A pretty awesome moment happened on Wednesday if you are a fan of the Detroit Red Wings as Kris Draper announced the Wings were selecting his son Kiernan Draper in the 7th round of the 2020 NHL Draft.
Following the draft, Kris spoke to reporters and described what it was like to draft his own son. You can tell he is a proud father who believes his son will help the Red Wings in the future.
Kris Draper, director of amateur scouting for the Redwings, talks about the moment his team selected his son and #ChwkChiefs forward Kienan during today’s NHL draft!
🎥 @DetroitRedWings pic.twitter.com/nXH3NTwAQf
— Chilliwack Chiefs (@Chiefs_Hockey) October 8, 2020
Kris Draper on drafting son Kienan to the Red Wings:
"This is home. This is where he's grown up. He's watched some of the greatest Red Wings play. Knowing him, when you talk about inner-drive and compete, he has that."
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) October 8, 2020
BONUS CONTENT:
The best three Detroit Red Wings late-round draft selections
The Detroit Red Wings hold the 4th overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft, which gets underway tonight. It’s been a while since they picked that high in the annual proceedings – in fact, the last time they held the 4th pick, they picked a young Steve Yzerman in 1983.
They’re banking on whomever they select to have a major part in their team rebuild as they look to rebound from owning the NHL’s worst record, and four straight years out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
However, they’ve been able to strike gold late in the annual Draft in years past, finding some of the greatest players in NHL history who would have been surefire 1st round picks had other teams done their homework.
Let’s take a look back at the three best late round draft selections made by the Red Wings.
No. 3: Pavel Datsyuk, 171st overall in 1998
You can excuse folks for overlooking Pavel Datsyuk early in his first season with the Detroit Red Wings. After all, he was a rookie on a team stacked with nine future Hall of Fame players. However, fans quickly began to take notice of the flashy Russian’s on-ice creativity. He was soon placed on a line with forward Boyd Devereaux and veteran Brett Hull, forming the “Two Kids and a Goat” line that culminated in the 2002 Stanley Cup title.
He is a three-time Selke Award winner as the NHL’s top defensive forward and a two-time Cup winner.
To read the remainder of the list, please click on the link below.
The best three Detroit Red Wings late round draft selections