2022 NHL Entry Draft

[Machine]

I’ll believe in lottery love when/if it happens

[holytoledo]

I’ll believe in lottery love when/if it happens

We are certainly due.

[holytoledo]

Of the teams below us in win % I think NYI will get healthy and pass us. It’s hard to see many other teams falling below us, but there are several close that we could end up passing, especially if Vrana comes back and adds some scoring.

[dcz28]

I don't know about you pessimists, but I think the Wings could end up 9th worst in the league, and good lottery could take them much closer to #1.

Vancouver and Sharks have already passed the Wings. Dallas, Philly and Jackets are only 1 or 2 points behind the Wings (all with games in hand). Devils only 4 points behind with a game in hand. Islanders are 7 points behind with 5 games in hand. All those teams could possibly pass the Wings if the Wings start an extended losing streak. If all those teams pass the Wings they would be 7th worst. Your prediction of 9th is a pretty good probability.

With still major holes on this team, they need the goalies to stand on their heads pretty much every night to win...not to mention Blashill is still the coach so an extended losing streak is not hard to imagine.

Hopefully at the deadline they can sell off whatever UFAs they can that are not part of the long term future. Would be nice to see a good center drafted with their first pick and Blashill get his walking papers along with the rest of the coaching staff. If the center drafted can't step in right away, get a proven 2nd line center so the Wings can finally have more than 1 offensive line until that center drafted is ready to step in.

[dcz28]

Of the teams below us in win % I think NYI will get healthy and pass us. It’s hard to see many other teams falling below us, but there are several close that we could end up passing, especially if Vrana comes back and adds some scoring.

What can we really expect from Vrana? He hasn't done anything since last season. Missing training camp and basically 4 months of the season, you can't really expect him to come in and light it up...especially without much support on the 2nd line. I know like AA he can create his own scoring but he's been out a long time and could take him a while just to get back up to speed again.

[hiramnicak]

Given the likelihood we're picking inside the top ten, here's my list so far:

NO	PLAYER NAME	BIRTHDATE	NATION	POSITION	SHOOTS	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	VIDEO	MISC
01	EP Shane Wright	2004-01-05	CAN	RC	Right	6'1"	187	1, 2, TS, H, EP
02	EP Conor Geekie	2004-05-05	CAN	RC	Right	6'4"	187	3g
03	EP Logan Cooley	2004-05-04	USA	LC	Left	5'10"	179	3g, H, EP	Diary1, Diary2
04	EP Juraj Slafkovsky	2004-03-30	SVK	LW	Left	6'4"	218	1, 3g, H, EP
05	EP Matthew Savoie	2004-01-01	CAN	RC	Right	5'10"	181	1, 3g1, 3g2, H
06	EP Owen Pickering	2004-01-27	CAN	LD	Left	6'4"	179	3g
07	EP Danila Yurov	2003-12-22	RUS	LW	Left	6'1"	172	3g, H1, H2
08	EP Joakim Kemell	2004-04-27	FIN	RW	Right	5'11"	176	1, 3g, TS, H, EP
09	EP David Jiříček	2003-11-28	CZE	RD	Right	6'3"	190	3g, H, EP
10	EP Brad Lambert	2003-12-19	FIN/CAN	RC	Right	6'0"	179	3g, H, EP	Diary1, Diary2, Diary3

If we don't lottery up, we're likely picking 8-10 range, but I'm guessing four or five of these guys will still be on the board. Hopefully, one of the centers is on the board. I'd probably hesitate a bit on Lambert given his father, but I expect Yzerman and co. will get a good sense for what they're dealing with through interviews and such.

Am I off my rocker with any of these (I realize there is a sub-6'0" winger on my board)? Who are you guys keen on?

[dcz28]

The best center left on the board when the Wings pick might be Lambert although i have seen rankings that had him out of the top 10.

One player i hadn't looked at and only saw a bit of him at the WJC is Slafkovsky. He seemed like a smart player/playmaker (very small sample size obviously) only problem was his linemates couldn't do anything when he fed them nice passes. I wonder why he isn't played at center. I might be ok with picking him and putting him at center because i kind of got Kopitar vibes from him from what little i did see of him. I might be way off on him though since i haven't seen enough of him.

[holytoledo]

The best center left on the board when the Wings pick might be Lambert although i have seen rankings that had him out of the top 10.

One player i hadn't looked at and only saw a bit of him at the WJC is Slafkovsky. He seemed like a smart player/playmaker (very small sample size obviously) only problem was his linemates couldn't do anything when he fed them nice passes. I wonder why he isn't played at center. I might be ok with picking him and putting him at center because i kind of got Kopitar vibes from him from what little i did see of him. I might be way off on him though since i haven't seen enough of him.

I think Filip Mesar is an interesting prospect that has a little Datsyuk to his game. He's likely to be available when we pick. There are some really interesting C prospects in the teens. If we're not in the top 3 I think there's a reasonable shot to unearth a good 1C/2C in the middle of the round. Just have to make sure we find the Kuznetsov there and not the Sheahan.

I don't see anyone outside of the top 2 or 3 picks that's likely to be a significant NHL contributor for at least 3 years after his draft and Larkin, Bert & Vrana are all going to be pushing 30 then.

[wyrrlen]

I've really been trying to watch video of the centers so far this year. Am I the only one that gets very concerned about the play of Geekie? I went back and watched in comparison to Beniers and MacTavish from last year to be sure I wasn't imagining it. I'm hardly an expert at this, but he seems to get less separation coupled with poor passing and shot choices. I guess this could be a factor of his linemates - I was just curious at what you might be seeing in his current games to push him to a high pick? Wright and Savoie both look more polished and stronger. I still need to watch more of Cooley and Lambert.

[Resmo112]

Ideally I want the best player available. I get it we need centers, but if you turn down talent to fill a need you're turning down talent, but we need centers.