The Lions Den: The Anything Thread

[TL-TwoWinsAway]

2 minutes ago, diehardlionfan said:

I’m upset.🤠 I mentioned him earlier as player for Detroit’s second pick. I absolutely think he has the potential to be great.

Its telling Stevie Y passed on the Swedish goaltender in favour of Cossa.

Right?!

[davisblack]

Kind of surprising they passed on Wallstedt for Cossa, but it seems like other teams are passing on him too.

[diehardlionfan]

Just now, davisblack said:

Kind of surprising they passed on Wallstedt for Cossa, but it seems like other teams are passing on him too.

I’m not surprised. 

[davisblack]

1 minute ago, diehardlionfan said:

I’m not surprised. 

Enlighten me. I don't know much about NHL prospects, but I know Wallstedt was supposed to be the first goalie that had a chance of going top 10 since Carey Price? I think

[diehardlionfan]

9 hours ago, davisblack said:

Enlighten me. I don't know much about NHL prospects, but I know Wallstedt was supposed to be the first goalie that had a chance of going top 10 since Carey Price? I think

Steve Yzerman passed on Wallstedt and the Wings have excellent scouting in Sweden. He lives on the same street as Lidstrom. 

This years draft is literally a crap shoot. Far to many of these players didn’t get seen, in person by scouts and hockey video is limited for scouting purposes. 

Cossa is simply a better prospect.

[SimbaWho]

On 7/20/2021 at 11:09 AM, Sllim Pickens said:

What's your take on the draft this year?  Again I am not as much into hockey but from what I have seen, there are a couple forwards that might fall or Wallstedt the goalie.  I know people don't like taking goalies that high but we haven't had a great goalie since Hasek.  I have no clue on our second first round pick but if we do go G at 6, a forward at 23 would make sense.  Any high upside guys you see falling to that range?  Or anyone that if available at 6 that is realistic that you love? Also @diehardlionfan and @TL-TwoWinsAway can chime in with thoughts. 

I wanted Eklund at 6 this year and I'm good with the trade up for Cossa. 

 

Simon Edvisson seems like a legit prospect though, Big dude who's good defensively and mobile. Good stick handler and passer, easily the worst part of his game is his shot. Edvisson is turning 19 and is 6'5, 200lbs. He might get bigger, Seider/Edvisson in the future playing on opposite pairings could present real problems for teams down the line. Edvisson seems like he'll settle in as a really good top 4 pairing defensemen and Seider, imo, is something and has Norris Trophy potential. I seriously think of Rob Blake when I see Moritz Seider play.

 

Hockey's hard to watch, scout, it's not like Football lol. I watched some Swedish fellas cause of Seider playing over there and basically being the best defensmen in the whole league in the SHL. Seen other guys when I could like Eklund/Wallstedt/Lysell etc,etc,etc. I didn't watch guys in the WHL like Cossa so I can only go off what I read, when I like to go off reading/watching myself so it's not a real personal opinion I have on Cossa. Diehard might be the best source from a fans perspective cause the kid was sort of local for him, might of actullay watched him play idk... 

 

Also wild about the Michigan players all taken, Most will be coming back too so idk, they should have a really good run next year on the ice. Local so I seen these guys a few times. Owen Power looks steady. Easy pick, I like Beniers and Kent Johnson too but again little baised I seen then vs never seeing guys like McTavish/Hughes.

 

Jeff Gorton gave a lot of respect to Steve Yzerman on air basically saying picking Goalies is foolish but Yzerman is a proven man so... its more foolish to question Yzerman.

 

Red Wings probably need to think about moving Tyler Bertuzzi also, if you're not going to extend him long-term then they can't risk more back injuries and screwing up his trade value. Toronto seems interested, they want some grit, Mitch Marner seems to be that "weak" guy fans are targeting. I'd try to swing something about these two. Marner is the far more talented player and fits into the Red Wings long-term rebuild at 24 years old.

 

Idk what they're going to do at C. Yzerman can't fleece Buffalo for Eichel so idk what the move is. Eichel has some medical issues/fronts to hurdle anyways.

Edited July 24, 2021 by SimbaWho

[SimbaWho]

On 7/22/2021 at 5:06 PM, Sllim Pickens said:

Whats the timeline to see picks in the NHL typically?  I know Lafreniere played most of the season last year but wasn't a show stopper.  Byfeild played like 5 games.  When do we expect Raymond to be NHL ready?  Or if we grab a forward this year what is the expectation for him?  

1-5 years. 

