You’ve had a lot of experience with drafts, but what will it be like now that you’re the “buck stops here†guy, with final say? “The only difference will be I’ll look to left and see Ken instead of Jim. But I’ve worked real close with Jim the last 18 years, we always were on the same page about picks. So really, not a big change, I think, except in the past he would have final say.â€
It seems like you’re deepest in the minors at defense, is that correct? “Yes, very. We’ve got Ryan Sproul and Xavier Ouellet, Gleason Fournier. We got Alexei Marchenko, from Russia. Mattias Backman looks like he’s got real good potential for the NHL in the future. There are a lot of guys back there who look really good for the future. You’re always looking for d-men. You’d always love to have one more, but we think we’re pretty well set up there. It’ll take the kids some time to learn the game in Grand Rapids, but we like what we’ve got.â€
Size isn’t everything in a player, but it does matter? “To an extent. It’s just the way the game has evolved. You see it in the scrums along the boards, with the bigger guys who go into the corners. You can’t just have a big guy, though, you need a big guy with skill. That’s what we’ve got in someone like Riley Sheahan, for example.