2021 Draft Part 2: 18 Draft Picks Later

This draft class had a consensus top 2 players, by a small margin, but outside of that was seen as pretty even within the top 10, and then highly variable within round 1. With 8 and 13 overall the Wings expected to get one of that top tier of players plus a shot at a second one or their choice of guys in the next tier.

When their 8^th overall selection came up, the Wings selected Simon Edvinsson, a 6’5” defenseman who checks all the boxes of a top defenseman. GM Evans scouting report: “Simon is a bit raw but I expect him to be a top pairing guy in 2-3 years when he puts his game together. He has great skating and hands, he can use his size, and he has the potential to be a good playmaker and defender.

At 13 overall the Red Wings had their eyes on a goalie of the future, but both Cossa and Wallstedt were off the board. The Wings settled for their top rated player, Matthew Coronato, who lit up the USHL with 48 goals and 85 points in 51 regular season games and added 9 goals and 13 points more in 8 playoff games to lead his team to a Clark Cup. GM Evans scouting report: “Matt can score, no question about that. He can also skate and kill penalties, and these qualities will be just as important at the pro level. I see a potential top line winger here.”

At 23 overall the Wings went a bit off the board and took KHL Rookie of the Year Yegor Chinakhov. The 20 year old Chinakhov was drafted in the 1^st round of the 2020 NHL draft as an overager, but went undrafted in the MRFHL so was available this year. The Wings’ staff was impressed with what they saw this year out of Yegor and decided he was worth taking a gamble on over some of the 18 year olds in this draft class.GM Evans scouting report: “Yegor had 10 goals in 32 KHL games this year and added 5 goals and 7 points in the playoffs. As a 19/20 year old rookie he played a key role all season for the Gagarin Cup winners.

At 28 overall GM Evans selected 17 year old Olen Zellweger out of the WHL. GM Evans scouting report: “With the shortened season Olen only got into 11 games but managed 13 points. At U18s he added another 8 points in 7 games for Gold medal winner Canada. Did I mention he’s a 17 year old defenseman? Olen is quick, agile, and intelligent with and without the puck, the sky is the limit for this kid”

With the next pick, 29 overall, the Wing went a little off the board again with another Russian winger, Alexandr Kisakov. GM Evans: “Alexandr is a little skinny at 141lbs but he has a lot of skill and he never quits on a puck. This is maybe seen as a bit of a reach pick in the 1^st round because of his size, but I believe Kisakov has top 6 forward skill with bottom 6 forward work ethic. That’s a player I can take a gamble on.”

In round 2 the Wings were able to add a pair of small but skilled defensemen in Jack Peart and Sean Behrens. GM Evans: “Peart is a cerebral defenseman who excels with the puck on his stick. He dominated high school hockey this year and won Minnesota’s prestigious Mr. Hockey Award before moving on to the USHL where he excelled with Fargo. Sean exceled with the USDP and was a bright spot on a terrible US team at the U18s this year. He’s another smaller, cerebral defenseman like Olen and Jack, but he needs to work on his skating a bit to catch up to their level. His hockey IQ is through the roof so there’s big upside if he hits.” Both players are expected to spend at least 2 seasons in college hockey.

GM Evans got up to his trading ways again for round 3 of the draft and added 69 and 76 overall in his final pair of deals. The Red Wings also had 90 overall, giving the team three picks in the round. 69 overall was acquired from the Senators for Rem Pitlick and 153 overall and was used to select Zayde Wisdom. 76 overall was acquired from Vegas along with 143 and a 22 FLA 4^th round pick in exchange for 95, 96, and 124 overall. This pick was used to select Mason Lohrei. This pair of deals only subtracted 1 pick from 2021 and allowed the team to get two of their top overage targets, but Pitlick was definitely a loss. At 90 overall the Wings added the oldest player drafted in the 2021 NHL draft in 21 year old Janis Moser.

GM Evans: We moved up to get Wisdom and Lohrei, two overagers we had ranked high up. Wisdom was great as the youngest player in the AHL and looks like a future 2^nd line winger or 3^rd line C. Lohrei was totally dominant in the USHL, leading his team in scoring and winning Defenseman of the Year. He put up 19 goals, 59 points, and 74 PIMs in 48 games. The sky is the limit for this kid, but even at 20 years old he’s likely a few years away from the NHL. Moser at 90 overall is a good bet. At 21 years old he was one of the top 3 or so defensemen in the Swiss NL, and a top player for the Swiss at the World Championships.

From rounds 4-6 The Red Wings selected 8 players: a goalie, two defensemen, and five forwards with a shot to play C but who are more likely to fit in on the wing. All of these selections were overage players.
 

Between these 8 players there are bound to be a few misses, but overall there is a lot of talent here for a bunch of late round picks. Goncalves was great in the WHL for Everett and was a 2020 2^nd. Phillips looked like he belonged in the AHL as a 19 year old. Slaggert is a bulldog of a player, had a great freshman NCAA year, and won gold at World Juniors. Peterson was a top young player in the SHL. Soderblom is a 6’8” behemoth who scored a between-the-legs goal at World Juniors. Bjorklund is an athletic young goalie from the WHL. Moynihan had a very good sophomore NCAA season and won gold at World Juniors. Last but not least, Matt Kessel helped UMAss win an NCAA championship and took an offensive leap.

In total the Red Wings added 20 prospects to the organization: 1 goalie, 8 defensemen, and 11 forwards. 12 of these players were overagers. Three of these overagers were 21 years old, four were 20, four were 19, and one was 18. There was a definite emphasis on skilled wingers and skilled offensive defensemen early on, with one unicorn in Soderblom, and a few two-way forwards and big defensemen in the later rounds.

At his media availability after the draft GM Evans was quoted as saying, “This draft went about as well as I could have possibly hoped. We moved out a few players to really load up on picks and we walk out of here with 11 guys our scouts considered top 60 picks, and 7 others in our top 110. Edvinsson and Coronato are immediately core pieces of our future, and I’m excited to watch how all of these talented young players develop

-Detroit Free Press