1984Echoes

I'm an Independent. I've voted Republican. And I've voted Democrat.

Yes, this is true... I get that. Of the 35%, let's sat 55% "normally" vote Republican and 45% "normally" vote Dem... But this is where you'll get 3rd party votes, stay-at-home votes, and the biggest swings election-to-election. Didn't Trump have a massive upswing in Independent votes between 2020 and 2024? IIRC. I don't remember how may registered Dems didn't vote in 2024 versus voted in 2020. It's in the numbers somewhere...

This is NOT correct. Trump won because of Independents. Republicans = 30% of the electorate. NO ONE can win with ONLY the support of their party voters. Dems are 35%, BTW. Go back and crunch your numbers again. Let us know how many Independents voted for Trump, because they are 35% of the electorate. And THEY are the "kingmakers" or the "backbreakers".

And too many fell out of love in 2024. And here we are...

Trump is a backstabbing ****scum. Amongst his hundreds of other atrocious character flaws.

The D looks better... IF A couple "not ready yet" prospects make a great leap forward (sorry Mao. Actually... NOT sorry): Seider - one of Buium or Wallinder if they can take a huge step forward... Edvinsson - Tuomisto (if he can...) Chiarot - Albert or Holl or Gustaffson or Mitchell bench D - whoever loses out but isn't bought out (I'm looking at you Holl and Gustaffson...). Obviously, I made that a very, VERY big IF for a reason which doesn't even need to be stated. Don't hold your breath, I'm not holding mine... and I would have preferred Miller or Dobson same as you except for the cost... I'm just sayin'... (should I have made that IF bigger...?)

aaah... You are correct.... I looked at one of his years and "saw" AHL when it was actually an NHL season... Reading too fast or something, something... excuses. But I would say this. I'm still not that impressed with JBD and I actually don't mean that in a bad way. On the positive side... he looks like he has been a 3rd pairing RHD. Which looks like a buyout of Holl... to me. We'll see if that happens... If it does, I'll look at that as a good thing in taking off 10 years from our 3rd pair RHD. And I'll gladly take him as a 3rd pair D, or even a 4th on the bench guy if he loses out to anyone else. Even Mitchell or Albert. I know Albert's a lefty but they played him on his opposite side for a reason... his play really grew on the team. I could see Albert quite a lot dressed as a 7th D so he can swing up and down the pairings as needed, or even as a forward. Just guessing... but I think he gets cross-trained this year. I don't see higher upside than that for JBD though, which is where the "unimpressed" comment comes from... Unless he pulls a "Walman" surprise and shows more upside than anyone expects. But KUDOS to Yzerman and whomever in his front office sussed out these two guys... cheap "give them a chance" guys who we could hope surprise on the upside. It does offer several options in trying to find that 2nd pair RHD to match up with Edvinsson. JBD is in the mix... although I don't think he has a chance there... unless he pulls that "Walman" shocker. Mitchell has less NHL time... but toss his hat in the mix anyways. Do they keep Holl at least through training camp to see if he's still needed? Or do they decide to move on and just fall back to Albert? This is what I won't change on what I said though: The team has expectations on Tuomisto. Everyone else can downplay his chances... but they gave him a two-way. For a reason. Obviously, they see things differently than as stated here on this forum. "back in Europe"? Seriously buddha? You may even be right... but they're going to give him chances, they're going to push him/ coach him/ and... We'll see what happens. It looks like everyone's assessment is that he doesn't belong in the NHL. So... we'll see...

Maybe I'm wrong here... But I believe Tuomisto, and Buium, and Wallinder will be getting LOTS of chances with Detroit this year. Sometimes it takes guys longer to make it to the NHL, and that's especially true of the taller guys (Tuomisto = 6'5") who often struggle with coordination a couple of years. And a Finnish player to boot getting used to the smaller/ faster north American rink. I think Tuomisto is right on time. Even without 150 NHL games under his belt. I'll let Yzerman and his team figure that out. Interesting though... that they gave Tuomisto a two-way this year... They gave JBD a two-way contract also... right? Because he has a better chance of playing in Detroit than Tuomisto, per what you are telling us. Do I have that correct?

