Which teams are the Wings better positioned than?

[Fear]

And when we look at Wings corps after next season, you notice that we have 3 equal defencemen and better group of forwards.

Are you implying that the Wings have anyone even remotely comparable to Rielly?

 

[Henkka]

Are you implying that the Wings have anyone even remotely comparable to Rielly?

Cholowski.

 

[golffuul]

Winnipeg ranked lower than Toronto and Edmonton ranked 24???

I don't share the same level of respect for these rankings as others might.

It's also impossible for teams to improve, within a division, without other teams falling short of the points they garnered the previous season. If Buffalo improves by 7-10 games, which is highly probably based on their roster additions/subtractions, that throws a big monkey wrench into the Atlantic Division. And I expect Florida to be improved as well.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Bettman backtracked Daly's comment of Seattle in 2021, believes it'll be in the fall of 2020.

That is huge for Detroit's future. Will not have to protect Zadina, Rasmussen, or Cholowski.

 

[A Few Good Males]

Bettman backtracked Daly's comment of Seattle in 2021, believes it'll be in the fall of 2020.

That is huge for Detroit's future. Will not have to protect Zadina, Rasmussen, or Cholowski.

F
Larkin
Nielsen (NMC)
Mantha
AA
Bertuzzi
Svech
Helm / Abby / Glendening

D
DDK
Hronek
Hicketts?

G
Bernier

Notable exemptions: as stated above Zadina, Ras, Cholowski

Unless I missed something, looks like one of Helm, Abby or Glendening will be exposed. Fine by me. This actually works out pretty great.

 

[Claypool]

I wouldn't bet on Buffalo at all. There team is still pretty bad.

 

[Henkka]

F
Larkin
Nielsen (NMC)
Mantha
AA
Bertuzzi
Svech
Helm / Abby / Glendening

D
DDK
Hronek
Hicketts?

G
Bernier

Notable exemptions: as stated above Zadina, Ras, Cholowski

Unless I missed something, looks like one of Helm, Abby or Glendening will be exposed. Fine by me. This actually works out pretty great.

If Kenny is the Seattle GM, I'm quite sure it will be Helm. Abdelkader will stay more probably and Glendening is traded before the draft.

 

[A Few Good Males]

Christoffer Ehn - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Anybody know why Ehn's first year (last season) of his ELC didn't slide?

 

[newfy]

Dang, for some reason I forgot Marner was already in the system. You're right then, that is a good young crop. I wouldn't say that list is FOR SURE better than Larkin, Mantha, Zadina, AA, Bertuzzi, Rasmussen, and our young D prospects, but I'd probably lean towards them.

My mistake

If Zadina ends up a Marnerish level player than I would rather have the wings group I think but its definitely comparable. The difference is that the wings basically acquired that talent over about 4 drafts instead of almost a decade for Toronto which is more impressive

 

[Ezekial]

Christoffer Ehn - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Anybody know why Ehn's first year (last season) of his ELC didn't slide?

Because he was 21.

 

[Hatter of the Beach]

If Zadina ends up a Marnerish level player than I would rather have the wings group I think but its definitely comparable. The difference is that the wings basically acquired that talent over about 4 drafts instead of almost a decade for Toronto which is more impressive

Yeah, I also didn't mention Veleno and Berggren, two forwards I think can be players. Been lacking sleep lately

 

[GMR]

The Athletic ranked us dead last. I respect their rankings very much.

Luszczyszyn: 2018-19 NHL season previews

31. Detroit Red Wings
30. Ottawa Senators
29. Vancouver Canucks
28. New York Rangers
27. Montreal Canadiens
26. New York Islanders
25. New Jersey Devils
24. Edmonton Oilers
23. Colorado Avalanche
22. Buffalo Sabres
21. Arizona Coyotes
20. Chicago Blackhawks
19. Dallas Stars
18. St. Louis Blues
17. Carolina Hurricanes
16. Los Angeles Kings
15. Minnesota Wild
14. Calgary Flames
13. Vegas Golden Knights
12. Washington Capitals
11. Florida Panthers
10. Philadelphia Flyers
9. Anaheim Ducks
8. San Jose Sharks
7. Pittsburgh Penguins
6. Winnipeg Jets
5. Boston Bruins
4. Columbus Blue Jackets
3. Toronto Maple Leafs
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
1. Nashville Predators

Any reason why Columbus is ranked so highly? Are they front runners to acquire McDavid at the trade deadline?

 

[Frk It]

Any reason why Columbus is ranked so highly? Are they front runners to acquire McDavid at the trade deadline?

 

[turkleton85]

If Zadina ends up a Marnerish level player than I would rather have the wings group I think but its definitely comparable. The difference is that the wings basically acquired that talent over about 4 drafts instead of almost a decade for Toronto which is more impressive

I'm pretty sure he won't, not because he isn't talented, but marner is on his way of becoming the second coming of pavel datsyuk. He is absolutley incredible

 

[HisNoodliness]

Pronman's prospect pool rankings have us at 7, and u23 rankings at 12 (even if you don't agree these are useful benchmark figures). For this year I'd say we're 30th best. From there it just depends on how you balance now versus later, but I think we can pretty safely say Detroit is in the bottom 3rd of the league for the next 3 years. Predicting further down the line is too difficult to be meaningful, but there's reasons for hope.

