Defensive kid core (23 or under)

[jkutswings]

Attempt to rank them by tier

Tier 1 - Legit #1D potential
Moritz Seider
Simon Edvinsson

Tier 2 - Legit #2-3D potential
Filip Hronek
Albert Johansson

Tier 3 - Reasonable top 4 potential
Shai Baiuim
Eemil Viro
William Wallinder
Jared McIsaac

Tier 4 - Legit NHL potential
Donovan Sebrango
Antti Tuomisto
Gustav Lindström

Tier 5 - Longshots
Alex Cotton
Cooper Moore
Wyatt Newpower
Oscar Plandowski
Seth Barton
Kyle Aucoin

Tier 6 - writeoffs
Kasper Kotkansalo
Gustav Berglund


Depth is great, but it wouldn't matter as much if we didn't have those guys at the top.

True, but I don't see any chance of Edvinsson ever being a #1. Yzerman himself said he sees him as a minute muncher with great reach and solid defensive play, but TBD on his offensive game.

I think a great second pair guy is a much more realistic projection.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

True, but I don't see any chance of Edvinsson ever being a #1. Yzerman himself said he sees him as a minute muncher with great reach and solid defensive play, but TBD on his offensive game.

I think a great second pair guy is a much more realistic projection.

I kinda see it as:

Projections:
Seider = 1b/2a (for now)
Hronek = 3a (2b ceiling)
Edvinsson = 2a/b-3a/b
Al Jo = 4a (3a/b ceiling)

 

[Henkka]

True, but I don't see any chance of Edvinsson ever being a #1. Yzerman himself said he sees him as a minute muncher with great reach and solid defensive play, but TBD on his offensive game.

I think a great second pair guy is a much more realistic projection.

Yzerman sees Edvinsson as "McDonagh". Seider is the "Hedman".

At this point, Hronek is maybe "Shattenkirk".

Johansson will probably grow to be the "sergachev".

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Yzerman sees Edvinsson as McDonagh. Seider is the Hedman.

At this point, Hronek is maybe Sergachev or Shattenkirk.

I think Werenski is going to be your third banana in terms of the build and I think Hronek will be dealt in the next 18 months. I guess we will see.

Edvinsson has a higher ceiling than Mo did when he was drafted... Not saying he is going to hit it, but I find some of the analysis on him perplexing. He is an out of this world athlete, he has significant potential. I think your floor on Edvinsson is Risto and we just might find out he is not quite as bad in Philly, but his potential is a top 5 D-man in the league. If you can take his tools and develop him correctly, he has spectacular upside. I don't think he necessarily hits that, but I do see him as a top pairing guy.

I think what will be interesting here is you have the ability to unite them and divide them. McDonagh and Hedman don't really play a ton together. I think you could see it in leverage situation, like I cannot think of a crease you're going to want to run less than one with Seider and Edvinsson waiting for you in the final minute of games...

 

[Frk It]

I think Werenski is going to be your third banana in terms of the build and I think Hronek will be dealt in the next 18 months. I guess we will see.

Edvinsson has a higher ceiling than Mo did when he was drafted... Not saying he is going to hit it, but I find some of the analysis on him perplexing. He is an out of this world athlete, he has significant potential. I think your floor on Edvinsson is Risto and we just might find out he is not quite as bad in Philly, but his potential is a top 5 D-man in the league. If you can take his tools and develop him correctly, he has spectacular upside. I don't think he necessarily hits that, but I do see him as a top pairing guy.

I think what will be interesting here is you have the ability to unite them and divide them. McDonagh and Hedman don't really play a ton together. I think you could see it in leverage situation, like I cannot think of a crease you're going to want to run less than one with Seider and Edvinsson waiting for you in the final minute of games...

I don’t know, I think Hronek will look a lot better as we continue to build the left side out. But if we can move him for Werenski, hard for me to argue with that. He’s been one of my favorite defenseman in the league for a bit.

I see pretty clearly why they liked Edvinsson given how Seider has developed. I think they have a similar foundation as far as big guys who are fantastic skaters. I would hope we leave Edvinsson in Europe for at least 2 years, with the hope he can be a top player in the SHL by his +2 year like Seider was. He might need a little longer runway than Seider, we’ll see.

With Edvinsson, I think it all comes down to how his development goes. But the foundation is there to be an impact guy on the back end.

 

[MBH]

All guys 23 or younger

RD Moritz Seider, 6'4 - 20y
RD Filip Hronek 6'0 - 23y
RD Antti Tuomisto, 6'4 - 20y
RD Gustav Lindström, 6'2 - 22y
RD Alex Cotton, 6'2 - 20y
RD Wyatt Newpower, 6'3 - 23y
RD Oscar Plandowski, 6'0 - 18y
RD Seth Barton, 6'2 - 21y
RD Gustav Berglund, 6'2 - 20y

LD Simon Edvinsson, 6'4½ - 18y
LD Albert Johansson, 6'1 - 20y
LD William Wallinder, 6'3 - 18y
LD Shai Buium, 6'2 - 18y
LD Donovan Sebrango, 6'1 - 19y
LD Jared McIsaac, 6'1 - 21y
LD Eemil Viro, 6'0 - 20y
LD Cooper Moore, 6'1 - 20y
LD Kasper Kotkansalo, 6'2 - 22y
LD Kyle Aucoin, 5'11 - 19y

Is that enough depth?

Yes.
It's a crowded field.
Let's get a couple more centers and wingers and be done with the rebuild.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

I don’t know, I think Hronek will look a lot better as we continue to build the left side out. But if we can move him for Werenski, hard for me to argue with that. He’s been one of my favorite defenseman in the league for a bit.

I see pretty clearly why they liked Edvinsson given how Seider has developed. I think they have a similar foundation as far as big guys who are fantastic skaters. I would hope we leave Edvinsson in Europe for at least 2 years, with the hope he can be a top player in the SHL by his +2 year like Seider was. He might need a little longer runway than Seider, we’ll see.

With Edvinsson, I think it all comes down to how his development goes. But the foundation is there to be an impact guy on the back end.

If we live in a reality where all these kids hit, you can also sort of project Johansson - Seider then Edvinsson - Hronek. Those are pretty balanced pairings. Some of my issues with Hronek is he doesn't really run a PP great, like the three players I just listed here I expect all to be better PP guys in the NHL. I think Tuo has an advantage on him as a trigger man d-man as well. Hronek isn't potential though, we know what he is, I am just curious if some of these guys can make him expendable.

I like Hronek and Bertuzzi, but I agree with those arriving at those are our last couple pieces left to make big asset grabs or important acquisitions. I think using both for picks and prospects that are peddled into Werenski and a few more gambles or more substantial prospects make sense. Now the deals have to be right, I don't think you are necessarily getting a Mantha return, but if you can get in that neighborhood, that would be great.

The idea of an Yzerman and Jarmo trade talk conversation though seems dangerous. Like I wonder if when Brisebois was going to trade for Savard, Yzerman was like let me make sure this goes well, I will be the third team...