Will the wings for sure draft a defenseman with their pick (6th oa)?

[Critical13]

wings need help everywhere, they should go BPA. that said, i think BPA winds up being a defender

This sums it up. They need high quality players at every position, even winger.

Dobson will likely be a Red Wing tho.

 

[lilidk]

That's why I said it would have to be for a king's ransom. If someone offered another first rounder just to move up a couple spots, I would absolutely do it. I really don't think Zadina is that much further ahead then the rest in the 4-9 range.

I think he is , he already played with national team , but ones again it is all about price

 

[lilidk]

I think sunday when McKenzie will post his final mock draft we can speculate with better knowledge

 

[HisNoodliness]

We don't have NHL D mainstays NOW. We have better forwards (your words) NOW. You draft for 4 to 5 years from now. 4 to 5 years from now Hronek and Cholowski (one of them probably) could be in the top pair, the other 2nd pairing and two or three of the rest are there to fill out the bottom but skilled depth at forward could be abysmal. Mantha, Larkin, Bert, Rasmussen and............

That's a very optimistic projection of our D prospects. I'm hopeful that Hronek and Cholowski can be second line defenseman... first pairing for either is a long shot. Saarijarvi will hopefully be a 3rd pairing + pp. Maybe Lindstrom steps on NHL ice, it's hard to say. The rest are long shots to ever lace them up, let alone stick around or be difference makers. At 6 we really really need someone that projects as a top pairing player because we don't have anyone at all like that.

We have a top 6 center that will be on the team in 5 years. Larkin alone sets us up better at forward than all of our D prospects. On top of that we have Rasmussen who is probably a 3C, maybe a 2C if we're super lucky. Mantha is a top 6 winger; Bertuzzi and Athanasiou are middle six wingers. And the pipeline is bare. I'm not arguing it isn't, but we at least two top 6 NHL forwards long term. I have no one I'd count on being that for our defense. Draft a ton of forwards with picks 30+ this year, but the 6 needs to be a D if we ever want a leader back there.

Edit: to sum up my thoughts here's my projected roster in 5 years:

Mantha-Larkin-X
Bertuzzi-X-X
AA-Rasmussen-Svechnikov
X-X-X

D:
X-X
Cholo/X-Hronek
Cholo/X-Saarijarvi

 

[Castle8130]

Tkachuck-Rasmussen-Bertuzzi

That is a quality top 6 grind line.

 

[Kingpin794]

That's a very optimistic projection of our D prospects. I'm hopeful that Hronek and Cholowski can be second line defenseman... first pairing for either is a long shot. Saarijarvi will hopefully be a 3rd pairing + pp. Maybe Lindstrom steps on NHL ice, it's hard to say. The rest are long shots to ever lace them up, let alone stick around or be difference makers. At 6 we really really need someone that projects as a top pairing player because we don't have anyone at all like that.

We have a top 6 center that will be on the team in 5 years. Larkin alone sets us up better at forward than all of our D prospects. On top of that we have Rasmussen who is probably a 3C, maybe a 2C if we're super lucky. Mantha is a top 6 winger; Bertuzzi and Athanasiou are middle six wingers. And the pipeline is bare. I'm not arguing it isn't, but we at least two top 6 NHL forwards long term. I have no one I'd count on being that for our defense. Draft a ton of forwards with picks 30+ this year, but the 6 needs to be a D if we ever want a leader back there.

Edit: to sum up my thoughts here's my projected roster in 5 years:

Mantha-Larkin-X
Bertuzzi-X-X
AA-Rasmussen-Svechnikov
X-X-X

D:
X-X
Cholo/X-Hronek
Cholo/X-Saarijarvi

And that's a very optimistic outlook at forward. It's clear that both AA and the organization don't really get along so he's not going to be in the long term plans and I have zero faith the elder Svech will be a regular long term.

 

[terrible dee]

If Zadina or Tkachuk somehow fall to 6, I could see them trying to trade down a spot or two for a king's ransom and if no team wants to do that, then they will probably just take BPA

If you want #3 overall its there for the taking, as long as bergy can get Bouchard

 

[terrible dee]

Trade to where? 7th OA? 8th OA?

All those teams want to trade back too,

No one in that area is excited about it,

Unless you want to deal back to 15th-20th there won't be any takers

 

[Breakers]

Not if Tkachuk is available.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

For sure? No.

Likely? Yes.

The Wings will go BPA.

If Zadina falls, they take him. If like Bouchard and Hughes are taken, maybe they go Wahlstrom or Tkachuk instead of a D.

At pick 6, the most likely proposition is that you're looking at these guys off the board

Dahlin
Svech
Zadina
Tkachuk
Boqvist

So you're looking at the following being available.

Hughes
Dobson
Bouchard
Wahlstrom
Kotkaniemi

Need and BPA are likely to coincide this time. But, if Kotkan goes to Montreal, then all of a sudden, Boqvist or Tkachuk could be sitting there at 6.

 

[Grimm]

Boquist has 2 concussions already. Good or not, I'm avoiding at all costs.....

 

[Brian McDavid]

All those teams want to trade back too,

No one in that area is excited about it,

Unless you want to deal back to 15th-20th there won't be any takers

Bold is incorrect. Consensus picks 3-10 vary greatly, all with considerable upside. My point is, trading down for Kotkaniemi means moving 1-3 spots (if he's even available at all). I doubt any of those teams give up assets to move up when the available players are so close in that range.

 

[SCampo98]

If Brady Tkachuk is still available it's hard to pass on him. If not, I think they pick Quinn Hughes.

 

[izzy]

go bpa

they are so far away from having a good roster they cant just target one position