Mr.TaterSalad

As much as I'd love to get Mitchell, I don't want to see us move up for him if we can get a player like Wiggins at #29. If somehow we only had to move up 2-3-4 spots I'd consider that move for sure. But if we have to try and move up 10-12 spots or so, then I'm out on that.

Earlier in this thread I did a rough projection of what I thought St. Brown might get paid. I said 4 year/$92 million with $61 million guaranteed. I had used Deebo Samuel's contract as a comparison for projecting what St. Brown might get. Whoooooo boooooy was I off on my projection. St. Brown certainly got paid today. Being honest, he deserves every cent of what he got as he's been the MVP of this offense the past couple of season. While it is a big deal, that takes up a good chunk of cap space, he is one of those players that deserve that type of big deal. I think they are going to look for roster savings elsewhere on the roster to compensate for this deal and the future, pending, larger contract for Goff. If the a tackle prospect they like falls to them at 29, I could see them drafting Taylor Decker's replacement so they can have a future RT under team control and not have to pay Decker another big contract.

Jahmyr Gibbs was a player I actually wanted in last years draft. I was just really hoping we could get him later in the first round or second round. In hindsight, he was never last until the second round. I went back and reread my initial reaction of the Lions taking Gibbs from last year's draft thread. I would just like to apologize to Lions GM Brad Holmes. My initial reaction to taking a RB that high in the first was that it was an SOL move. It was indeed NOT an SOL move and it ended up working out very well for the Lions. Brad Holmes, I'm sorry. Job well done on scouting and picking Gibbs.

If Brad Holmes somehow got Carolina's 2nd round and 3rd round picks that would be a great trade. Carolina doesn't need a QB and the 5th year option that comes with a 1st round pick. Also, Carolina needs all the picks they can get to put talent around Bryce Young. So I don't see why they'd ever make that trade. But that would be awesome if they did.

He played offense as a defenseman and was probably one of the best to ever do it. He was an elite-level offensive defenseman. He also scored on his own team and gets a lot of flack for that but was still very good at the defensive side of defense too.

Newton excels both inside against the run and outside as a rusher from scouting reports I've read. So he's someone that can stay inside and play the run too. True, he's not a 330lbs space eater like Reader is, but his run stopping ability appears stout too.

I think he would be the DJ Reader replacement long term. Reader is signed for two years. Given Newton's apparent ability to slide along the line and play on all three downs he could take the spot of John Cominsky up front for now and then replace Reader in a couple of years. If he was the pick I could see a defensive front that is Reader and McNeill on the interior, Hutch and Newton on the ends, Houston on the edge/stand up rusher on passing downs. I think the same could be true for Darius Robinson were he drafted.

Holmes seems to have no problem drafting and or signing injured players. So I don't think that would scare them off of Newton. They took Jamo in the first and he had a blown out ACL. They took Levi in the second and he had back problems. Hendon Hooker taken in the third and he also had a significant injury.

I was listening to a couple of draft podcasts yesterday and one player that I don't think has gotten enough attention when it comes to who the Lions might pick, first or second round, is Illinois DT Johnny Newton. Newton is a 3-Tech DT who can play on all three downs. He seems like a pretty good run stuffer but also offers some ability against the pass as well. He didn't light up the stat sheet with sacks and pressures but did manage 8 of them last season, similar to Darius Robinson. But the difference there is Robinson was a DE in college and played on the edge more than Newton who lined up on the interior, but slid to the edge when needed. Newton also seems to be a leader and a football dude like Campbell and Holmes want on their team. I'd still rather get a corner if we're going defense in the first. I think Newton would make a good second round choice, but like Robinson, I don't know that I want him in the first round.

If Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell hadn't cheated and properly suspended Evgeni Malkin after game 2 in the 2009 SCF than Lidstrom likely has another Cup to his name as captain.

Given how many times Kenny brought him back, I think Dan Cleary has to be in that conversation. In all seriousness, I'd say #1 is Lidstrom, #2 is Yzerman, and #3 is Howe. As the perfect human, I'd say Lidstrom is the greatest Red Wing of all time. Lidstrom is perhaps the greatest all around defensemen of all time and has the stats and hardware to back it up. Lidstrom is probably the greatest defensive defensemen of all time (Larry Robinson, Denis Potvin, Bobby Orr also right up there with him). He's also one of the best offensive defensemen of all time. All around, I don't know that there is anyone better than Nick in NHL history, sans maybe Bobby Orr. He won 7 Norris Trophies, 4 Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe, a 12x NHL All Star, and is a member of the Triple Gold Club.

