No reason to make a move that pushes Palat onto the fourth line. That money is better spent giving Bratt and Meier contracts they'll actually accept.

Zero chance of Bratt and Meier signing those contracts. Bratt will be in the range of 8 x $8,250,000 and Meier 8 x $9,000,000-$9,250,000.

New Jersey's 2nd is 60th overall, There's no way that Tom Willander last that long. He could go late 1st or anywhere in the 33-45 overall range.

I actually did a whole mock draft using FC Hockey simulator. And those were the five picks I ended up with. (Not bad, right?).

Blackwood might be a good backup option, and hope he rebounds?

Blackwood is more injury prone than Fabbri is.

Didn't realize that. Too bad, I thought he was pretty good.

IIRC MB has a bad heel. Not a good injury for a goalie to have. He played 22 games this season. 25 the season before. I think 60 games is too many games for Husso to handle.

So weird how 60 games used to be the floor for starting goalies. Backup goalies today have actual jobs to do now, being expected to play 25-35 games.

The Hockey Writers had Wallinder going to Detroit at 40 but I don't know how accurate it is but I'll leave the link.

Wallinder 40 OA

I think it's the butterfly style. Patrick Roy had (a lot of)success with it in the 80s and young goalies coming followed.

It's effective but it takes its toll on the body. It's the main reason why goalies routinely need hip and knee surgeries.

Couldn't be less interested in Labanc.

Wow..interesting early picks. Both reaches. Then (didn't realize 3 picks in a row in the 2nd rd) and Detroit gets Willander and Dower Nilson. Both guys expected to go in the 20s or early 30s. Interesting. I don't mind Barlow, but there ought to be better choices at 9th overall than Yager.

He had a bad heel a couple of years ago. Didn’t do full rehab and came into last season unprepared. When the foot started hurting him again, he covered it up and said he was fine…so NJD put Wedgewood on waivers to keep Blackwood on roster. Once his back-up was claimed by Dallas, he then admitted he was not 100% and went on IR (and to Fitzy’s doghouse). Soon after, he fired his agent, sought rapprochement with GM, and returned this year.

This season, he was dinged up a bit, but has mostly suffered from “Schmid-is-better-itis”. He is basically #3 now, but #2 is waiver-exempt.

Short of it is…he is likely healthier than he appears. Just kind of headcase, who if he straightens himself out, could still be a very good goaltender.

40+ goal Timo Meier on the third line behind Tatar and Holtz is…..something

He is on 3rd line now

Ended up with Will Smith, Barlow, Honzek, But, Willander lol

Try the Draft simulator . It’s pretty cool.

That’s what I did. I clicked the hyperlink and gave it a shot. Pretty happy with those results lol

No way Smith makes it past 6. If he is there at 9, either this is another Zadina situation in which GMs see something the "experts" don't know, or a few teams go off the board and draft defensemen and wings first for some reason. MAYBE Moore and Benson go earlier than Smith, but I just don't see it. Smith would have been 1st overall last year.

In the NTDP games I have seen this year…Perreault is a lot more fun to watch. Not sure if it all translates to NHL or not…but looks like a faster Zegras out there.

I just did it. Got Smith, Reinbacher, Noah Dower Nilsson, Willander, and But.

Had Mitchkov going 2! Benson, Ritchie (!), Pelikka, and Dvorsky before Detroit at 9. Benson I can see (he is the best not Mitchkov wing) and Pelikka (my first choice after Moore or Smith), but no way the rest.

Crazy.

Gives me hope!

Cmon now. There is zero chance Fantilli goes 3rd. Dvorsky is a poison pill in that his draft ranking us way overblown. Outside of Carlson and Benson (and Mitchkov), there arent any wingers that I feel are so good they should be top 10, and by the 9th or 10th pick, the wingers will be marginally better than the other centers available, and unless Pelikka or Reinbacher are still there, the wingers are mountains better than the rest of the D. I can see Moore falling to 9th, but not much lower. I really don't know how team scouts feel about Pelikka vs Reinbacher, but to me Pelikka is better, despite expert opinion. Pelikka would not be too much of a reach at 9 to 11, but with how shallow the D in this draft, the two good ones might go in the 5 to 9 range. That likely leaves Moore or Benson available at 9. I'd be ecstatic over Moore, but I'd just be ok with Benson. If Detroit falls to 10 or eleven, it might make more sense to trade back a couple or a few picks.

I’m just looking at law of averages is all, and with the bad luck moving down in recent years, I’m just thinking more so now, why not get lucky that teams take their version of “Seider” and reach for a player they like that isn’t big board compliant. The Wings need draft luck more so than lottery luck lol. I agree that it seems all but set in stone 1) Chalupa Batman 2) Wanta Fanta

I am hoping for one of Moore, Barlow, or Cristall at 9. Moore seems like Larkin2.0, Barlow is just my instinct pick, and Cristall the swing for the fences pick.

I can't really argue with your lucky thinking. You could be right. I think of all drafts, this one is a lot like 2019 with the sheer amount of talent. So many great choices. I honestly wanted Couzens, and Seider was sooo off the radar. I legit thought Seider might slip to round 2, and he might be a good penalty killer in 5 years, lol. I really don't want a winger. They always seem to fall into 2 categories of Patrick Kane/Ovechkin where they drive play and dominate or they come out of "nowhere" like Jason Robertson or, frankly, Tyler Bertuzzi (when healthy). I wasn't fond of tbe Raymond pick, but he wasn't a bad choice; still gonna take time like almost all wingers drafted in the top 15. I don't want to wait.