So here's the background for you and the other two (assuming I'm not addressing the same person under three screen names that have eerily similar writing styles and possibly IP addresses).
The reason I am "vetted" is because long before you graced us with your presence, and we in turn ignored and left you to essentially talk to yourself on here, I was a writer and an editor for the website that accompanied these boards. I was recruited and brought on by the original owners, a pair of brothers who founded the site 24 years ago, give or take a few months.
As such, I had to share my background at that time. Subsequently, when there were changes in leadership, I also would demonstrate my background to the new leaders. Needless to say, I've been around these boards longer than some of our posters have been alive (pre-dating the infamous server move in 2002 that resulted in several years worth of data loss).
The people here know there are times I can't post certain information, because these boards have more than a few people from the team, and the industry lurking. I can also tell you that they track information and do keyword searches, so I have to change things up. Now, most long-time people also know that I try to make it somewhat obvious to figure out what is going on or that there are ways we cheat the system (one of the benefits of having a "Like" system).
But to your point, the Rangers haven't made a move in many, many days. But, when they have made moves, or when potential moves pick up enough steam, there's a very good chance that the people on this board hear it first.
For example, we are discussing Larkin because Friedman brought him up. But, several months before Friedman brought him up, we knew Detroit was listening. Again, it was on here long before it was out there.
Other examples include our talks with Calgary, our talks with Carolina, our talks with Tampa, etc. etc. etc.
Now, maybe we're just lucky and we guess right. But you don't really hear much about us making predictions that the Rangers had multiple discussions with Minnesota or Montreal, and how those deals fell through. In very many instances, they are with teams we end up dealing with or whose names come up in mainstream publications later.
And to be clear, it's not just me. We've know which prospects were draft targets months in advance. We've known which players the Rangers were listening on, etc. We've know that because you have people who can go straight to sources --- not a cousin's brother's friend's ex-roommate type scenario.
So either we have people here who are so incredibly good at guessing that they should be part of the psychic friends network, or they're legitimately passing along information as they can and as they deem to have some legs.
But let's even say I'm full of shit. I'm a big phony. Let's ignore the people who I let in on the secret, behind the scenes. Let's forget that some of them are mods, let's forget that myself and others have literally explained things minutes before they happen. We can throw all of that out the window.
Here's the most beautiful part about all of this...
You don't have to believe it.
You can ignore it.
You can put me on ignore. You can roll your eyes. You can even go to any other site or message board you want.
If you want to go to 247 or whatever it is called, you can. We wish you well.
But if you think you're winning people over to your thought process or amazing anyone with your wit, you're really not. I don't know if you've noticed, but people are pretty much ignoring you. And when they're not, they're telling you that they don't want you around.
And if that's the case? And I'm full of shit, and someone else is "stalking teenagers" and 123sports or 247hockey or whatever site you like is better, then by all means --- go grace them with your presence. Far be it from me or anyone else to contribute to your unhappiness.
Because if you're just going to be ignored or have people make fun of you, why would you even want to stick around? That just sounds like such a miserable experience.
So here's the deal, I'll even take a chance and spell it all out for you.
Yeah, Detroit has its eyes on the second pick in the draft. Why? Because they supposedly love Power and Beniers and have them 1A/1B on their draft list.
Detroit has a ton of picks --- frankly, from 2019 until now now, and into next year, they're gonna have a plethora of young talent. Young talent that was specifically targeted by Yzerman for his vision.
So, that begs the question, how does Detroit hope to make a deal? Well, for starters they hope to hope to dangle their 6th pick and additional assets. But, they also have an interest in off-setting their cost.
So what does that mean? That means re-visiting conversations with teams that share a mutual interest in making a deal. That includes the Rangers, who have previously inquired about Larkin. In turn, Detroit has made no secret of their interest in guys like Kravtsov and Lundkvist.
In fact, the interest in those two guys back to 2018, before Yzerman was even back with the Wings. To that end, they were prepared to take Kravtsov if Zadina wasn't on the board and were hoping to leap frog from some teams at the end of the first to take Lundkvist. Ultimately talks for the latter did not come to a fruition. But you get the point, they've liked those two kids for a while.
So why the Rangers? Because they can give them at least one player they've liked for a while, and because they can give them a mid first round pick that can be used to offset the deal they are trying to make, and because they can get a valuable third commodity in a potential deal with the Rangers that can also be used to entice Seattle, without coming from Detroit's existing stockpile.
Why are they engaged with Seattle? Because Seattle has made it known that while they aren't interested in trading out of the first round, they would be interested in trading down if it brought back additional assets --- including picks and/or a younger talent that might closer to playing in the NHL.
And for the record, the Rangers and Seattle have also talked --- so those two teams are familiar with one another as well.
Why move Larkin? Potentially for several reasons --- all of which have been previously been mentioned on here. Again, you don't have to believe it. That's the beauty of this whole thing.
So there, you've actually received more attention from me in one message than you've probably received from this entire board in weeks. I don't know how much more you're potentially looking for. After all, I've provided quite the recap on the history of these boards, myself, and the information you felt was coded. But consider it my goodwill gesture to you.
Peace be with you.