Are the new jerseys available yet for custom jerseys? I didn't see them on the official NFL/Lions shop. I want either a Frank Ragnow or Alim McNeil jersey. I like to get jerseys from roll players, obscure players, and the like that not everyone has. Everyone has a Barry, Calvin, Stafford, Goff, St. Brown, Hutch jersey. I want something to go along with my other role player jerseys. I was also looking at getting one of the throwback jerseys and was disappointed to see I couldn't get a custom one. I see they have Herman Moore and Barry available but not #19 Scott Mitchell. I've been wanting a Mitchell throwback but it looks like I'll have to search for a used one there.

To answer my own question, it's the same player that I've been saying I don't want the Lions to draft, Missouri DE Darius Robinson. I'd be underwhelmed, but not upset, with the Robinson pick. Like everyone else they could draft, I would trust Brad Holmes enough to understand and except what they did. I'm not going to explode like I did when Millen picked Mike Williams or when Mayhew picked Eric Ebron. I look at Robinson though as a player similar to what we already have on the team in Josh Paschal. Similar to Paschal in that he is not persay a dynamic pass rusher, with only one season in college where he had more than 5 sacks. Also similar in that pass rushing isn't really his main skill, but the ability to slide along the line and provide versatility to play inside and out (which this team seemingly values). He seems to lack that next gear or pass rush move that makes a guy a dynamic pass rusher. As well, Robinson underwhelmed at with his numbers at the combine posting a 4.95 40 time that was the slowest amongst defensive ends. His 21 reps of 225 on the bench press was disappointing as his strength is supposed to be one of his premier traits. Looking at stats alone, I think I would be equally underwhelmed with drafting the other Robinson at DE, Chop Robinson from Penn State. He only put up 4 sacks in his biggest season at Penn State and never lit up the stat sheet any year he was there or at Maryland.

No I don't consider that a success. I do consider a near 9 year sellout streak at home to be a success, which they had from 2011 through early 2019. According to a report I read on CBC the Jets ownership group, True North Sports & Entertainment, has turned a profit every year they've owned the team and operated the arena. So they're not operating in the red and are a profitable franchise.

I think the other city that should be considered before Salt Lake is Milwaukee. Wisconsin has proven support, albeit on a much smaller scale, with the Admirals in the AHL and Wisconsin in college hockey. I'm not opposed to Salt Lake persay and it's better than giving Atlanta another chance. I feel that markets like Quebec and Milwaukee should be considered.

Do you consider the Winnipeg market a success since they've returned to the NHL?

Is there any player, realistically speaking, if the Lions took you'd be underwhelmed or disappointed by in the first round?

Many people said the same thing about Winnipeg before they got the Jets back and they are doing fine. Winnipeg metro has 834,678 people and Quebec City metro has 839,311 people. People said Winnipeg would never get a team back and they eventually did. People then said Winnipeg would not make money or turn a profit as the metro area is too small and the Canadian dollar too weak. It seems Winnipeg, while certainly on the lower end of the revenue scale, is indeed a profitable team. So if Winnipeg made sense I think Quebec City does as well. It is a heritage hockey market with a diehard fan base.

Disappointed to see Salt Lake get awarded a team. Quebec City should have been next in line for a team, assuming there is an ownership group to support it. I know there is an NHL ready arena, but I don't don't know if there was an ownership group in place.

Where's the money going to come from though to get a big free agent when they have to pay both Seider and Raymond. They have $2,813,684 in cap space currently and if all three of Kane, Perron, and Sprong left that would be about $19 million cleared in cap space when you calculate what they have plus the three players leaving. Wouldn't Seider and Raymond eat most, if not all, of that cap space up with $8 million/year contracts?

I really an all blue, color rush type of jersey instead of the black ones. Oh well, it's just a jersey at the end of the day. If the football team that plays in them is good, that's what matters.

For alternate jerseys something like either of these would have been cool too. I really like the all blues in these concepts too. Though I'd have replaced the Lions logo with Bubbles on the alternate jersey.

That looks like dog**** if you ask me. Just randomly adding black into your jersey is dumb. If you are the Raiders or Steelers and black is apart of your team colors then obviously fine. But just because you can have a black uniform doesn't mean you should. That helmet with the black Lion looks exceptionally terrible imo. I was hoping for an all blue uniform to be the third jersey with either the helmet design they used last year or a return the Bubbles the Lion. I think it would have been sick to have a white helmet too with a blue lion logo on it. Something sorta like this but with a different helmet featuring either last years design or Bubbles.

