Sports Opinion Red Wings fans need to trust the Yzerplan

what happened,” Kober said, referring to events during World War II. “It’s just not typical in Germany to, for example, have a national flag in your front yard or to wear clothes with the flag on. The only exception is during soccer tournaments. If you are patriotic, people will quickly think you might be a Nazi or something like that.”

Although Kober studied English for ten years, as is standard for students in Germany, he said he struggled when he first arrived in Hillsdale.

“Being forced to talk – not being able to talk in German – I just had to speak English,” Kober said. “Just listening to it all the time improved my phrases and such.”

Kober said he enjoys fast food in the U.S. Among his favorites are Wendy’s and In-n-Out.

“The food is good,” Kober said. “But I don’t know if Saga really represents American food.”

Janicijevic, who grew up in Serbia before moving to the U.S. for college, said he thinks Kober has handled the trans-Atlantic move well.

By Alex Deimel Collegian Reporter

After trading away four players for future draft picks last week, it is safe to say that the Detroit Red Wings are not focused on making the playoffs this season. However, despite the inevitable continuation of the Wings’ playoff drought, Detroit hockey fans need to continue to put their trust in Steve Yzerman’s “Yzerplan.”

The Red Wings will have a grand total of 28 draft picks throughout the next three entry drafts. Ten of these picks will be first and second round selections.

“It gives you options,” Yzerman said. “Today, do I have many options for trades with those first-round picks? No, but we’ll see what comes up.” prospects, Seider is projected to finish with 41 points this season after last year’s 50 point season. misses a ball he screams in German,” senior Bogdan Janicijevic said. “Our coach doesn’t really like that. Once, Lennart was really mad the entire practice, and coach said ‘please don’t do anything.’ The next second, we hear Lennart throwing his racket into the curtain and we burst out laughing.”

In addition to Seider, Yzerman drafted Swedish defenseman Elmer Söderblom in the sixth round, who scored in his NHL debut on opening night this season. After his debut, Söderblom has spent most of this season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Red Wings AHL affiliate team, and has eight points in 19 games this year.

When he was first making his college decision, Kober said he was looking for a bigger city, but Hillsdale presented him with the best offer.

“It’s kind of boring in Hillsdale,” Kober said. “But I also figured out that you’re spending most of the time on campus. It doesn’t matter as much as I thought.”

Since arriving in Hillsdale, Kober said he has been impressed by the patriotism of the college and the community.

“In Germany, it’s kind of tough to be patriotic after

“I tried to help him out just like international people helped me out when I was a freshman,” Janicijevic said. “It was kind of the same –getting used to everything, having a little bit of trouble with language – but I think he got used to everything fine.”

Janicijevic also said Kober is a huge fan of Legos.

“His room is actually full of Legos,” Janicijevic said. “He has an Eiffel tower made of Legos. We all think it’s really funny. One of his goals is to work in Legoland one day.”

Kober confirmed his love for Legos.

“My room is full of them,” he said.

Besides a future Legoland gig, Kober said he plans to study economics or accounting and return to Germany after college.

“In Germany, we have these leagues where you can play tennis until you’re 60 or 70 years old,” Kober said. “I’m going to do that.”

Forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Oskar Sundqvist, who were both traded last week, are set to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. After extending current captain Dylan Larkin to an eight year, $70 million contract, Detroit acquired future draft capital for players they no longer have to spend money on.

The stockpile of draft picks, however, is not what gives me confidence in the Yzerplan – it’s Steve Yzerman’s eye for talent. Before returning to Detroit in 2019, Yzerman spent nine years as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning. During that time, he drafted and developed a team that has reached three of the last 10 stanley cups, and includes NHL All-Stars such as forwards Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Yzerman took a franchise that was previously known for weak draft classes, and turned it into a consistent Stanley Cup contender.

Since his return to Detroit, Yzerman has already begun to establish the next generation of Wings hockey. His first draft pick, defenseman Moritz Seider, started his career by winning the Calder Memorial Trophy, which goes to the NHL’s best rookie each season. According to elite

The very next year, Yzerman drafted Swedish forward Lucas Raymond, who finished his rookie season last year with 23 goals and 34 assists. Yzerman would continue the trend of drafting European talent by picking Swedish defenseman Simon Edvinsson with the sixth overall pick. Edvinsson is projected to finish with 36 total points as a member of the Griffins.

In addition to Yzerman’s eye for talent, the coming draft classes are full of future stars. Regina Pats forward Connor Bedard, and University of Michigan center Adam Fantilli are the top of a loaded 2023 draft class. The Red Wings will have two picks in the first round of this upcoming draft alone.

Along with the influx of draft picks, the four trades made last week opened up enough cap space for the Red Wings to extend their current players, including defensemen Jake Walman and Olli Määtä. Walman, who the Wings acquired last year from the St. Louis Blues has 11 total points in 44 games, with a +/- of 16, a number which tries to measure a player’s impact on the team’s point differential. Määtä, who the Wings signed last offseason, has had 19 points in 59 games.

It felt good when the Wings had a wild card spot for two days a couple weeks ago. But seeing what “Stevie Y” was able to create in Tampa during his time there gives me the utmost confidence in his ability to bring the Stanley Cup back to Detroit very soon.