Jason_R

IIRC his stint at LT was a little rough, but he was a rookie. He’ll be fine there now and I’m sure Brad doesn’t want to have the highest paid RT in the NFL.

The Lions were a bit unusual in their use of base 4-3. Teams today are generally playing more base nickel or have a hybrid safety/LB. Now that they let Anzalone walk, it will be interesting to see if they are dogmatic about fielding three LBs.

The Alabama connection is probably just coincidental. Big-time programs get big-time athletes. But I suspect they also liked prospects coached by Nick Saban. Per https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Kadyn-Proctor-OL-Alabama: “He was a consensus All-American and finished second on Bruce Feldman's Freaks List: 815-pound squat, 535-pound bench, 405-pound power clean. Alabama handed him the ball five times during the year as a nod to his athleticism.“ The only “character” concern I’ve seen is weight. Apparently he got up to 370 pounds and suffered in pass protection. But at the combine he weighed in at 352.

So if I have this right, Decker tells Dan he wants to come back. Dan says great I’ll talk to Brad day after tomorrow. Tomorrow Decker goes public knowing Dan and Brad were not going to talk until the day after. Again, this seems at best short-sighted on the part of Decker. Maybe it was even manipulative, in attempting to circumvent Brad and the salary piece of it, which he had to assume was at least a possibility. Decker is not coming off as a sympathetic character in my view.

But he is a Brad pick in the sense that he is a physical freak and played at Alabama. Brad has used three of seven first round picks for Alabama players. I am not a scout, but if Brad thinks he will be an elite run blocker and capable pass blocker for ten years, pick him at 17. But the position is deep enough that there should be good players available at 22, 24, even 30 or 31. If he can move back and pick up a third to use on his Kerby Joseph insurance, he should do it.

Charlie Campbell has the Lions taking Kayden Proctor at 17. IIRC Campbell had Detroit linked with Gibbs before that draft. Other mocks have Proctor going late 20s, even early second round. Would really love to see Brad move back in the first to take his OT of the future, and pick up a 3rd round selection.

Gibson was not sharp on the second game of an away to home back to back. No more back to backs. No more excuses. No more margin for error.

Mazur and Raymond both turned 24 today. One of them has 324 points in the NHL.

I think I just saw him finish a check! This team doesn’t do that very often.

Not a good look for Seider and Edvinsson on that goal.

If someone told Decker he should or would get paid $20 million after the season he had last year, and if he believed it, that’s pretty short sighted, even delusional. It’s just as delusional now to be playing the victim. I get the sense Brad would have brought him back, maybe even on a deal that would have paid him in the neighborhood of $10m with incentives. But Decker, who is now complaining about hardball being played, played hardball himself. You hate to see it end this way, but even worse would be letting it end with Decker playing out the final year of a bloated contract as a shell of himself, or on IR. Brad did nothing wrong.

He won the game for them last night, despite having a 405 foot bomb robbed from him on a highlight reel catch. Amazing.

Already the best hitter on the Tigers.

That’s how you ice a game with playoff implications. Trade a few chicklets for a double minor.

This isn’t really 2026 NFL draft but the story is messed up. Dysfunctional Washington franchise picked a guy who has played safety through college, nobody knows where he should play, they end up playing him at MLB, he gets a concussion that messes up his vision and he is out of the league in just a few seasons. Tough deal. Can’t remember if Martin Mayhew was in their front office at that point but I’m too lazy to look it up.

I appreciate lord Stanley in here keeping watch. 😊 Hopefully tomorrow, and especially by the end of the weekend, we can all step back from the ledge a bit. 😂

What I said (or have been purported to say) is irrelevant. The players from Team USA all said they liked playing with Larkin. I said it was good for Detroit to have Larkin, Raymond, and Seider at the Olympics. On top of everyone on Team USA raving about Larkin, Seider was an assistant captain for Germany and Raymond was Sweden’s top scorer and third in the Olympics. Other teams may have had more players at the Olympics but the Wings were well represented.

I’m not sure what this is supposed to mean but the best chance for getting a Hughes brother to Detroit was when Ken Holland picked Filip Zadina instead of Quinn Hughes. Yes, it is conceivable that Yzerman could have traded for Hughes but most observers thought the trade assets given up by Minnesota were pretty substantial with only a season and a half left before UFA. And if you are Steve Yzerman are you going to bet that you can trade for Quinn and retain him when he has two brothers playing in New Jersey?

Does anyone in their lifetime as an MLB fan remember a better debut than what McGonigle had today?

Knucklehead

I don’t agree with the sentiment that nobody wants to come to Detroit. Detroit is the 12th largest media market in the NHL and an original six team. It is also home to many NHL players. It is a town known for an intensely supportive fan base. If you are a free agent and your choice is between Detroit and Ottawa does anyone really think that players will flock to Ottawa? Columbus? Calgary? Raleigh? Buffalo? Winnipeg? Maybe some prefer NYC, Vegas, LA. Maybe some prefer no tax states. But these guys want to get paid, they want to play, and they want to compete. Detroit wasn’t competitive five years ago or even three. They are on the cusp now. Also, maybe I’m forgetting someone but the only player I remember using a NMC to veto a trade to Detroit was Tyler Myers who apparently has a child with special needs, who was born and has family in Texas, and who ended up in Dallas. Faulk had a 15-team no trade clause, so either Detroit was not on it, or he willingly waived it.

“Brad Holmes, do you or do you not affirm this to be your official list of draft priorities?”

It is a tough business, pro sports. Everyone is clawing for every inch. You need to have some luck. Stevie got lucky that DeBrincat forced his way back home but that is really the only luck he has gotten. In retrospect, maybe the worst thing that happened to this franchise was letting Jim Nill leave.

I have been assuming the rebuild is over when Copp and Compher come off the books. Copp has the 2026-27 season left, for Compher (and Rasmussen) it is 2027-28. That is a much longer timeline than fans want to accept, but that is probably the timeline Yzerman annd Ilitch are operating under. One way to handle this is to tread water until those contracts come off the books. Those three contracts equal $12 million annually. Assuming some of the kids can step in to fill these slots for cheap, that leaves a lot of room to sign a big ticket free agent center. In summer 2028. I’m getting impatient though and would love it if Stevie could package up Compher, a goalie, and a few prospects/picks for a bona fide center this offseason.

They appeal to a certain type of fan. Brad has always done a good job of adjusting the roster going into the draft to minimize any glaring needs. He has done that this time also. He isn’t forced to take a tackle at 17. And no, he doesn’t owe it to fans or to interviewers to give a full or final account of his draft or roster plans. He is even entitled to lie or use smokescreens if it suits him. He can, will, and should do and say anything he thinks will improve his competitive situation. I still think they will take an OT in the first round, and I hope they will have the opportunity to trade back in the first round to do so.