Van will be interesting to watch, don’t see them rebuilding, but to push forward they need takers for some of their albatross multi year contracts Benning acquired / doled out last summer.
That’s how I feel. We’re in a great spot. Draft whoever is left. Very good chance it’ll be Mitch anyway.
They better draft Michkov if he is available.
Agreed.
I have faith they won’t pick a D. If we do, I’ll scream at the team along with you.
Mitch or Smith… whoever is left. It’s win/win for us.
From the standpoint of the player’s upside, perhaps. However, who knows if Drury would be amenable and how flexible he might be.
Laf has gotten little opportunity and hasn’t produced. At a minimum his trade value is diminished.
He watches but does he see?
To be fair this looks more like Wheeler making something out of nothing as using a miniscule sample of 1 draft reeks of a bias confirmation exercise. Columbus has taken a Russian in 5 consecutive drafts prior to last season. Chicago with 3 in the last 5, Montreal with 4 consecutive and with Philadelphia and San Jose seemingly avoiding Russians but it is still too small of a sample to reach a definitive conclusion.Posted this elsewhere but should have been here, instead:
Scott Wheeler conducted a simple shits and giggles exercise based on which teams who are selecting in the top 10 this year, drafted and which teams completely avoided/ failed to draft Russians in last year’s draft.
There were 4 teams holding top 10 picks this year that did not draft Russians last year: Hawks, Habs, Sharks and Flyers.
That leaves 6 teams who have shown a willingness to draft Russians last year. The list includes the Ducks (who will in all likelihood draft Fantilli) and Columbus who have committed to drafting a center. If we remove the Ducks and Columbus, that would leave the following 4 teams as candidates open to drafting a Russian, who hold top 10 picks this year:
1.Chicago
2.Anaheim
3.Columbus
4.Sharks
5.Canadiens
6. Coyotes
7.Flyers
8. Capitals
9. Red Wings
10. Blues
Adding fuel to the equation would be the number of Russians in each of those 4 organizations. A potential suitor could certainly come from this lot, should Michkov fall to the Habs and should they consider moving the pick.
4 équipes des 7 premières au repêchage ont boudé les joueurs Russes en 2022
Voyez les détails!www.habsolumentfan.com
Why is there only a half strike mark on the Sharks? @WeThreeKings will explain.
It’s just a subjective lay of the land pitch, which is why I presented it with a caveat.
Please don’t tell me your dog’s name is Ron McLean.
The decision making process of current ownership has been so dysfunctional sometimes that I believe that they’ll either blow it by not drafting Michkov if still available. And if by a miracle, they put their thinking cap for a whole second and draft Michkov, they’ll blow it too. For example, not giving him pointers to deal with Montreal media who’ll try to get quotes from him in Russia. Or some other f*** up. I just have a feeling of imminent doom about the whole thing. Lol
Last year we had 55 points, Chicago 68
When have the first 4 players drafted ever gone on to be the best 4 players in the draft? Its very likely someone drafting 2-4 is going to be disappointed 5-10 years down the line.
I don't care about Fantilli and Carlsson. I do, however, care a great deal about Michkov, which we would get the opportunity to STEAL if we had the 4th overall.
It is what it is. We could have finished with 59 points like Chicago and had 2 lottery wins bump us to 5th place again. But by all means vent away.
Nah,
