi - Larkin - Raymond Vrana - Copp - Puliujarvi Suter - Veleno - Berggren Rasmussen - Sundqvist - Deslauries Smith, Stephens Fabbri on LTIR Cole - Seider Edvinsson - Manson Walman - Hronek Osterle Copp can be a #2 for this team but ideally transitions to a #3 when Kasper is ready. Cole is just a gamer and would be great next to Mo. the guy just battles every game and he sticks up for his teammates. Manson is average, but again, he’s a competitor and he has a nasty streak. He would provide a nice complement to Edvinsson as he breaks into the league. Delauries is basically just a heavyweight but he can provide more than Smith as a tough guy and a forechecker. I’m not a fan of goons for the sake of having them, but he can play a bit and the Wings have been far too easy to play against the last few years.
Reading The Athletic interview with Malkin, I’ve decided by crazy ass dream for FA is to sign Malkin to a 3/30 deal. The 10 mil AAV is irrelevant for us, and at this point he’s still a PPG player when he plays. We are clearly not willing to continue to tank (which is understandable) so bring in Malkin to play with Vrana. Let’s get wild.
I would think we have a legit shot. We can offer the 2C with no competition and can overpay him if we so choose Lots of interesting centers on the market this summer. I’d be disappointed if we don’t land one
Lots of people keep tying us to Kadri. I have no desire to sign him but I’ve talked myself into being fine if he took 3-4 years (he won’t)
Malkin Giroux Bergeron Kadri Trocheck Copp Strome Obviously some of those guys are not in play for Detroit but there is a trickle down effect. For example, would Boston/Pittsburgh try to sign someone if Malkin/Bergeron don't resign...probably. I would think the bottom 4 on that list all would be in play for Detroit. That seems like a better than normal group of UFA centers. I am done with the weaponizing cap space theory. I think it's time to sign better free agents even if you have to pay a slight premium in free agency.
The biggest issue is still wrapped around term. I just don’t see Yzerman giving any of these guys a long deal (nor should he). I’ll be very curious what the hell he does.
Friedman • I will guess Andrew Copp to Detroit, because I like to try and figure out what Steve Yzerman will do. There is also belief the Dylan Larkin extension is trending in a positive direction.
Said it in the NHL thread but anything over 4 years and 5.5 mil is too much. He will not age great but it also won’t upset our salary structure so it’s not worth getting too upset about.
I would also anticipate a Larkin extension announced in the next few days. I assume whatever Copp gets, Larkin gets 3 mil more.
Bert - Larkin - Raymond Vrana - Copp - Zadina Fabbri(?)/Ras - Suter - Berggren Erne - Veleno - Sundqvist Smith, Fabbri (IR?) Maatta - Seider Edvinson - Hronek Oesterle - Lindstrom Kampfer, Walman Ned Husso Edit note - those aren't necessarily lines I think they use, moreso done for me to fit everyone into a spot and see where we stand visually I'd ideally like another solid veteran defenseman to plug in there and possibly another winger who brings some goal scoring threat for lower lines. But I think they are probably close to done