Henkka
Registered User
These are my feelings of the Red Wings drafting history since 2005. My memories. My look in the past.
The near history of drafting defencemen. And our inability of it.
What is interesting in the past, it looks like almost always Red Wings scouting staff tried to find a defenceman from a weak defenceman class, and/or, when the class was strong, they went after forwards.
This is the main factor why our guys have failed. They didn’t understand when to hunt defencemen from a strong class. They just went to hunt, randomly.
Let’s start from 2005, when Cap was implemented and drafting own cheap talent became more competitive than ever.
***
2005 draft produced 7-8 +20min NHL defencemen. Those were Kris Letang, Jack Johnson, M-A. Vlasic, Keith Yandle, Marc Staal, Matt Niskanen, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Anton Strålman.
Red Wings drafted Jakub Kindl #19 overall. Before him went only Johnson and Staal.
Brian Lee, Luc Bourdon (R.I.P.), Sasha Pokulok and Ryan Parent busted before him. So 5/7 top picks did bust. Next two guys after him, Matt Lashoff and Joe Finley also busted. So 7/9 of TOP9 picked defencemen did bust.
Everybody was totally lost with this D class? This is the weirdest year ever in general.
Then Matt Niskanen went #28. Vlasic went at #38.
(Everybody hates this draft speculation how “you could have got this and that player”, but I just want to make a look for it. It doesn’t hurt. Enjoy. We can learn something about it. Hate it or love it. At least somebody writes about it, and not just whines.)
Okay?
Instead of Kindl you could have got Niskanen/Vlasic. At next 2nd round you take Abdelkader and at 3rd round, instead of forward Cristopher Löfberg (total bust) you still can take Hjalmarsson or Yandle.
6 defencemen who did have a +20min TOI career went after Red Wings 1st pick and 5 defencemen went after Red Wings 2nd pick. There was a lot of guys found outside from 1st round and they just weren't on the map with these guys.
***
2006 was a weak defenceman class. Only 3 guys have become +20min TOI players. They were #1 Erik Johnson, #46 Jeff Petry and #160 Andrew McDonald.
Red Wings went full after forwards. That was definitely the right tactical choice in this draft. Only Logan Pyett was picked on the second-last pick #212.
The near history of drafting defencemen. And our inability of it.
What is interesting in the past, it looks like almost always Red Wings scouting staff tried to find a defenceman from a weak defenceman class, and/or, when the class was strong, they went after forwards.
This is the main factor why our guys have failed. They didn’t understand when to hunt defencemen from a strong class. They just went to hunt, randomly.
Let’s start from 2005, when Cap was implemented and drafting own cheap talent became more competitive than ever.
***
2005 draft produced 7-8 +20min NHL defencemen. Those were Kris Letang, Jack Johnson, M-A. Vlasic, Keith Yandle, Marc Staal, Matt Niskanen, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Anton Strålman.
Red Wings drafted Jakub Kindl #19 overall. Before him went only Johnson and Staal.
Brian Lee, Luc Bourdon (R.I.P.), Sasha Pokulok and Ryan Parent busted before him. So 5/7 top picks did bust. Next two guys after him, Matt Lashoff and Joe Finley also busted. So 7/9 of TOP9 picked defencemen did bust.
Everybody was totally lost with this D class? This is the weirdest year ever in general.
Then Matt Niskanen went #28. Vlasic went at #38.
(Everybody hates this draft speculation how “you could have got this and that player”, but I just want to make a look for it. It doesn’t hurt. Enjoy. We can learn something about it. Hate it or love it. At least somebody writes about it, and not just whines.)
Okay?
Instead of Kindl you could have got Niskanen/Vlasic. At next 2nd round you take Abdelkader and at 3rd round, instead of forward Cristopher Löfberg (total bust) you still can take Hjalmarsson or Yandle.
6 defencemen who did have a +20min TOI career went after Red Wings 1st pick and 5 defencemen went after Red Wings 2nd pick. There was a lot of guys found outside from 1st round and they just weren't on the map with these guys.
***
2006 was a weak defenceman class. Only 3 guys have become +20min TOI players. They were #1 Erik Johnson, #46 Jeff Petry and #160 Andrew McDonald.
Red Wings went full after forwards. That was definitely the right tactical choice in this draft. Only Logan Pyett was picked on the second-last pick #212.