So what's the plan going forward now?

hyduK

Registered User
Feb 21, 2009
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Draft isn't over but everything at this point is a long shot anyway. I think most of us expected to have landed a D at #6, but it's hard to complain when you get an elite scoring winger at #6.

Combine this with Veleno and Beggren and our forward depth is pretty stacked. Larkin, Rasmussen, Veleno, Svechnikov, Beggren, Mantha, Zadina, AA, Bert, Nyquist, Holmstrom, etc.

Very solid mix of Skill/Size. The only hole I see is arguably a 1C, but we do seem to make up for it with depth.

D is still a problem, but with McIsaac, Cholowski, Regula, Hicketts, Hronek, etc. we at least seem to be on track to have a solid bottom two pairings. We're lacking the top end talent, which we probably weren't going to get this draft anyway, even if we drafted D at 6.

We also will probably need a goalie at some point, but I don't see a point in looking for that until we're ready to start pushing for the playoffs. Goalies are relatively easy to find and getting a good one early is just going to end up with them stealing some games and putting you in a worse lottery position.

Now obviously we're still in a pretty bad spot this year, and should be competing for another lottery pick. We have assets are forward we can move, but really nothing good enough (that we'd want to move) that could fix our problem at D. If we somehow won the Hughes lottery, we'd be in a good spot to package up some of our better prospects and get the D situation moving. Regardless, our cap situation means we can't really do much the next couple years anyhow.

So what's the plan? Should we be trading Nyquist/AA for picks and shooting for defensemen in next years draft (again, we should be in a top 10 position...but I'm not sure what the talent looks like at D for next year). Alternatively, do we package Nyquist/AA+ (maybe another one of our forward prospects?) and try to trade for a D-man? We're not gonna solve the problem but we could probably find a way to get a guy like Faulk?

If I had a concern right now it would be our coaching staff. Not a fan of having Blashill/Bylsma leading our young guys through their development years.
 

Cyborg Yzerberg

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Nov 8, 2007
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This is going to take multiple years. You don’t rebuild the team through one draft. We didn’t have a single superstar forward. We do now. Our organizational center depth outside of Larkin was putrid, it looks a lot better now. McIsaac looks like a top 4 defenseman to me. Next year, we can take a top pairing prospect with what’ll most likely be another top 5 pick.


And yes, Bylsma and Blashill is definitely not great still.
 

masta8

Registered User
Apr 26, 2018
355
94
Hope Nyqvist waives his NTC and hope to get a top 4 defence from a team desperately needing defence. Wouldn't care to add a 2nd or 3rd in 2019 or 20 to help it go through.
 

hyduK

Registered User
Feb 21, 2009
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584
All these 2018 draftees will never play under Jeff blashill.
Maybe not but Bylsma could very well be the next guy.

I suppose once Holland is off to Seattle we'll get a new GM who wants to bring on his own coach though.
 

Pavels Dog

Registered User
Feb 18, 2013
19,739
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Sweden
Patience is the plan. I want to see this group of youngsters in training camp. Zadina, Rasmussen, Cholowski, Hronek, Svechnikov, Hicketts.. this is more talent than we’ve had in decades in terms of players on the verge of stepping into the NHL.
The rebuild is far from over but the fruits of our struggles should really start to be seen next year.
 

Claypool

Registered User
Jan 12, 2009
13,670
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If I had a concern right now it would be our coaching staff. Not a fan of having Blashill/Bylsma leading our young guys through their development years.

Oh yeah, let's get that NHL coach that is really good at teaching kids while at the same time loves losing 50 games a season.
 

hyduK

Registered User
Feb 21, 2009
2,593
584
Oh yeah, let's get that NHL coach that is really good at teaching kids while at the same time loves losing 50 games a season.
Leafs managed to get Bsbcock. Yeah, our rebuilds a little further off than theirs was, but it was no guarantee they were going to get Matthews which is why it was so quick.

Not expecting to get an elite coach, but good coaches go to bad teams all the time, no reason we can't do better than what we got.

Shit, Islanders just got the guy who won the Stanley Cup. How will the Isles look if Tavares goes elsewhere?
 

Dotter

THE ATHLETIC IS GARBAGE
Jul 2, 2014
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Imprisonment, TN
goo.gl
Keep doing what they are doing. Trade the Nyquist's, AA, and Daley's of the world for picks and keep drafting top 10 and draft 10 to 11 kids per draft year. Keep signing UFA ... trade vets, and inject youth -rinse-and-repeat. That's the plan going forward.
 

jkutswings

hot piss hockey
Jul 10, 2014
10,853
8,578
Continue drafting too many forwards, not enough quality defensemen, and in 5 years, wonder why we keep spinning our wheels.
 

Run the Jewels

Make Detroit Great Again
Jun 22, 2006
13,819
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In the Garage
We're obviously in good shape at forward. I think we're still one of the worst teams in the league so my big goal is to get Holland to stop trying. We don't need Green, we don't need any UFA who is going to cost much in terms of cap hit or length of contract. Holland is notorious for blowing out the cap so my hope is he's being told to keep the cap under control to give the next GM greater flexibility. Best case scenario is we go with a bit of youth on defense and hopefully we have some draft luck and draft Hughes in next year's draft. That would give us our elite super star and we'd have really solid depth at forward. Let the new GM trade/draft/acquire defensemen and in 5-7 years we should be in a good spot to be competitive once again.
 
