conundrumed

Ring of Fire of course, right back at them. Not fire, but lyrically probably fitting...

Precisely where I'm at. I'd hate to see Conroy simply carry on with the last GM's plan and all of the GMs before him. He needs to make it his own, not the same as it's ever been.

Wood is a RHS that plays his off-wing. You know, like how a lot of wingers do regardless of handedness? Oveckin and Kucherov come to mind for a start. Guess what else? Young centers are now learning to turn their sticks around at the dot. Further flushing handedness down the toilet. Weegar, Power, Dahlin, Wallinder etc play both sides effectively. You're waaay too hung up on handedness. It seriously doesn't matter. I'll be largely surprised if Perrault, Barlow, Danielson or Sandin-Pellikka are available at 16. Van is rumoured to be very high on Willander. We'll take one of Wood, Yager or Cristall. In that order is my guess. I don't mind Wood. Yager and Cristall need a fair bit of work. I can't deny their O-talent, but everything else is going to take awhile. Size, skating, play away from the puck. I'd still take Musty or Simashev over all 3. Far less "bust" factor imho. Pro leagues have a nasty way of showing a lot of O-first players that this ain't jr. 5 seconds of space turns into a consistent 2 seconds awfully quickly. Check your ego at the door.lol

Some of the asst coach hirings give me a bit of a pause, including ours with Savard(Windsor) and Nashville with Derek MacKenzie(Sudbury). It may mean nothing to the draft but both will have pretty valuable insights from the O. Savard has only 2 years of coaching experience, both as Spitfires head coach. That is a team that we've been fairly focused with over the years. Both teams were solid. In his consecutive years, Wyatt Johnson and Matt Maggio won scoring titles. Both Windsor teams were all about offence. Savard should have solid insights into O-based dmen though as the rounds play out. Some would be: Cam Allen - Guelph Quinton Burns - Kingston Hunter Brzustewicz - Kitchener Tristan Bertucci - Flint Andrew Gibson - Soo Of note is that he traded for 2nd yr draft prospect Rodwin Dionicio last year. So he could be one to watch in later rounds. Savard moved him to wing in a power fwd role. He's big and physical and offence-first. As much as I admire our scouting, none would have done more scouting than a HC for a top team. Derek MacKenzie - As much as I could see Buffalo taking Musty as a hometown hero pick, Nashville hired the HC attributed by all, including Musty, to Musty's overall improvements. All-in-all, I have to think that currently, all hires from jr leagues adds another layer to scouting due to the heavy scouting they bring to the table. After that, they'd have good insights for undrafted camp invites. I'm really happy that we've hired Savard to run the O, but also that it will help our knowledge base on young players. We needed a jr-level coach. We have enough that know the lesser pro leagues. We've constantly promoted A coaches, so perhaps it's time to change it up a bit.

I was assuming this yesterday but stayed quiet.lol Blockchain twitter. https://windsorstar.com/sports/savard-stepping-down-as-head-coach-of-spitfires-to-take-an-nhl-assistant-post-with-flames

He's an offensive Dman, so if you're okay with a dman that can't defend, he's your guy. My interest level is virtually zero. I would take many defenders before him. Generally, when you turn pro and teams bottle-up/minimize your offensive attributes, you really need to be solid in your own end. He is currently a very long way from that. I wouldn't even take him at 48 personally.

Welcome Adrian! Your takes are pretty accurate so you're doing a good job deciphering the news. We're at a crossroads so we're all waiting with baited breath to see the direction of the new GM. Like you, I really don't know between a full rebuild or a couple of seasons of re-tooling. We have cap issues, player issues and way too much drama in the news. There's a lot to fix. Management HAS to make a decision. Toeing-the-line is the one we all dread but tend to expect. Delaying the inevitable is what we fear the most. Conroy would need to turn every trade into solid gold and that is highly unlikely.