I made a long post about this a few weeks back. Without having a true #1 center, capable of consistently producing 80 points or more in a season to build around, Yzerman is going to have to take the Blues and Golden Knights route to building a Cup contender. I don't see that marquee, #1 center coming to us in free agency or via a trade. As crazy and incredible as it would be to get a Sam Reinhart in here via free agency, I think ideas like that are a pipedream. And so we must go another route. To me, taking the St. Louis and Vegas route means an overhaul of certain parts of this roster and upgrades at others to what what those teams had in their Stanley Cup years: good goaltending from two starters, tough and smart defensively, good two-way hockey players, and scoring depth on three lines. I also don't think this rebuild is going to be completed in this offseason. As crummy and painful as it is to say, I think we are stuck waiting for all of Cossa, Danielson, Kasper, Sandin-Pellika, and Wallinder to come up and contribute. Below I ranked what I believe this teams most pressing needs are. As well, what I think we can do this offseason and what the future looks like for us to become a Cup contender. 1. Defense Outside of a defensemen or two, our defensive defenseman suck. We're towards the bottom of the league in goals allowed and shots given up per game. As well, we make too many mistakes in our own zone on defense and give other teams scoring chances or fail to clear the puck out. We need some more big bodies, who are both physical in their own zone, can press more when coming up ice, and don't make as many mistakes. Sounds easier said than done to find those guys. Jeff Petry and Justin Holl are outright liabilities on the ice and should not be back on this team next season. It looks like Petry would be a $1.968 million cap hit over the next two seasons to buyout and Holl would cost around a $4.533 million overall cap hit to buyout. I'm ok-ish with Holl being on the roster next year if he has to be for another season, but not Petry. I think you buyout Petry, pin a $20 bill to him, and wish him the best of luck in the future. He has got to go. Then there's Ben Chiarot. At least we can say that Chiarot somewhat turned it around this season. Though I am still not sold on trusting him for the long term and given his age, I don't think he is a long term option on defense. After his current contract expires he will an should be gone. If there was a way we could trade him before then I would love to dump that $4.75 million cap hit. But alas, no one is going to take that kind of cap hit on and we are likely stuck with Chiarot for another season. As far as defensive acquisitions go, unless there was a big move to be made of a marquee defensive player, I don't think I'd sign or trade for anyone. We've made too many poor, mid to low end defensive acquisitions that haven't worked out in our favor: Chiarot, Holl, Petry. I would wait until next offseason to get back into the defensive free agent or trade market, unless there was a big move to be had his year. I really depresses me what we're paying Chiarot, Holl, and Petry. Bad moves with ugly contracts. I would do what I can to resign Gostisbehere though as he has been productive on the powerplay and we can afford to take a step back there. If we could get him for 1-2 years at $4 million a season or so I'd go for that. I'm also ready see what we have with some of the kids. I think we should see Simon Edvinsson up to start next season on the main roster. I think William Wallinder should be brought up at some point in the season and given a test drive as well to see what we have. Last, but certainly not least we get to resigning Mo Seider. It's finally time to pay up and we're going to have to give his kid a big contract. Based on projections I have seen I think he gets somewhere around 8 years @ $8.5-$8.75 million/year. Both he and Raymond are in for large, long term deals. Off-Season Moves: Resign Gostisbehere at 2 years @ $4 million/season, Buyout Petry at a $1.968 cap hit Call ups: Edvinsson to start the year and eventually Wallinder 2023-2024 Defensive Unit: Chiarot, Edvinsson, Gostisbehere, Holl, Maatta, Seider, Wallinder, Wallman 2024-2025 Defensive Unit: Chiarot, Edvinsson, Gostisbehere, Seider, Wallinder, Wallman, free agent/trade acquisition 2. Goaltending I look at goaltending as the one area that needs a complete overhaul because you have to replace 2 of your 3 starters if you want to have a chance to emulate what St. Louis and Vegas did. When the Blues won the cup they had both Jake Allen and Jordan Binnington, Vegas ad Adin Hill and Laurent Brossoit. We're going to have to overhaul our netminder situation and get two strong starting goalies. We're all obviously hoping that Cossa can come up within the next year and be our Goalie #1 of the future. If that is the case, then I think we can rely on Lyon as Goalie #2 until and if Augustine develops. Husso can't be around here much longer though and he can't be apart of a playoff team that has aspirations to actually get