buddha

the best part about phoenix-golden state is that one of draymond green or dillon brooks is going to lose.

1 hour ago, Deleterious said:

All I need now is some dumb dance/celebration from Ball when he's down 30.

there was a lot of that.

once they were down 30, ball started going one on five and scoring.

2 hours ago, Jason_R said:

So let’s say the new guy is told to get EP40 off the books. Is there any circumstance under which it makes sense for Stevie to make a play for him, as was rumored at the trade deadline?
 

As far as I can tell he has 6 years left at $11.6 million, $69.6 total. Assuming he passes a physical and his knee isn’t shot, would you trade for him if the guts of the deal were Vancouver taking Compher and Rasmussen?  If we can unload those contracts, which total almost $17 million still, that brings the net cost of EP40 to $53 million, which is $8.83 million a year. 

assuming his knee checks out, you end up with a player who, even playing on a bad team in a bad situation, has been much more productive than Copp. Maybe in a less bad situation, playing with a bunch of Swedes, and not having the unforgiving eye of the Canadian hockey media on him he might bounce back to a 65 point player. Not great but would have been enough for third or fourth on this year’s team. Put Larkin with DeBrincat on the first line, then Pettersson and Raymond on the second line, maybe with Genborg eventually for some physical presence. 

It could be a disaster so you’d have to make sure Hakan and Lidstrom and all the other Swedes are bought in. But this rebuild is stuck in limbo unless Stevie can pull a rabbit out of his hat. 

as much as I bag on ep40 for being soft and the most overpaid player in the league, im almost positive vancouver will get more than just two god awful overpaid players like compher and rasmussen in return.

2 hours ago, lordstanley said:

The Canucks need to hire Roberto Luongo as GM and bring in Kevin Bieksa, Henrik Sedin and Todd Bertuzzi as its drafting & pro scouting team.

that's just silly.  any such arrangement without trevor linden is meaningless!

1 hour ago, DTroppens said:

Here we are Friday morning and the Pistons still have more than 48 hours before their first playoff game, and we still don't know their opponent. We can get rid of this play-in round anytime.

i like the play in round.

i hate the nba playoff schedule tjat refuses to show more than one gane at a time and results in 3 or 4 days between games.

they should be playing roughly every other day.

AJD Melting Pot.  really good substack from one of the mgoblog boys.

i think the wings' problem is not yzerman per se, but that yzerman has allowed the wings' front office to become the wings' retirement home.  yzerman led a really good front office in tampa bay, one that has continued to be good after he left.  

here, he has draper and horcoff.  guys who have been here for a decade.  a decade of losing and tiny improvements on the ice and - outside of three top 6 picks - has failed in the draft.

why are they still here?  why are the only additions to the staff nick kronwall and lidstrom?

julein brisebois never played an nhl game in his life and now he's the best gm in hockey after being there with yzerman.

it takes talent to find that guy.  it takes no talent to find kronwall or lidstrom, theyre literally contacts in his phone.  

time to overhaul this mess.  go get the next julien brisebois, and if yzerman isnt ruthless enough to fire his underperforming ex-teammates, then go find someone who will.

multiple good pieces out there in the substack-verse on the need to overhaul the front office.

"Look, those are the three most important picks Yzerman has made, since they were the highest. But you also get less credit for nailing them. Getting a really good hockey player out of the 6th, 4th, and 7th overall picks should be the baseline expectation for any GM in the National Hockey League. But can you get really good (or even just regular good) players when you pick 9th or 14th or 20th? Or out of the 2nd or 3rd rounds? That’s what differentiates strong front offices from average/weak ones, and what elevates rebuilds into contenders. 

Right now, it’s not great. Only seven Yzerman draft picks played more than 40 games for the Red Wings this season, in year #7 of a rebuild. Of those seven players, one is a third pair defenseman, one is a young D who was clearly not NHL ready, and the other is a former 7th rounder who scored 30 points. The final name is Marco Kasper, who went from one of the most exciting players at the end of last year to scoring just 19 points. That is close to a five-alarm fire for me. 

As it stands currently, Detroit doesn’t have a single impactful NHL player out of the 2022 or 2023 drafts. Maybe that will happen in the future but I’m not feeling great right now. Nate Danielson, the 2023 first rounder, came up and played 28 games, making little impact. Together with the Kasper, the players you picked 8th and 9th overall in ‘22 and ‘23 combined to score 26 points. "

16 hours ago, Cruzer1 said:

I'm talking about Cossa and Augustine.

you wrote that you didnt think they were far from being the top team in the conference.

i think theyre miles from being the top team in the conference.

is it a coincidence thar kawahi played exactly 65 games this year?  the bare minimum.