If Raymond can physically handle the AHL and produce he should just immediately step up. I personally think he'll hit a bit of a thud coming to North America but... we'll see I'd expect him next year vs this year on the Red Wings team. Jonatan Berggren has a shot to make this team this upcoming year though. Under-rated by many but should/could easilly, imo, step into our 3rd line on RW.

It's so different across the board cause NCAA/JR's/Euro leagues are different in competition/skill levels all across the board. A kid playing against other kids will be more challenging imo to determine how he'll play against more physical grown men. Euro-leagues ice rink is bigger so angles are different, spacing, etc. Then theres the hardest thing to scout.... someones hockey sense....

[Sllim Pickens]

Any other thoughts on the rest of the draft?  Looks like Stevie Y is focused on fixing the D and allowing less goals opposed to scoring at this point.  After reading more on Cossa it has me excited for the future.  Sounds like we have a youngish goalie for the next 3-4 years and then Cossa should be good to step in after.  Or we have two really good goalies for a while.  

I am pretty excited for Detroit sports right.  All four have been so bad for so long and all are showing signs of pointing in the right direction.  Well, except the Lions but I am a fan of what the Lions are doing and hope it shows results this fall.  NBA draft is a couple days away.  Tigers signed all of their picks and are playing pretty well.  And now getting more excited for the Wings future with the way Stevie Y is building them up.  Hopefully these dark days are soon behind Detroit sports.  

[diehardlionfan]

On 7/26/2021 at 9:58 AM, Sllim Pickens said:

Any other thoughts on the rest of the draft?  Looks like Stevie Y is focused on fixing the D and allowing less goals opposed to scoring at this point.  After reading more on Cossa it has me excited for the future.  Sounds like we have a youngish goalie for the next 3-4 years and then Cossa should be good to step in after.  Or we have two really good goalies for a while.  

I am pretty excited for Detroit sports right.  All four have been so bad for so long and all are showing signs of pointing in the right direction.  Well, except the Lions but I am a fan of what the Lions are doing and hope it shows results this fall.  NBA draft is a couple days away.  Tigers signed all of their picks and are playing pretty well.  And now getting more excited for the Wings future with the way Stevie Y is building them up.  Hopefully these dark days are soon behind Detroit sports.  

I think the Wings had an A+ draft. My fav pick is Cossa. He doesn’t have a weakness and I think he’s ready in two years. The Swedish goalie has questionable east west movement which is a bad area to have questions about.

They have a potential top pairing dman, another dman with some size, a potential all star goalie ( I believe he has top 5 potential) then some forwards with a variety of skill sets.

There are at least three players I believe will play in the NHL, two of which are top end. If no one else pans out that’s still an awesome draft.

Edited July 27, 2021 by diehardlionfan

[SimbaWho]

Really happy Pistons went with Cade Cunningham. Haven't felt this good about a draft pick(S) in a pretty long time between the Lions/Pistons. ( Sewell/Cunningham ) Feels weird to get what I want! 

[Sllim Pickens]

On 8/1/2021 at 6:41 AM, SimbaWho said:

Really happy Pistons went with Cade Cunningham. Haven't felt this good about a draft pick(S) in a pretty long time between the Lions/Pistons. ( Sewell/Cunningham ) Feels weird to get what I want! 

I think Cade will be great but I still think Jalen Green is the best player from this draft when careers are over.  Both will be great but I just think Green has that Kobe/MJ mentality that will drive him to be amazing.  I see his ceiling as top 5 NBA player and MVP candidate and Cade more as a top 15-20 player.  I definitely understand the Cade pick, especially given fans and media would have ripped Weaver if he passed on cade, but if Green got more ESPN hype during the year like Cade did, people would have been more open to it.  Green surpassed expectations against NBA talent and Cade met expectations at OSU and both were close going into the year as top prospects on recruiting lists.  Will be fun to watch how their careers go.  I am torn on the Pistons still though, I want them to struggle one more year and get a top 3 pick next year so we can grab one more stud but I think Bey, Stewart, Hayes, and Cade along with Grant and Diallo will be enough to push us into that 5-10 range.  

[SimbaWho]

On 8/2/2021 at 9:30 AM, Sllim Pickens said:

I think Cade will be great but I still think Jalen Green is the best player from this draft when careers are over.  Both will be great but I just think Green has that Kobe/MJ mentality that will drive him to be amazing.  I see his ceiling as top 5 NBA player and MVP candidate and Cade more as a top 15-20 player.  I definitely understand the Cade pick, especially given fans and media would have ripped Weaver if he passed on cade, but if Green got more ESPN hype during the year like Cade did, people would have been more open to it.  Green surpassed expectations against NBA talent and Cade met expectations at OSU and both were close going into the year as top prospects on recruiting lists.  Will be fun to watch how their careers go.  I am torn on the Pistons still though, I want them to struggle one more year and get a top 3 pick next year so we can grab one more stud but I think Bey, Stewart, Hayes, and Cade along with Grant and Diallo will be enough to push us into that 5-10 range.  

