Who will the Detroit Red Wings draft with the 6th overall pick?

[jkutswings]

Sometimes you just need to watch prospects play.

Fair enough, but I'd still rather have a potential top pair defenseman than a potential wrecking ball forward.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Fair enough, but I'd still rather have a potential top pair defenseman than a potential wrecking ball forward.

That is more than reasonable, but a different issue all together. I too have a very, very strong preference for a defensemen at 6.

 

[turkleton85]

i see them trading down

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Down here, smokescreen is a way of life.

Obviously the environment down here is all smokescreen. The ceiling is smokescreen, the floor is smokescreen, the walls are smokescreen. And to an extent the air is smokescreen.

Ah, you think smokescreens are your ally? You merely adopted the smokescreen. I was born in them, molded by them. I didn't make the obvious choice until I was a man. - Ken Holland, probably.

 

[TheMule93]

I have no clue. Theres so many options and outside of 1 and 2 the draft is going to be pretty unpredictable

 

[Pavels Dog]

I'd rather go with one of the 3 or 4 defenders that are still there.

Me too, but don't think it's strange that Tkachuk is consensus top 5.

 

[SirloinUB]

I'd prefer a defenceman but couldn't be upset if we drafted Kotkaniemi, Tkachuk or Zadina.

All 3 look like could be great players

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

As of right now, 73% of voters are predicting a defenseman, 16.5% are predicting a forward, and 10.5% expect the pick to be traded.

 

[Ezekial]

It's going to be crazy when Boqvist goes like 4 and everyone's like WHAT MADNESS IS THIS?!

 

[jkutswings]

It's going to be crazy when Boqvist goes like 4 and everyone's like WHAT MADNESS IS THIS?!

Haha, my bet is that Zadina goes #4...to Colorado.

 

[Marky9er]

I went with Hughes bc Michigan, but my suspicion thinks Bouchard about equally. (I think Bouchard so probably Hughes, if that makes sense?)

 

[golffuul]

I'm hoping for anyone but Hughes, at this point, which means Holland will take him. And I'm not sold on Tkachuk's ability, after watching the past World Juniors. He beat up on teams he should have and was invisible against similar-strength or better teams.

My personal preference is to take a defenceman starting with Boquist as #1 option, and then going to Dobson and then Bouchard. Hughes should be nowhere in the equation, because of his lack of size for being a potential #1/#2 d-man. It's okay to have average or below-average size for bottom 4 d-men, but you need to have some size to stand up the bigger players in the league. Holland needs to stay away from the Michigan/Nepotism thing going on and just get the best defenceman available. My bet is Hughes falls out of the top 10 if Detroit doesn't take him, which should be an obvious red flag.

 

[Run the Jewels]

I went with Tkachuk simply because he fits with the organizations preference for big players. I also wasn't particularly impressed with him in the NCAA tournament so of course I could see Detroit selecting
him. Then I'd get to read all the time about Razzz and Tkachuk. So it's probably meant to be, any talk of drafting a dman is a smoke screen so they can draft Tkachuk.

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

I went with Hughes bc Michigan, but my suspicion thinks Bouchard about equally. (I think Bouchard so probably Hughes, if that makes sense?)

Same here if Hughes is on the board, And he should be pretty certain now that Holland takes him.

 

[odin1981]

Want Dobson but I could settle for Bouchard. I just want no part of any winger and Boqvist because of concussions. I wouldn't be mad at Kotkaniemi either but I really doubt he is available after Montreal picks.

 

[ricky0034]

I'm hoping for anyone but Hughes, at this point, which means Holland will take him. And I'm not sold on Tkachuk's ability, after watching the past World Juniors. He beat up on teams he should have and was invisible against similar-strength or better teams.