So generally, we seem to have a bunch of toxic vets around, "We want to win now" tends to go hand-in-hand with spreading the idea that this team has no chance to do that. Gotta get that attitude gone. Spend this year getting the cap in order and getting rid of what is becoming clearer and clearer what(who) the problem is. Backlund should have been gone at tdl last year. Instead he's a growing cancer that many want to be the captain. He's captaining something alright. He's gotta go. 2 2nds, fine, just get him out of here. "Winning now" is kind of on you dumb Blockchains that see no reason to hold yourselves accountable. Gotta get rid of the complacency and this ridiculous entitlement that they assume they deserve. Let someone else pay for those attitudes rather than just whitewash it. We paid them, we owe them zero. If Lindholm accepts that rumoured offer and it's 8 x $9, that will be Conroy's first gigantic fail that will ensure that he's making trades of the other guys in a "make the playoffs now" mindset that is virtually set up to fail. We need to take a step back and breathe. The entire fanbase is okay with it and a lot weary of the constant, insufferable negative rumours. The city and fans deserve better than these worn out Satoshi Nakamototy attitudes.

The dysfunction is running rampant.

I got about 3 microns of elevation. Seravelli now reporting Backlund is not wanting to re-sign. Which is actually perfect for me.

Not sure about the we part. I can't believe how high But is getting ranked. I'm going to say as many as 10 1st rd picks may not work out. I hope we hit a home run!!

MacKenzie out with his final list. Don't like TSN's site, particularly for phones, but TSN is his employer... https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/intrigue-and-excitement-in-the-year-of-connor-bedard-at-the-nhl-draft-1.1976262

Fixed your last sentence.lol

One of 2(Jamie Macoun) to have won Cups with both Calgary and Detroit. How can I not love them? I have a picture of both of Macoun's rings on my finger.lol Now who will be next? I'm with cross though, I was taken aback by the news. Fun fact. Detroit traded him to SJ for a '98 3rd and a '99 2nd. They flipped the 2nd to Tampa who selected none other than Sheldon Keefe.

For the bolded. Here we are again with basing ranking off of 1 U18 tournament. This player in the 2nd rd would choke me. At 112 I'd call him a decent pick. Passing on any of Allen, Ciernik, Stramel, Strbak, Cagnoni, Pinelli, Kantserov, Nelson, Bertucci, Rehkopf, McCarthy, Mania...there are likely 30 players I would rather take that are playing in leagues well above Slovakia U20. Particularly Strbak, Allen, Bertucci, McCarhy. If we take a fwd in the 1st, take a solid D in the 2nd. Pretty much in that order. Pekarcik is a huge leap of faith in the 2nd. "One of the youngest players in the draft" is a crock for an argument. That birth date rule applies nowhere but the NHL draft, nowhere. No point in pretending that it's correct or viable. It's actually pretty insulting. To put it in perspective, I'm a late birthday. I was the starting goalie in my 1st year Midget. I was groomed for it in Bantam. I'd have been forced to stay in Bantam. In basketball, I was the starting Sr forward in Grade 11. I averaged 27pts/gm and we were the SW Ont Champs and fell(again) to Lennox Lewis' Kitchener team in the semi's of the Ontario finals. The NHL would have kept me in jr. That magical cutoff is downright offensive when it has never applied in life. So "youngest player in the draft" means absolutely zero. What, you'll be better than where you were selected in 90 days? Give me a break. Have most of these writers even played competitive sports? Why the hyperbole of this ridiculous rule rather than grinding on it like it deserves to be? Applying that anywhere else would ruin many a kid. "Yeah, I get that you're better than most of your friends and like them you're in Grade 11, but you were born in October so you have to play with the Grade 10s". It's pathetic.

The comparisons I’m seeing reading are anywhere from Robertson to Killorn to Vanek. SMAHT does pretty balanced scouting reports. Just bare in mind it’s a bit dated. Musty was improving on some of the criticisms here but there’s still work and time. He recognizes what to improve is the main thing. https://smahtscouting.com/2023/03/28/scouting-report-quentin-musty/amp/

Nope. Bertuzzi is more of a determined grinder. Musty is a playmaker and can drive and create plays. Where Bert's g/a ratio is always about even (30-30ish), Musty is about 1-2 (30-60) because he's much smoother and a very good passer. Pretty much the difference between the brute athlete vs the finesse athlete. When Musty's at his best, he'd be more like Larkin player-wise. Positionally, Bertuzzi has better awareness of where he needs to be all of the time, but that's experience. Musty should be better than Bertuzzi, honestly. Broader range of talents and a lot better with the puck on his stick whether skating, creating or distributing. Hard, accurate shot too, so that's likely even. Bert's better at cleaning up the garbage, many of his goals are in close.

