Mr.TaterSalad

Stanley Cup Final Game 1 has been a good, competitive, back and forth game. I expected Florida to come out and dominate similar to how they did in the Carolina series. Not so though.

I would absolutely be in on Jason Robertson. I've been flirting with the idea of making a move for Elias Pettersson and Robertson is owed significantly less than Pettersson is and is just as talented and productive a player. Robertson is at around $7.5 million per and Pettersson is at nearly $11.5 million per. There stats are similar across their careers with both having 100 point seasons. He's an RFA after this year and will likely command a much larger contract moving forward, but I would for sure make the deal. I'm sure a deal for a player as young and as talented as Robertson starts with Danielson or at least multiple prospects and a 1st round pick. I would be ok with trading Danielson plus prospects/picks for Robertson. In a dream world we could move one of Copp or Compher's contracts, find a way to get out from under one of our many bad defensive contracts, and then sign Sam Bennett too.

Dan Skipper too. He was not drafted by Quinn but was signed during their era. Also Pat O'Connor was a Quinn draft pick I believe.

I've been listening to a lot of Tanner Ursey lately. Turn off the radio, unless MCS is on and it's Ann Arbor's 107.1, and find the real music out there. Tanner Ursey is what real music can sound like written by a talented songwriter and not produced to make a corporation a large sum of money.

Best -The Eagles at Joe Louis Arena right before it closed and right before Glenn Frey passed away. They really put on a great show overall. I was super excited that my favorite Eagle, Bernie Leadon, was back with the band after a long hiatus. The Eagles first few albums, that had more of a country-rock sound thanks to Leadon, were there best work IMO. Honorable mention - EmmyLou Harris and Rodney Crowell at Royal Oak Music Theater. I know, I know, a concert like this doesn't exactly "ROCK" and make you feel intense. No one is spitting blood or breathing fire. But this was just a night of two incredibly talented musicians and songwriters putting their art on full sonic display. It was deep, emotive, and interment and I really enjoyed the show. I ran into an old friend from high school there, who was with his boyfriend, and the three of us had to be the youngest people on the room by a decade or more. Worst - I don't know that I have a worst. Maybe Willie Nelson last year but only because he sat there, did much of nothing, and had to have his son cover for him at times. Still, he's Willie, and it was a treat to see him.

Would you rather sign Sam Bennett at $10 million per season or trade for Elias Pettersson at $11.5 million? I'd rather go with Bennett, even though Pettersson has been more productive overall in his career. Bennett gives this team more of what it needs with a better combination of skill and toughness on the forecheck. We are one of the worst forechecking teams in the league and Bennett would instantly make that better compared to Pettersson.

Kyle Quincey once got a team a 1st round pick, so never say never.

I think Kenny Albert is a phenomenal play-by-play hockey voice for TNT. I've always enjoyed his work back when he was on NBC and now on TNT. I think he is the best hockey announcer out there today on TV now that Jim Hughson and Doc Emrick are retired. John Forslund is another strong announcer as well and I've enjoyed his work.

I like John Bucigross and liked him back in the NHL2Nite days of ESPN. What's wrong with Bucci?

I agree with the use of the word massive and the fact that Glasgow, given his decline in play, won't be the answer. But I have no idea who could be available via apost camp cut or on the trade market. So I'll place my trust in Brad Holmes and hope for the best.

Well fudge. Center is an incredibly important position that anchors the offensive line and is really the right hand person to any QB on the field. Maybe Glasgow can slot into Center and not miss much of a beat as he's played the position before. Otherwise we're going to be shopping the market in desperation for a Center.

This is ****ing disgusting and rotten to the core. You can feel however you feel about the situation in Palestine and the conflict with Israel. But barbaric terrorist attacks like this and what we saw last week occur to two, innocent, people who were Jewish, is disgusting. Violence cannot beget violence. No one should ever respond to a situation where they feel emotionally charged up over something with an act of violence. No one should ever be targeted for their religious or political beliefs. My fears are we'll see more of these violent attacks. My heart goes out to the victims and families of these senseless, brutal attacks.

