conundrumed

That was my first thought. Welcome to UFA though, where now you're likely over-paying regardless. Add, every decent player has some form of NTC clause these days. And you're on all of them. So as a bottom-feeder, you're still stuck in a cycle of having to overpay to convince players. I just had another thought re Lafreniere. Had Detroit had pick 1 and taken him, would he be a different player today? He would have walked into a losing environment and been given boatloads of opportunity. As opposed to going to a Rangers team where they're already a solid team and opportunity is fleeting? You're just another player going to the 4th line when you make 2 mistakes? Not saying it's true, but worth considering. Similar would be Bedard to Pittsbugh rather than Chicago. They have Crosby and Malkin at C. Would he be their 3C? Can going to a bad roster vs a good one affect development for star 18yos? Even occasionally? Limited icetime, no PP time, a coach that has zero patience for mistakes.

Interesting...can we just make it the bottom 8? Playoff bubble teams likely don't need much, had IR issues or just hit a bad rough patch. A 16th team never needs nor deserves a #1 pick...2020 draft Rangers (37-28-5), while the Wings...(17-49-5). Just brutal. Yeah...they were trying to lose /s. At least they got Raymond at 4 rather than Lafreniere. Being the worst team forever without getting top picks kills the market. They need the draft's help. Teams just missing the playoffs are less likely to need the help. Your way would have the very worst team constantly picking 17th. I can hear the fan frustration now.

I believe you're talking about Zary!:)

And how many high-scorers in jr never successfully jump to the next level due to weaknesses in other areas that are more important? Particularly skating and play away from the puck. If you don't command those things, you don't get ice time. Tij is having the same problem. So they improve those things, how will it affect their highlight reels? Could be significantly, could be little. Next level, that cheating the play has to end, or the coach doesn't trust you. It's why guys who have the 200' game are so valued. They know where they're supposed to be at all times and don't play high risk constantly. That's why Dickinson, Letunov and Buium are ranked way higher than Yakemchuk. They pick their spots without cheating D responsibility.

My current D ranks: Levshunov Dickinson Buium Silayev Parekh Jiricek Hutson Kiviharju Wallenius Skahan Mews Pulkkinen Yakemchuk Freij Badinka Fibigr Emery Elick Kleber Pretty much locked in on the top 8. A bit mixed on the next 11. No one will agree on Yakemchuk, though I feel that I'm being generous. Reason - he's with Pulkkinen because I think both are near their development peaks. Pulkkinen's ahead because he's a much better defender. Yakemchuk should maybe move to wing. He's boom or bust for me. The next level will be waaay harder for guys like him and Parekh. They won't be doing whatever they feel like doing, like they both do now.

fixed

Ahh, I had no idea. So @postaudioguy, no way man. Ain't happening. To offer another perspective on this draft lottery. They could run it 16.5 times, and we'd have a 99% chance of winning once. The lottery's a joke. But I guessed it prepped us all for unending gambling ads. Then, if NJ wants to move that pick, there's likely more suitors offering more than we can offer/make us overpay. This isn't me being negative, it's me being happy with what we have for picks. Also, as a Wings fan, the lottery is like a bad joke. The NHL is pretending that god awful teams are intentionally losing for 1st overall. And apparently fans have bought in. It's an absolute joke. And insulting. It's a made-up story. Nobody's throwing games. Totally a false premise. So I know the lottery itself is heavily audited. Fair enough. Who is setting the odds? More accurately, manipulating the odds, adding rules and lying, "to make it fairer"? No you're not. Fair is 32 to 1 finishers. You're totally making up the, "throwing games" story. You've manipulated drafts in the past. Pittsburgh? Buffalo? Teams on life support. Toronto, your struggling goldenchild? But now I should trust you? That's altogether unlikely. How about penalties for teams misbehaving? ARI vs Chicago penalties? Purely manipulating situations. It's in their DNA. Don't have a lottery. Because I trust you less than a team that's 8-42 at all-star break from "throwing" games.

His degree in reverse psychology slaps!

Agreed, I watched some Liiga and SHL action this year. Also caught some of the 4 Nations tourney games live. Every year is the same to me in how they rate drafts as exceptional, avg etc. I always feel like they're all average - really good 17-18, 19yos. I'm pretty pumped for what we can take away from this draft. Conroy's added some really nice slots. Uncertain how he'll pull in more for next year, but that's why I want him to not concern himself with making trades to up the ante this go around. We'll need more swings next year too. Build up assets.

Some would call Tkachuk elite. Though I think we need to define who the, "elite" players in the league are.

