Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Talking Expansion Draft

07/25/2020 at 8:38am EDT

Yesterday, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press wrote about what Detroit players could be made available for the Seattle expansion draft.

In the mix

Evgeny Svechnikov, Givani Smith, Dmytro Timashov, Christoffer Ehn, Adam Erne, Taro Hirose: This is a big year for Svechnikov, a 2015 first-round draft pick who has yet to show if he fits into the rebuild. He’s no longer waiver exempt, so he’ll be on the roster when 2020-21 starts — but can he earn a spot in the lineup? Smith adds a physical dimension, but is there more to his game? Timashov, Ehn, Erne and Hirose are all restricted free agents, and are likely to be re-upped. Timashov was picked off waivers in February; he only played five games, but he looks like he has potential. Erne is another physical presence, and he also was brought in by Yzerman. There’s not much offensive dimension to Ehn, but he has proven he’s a solid, reliable grinder-type. Hirose is interesting — he’s clearly a very intelligent player, so if he can gain enough strength to hold his own in the NHL, he could leapfrog to the protected listed.

In the mix

Dennis Cholowski, Gustav Lindstrom, Madison Bowey: Lindstrom has shown himself to be a smart, steady defender. Cholowski, a first-round pick from 2016, hasn’t developed as expected – he hasn’t even dominated at the AHL level (he had three goals and 10 assists in 30 games with Grand Rapids this season and his minus-15 was worst among team defensemen). Still, Cholowski has offensive gifts and he’s a good skater. Bowey (an RFA this summer) likewise has an offensive skill set, but he’s another one whose growth hasn’t been to the level expected (Yzerman was willing to lose him for nothing in December, when he placed Bowey on waivers). This will be an interesting battle to watch.

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Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that.

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