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Guest4178
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 Posted - 04/19/2011 : 16:01:17
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Detroit is off to a good start in the playoffs, and they have to be considered as one of the top two teams in the Western Conference. (Along with the Canucks.)
In looking at Detroit's roster, it's amazing to see how many of their original draft picks are on their roster, and where they were selected in the draft.
Here are nine players drafted by the Wings, none who were selected any earlier than 53rd overall. Interesting, there's only one North American born player in the bunch (Darren Helm), which shows the expertise of their European scouts:
Nicklas Lidstrom
Drafted in the 3rd round (53rd) in 1989
Thomas Holmstrom
Drafted in the 10th round (257th) in 1994
Pavel Datsyuk
Drafter in the 6th round (171st) in 1998
Henrik Zetterberg
Drafted in the 7th round (210th) in 1999
Jiri Hudler
Drafter in the 2nd round (58th) in 2002
Valtteri Filppula
Drafted in the 3rd round (95th) in 2002
Jonathan Eriksson
Drafted in the 9th round (291st) in 2002
Johan Franzen
Drafted in the 3rd round (97th) in 2004
Derek Helm
Drafted in the 5th round (132nd) in 2005
There is a combined total of 1,355 players who were selected ahead of these players. I'm guessing 100 of these players are stars in the NHL, and another 200-300 players played a minimum one NHL season. The remaining roughly 1,000 players would fall in the category of less than 100 NHL games, minor leaguers or wasted draft picks
I wonder if any other team can boast such a successful draft record? It's no wonder the Wings have been the most successful NHL team the past 15 seasons, with 6 visits to the Stanley Cup Finals, and Stanley Cup Champions four times over this period of time!
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The Duke
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
1239 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2011 : 18:12:03
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Theres no doubt the Red Wings draft well guest. Something else about the wings seperates them from a lot of the league also, they never seem to rush their young players into the NHL. They always seem to really, really prepare the majority of their youth before entering them into the big league.
Detroit seems to stick with their young drafted players and mentor them into perfection. You don`t see too many major trades with Detroit either. They do indeed add the odd UFA in the off season or bring in a veteran or 2 at the trade deadline for a stanley cup run but you rarely see them trade away any of their core players, almost never.
Obviously this pattern works, the proof is in the pudding. If it ain`t broke, don`t fix it. |
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Guest5289
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Posted - 04/19/2011 : 18:13:06
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| someone deserves a raise |
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FutureKesler
Rookie
Canada
122 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2011 : 20:45:30
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Thats absolutley amazing!!!! I wish the canucks could do that sort of drafting, instead of picking Patrick White over David Perron, Wayne Simmonds, Linus Omark AND P.K Subban, who by the way was a second round pick. I didn't know that until I posted this. By the way White isn't even a canuck anymore. He got traded to San jose and is currently a 3rd liner for the Worcestor Sharks. You all know what Subban is doing right now.
Kesler is the TRUE Nucks Captain. |
Edited by - FutureKesler on 04/19/2011 20:46:35 |
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n/a
deleted
4809 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2011 : 05:26:48
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Drafting from the euro leagues and college level is done by everyone now, so the jump the Red WIngs had in the past - they basically were one of the NHL forerunners for drafting from the european leagues - is over now.
We'll see if they have actually continued their success in 5, 10 years, when the big guys - Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Lidstrom, Zetterberg - retire. THEN we can talk.
I mean, all kudos to Detroit for their proactive ingenuity for being the first to go euro - it paid off in spades back in the day. But the fruits of those labours are dwindling, starting with Lidstrom's retirement in a year or two, and they will continue to diminish unless some new stars are found.
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug |
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Porkchop73
PickupHockey Pro
640 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2011 : 09:55:39
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I have to agree with Slozo, Detroit did a marvelous job at getting to where they are by strong Euro draft.
But if you look in the system now, the cupboard is a little bare. Unless they pull a few rabbits out their drafting hat again the WIngs are destined for a rebuild.
It will be interesting to see how Hollands goes about his rebuild. Should he start trading his stars for young talent or should the Wings tank for 4 or 5 years collecting collecting #1 picks. Finishing in the bottom for more then a couple years will not do good for the Wings. They are the only team in recent years to not sell out a Stanley Cup final game, the economy in Michigan sucks and the fans won't spend the money to watch a bottom feeder. |
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Beans15
Moderator
Canada
8286 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2011 : 11:21:19
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Yep, the cupboard is bare.
The cupboard was bare when Yzerman and Fedorov left too, wasn't it?? No one new that Dastuyk, Zetterberg, and Franzen were coming down the pipe did they. How does anyone know that the next Datsuyk or Zetterberg is already in the system and you just haven't heard about it yet??
Of course only time will tell, but Detroit has been a solid team for nearly 2 decades. They have not missed the playoffs since 89/90. In that time, they have finished 3rd in their division once, 2nd, 5 times, and 1st an amazing 13 times. They did it well before the current team was there and I think they will do it well afterwards.
Again, how many times are people going to under-estimate a Kenny Holland team??? After Yzerman left, they were done. Magically they were not. For the past 2-3 years people have been saying too old, too slow, too injured and look what they have done.
Detroit drafts very well and have for a long, long time. They are fine and will be fine. |
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Detroit's Draft Success 