Sorry, you're saying Catton's gone....erm, umm, erm, umm Helenius I think. But that's a tough question between those 3 fwds. I'm not sold on my answer. lol

Personally, I'd move away from D at that point. I like all of those players, but I'd have to go with Catton, purely for creativity and being a play driver. A fair bit more than the others. There isn't a "bad" pick at fwd there though, just where your needs lie. I think, at worst, you're getting a future 2C. Same as Helenius, but he is more complimentary than running the show like Catton. Still a fantastic player though. For a snipe, I'd really be at a loss between Eiserman and Iginla. I've seen Eiserman live half a dozen times and he's been a holy terror every time. So my bias leans that way, but it's a bias. All 3 of those D are a reach at 8 for me though. I'd likely just as soon take a fwd and start thinking about where Mews might land. Pulkkinen, Fibigr and Badinka are 3 others I'd be considering once Mews is gone/later picks. Cristiforo has really fallen off the map from being on a god-awful team. He could be a nice mid-rder pick. I'm not picking all D, lol. Just naming a few that would be decent swings.

lol. That sounds right. Full-on blinders. Tell us all about legal reasons that potentially 2-3 17yr olds can't sign contracts, with no regard that pushing the draft back a year negates that. Then it would be, yeah but so if when, more kids will do what Matthews did...because god knows those out-of-touch old pricks talk out of both sides of their mouths to make sure their business plan sees little or no change. Just sayin'. lol

Yeah I like the cut of your jib, there. Those are the 2 + Levshunov I'd take in the top 8. The others are a bit sketch for me that high if Catton is still on the board, or whoever may fall. Parekh is a bit of a wildcard. A team or 2 may get dreamy with his unreal O stats. I don't want him at 8 for us, though. I see a future Ghostisbehere. That D needs serious work. He's pretty far removed from the D Hughes bros at the same age.

Great post. Kerins is freshly 21, Stromgren will be in a couple of months. Both are still solid prospects. The Ronni thing reeaally sucked. I think most picks are considered 3-5 yrs out, so good to see progress. Zary's a good example. Can call it 3 years, but drafted as an overager if you Satoshi Nakamoto on the NHL eligibility rule, as I do. So I'd count it into his 4th yr of when he should have been eligible. I'm all for pushing it back a year for ALL 2005's this year and onwards. Next year is 2006's. My opinion, but it's pretty Blockchaining low to exclude kids from their age group. Only in the NHL. "All about inclusion". lol Yeah, you missed one...ageism... Oh, the ironing.

All of them? McMichael, Ceulemans, Barron, Stenberg, Rinzel. All great picks. All project to be solid NHL players. A wealth of RDmen and 2 Cs. I'd take any of them. Scouting is way more competitive now than looking back even 10 years ago. Those are all great picks more recently. Great options at 25-50 or 60 also. Then it's kind of a crapshoot, where you should really be looking more at raw potential, athleticism and where the kid is headed for further development, imo.

We have zero easy wins. lol

These, "ambitions", shall we call them, are reflected in the draft thread. If you'd just read it and post there, you'd find an audience. Zero need to start a new thread on what is already being discussed. Welcome to the board!

Who doesn't love a good Zadorov quote? "In Russia, if I skated the puck over the red line, I'd probably be kicked off the team". - on going to the London Knights and needing to be re-programmed for NA hockey

Keep my frustrated vendettas out of this. lol Conroy's done a bang-up job of securing good picks for us this year and a few future picks, clearing cap, etc. Now the clamouring is on for, "we need another top 15 1st rder". So does every team, every year. That's why they never happen. But I'm sure we can do it. /s

I'd be needing a top 5. Teams picking top 5 don't care about right now. So I don't have a dance partner, and I'm definitely not trading him one-for-one after that. I can trade him elsewhere for a player, a solid prospect and a later pick. I don't glamourize top 15 draft picks regarding one of my best players.

18. Has played 68 games, not too shabby.

You can't trade a top 4RD on a value contract for only a 17th oa question mark. Teams would be falling over each other racing up Conroy's stairs.

Zach Benson is currently listed at 170lbs...just sayin'.

Without taking massive strides in his 200' game, he's a winger. Not unlike dear old dad, he is NOT committed to playing D. He's a goal-scorer. He'd NEED a Lindholm-type C with him. Unless, of course, one day he wakes up and commits himself to at least try to play D. That is the knock on him. Just like dear old dad. We need to stop romanticizing. Jarome was lazy af on the D-side of the puck. Nobody ever mistook him as a good backchecker. He floated back, constantly. It's because they deplete all of their energy in the O-zone, not because they're a terrible person. lol You need goals to win, but you also need to offset your goal-scorer with solid 2-way guys. Every Kane NEEDED a Toews, or she's a disaster. Look at Detroit right now. They can't offset both DeBrincat and Kane with 1 Larkin. The guy that you want to be your main play-driver. Rock, meet hard place.