The Detroit Red Wings officially learned their fate in this year’s NHL Draft, and they’ll be picking 6th overall for the 3rd time in the past four years.
For the Red Wings, it’s a familiar refrain. Among their past picks include the likes of Michael Rasmussen, Filip Zadina, and Moritz Seider – all of whom figure to be major portions of the team rebuild.
And while the good news is that at least the Red Wings didn’t drop in the lottery odds, it naturally still would have been great to have gotten a higher selection. But don’t tell that to GM Steve Yzerman.
“No sense complaining about it,” he responded when asked if he felt let down. “Whether it’s the 6th, the 1st, the 5th, whatever pick you have, you’ve gotta find players. The system is the same for everyone. We’ve just got to find a way to get good players.”
Detroit entered the draft with a 30% chance of ending up with the 6th pick, with a mere 7.6% chance of landing the top overall pick. But regardless, Yzerman is confident the team will be soon welcoming a good player.
“I think we’ll get a good prospect,” Yzerman said. “Off the top of my head, I’ve seen the majority of those kids that will be in that 1-0 range, and again we’re excited about the possibilities.”
“Again, sitting at 6, there’s players we think will be there, and we’ll be excited about the pick. Will they move the needle? We hope so, but when that happens, we’re not sure.”
Of course, we’d all love to see another 1989-style draft for the Red Wings, a year in which they brought aboard the likes of Sergei Fedorov and Nicklas Lidstrom, as well as Dallas Drake and Vladimir Konstantinov.
“I’m dying to have 1989 draft, let’s totally have one,” he joked. “Who we’re picking, we don’t know.”
Among the top projected draft picks:
Owen Power (D, Michigan, NCAA/Big 10), Matthew Beniers (C, Michigan, NCAA/Big 10), Brandt Clarke (D, HC Nove Zamky, Slovakia), Luke Hughes (D, USNTDP, USHL), Dylan Guenther (RW, Edmonton, WHL), Simon Edvinsson (D, Frolunda, J20), Kent Johnson (C, Michigan, NCAA/Big 10), Mason McTavish (C, EHC Olten, SL), William Eklund (LW, Djurgardens, SHL), and Aatu Raty (C, Karpat, Liiga).
– – Quotes via Detroit Red Wings Link – –
