The Red Wings did not win the NHL Draft Lottery. So generational talent Rasmus Dahlin, the Swedish puck-moving defenseman of their dreams, turned into nothing more than a pipe dream.
Dahlin will visit Little Caesars Arena only rarely, and as a member of the Buffalo Sabres, who garnered the first overall selection.
Yet, it doesn’t mean the 2018 NHL Draft shouldn’t still be a game changer for the franchise.
The Red Wings have four selections in the first 40, including sixth overall. It’s a deep draft, especially at the top end. If the Red Wings’ scouting staff and general manager Ken Holland do their homework properly, the Red Wings should still land a genuine impact player early in the first round – and perhaps beyond.
That’s the big ‘if,’ isn’t it?
This much is true about the NHL Draft, the top end doesn’t always yield stars. The sixth overall pick, for example, hasn’t particularly drawn impact players, at least not since long ago when it brought Peter Forsberg, Phil Housley and Paul Coffey to the NHL. But the odds, without question, improve in the Top 10.
It’d be foolish for the Red Wings to take a so-called offensive defenseman simply because it has been such an obvious need since Nicklas Lidstrom retired. Swedish defenseman Adam Bovqist, although much smaller than Dahlin, is just as skilled. It’s doubtful he will be there sixth overall, though. The Red Wings likely will just miss out on power forwards Brady Tkachuk and Andrei Svechnikov, and super sniper Filip Zadina. Those are clearly the Top 5 players at this stage.
Oliver Wahlstrom, from the USA Development program in Plymouth, is next best forward, and he could be an extraordinary NHL player. He’s very good in tight spaces, possess an excellent shot and enough size. There are several defenseman, who could work, led by Noah Dobson from the Quebec Major Junior League, who has emerged this season – and been noticed by the Red Wings. Dobson will get strong consideration, along with smallish, but extraordinarily-skilled University of Michigan puck moving D-man Quinn Hughes, and Evan Bouchard, who is a bigger defenseman, but with good skill.
The above-mentioned players would often be selected in the Top 5.
My educated guess: The Red Wings’ first pick will come down to Dobson (a right-handed shot with room to grow on a 6-3 frame) or Wahlstrom (he is skilled enough in some years he’d go first overall). It’s understood the dynamic has changed. Undersized, skilled rear guards are at a premium. But that’s today. The game may change tomorrow. If a team grabs a prolific goal scorer or power forward, they can’t go wrong.
And it’s not just the first pick which determine the Red Wings’ fate. At the end of the first round, and early in the second, the Red Wings need to get bonafide NHL players. One of the possibilities could be Ty Dellandrea from the Flint Spirits, who scored rapid-fire goals in the prospects game. Czech winger Martin Kraut was really good at the World Junior Championships. USA developmental program defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, who father, Kjell, was a long-time NHLer, is likely on the Red Wings’ radar for their second first-round pick. He is 6-3, 220 pounds and surprisingly solid offensively for his size.
Make no mistake, this is definitely a draft that will be noticed and noted for years to come.
Getting the lucky number and Dahlin would have made Holland’s job much easier, but this will present a more accurate indication if the organization still has the goods in regard to drafting talent and player procurement.