I was shopping at Meijer once years ago and Ken Holland came up to me and bought me a case of beer. I asked why the beer, he said you'll need it to be able to watch the team I put on the ice. Fair enough I said.

Correct me if I am wrong but weren't all of Cleary, Horcoff, Fischer, Maltby here in the organization before Yzerman? These are Holland holdovers that he kept and all work on player personnel in some capacity. Maltby in particular is a scout. And yes, you are right, Chris Yzerman was with him in Tampa Bay and was brought along with him. So maybe it wasn't fair of me to peg this as some nepotism, crony type of a hire.

https://www.nhl.com/redwings/team/hockey-operations Yep, he was brought in when Stevie himself came back to the organization.

What about trying to get a guy that the Pistons were rumored to be going after a couple of summers ago in Cam Johnson? Johnson plays the wing which we need. He has the size we need at the wing position being 6-8. Most importantly, he can hit the three ball. The Brooklyn Nets suck, so would they be willing to trade him for one of our young pieces and a pick or two? Would he be available for a trade and what would he realistically cost?

That's the so what of it all. Yzerman's pro-side scouting has been among the very worst in the league. Whoever advised him to sign some of these dead bodies like Chiarot, Gustafsson, Holl, Husso, Petry, Tarasenko has been advising him incorrectly and giving him bad advice. If he did his own film study and scouting and made the decision to sign many or all of these guys that's even worse I think. At least if he was taking bad scouting advice from someone else in the organization like Aaron Kahn, Chris Yzerman, Dan Clearly, Jiri Fischer, Kirk Maltby, Shawn Horcoff, etc. he could replace them with someone else and give it another go perhaps. If he is making these moves on his own accord, having done his own film study, then he might be the one that needs to go. It seems as if our pro scouting needs a complete makeover and that someone or multiple someone's in player personnel might need to be replaced. Scott Harris and Brad Holmes are both good examples to look to of GM's who came in here and immediately went to work cleaning out their respective front offices and bringing in new personnel and with them, new ways of doing business and new perspectives. Yzerman seems to have largely kept the same front office as Kenny had with Cleary, Draper, Fischer, Horcoff, Kronwall, Maltby and good ole boys from the ghosts of Red Wings past. That, on top of giving his brother a cushy job as a Pro Scout in the organization.

Life would be positively unfair if the Panthers got Marner. Too add Mitch Marner to a front line that already includes Bennett, Marchand, Rinehart, Tkachuk would be disgusting. Amazing that Florida can have that level of talent and still be under the cap enough to add Marner. Meanwhile, we're stuck here with the likes of Copp, Compher, Holl, etc.

And Trey just happens to play defense and can stop balls from going into the end zone. Look, I know this isn't happening because it's just not the type of move Brad makes and he's not about to mortgage our financial future for it. But it's fun to dream about and discuss I think. Even if it is never happening.

Also for the record Nate Danielson was not my top choice as I wanted someone in the 2023 draft that I thought could deliver more pure scoring punch, given that we had taken Kasper the year before to potentially be a Center. I liked Danielson but I had a couple of players I was hoping we would have drafted ahead of him including Zach Benson, Colby Barlow, or Matthew Wood. We shall see if Danielson ends up being a very good player ala Dylan Larkin or just a nice player in the vein of Andrew Copp 2.0.

For the record, I was here trumpeting that I wanted Kasper because I thought he was more than what people were saying about him. 🙂

So Brad Holmes and the Lions are going to make a Brendan Shanahan-like move for a top player in the league to get them over the top? Cool! Looking forward to Trey Hendrickson in Honolulu Blue and Silver.

Kasper seems like he has more scoring and playmaking ability than just being a 30-35 point guy. But that's just my take on him.

I didn't want Lindholm. I don't remember wanting him anyways. I wanted us to be in on the late Johnny Gaudreau a few years back when he left Calgary.

Is there a good but not great 2-way offensive forward, who plays defensively sound hockey, and is projected to have a career trajectory that averages around 35 points a season with 12 goals and 23 assists in this draft? If so, that's our guy.