Yeah they are imo too good now to fall into that top 5 range unless a injury happens. I actually expect Killians Hayes to take steps forward playing along side Cunningham. 

Hayes

Cunningham

Bey

Grant

Olynyk 

To me... that is that starting line up with Stewart as a great swing big man at C/PF. They've got some sorting out to do on the bench still as I think they have like 17 or 18 contracts slotted up for a 15 man roster.

 

East has bigger lines-ups... Pistons built a smaller line up with shooting. They zigged while the rest of the east is zagging. We'll see how it looks!

Edited August 4, 2021 by SimbaWho

[Sllim Pickens]

1 minute ago, SimbaWho said:

Yeah they are imo too good now to fall into that top 5 range unless and injury happens. I actually expect Killians Hayes to take steps forward and play along side Cunningham. 

Hayes

Cunningham

Bey

Grant

Olynyk 

To me... that is that starting line up with Stewart a great swing big man at C/PF. They've got some sorting out to do on the bench still as I think they have like 17 or 18 contracts slotted up for a 15 man roster.

After looking at some of the other teams, I am not sold on us being out of the bottom 5 without pretty significant progress from the young guys and Cade being crazy good immediately.  If John Wall stays healthy and Green is what he is supposed to be, Houston is similar to us with Wood and KPJ as well.  OKC is probably worse with Kemba and SGA as their stars but SGA is better than anything we have unless Cade is as good right away as SGA.  Orlando has a ton of young pieces but I dont love their roster.  Cleveland is the same but I do think adding Mobley and having Sexton and Garland back makes them right in our area.  The Spurs sort of look the worst on paper but hard for me to believe Pop wont have them in the late lotto.  The Wizards got worse as well replacing Westbrook with Dinwiddie.  Sacramento didnt really get better either IMO.  MN seemed to come on strong down the stretch so if Edwards progresses, they should fight for a playoff spot.  

Overall I think there is still a decent chance we have a top 5 pick and maybe get a little lottery luck again.  Olynyk is a waste IMO as he really isnt any better than Plumlee on a good team.  We may end up having to do something similar with him like we did Plumlee to clear space if we can be real players in free agency next year. Cade may attract some talent.  I also think Stewart starts and Olynyk comes off the bench.  We might as well get our young guys some burn.  Same with Sekou and Diallo.  I think they need to move Josh Jackson and Okafor for anything just to clear space and minutes.  I probably wouldnt have offered Frank Jackson a qualifying offer and let Saban Lee backup PG although I am guessing Hayes and Cade will take turns at PG more than having a true backup PG.  Overall I like the youth on this team but other than Cade, none are stars.  Bey and Stewart are really good role players in the making I think.  Hayes we don't know but he has star potential but not the highest likelihood of reaching it.  I really hope we can be bad this year and get another top 3 pick and get Chet or Paolo or AG3.  Then sign Zack Lavine in the offseason since Chicago spent all their money on trash.  A core with one of those rookies next year, Cade, and Lavine could be dangerous.  Especially if Hayes, Bey and Stewart continue to improve.  We also potentially could trade for another max if we move Grant to get a disgruntled star fighting his way out of town.  

[SimbaWho]

I think in your whole thought process here you're discounting Grant/Cunningham. That's all I say as to why Pistons will make playoffs. Especially Grant, you're already assuming he's sold. (Might be) but he'll contribute to wins next year for sure with Cunningham. If Pistons start out hot especially, I don't see them not adding a piece to make that playoff push.

I don't wanna lose all the time just to end up like the 76ers or Knicks.

Also not very interested in signing guys to stupid contracts to just be the 76ers or Knicks. Pistons are in a exciting spot where they control where the pendulum actually swings the next couple of seasons based off their own actions.

Edited August 5, 2021 by SimbaWho

[SimbaWho]

An as far as Green. He seems super selfish. It's all about him, me me me, even joining the G-league vs college is a me move. He's already worried about his max contract vs a championship. Idk, we'll see. He was already on a Gleague all-star team and they sucked with him taking most the shots.

I think Monta Ellis, Eric Gordon vs Kobe Bryant but, hey, we'll see. I'm not going to sit here either and say the kid doesn't have tools to work with. I just see a selfish kid when I listen to him speak though. Just my own personal thoughts on him. Obviously never really watched him. He played like only a dozen games so idk what kind of read people got off that anyways.

Edited August 5, 2021 by SimbaWho