Common sense prevails...

Oh, and if you go waaaay back in the draft thread, you'll find me liking Willander more than Sandin-Pellikka before the hype machinery truly rolled in. Same with Reinbacher and Simashev. I like Dmen that are solid or close at playing D first. Let's face it, Makar is one-of-a-kind. I'd go so far as to say the best ever. Just give him the Norris every year. Nobody's touching him as a dman in our lifetime or previous ones. We're witnessing the greatest dman that ever laced 'em up. No use fighting it.

Don't feel bad. I see it everywhere. edit Wallinder's leaving mighty footprints for Willander.lol

Maybe there was a spelling error in the population census way back when. Detroit should draft Willander and pair him with Wallinder just to hear Mickey Redmond tell us that he's had too many ginger ales.lol Mickey's a card and I highly doubt that he knows what virgin ginger ale tastes like. With Calgary's broadcasts, I always prefer the other team's broadcast outside of Boston and TBay. Different insights on how we're viewed. With Detroit's, ALWAYS Ken Daniels/Mickey Redmond. Just.Stellar.

Wow you quoted my post and went on a runaway.lol

Detroit sent a 3rd rder to St. Louis for negotiating rights for Husso last season as an example. Husso was excellent for the most part and kept the Wings relevant. By Coach Lalonde's own admission, he had to rely on Husso way too much and overplayed him. Nedeljkovic played poorly and wound up in the A. Detroit is in the market for a 1B. But Husso proved he can take a substantial workload which was good to find out after being a backup in St Loo. They'll be looking at every possibility, including Vladar I would think. Edvinsson underwent preventative shoulder surgery a month ago so perhaps they would consider renting Hanifin and move him at the tdl. But Albert Johansson is the more likely option while Wallinder seasons in the A. Wallinder was just named Euro Hockey's U22 MVP, following in the footsteps of Seider and Elmer Soderblom to make it 3 straight years for the Wings. All 3 won as 20yos. So Hanifin isn't exactly a necessity. Just for fun: Detroit: Hanifin, Vladar Calgary: Lesser of the 2 2024 1st rd picks(conditional), a 2023 2nd(they have 3) Veleno/Zadina, Sebrango. Detroit could recoup at tdl if they chose to. Before the harping about Zadina starts, he had virtually zero luck finishing to the point of completely bizarre for how often he creates chances.

Well I hope making it a competition works out for you. I enjoy everyone's opinion. Whether it coalesces with mine or not is neither here nor there. I split 2 offseasons ago due to bitterness. I grew up and decided it's fun to be a fan and not let the negative surround me. So now I'll be frustrated sometimes but quickly get over it. So I don't take it out on BT, Sutter, Markstrom, Huberdeau, Weegar and Kadri. I can leave that to the many others that do. I respect that they are some of the 1,000 few best in the world at what they do. I'm not, so I'm not going to pretend that I am, just add my 2 cents that doesn't matter and hope to be entertained. A Cup takes a lot of luck outside of skill. I'm just happy to not be a TML fan. That has to be tortuous. The only thing that they're missing is luck. If the Flames want to fully rebuild, I just hope they wait until the Wings are set for selfish reasons.lol I didn't really care who won the cup this year. Only Adin Hill changed my mind because I've always thought that he's a solid goalie and couldn't really understand his career. I really don't care who we take in the draft. I just know who my faves are. At 18yo, each and every one of them can fail or explode moving forward. So the hyperbole is really just that for the next few years and hope for the best. Tkachuk said it best, to paraphrase, he knew getting to the NHL would be hard, but it was waaay harder than he expected. It's going to be the same for every one of these kids. If Point didn't work hard on his skating, he'd have faded into obscurity. Same with Andersson and fitness. A lot can go wrong. Ask Jack Beck. So I'm not really into the whole, I'm right and you're wrong game. Nobody knows.