Red Wings 2018 Draft Report

After a series of large acquisitions by the Wings in the past month or so (Kreider, Fowler, Kane, and Couturier), the Wings' prospect pool was more of a small prospect puddle. Hart, Donato, Niku, V Olofsson, Lockwood and Zach MacEwen were the only names in the system so GM Austin Evans decided to load up on later round 2018 picks in order to restock the system. 

Despite the main objective being to load up on 2018 picks, the ever-pragmatic GM Evans swung 2 pre-draft drafts that involved sending out 2018 picks with none coming back. In the first of these deals, the Wings sent pick 76 (became Tim Soderlund) in the draft to the Blackhawks in exchange for Matthew Peca. Next up, the Wings sent picks 42 (became B-O Groulx), and 79 (became Mason Marchment) to the divisional rival Sabres for hulking OHL defenseman of the year Nic Hague.

"Look guys, I love picks as much as the next GM but the goal here is to build a winning team. Picks are a means to an end, so when I see a good player available that can help the team at a price that makes sense, I pounce. Peca helps our team right away and Hague I like a lot. He's a little raw but he reminds me of Colton Parayko."

After a pick swap with the Ducks 2 days before the draft, and a trade with the Canes that shipped out fan favorite Jason Chimera, the Wings were going in with picks 46, 61, 99, 119, 121, 122, 125, 129, 137, 147 and hungry for more.

With pick 46 approaching, the Wings saw that they could likely get some of their top targets slightly later in the draft and traded down to pick 55, adding 83 in the process. Unfortunately for the Wings, several of their top targets went in the subsequent picks but overall it made sense to add more picks. After seeing the trend with the previous few picks, GM Evans knew who the Wings would be taking with their first pick of the draft: Mason Appleton. 22 year old Appleton won AHL rookie of the year and showed chemistry with fellow Wing Sami Niku.

With pick 61, GM Evans again tried to move down but was met with some pretty pathetic offers. It turned out to be a good thing, as the Wings selected Alex Kerfoot. After an impressive college career, Kerfoot managed 43 points as an NHL rookie. The 23 year old Kerfoot is ready to challenge for a roster spot and hopes to build on an impressive start to his career.

Next, the Wings were able to acquire pick 82 from the Coyotes in exchange for DET 2019 3rd and post-hype sleeper Ryan Murphy. A steep price, but GM Evans was determined to make the pick count. This gave the Wings back to back picks. First up, Axel Andersson was selected. A dynamic young defenseman out of the Swedish SuperElit league. Next up, the Latvian sensation Rudolfs Balcers. 21 year old Balcers managed to lead a putrid San Jose Barracudas AHL team in scoring by a full 10 points... as a rookie!

GM Evans fielded some offers for the Gretzky Pick, 99, but in the end decided to take Finnish sniper Niklas Nordgren. Rumour has it Detroit had Nordgren ranked as a mid 2nd rounder. The 5'9" youngster led Finland to a U18 gold medal with 8 goals and 10 points.

Detroit pulled the trigger on their final deal of the night at some point during late round 4, sending pick 119 to Buffalo for picks 148 and 150. This final move gave the Wings an impressive 13 picks total in 2018, with 8 remaining! So to shorten things up, those picks became:

121: Lawrence Pilut
122: Victor Ejdsell
125: Christian Djoos
129: Jayden Halbgewachs
137: Michael Lindqvist
147: Ville Meskanen
148: Jordan Gross
150: Adam Ruzicks

Who the heck are those guys?? You may be asking... Well if you've read this far, you probably care so let's dive in.

22 year old Pilut led all SHL defensemen in scoring this season with 38 points in 52 games, and he's headed to the AHL. Pilut's teammate Ejdsell was part of the Ryan Hartman deadline deal. Ejdsell is a huge skill forward that had a fantastic AHL playoffs.

Djoos you should know of, he's a Stanley Cup Champion and played 22 NHL playoff games this season. 23 year old Christian Djoos, son of Per, is a smooth skating puck mover just beginning to enter his prime. Halbgewachs isn't your average prospect; he scored an insane 70 goals in the WHL this season as a 21 year old. However, Halbgewachs is generously listed at 5'8" 160lbs. The ultimate boom-bust prospect will try to transition his game to the AHL next season.

Michael Lindqvist was trapped on a brutal SHL team for years, a team so bad they've been relegated down a tier since 2014. This past season the 23 year old Lindqvist escaped to a real team and managed a point per game pace in the SHL and was on pace to lead the league in goals over a complete season. Ville Meskanen is 22 year old Finnish sniper and was one of the top players in Liiga this past year. Meskanen and Lindqvist were both signed by the Rangers this summer and will play AHL this year.

Jordan Gross is another 23 year old. The only NCAA player in the Wings' draft, Gross has been consistent producer at that level racking up over 120 points over 4 years with low-scoring Notre Dame... as a defenseman! Gross was a wicked shot and is a skilled puck mover. The final pick of this class, Adam Ruzicka, is a skilled powerforward from the OHL. The 19 year old Slovakian is a little raw but has a lot of tools.

All being said, the Detroit Red Wings were able to add 11 prospects to the system, most of whom are over the age of 20, plus 2 ready-made pros. The Wings were unable to add any goalies, but selected 4 defensemen and 9 forwards. There was a clear emphasis on players close to making an NHL impact, with a few exceptions, and an emphasis on skill. It is likely that some of these prospects will bust within 1 or 2 years, but that's the nature of drafting boom-bust prospects. The Wings are certainly hoping they mined up a few gems for the future. Thank you to everyone who participated in the draft.