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draft announcement
whether by design or by accident, I tend to keep marvelously dysfunctional company. About 10 years ago, just after Christmas, I was having breakfast with a few friends. It was an odd year because one of the group (not me) had just been released from prison. The non convicts listed off some of the gifts we received. Ironically, the three of us had gotten some unflattering sweaters before it was an accepted social trend. Whilst pondering the unwelcome gift, the ex convict piped in, “all I got for Christmas was an extra serving of pudding, and I swapped it for some smokes”.
Boom, the ugly Christmas sweater is no longer the worst gift at the table. Prison pudding is.
That glimpse into the bizarre nature of my social circle was the first thing that came to mind in reading the above announcement. “The timing and format of the draft AND draft lottery will be announced..”. As it was, this was the season of the ugly Christmas sweater. Are Detroit fans about to be served up a lump of prison pudding? If so, don’t try and swap it for smokes. Pudding only works as currency in very special circumstances.
I started to think about the infamous change in rules that saw McDavid gifted to Edmonton. Crosby was also a huge gift to Pittsburgh after a lost season. It would be folly to call Lafreniere the next in line of those two franchise players, but he still holds a tremendous amount of value. Still, could we see a near contending team find their way to the front of the line? It feels possible.
TSN scouting
TSN posted “Craig’s List” and confirmed that Lafreniere seems solid for first overall. As I have most of the year, my eyes drift to the 4th ranked skater. In order, 2 is Tim Stutzle, 3 is Quinton Byfield and 4 is Cole Perfetti. Drysdale is the highest ranked D man coming in at 5th, and Askarov has a high rating for a goalie listed at 7th. Things can change closer to the draft, but #1 seems solid. Yzerman has scouted Stutzle for sure.
It would be difficult to see any scenario where Detroit picks worse than 4th, but like last year, seeing New Jersey, New York and Chicago “win” the lottery, it could be just as painful. Teams with way more in the cupboard.
This is where conspiracy theorists typically pop in with why Gary hates Detroit. I don’t think anything as trivial as that plays in, but it’s a nasty feeling seeing Detroit drop 2 and 3 spots in consecutive years. Still, Yzerman made waves and drafted what looks to be a very good defenseman in Moritz Seider that took everyone, including Moritz, by surprise.
With so much uncertainty, Detroit’s front office hasn’t given any real clue as to what next year’s team is going to look like. Still no real contract discussions (other than Biega) and an AHL signing in Patrick Curry fresh out of college. Past that, I haven’t heard Detroit’s name mentioned in any of the College Free Agent signings or potential signings. It’s been quiet, as it has for most of the year.
We can only wait and see, and now the waiting has an unknown expiration date. Detroit was safely in last place, so worrying about the if/when of playoffs and recovered games has minimal impact. It’s the season that refuses to end right now.
So, what do you think? Is it possible that a new draft format could make things feel worse? There are discussions of a “virtual” draft, where no one actually gets together and it’s done via conferencing. Not exactly a ratings boon. It’s something we’ll all find out together, possibly by August? We’ll see.
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