out of the first round. Right now Husso is just dead, unproductive weight with his $4.75 million cap hit. He's got to go and that money has to be spent better elsewhere. Unless I am reading it wrong it would cost roughly $3.166 million in cap hit over the next two season to boyout Husso. If that's what costs then bon voyage Husso. Looking ahead to free agency or the trade market, I'm not sure I would make a significant move here. I know some would like to, but I'm willing to be patient (something I am normally not) for Cossa to come up and be our starter. I'd rather spend free agent or trade dollars elsewhere given that we have Cossa and Augustine in the farm system with Cossa ready to come up sooner rather than later. I'd be looking to make a move down the line, after next season, to bring in another netminder to pair with Cossa and possibly Lyon. Off-Season Moves: Buyout Husso at a $3.166 million cap hit Call up: Cossa 2023-2024 Goalies: Cossa, Lyon, Reimer 2024-2025 Goalies: Cossa, Lyon, free agent/trade acquisition or Augustine 3. Center position Larkin is not a number 1A center, he's really a 1B center. But there is nothing we can do about this. He's our guy at the top moving forward, for better or for worse. So it's everything around him we're going to have to try and make better. We're also stuck with the boat anchor contracts of both Andrew Copp and JT Compher for the next 2-3 seasons, so we better hope they can produce. We're going to need scoring depth and points produced from these two guys at the center position otherwise we are doomed given the lengthy contracts each guy has. If I could trade Copp somehow I'd do it. I'd certainly be actively shopping him, but whose going to want to take on his $5.625 million cap hit? Probably no one. Looking ahead to the free agency and trade markets here, this is yet another area where unless there is a marquee move to be made on a top tier player, I'm standing pat and calling someone up at some point. I would probably resign Valeno on a 1-2 year deal and call it a day as far as moves go. I expect Kasper to be up next year at some point and Nate Danielson the year after that. Off-Season Moves: Resign Valeno, Call up: Marco Kasper at some point 2023-2024 Centers: Compher, Copp, Kasper, Larkin, Rasmussen, Valeno 2024-2025 Centers: Compher, Copp, Danielson, Kasper, Larkin, Rasmussen 4. Forward/winger This is where things get both interesting and potentially ugly. We obviously have to resign Lucas Raymond. Given his play this past year, that price tag obviously went up, way up. That's a good thing because that means we have a guy capable of producing 70-80 points on this team. But he's going to be a big cap hit moving forward. I project he resigns at somewhere around 8 years @ $60-$65 million with an $8-8125 million/year cap hit. As a result of having to pay Raymond there are guys that will be cap casualties and won't be back next season. Those being Perron and Sprong. I expect both to be gone and there is the possibility of Christian Fischer joining them as a cap casualty too. I'd like to bring back Fischer and would hope Yzerman can find a way to get it done. I could see Fabbri being a cap casualty the year after next as well given his $4 million/year price tag. Then we get to Patrick Kane. I think he should be back and I would think Yzerman wants him back. But does he want to come back is a different question. Given his productivity and age, this is his last chance at a semi-big contract. I would think he's going to ask for more than the $2.275 we paid him. He might bolt for a Cup contending team next year and I don't blame him. As far as what a Kane contract looks like in-terms of length or dollars, I really have no clue. I took an overly generous shot in the dark and said 2 years @ $4.5 million/year. I don't know that I am making a big move here either, other than paying Raymond and possibly bringing back Kane, when it comes to free agency or the trade market. My only other moves of note here are to call up Carter Mauzur and Elmer Soderblom next year and then Dmitri Buchelnikov the year after that if he's any good. Off-Season Moves: Resign Raymond to 8 years @ $60 million, resign Kane to 2 years @ $4.5 million/year Callups: Mazur and Soderblom 2023-2024 Forwards: DeBrincat, Fabbri, Fischer, Kane, Mazur, Raymond, Soderblum 2024-2025 Forwards: Buchelnikov, DeBrincat, Fischer, Kane, Mazur, Raymond, Soderblum 23 Man roster to start next year Centers: Compher, Copp, Kasper, Larkin, Rasmussen, Valeno Forwards: DeBrincat, Fabbri, Fischer, Kane, Mazur, Raymond, Soderblum Defense: Chiarot, Edvinsson, Gostisbehere, Maatta, Seider, Wallinder, Wallman (Holl can go sit in Grand Rapids) Goalies: Cossa, Lyon, Reimer

What does Trump mean by "he lost his great general?" Is he referring to Stonewall Jackson who most certainly didn't die at Gettysburg? Jackson was killed in May of 1863 when he was shot by his own confederate forces riding back as the Battle of Chancellorsville was concluding. Maybe he's referring to General William Barksdale, but I'd doubt Trump even knows who he is.