 

[HisNoodliness]

Cholowski.

Might want to pump those breaks. Cholowski has had an awesome start to the NHL year, but you're probably going to be really disappointed if you're expecting Morgan Rielly.

 

[SCD]

Actually expecting more....

 

[SergeiYzerman]

If Zadina, Veleno, and McIssac pan out, we could be competitive again in a year or two, and likely a contender again in 5. We had a great draft, but if Zadina ends up not being what we thought, we're going to look really stupid for not taking Quinn Hughes or Noah Dobson. Veleno I think will surprise everyone, and be a huge steal in this draft. At worst, he's a solid top 9 center. We have a great prospect pipeline though, and the good news is it looks like we've got quite a bit of depth there as well, but we really don't have any real "anchors' on this team. Larkin is a #2 center on any other team, AA AA has tons of talent but is really starting to annoy the piss out of me trying to be too cute on every play, and Mantha really needs to get to the level everyone knows he can play at, because he's underachieving right now and it's obvious. Cholowski is going to end up being really solid on the back end, maybe not a #1 guy, but certainly a 2-4 guy depending on his ceiling, Hronek is a serviceable 3rd pair, Hicketts while I love his heart and passion, he's MAYBE a 7th D-man, and Sulak needs some more seasoning.

This year I'd acutally expect us to finish worse than Ottawa honestly. They're a certified dumpster fire, but I think we're worse, which is good because we desperately need a #1 center and defenseman, and Jack Hughes would look good in red and white, just sayin'.

Overall, we're finishing 31st this year, but they won't be in the basement for long. It'll get better in a year or two.

 

[NickH8]

We simply lack elite talent. Every team has two players equal to or better than Larkin, or one player who is miles above Larkin. No slight on Larkin, but we have one of the worst best players in the league. I know depth is important, but depth is useless if you don't have the guy who you can rely on to make a significant difference in each game.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

We simply lack elite talent. Every team has two players equal to or better than Larkin, or one player who is miles above Larkin. No slight on Larkin, but we have one of the worst best players in the league. I know depth is important, but depth is useless if you don't have the guy who you can rely on to make a significant difference in each game.

I think Larkin will keep getting better so at some point this statement won't hold as much truth because of what a tireless worker he is. But yeah we have said that at times when talking about this team finishing last. I mean Ottawa might have to sell their guys but Stone and Duchene are big time players. I know there is some debate on Duchene but he is a guy with a Gold Medal for a reason even if his NHL career hasn't gone quite as well as we projected I just think he has had some bad luck. I think he is the next likely Phil Kessel type to finally get the right situation and everyone going oh....

But we will see, I don't personally see Zadina as this level of talent. I hope though he can be. The guy we get this year should be a difference maker and perhaps we can convince a Karlsson or Trouba to come here in Free agency and then this picture is a lot more encouraging in the next season or two.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

We simply lack elite talent. Every team has two players equal to or better than Larkin, or one player who is miles above Larkin. No slight on Larkin, but we have one of the worst best players in the league. I know depth is important, but depth is useless if you don't have the guy who you can rely on to make a significant difference in each game.

I don't think that's true.

Larkin stood out as one of the better players on the ice in that Jim Johansson charity game... aka one that starred literally damn near ever good US hockey player. Like he played on a line with Patrick Kane and was a driving force on that line. Larkin is a guy who will grow to be able to hold down a top line. If he's one of the "worst best players" in the league, it is quite literally because you're comparing him to guys in their athletic primes who have been playing for quite a bit. You have to remember, he only was a full time C last year and he played plus defense while getting 63 points on a god-awful hockey team with bull**** defense.

 

[Flowah]

We simply lack elite talent. Every team has two players equal to or better than Larkin, or one player who is miles above Larkin. No slight on Larkin, but we have one of the worst best players in the league. I know depth is important, but depth is useless if you don't have the guy who you can rely on to make a significant difference in each game.

I don't know about *every* team. Certainly the Cup contenders do though.

 

[NickH8]

I don't think that's true.

Larkin stood out as one of the better players on the ice in that Jim Johansson charity game... aka one that starred literally damn near ever good US hockey player. Like he played on a line with Patrick Kane and was a driving force on that line. Larkin is a guy who will grow to be able to hold down a top line. If he's one of the "worst best players" in the league, it is quite literally because you're comparing him to guys in their athletic primes who have been playing for quite a bit. You have to remember, he only was a full time C last year and he played plus defense while getting 63 points on a god-awful hockey team with bull**** defense.

He's pretty good, don't get me wrong, but he hasn't consistently dominated games throughout a whole season yet.