Jason_R

Yes, I listened to Iyer wringing his hands. For better or worse, I don’t think Stevie is wringing his hands. And maybe his nonchalant attitude toward prospects is at issue here. Certainly none of us fans or none of the press would have balked if they called Cossa up around the all star game when articles like this were being posted about him: https://www.flohockey.tv/articles/15400654-sebastian-cossa-leads-nhl-prospects-to-watch-at-2026-ahl-all-star-classic They didn’t call him up and nobody knows their reasoning for it and nobody knows how it would have ended. Maybe it would have turned out great, giving Gibson more rest down the stretch and letting Cossa get a taste of the NHL. Maybe Cossa was destined to have a late season slump no matter what and it would have been a disaster. From Cossa’s point of view, he probably feels like he is ready to compete in the NHL. He probably feels like there is not annything else he can prove in the AHL. For all we know, he has gotten halfway through the last two AHL seasons playing great hockey, expected to get called up, didn’t, and got bored. Maybe he should be blamed for his late season sloppiness, maybe Stevie should be blamed for his slow handling of Cossa, but he needs to be in the NHL next year, practicing against NHL players, getting NHL coaching and training, and getting about 25 starts.

Yeah, I don't buy into all the handwringing about Cossa. He’s played 41 and 39 games in the AHL and looked pretty good outside of losing steam. He needs to be in the NHL with NHL coaching and NHL training facilities. He needs to practice against NHL players and play 25 games with Postava coming up to spot start and Gibson dialing it back from 57 starts (second-most in his career) to 50 or just under. Gibson wore out at the end of the season too.

He is ready to be an NHL backup. Late season struggles are either energy or psychology. Does he lose the stamina or does he wilt under pressure? The guy is six and a half feet tall, so it wouldn’t surprise me if his muscles are still catching up to his bones.

Claude insists Cossa is exempt next season but Grok says he is not. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Anyway, I expect him to be part of a blockbuster trade this offseason.

I just listened to TJ Lang on NFL Radio. He said a few interesting things. first, he talked about Sewell’s move to left tackle. He said he watches Sewell at right tackle and believes that the position is not natural to him. Basically, you would not coach a right tackle to move the ways moves. But he is so physically dominant that he has become a pro bowl player. Lang says left tackle is Sewell’s natural position and he believes he is going to become a dominant left tackle. The other thing he talked about was attention to detail. But it wasn’t so much about the players. It was about Morton. Two different times, he said, “I don’t want to throw shade, but….” one of those times, he pointed out that the play action game was frequently run out of different run actions than they were using in the run game. The example he gave was that they would frequently run outside zone but scheme their play action in gap schemes. Bad attention to detail and defenses picked it up.

Everything I read about Wallinder is underwhelming. Maybe I’m missing something but I’ve just been assuming that he has reached his ceiling. I hate to see ASP languish too long in the AHL, but I also hate to see him fishing the puck out of his own net in the NHL. I wonder if his development plays a role in their decision about whether to offer Faulk an extension.

This raises the question of what the defense will look like next season. Seider and Edvinsson pairing seems set. Faulk will anchor second pairing, but with Chiarot? Albert J? I guess the third line is some grab bag of Johanssons, JBD, Hamonic… and maybe ASP? Will they try to sign Faulk to an extension? Seems like there is some depth developing, but it is too soon to tell about the production we are likely to see.

I don’t buy this at all. Yzerman is not telling players not to defend teammates. Todd is not telling them this. It is unimaginable. Right now, the core of the team is skewed in the favor of small players who rely on skill more than physicality and in the favor of mercenaries. Larkin is not an intimidator. Raymond is not. Kane is not. Debrincat has moxie but he is not going to physically dominate someone. Copp and Compher are just happy to be getting paid. Compher had only one more hit on the season than Kane! Rasmussen too, even though he came up through the system. Appleton hits a little bit, but had half the number of hits that Kasper did in slightly less ice time. Among the mercenaries, only Chiarot hits, but that is what he is paid to do. I’ll say it again, if Yzerman has said anything that can be remotely interpreted as an “Yzerplan,” it is draft high character players, let them play meaningful hockey together in the AHL, and call them up when they are ready. He is doing this. Kasper led the team in hits. Finnie was third (after Chiarot) then Seider and Edvinsson. Mazur and MBN are playing with physicality in the playoffs. They will be in Detroit next year and will make the team harder to play against. So will Carter Bear when he is ready. But I do not believe for a minute that Stevie or Todd are telling the team to abandon their teammates.

1. The tweet you posted is apparently not accurate. 2. it is literally unbelievable that Rod Wood made any decision about scheduling an international game unilaterally. 3. Rod Wood was involved in hiring Spielman, Holmes, and Campbell and in wholly changing the culture of a previously pathetic franchise.

🤷🏻‍♂️

If you go back and read scouting reports on him you will see there is a lot that scouts love about him. He has a lot of traits the Wings lack. He is gritty. He is abrasive. He goes to the net. And it seems like all of those traits have continued to be on display this season and post-season. I don’t know how to handicap him making the NHL roster next season, but he seems to be a more plausible fit to complete the Larkin/Raymond line than Finnie was going into camp last season. He is fast enough to play with them and has skill to finish the play. He will go to the places on the ice they may not. And it seems like he is responsible enough defensively that he could match up against the top lines that Larkin usually draws.

Detroit is coming into next season looking to prove something too. they came into last season with an entitlement mentality. They were coasting on their reputation and came into week one and got embarrassed. Dan Campbell remembers that. Penei Sewell remembers that. Gibbs and Goff and ASB remember that. They are going to come out in week one this year and try to establish their identity as bullies in the run game and precise in the passing game. They want to announce to the league that they are back.

But this one is new. Look at the kids playing some ******* hockey!

I posted that and the page refreshed and there were five new clips from the game!