3 hours ago, Deleterious said:

Probably a fine at best.

$25k.

pocket change for him.

1 minute ago, gehringer_2 said:

at the ripe old age of 32, Andre has  - for the 1st time in his career, learned to shot a little. He has made 32 of 90 attempted threes this season. Imagine if he had had the discipline to make himself learn that 13 years ago.

he could "shoot" back in detroit.  the difference is that when he was in detroit after he signed the big deal, he thought he SHOULD be shooting.  now he is just a bit player who shoots in garbage time for the laughs.

i like this new keith gave.

8 hours ago, Deleterious said:

 

i'd be surprised if they do anything this year.  they'll suspend him for a couple games next year. 

2 hours ago, Deleterious said:

Did that Mara kid have a really good tournament? It seems like a lot of fans have him the first Michigan player off the board now. Some even say top 10.

 

he was really good the second half of the season.  he dominated tarris reed in the post, reed was one of the best players in the tournament and mara shut him down.

michigan kind of unlocked mara's passing too.  good vision for a big man.

he'll get walked physically for a while, but he can defend the paint and pass.

3 hours ago, Cruzer1 said:

I don't think they're far from being a top team in the conference. They really have two of the best young goalies, and a pretty complete defense. And I think they are well coached.

i dont see how you can watch this team and think that.  they got caved in by the best teams quite regularly when those teams turned up the intensity.

1 hour ago, Jason_R said:

All hail Noritz Seider. 

i think it will be quinn hughes this year.

52 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

looking at where they were in the standings a month ago vs their goal differential you could argue they actually had to be a very lucky team.

i thinm the wings collapsed.  they were never as good as their early season results, as evidenced by their goal differential.

if there is any bad luck involved, its that they play in the toughest division in the sport.  those things are cyclical and the wings are in a bad place for their own cycle.

the real question were all asking is why is it taking so long to get better?  their peers are doing better than they are.

i just dont see the positives in the farm system.  they have no star players it seems.  that's what they really need.

I would not be surprised if they get desperate and shell out the farm for EP40.

1 hour ago, lordstanley said:

That was the point of my post. "Well past time for these rankings to finally convert into on-ice results."

i was agreeing with you.  🙂

lamelo ball has to be one of the more unlikeable players in the league.

2-16 from 3?  intentionally hurts the other team's best player?  totally selfish and stupid player.  immensely physically talented but just a **** and a dumbass.

4 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Wings' system was rated #5 by the Atlantic in 2025, #2 in 2024, #4 in 2023, #7 in 2022, #4 in 2021, #9 in 2020. Well past time for these rankings to finally convert into on-ice results.

How did the Wings get The Athletic's #4 in 2021 and how has it turned out? In this order: Raymond, Seider, Berggren, Veleno, Wallinder, Rasmussen, Tuomisto, Albert Johansson, Niederbach, McIsaac. Nothing to get excited about beyond two top-6 overall picks.

How did the Wings get The Athletic's #4 in 2021 and how is that shaping up 3 years later? In this order: Edvinsson, Kasper, Cossa, Berggren, Mazur, Wallinder, Soderblom, Buchelnikov, Albert Johansson, Buium. Again, nothing to get excited about beyond the one top-6 overall pick. Underwhelming!

Well past time for these rankings to finally convert into on-ice results. I'm skeptical!

Who was #4 the other years? NYR in 2020. NJ Devils in 2022. San Jose in 2024. Chicago in 2025. A mixed bag.

 

Once again with feeling: prospect ratings have very little correlation with results on the ice.  wheeler and pronman are great, but their ratings have much more to do with draft position than anything else.

and if you are to take them seriously, all they show about the wings is that they have a lot of players projected to be 3rd liners and second pair defensemen, and no stars.

nate danielson and marco kasper were both top ten picks.  both dropped like a stone in those rankings once they got on the ice against men.  asp now too.

most of us really overrate red wings prospects.  me included.

if charlotte loses AT HOME to a miami team without Bam, that would be very very hilarious.

well, they WERE trying on defense.  then coby white and lamelo bell stepped back on the floor.

15 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

White was on fire

ftfy

another reason the playoffs are better: the refs let them play.  the game flows so much better when the refs stop calling ticky tack bull****.

(knicks, celtics, and lakers home games notwithstanding)

Funny how the scores are lower when both teams are actually trying to defend and win.