I'm hoping that with all these crazy deals some player(s) gets squeezed and SY can get his hands on a traded player or two. In a dream world that's K'Andre Miller and Jason Robertson. But I know I'm dreaming... So just wake me up when it's all over and we have... : ______________ and ______________ .

So anybody who has been on the ice in the NHL is automatically better than a youngster who has not yet made it to the NHL...? I don't get your logic here.

Him and Bernard-Docker are a couple of 25/26 year-old "4A" AHL right-shot defenseman. Mitchell actually puts up some offensive numbers. Expect Tuomisto on his two-way to have a lot of attempts at earning a pairing with Edvinsson. And these two guys back-filling in Grand Rapids. Heck, jettison Holl & Petry and maybe Mitchell can even get some 3rd pairing Detroit time... I'm not holding my breath though and I wouldn't recommend it either... But I think I get what Yzerman is aiming at here...

I'm not certain I understand this. LaVert is basically a replacement for Hardaway and Monk is a replacement for Beasley. These are sideways movements... And have nothing to do with Dumars. With THJ and Beasley better 3-pt shooters but LaVert/ Monk better in other areas (rebounding, assist-to-turnovers, age (LaVert 3 years younger than THJ), slight defensive edge, ball-handling, etc...). I don't see anything better than that. But I don't see anything worse than that either. I'm fine with these two moves. It's basically 2024 Status Quo, and puts the onus, again, on improvement from all the kids. The two disappointing things to me are getting Paul Reed back instead of finding an improvement in backup center. And losing Schroeder without a replacement (at this point). I know Stew is probably fine there... but I would love to shift him over to backup PF, jettison Simone, and find one other guy... not Paul Reed... as a backup 3&D Big. I know they're impossible to find... maybe Simone has a recovery year in 2025? And I don't think much of Schroeder except for one thing: he wasn't a turnover machine. Could we have one ball-handler who is calm and cool under pressure, and has a 3-1 or so assist-to-turnover ratio? Who distributes the ball with extremely-high-execution-rate (sans all the turnovers)? But that's just me. My 2 cents.

Yzerman literally meant: "We need to get heavier...".

This. I'm on board with this.

Also... I think two of the most likely candidates to be called up (IMO), if they are looking for an IF fix, are Hao Yu Lee and/or Max Anderson. I don't see a need for a position player trade either. Unless... Austin Riley?

I think the 80's Tigers had this élan because they pretty much all came up together. And whatever personality differences they had Sparky smoothed them over... IIRC. This team still seems more cohesive however... so you may be 100% correct.

I won't rule out any later round dark horse from actually making it to the NHL because you never know... But I usually just track 1st and 2nd round NHL prospects because it is pretty rare... And allow myself to be pleasantly surprised when a later round guy actually makes it all the way to Grand Rapids. Then it's time to keep an eye on those guys too. I'm on sloth's optimistic side however... Although it's definitely "believe it when I see it"....

Upside hoped-for: Tomas Holmstrom.

I think this is a better comp than Konecny. Oshie is a good defensive player and Carter is supposed to be dedicated to D and the 2-way game.

PS: High Side Comps (hoped-for wish list): William Nylander, JJ Peterka, Seth Jarvis. Low side? Konecny?

I prefer the Nylander path. Keeps getting better as he ages... like wine. Carter Bear Fine Red Wine.

No... I want, also, at least one 6'5" plus forward who "skates well for a man his size" but is not a playmaker, goal-scorer, or two-way player. Then we'll be all set.

Rumor the Braves are thinking of putting Austin Riley on the block... I'm offering Jung, Anderson, Madden and ... Franyerber Montilla?

Boondoggle. Quagmire.

PS: On Dumba... I'd rather have Heiskenan or Harley but that **** don't fly...