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rhef3

Registered User
Jul 28, 2016
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Just outside St.louis
Well now that the draft is over, what do you think his plans will be to "bandaid" our defense for the upcoming season ?

Maybe take a shot at De Haan ?, John moore is still young (27) could log 20+ minutes and played 81 games last year, could he be an option ?

Will we make a hockey trade and find someone that looks promising ?

or just re-sign green and hopefully trade him at the deadline for a pick(s) ?

lot's of unanswered questions coming in the next couple weeks.
 

Run the Jewels

Make Detroit Great Again
Jun 22, 2006
13,819
1,751
In the Garage
Well now that the draft is over, what do you think his plans will be to "bandaid" our defense for the upcoming season ?

Maybe take a shot at De Haan ?, John moore is still young (27) could log 20+ minutes and played 81 games last year, could he be an option ?

Will we make a hockey trade and find someone that looks promising ?

or just re-sign green and hopefully trade him at the deadline for a pick(s) ?

lot's of unanswered questions coming in the next couple weeks.
My primary goal would be to pick up guys you can sign for 1 year and who wouldn't cost much. Like either offer Luke Schenn a one year deal or have him come to training camp and compete for a roster spot. Same with Cody Franson, see if you can get him to either sign a one year deal or come compete for a spot in training camp. Roman Polack may be an option.

The key thing is guys who are cheap, would accept a one year deal, and either will compete for a spot in training camp or can be waived with little to no ramifications.
 

Shaman464

No u
May 1, 2009
10,212
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Boston, MA
What's everyone's thoughts on taking a shot with Orpik? He's on waivers and could be a nice pick up with literally no risk other than salary.
 

Invictus12

Registered User
Aug 1, 2010
3,722
208
New York
At this point you wait and hope the kids become everything we want. We do seem to have really good depth at forward and in light of that, I hope we target some top defensemen that will hit the free agency. Carlsson this year, Doughty and Karlsson next and whomever else. Overpay if have to... I know it's 'all about youth' on this board but we might just be able to compete very soon and while doing so, hope to get great player via lower picks...
 

Red Stanley

Registered User
Apr 25, 2015
2,414
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USA
Really happy with the draft, even if we ended up with mostly forward talent. Maybe they are really confident with how the current defensive prospects are coming along, so they felt they could get away with that. Anyway, we won't know exactly how things will shape up for a couple more years at least and there's another deep draft coming up next year. Really hoping we see Zadina and Rasmussen on the team next season, though.
 

obey86

Registered User
Jun 9, 2009
8,013
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Is Zadina supposed to be NHL ready this season? Adding him and Ras would make things quite exciting.
 

WingsMJN2965

Registered User
Oct 13, 2017
18,106
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Depends on how Holland feels about the 2019 draft. Things worked out extraordinarily well for him adding picks this year, so I can see Nyquist and AA getting shipped for picks and him trying to get another 1st and a 2nd.

Already have Vegas' 2nd rounder next year.

It'll be interesting to see if Zadina gets time this year. I think Zetterberg has two years left. May be worth it to give the kid time under Zetterberg's wing.
 

Shaman464

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May 1, 2009
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Boston, MA
Combine this with Veleno and Beggren and our forward depth is pretty stacked. Larkin, Rasmussen, Veleno, Svechnikov, Beggren, Mantha, Zadina, AA, Bert, Nyquist, Holmstrom, etc.

The potential forward group in 2-3 years looks fun on paper:

Zadina - Larkin - Bertuzzi
Beggren - Rasmussen - Mantha
AA - Veleno - Svechnikov

Ras has had his best play as a winger, so I stand by my opinion that he's likely to be converted. While Larkin would be a top line center barring them getting Hughes or somehow acquiring a top line center through FA or trade, that top line is atrocious.

For a good team three to five years from now it will likely look like

Zadina-XXX-Mantha
Ras-Larkin-Svech/FA
Bert-Veleno-AA/FA/any prospect that shows skill.
 

Fil Larkmanthanasiou

Registered User
Feb 10, 2018
1,114
603
I don’t know why everybody is writing Larkin off as a 1C. He is only going to get better and I don’t think many 1Cs would have produced much more with the shitty PP, shitty coaching and shitty D he has had to play with.
 

Henkka

Registered User
Jan 31, 2004
31,078
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Tampere, Finland
D is still an issue. I'm concerned that adding Zadina and Rasmussen will add much-needed scoring and put this team uncomfortably close to the playoffs. At that point, the Wings might not be able to draft the quality of defensemen they need, and it'll become about trading for one, which is not going to be a favorable deal.

As terrible as it sounds, I really hope Holland fails at improving the roster this off-season. I think it's pretty much a given that he'll try.

Stupidest logic I've ever heard.
 
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