DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings have 11 picks in this year's NHL Entry Draft, starting with two in the first round.
Here are Detroit's draft pick positions ahead of the draft:
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- Round 1: 6th overall (bumped from 5th overall due to lottery)
- Round 1: 30th overall (From Vegas for Tomas Tatar)
- Round 2: 33rd overall (From Rangers for Brendon Smith)
- Round 2: 36th overall
- Round 3: 67th overall
- Round 3: 81st overall (From Flyers for Petr Mrazek)
- Round 3: 84th overall (From Penguins for Riley Sheahan)
- Round 4: 98th overall
- Round 6: 159th overall (From Canadiens fro Steve Ott)
- Round 6: 160th overall
- Round 7: 191st overall
With that 6th pick the Red Wings could land a top-rated defenseman. I am not going to sit here and guess which one. There are writers out there who will claim to have been paying such close attention -- for years -- to all these young prospects from leagues across the globe. They are lying.
I will, however, offer you what the NHL Central Scouting lists as their top 2018 draft prospect rankings -- take at look at those here.
Could the Red Wings trade up and why?
With two picks in the first round, Detroit GM Ken Holland could be working on a deal to get one of the top four picks. That would give him a better chance at landing Adam Boqvist, a top-rated defenseman from Sweden.
Or he could go for Brady Tkachuk, a left winger who has drawn a ton of attention after putting up 31 points in 40 games as a freshman at Boston University. Right winger Filip Zadina also is projected to be selected in the top five.
But it's not clear if trading up would do really much of anything for the Red Wings. Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and Andrei Svechnikov (right wing) are expected to be the outright No. 1 and 2 picks in this draft, and then there's everyone else. If for whatever reason Svechnikov falls to the 3rd or 4th pick, perhaps Holland will try to make a move for him. Holland did draft his brother, Evgeny Svechnikov, in 2015.
Moreover, losing one of their picks might not be worth it for the Red Wings, who need the picks. This is a team that needs to build up its backlog of prospects while in the middle of rebuilding. It's not prudent to be dishing away draft picks if you're not guaranteed a top talent who will join the NHL roster right away.
The draft starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The 2nd through 7th rounds will be held Saturday starting at 11 a.m.