My personal preference is to take a defenceman starting with Boquist as #1 option, and then going to Dobson and then Bouchard. Hughes should be nowhere in the equation, because of his lack of size for being a potential #1/#2 d-man. It's okay to have average or below-average size for bottom 4 d-men, but you need to have some size to stand up the bigger players in the league. Holland needs to stay away from the Michigan/Nepotism thing going on and just get the best defenceman available. My bet is Hughes falls out of the top 10 if Detroit doesn't take him, which should be an obvious red flag.

not to single you out but opinions like this just strike me as silly

when the difference between hoping to draft one guy and wanting to avoid another at all costs because of his size is literally 1 inch to me something about that just feels off

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

not to single you out but opinions like this just strike me as silly

when the difference between hoping to draft one guy and wanting to avoid another at all costs because of his size is literally 1 inch to me something about that just feels off

Have you seen his frame, though? There's a video over in the Quinn Hughes thread on the Prospects forum and Quinn isn't much bigger than his 14/15 year old brother, Luke.

Kid is *small*.

 

[TatarTangle]

not to single you out but opinions like this just strike me as silly

when the difference between hoping to draft one guy and wanting to avoid another at all costs because of his size is literally 1 inch to me something about that just feels off

There is nothing silly about thinking a defenseman that is 5'8" and 160 pounds soaking wet will have very real struggles against the caliber and size of players he'd face as a #1 or #2 defenseman if he doesn't put on the weight. No amount of skating will allow him to strip the puck from someone like Malkin, Scheifele, etc.

 

[lilidk]

Want Dobson but I could settle for Bouchard. I just want no part of any winger and Boqvist because of concussions. I wouldn't be mad at Kotkaniemi either but I really doubt he is available after Montreal picks.

Montreal very thin in center , make no sense for them draft one so they put him on the ice with man , but we can send Helm or AA for their 2nd round pic.

 

[Ishad]

Tkachuk is probably the pick I least want. Which means it will be Tkachuk.

 

[NickH8]

Have you seen his frame, though? There's a video over in the Quinn Hughes thread on the Prospects forum and Quinn isn't much bigger than his 14/15 year old brother, Luke.

Kid is *small*.

I think Hughes has the elite abilities to justify overlooking his size though. You can always work with him, hook him up with the team nutritionist and have him train with some of those Michigan boys, have him put on 15-20 pounds of muscle. His game doesn't involve him using his body, he likes to use his stick more when he doesn't have the puck and his team will have the puck when he's on the ice more often than not, so 5'8" 175lbs. should be fine.
It's really gotten to the point where we're nit-picking the smallest details of these top defenders, and we've forgotten that each of them will be good players in their own ways.

 

[Nut Upstrom]

I have no clue. Theres so many options and outside of 1 and 2 the draft is going to be pretty unpredictable

Come on, get out on a limb like the rest of us. Take a guess. Give us a name, so you can brag on this thread for years to come.

I'm thinking it will be Hughes, just too many things seem to tie him to the Wings.

 

[jkutswings]

Taking personal preference out for a second, let's just look at likely availability, and not just for the first pick the Wings are scheduled to make:

At 6, there will probably be most of the following (ranked by McKenzie in the 3-10 range):
* Tkachuk
* Zadina
* Kotkaniemi
* Dobson
* Bouchard
* Hughes
* Wahlstrom
* Boqvist

That's four defensemen, each with top 4 to top pair potential, and three forwards, each with top line potential.

At 30/33/36, the following guys are likely in the mix (ranked by McKenzie in the 25-45 range):
* Wilde
* McIsaac
* Sandin
* Thomas
* Foudy
* Alexeeyev
* Samuelsson
* Merkley
* Groulx
* O'Brien
* McBain
* Lundkvist
* Ylonen
* Berggren
* Beaudin
* Olofsson
* Addison
* Woo
* Ginning
* Marchenko
* Lauko

At first glance, that's just a boatload of players with top 6 / top 4 potential. But if you look at relative strengths of each player, you can start to see trends (where the better skating defensemen are, or how often playmaking versus two-way forwards occur, etc.).

Personally, I think the team is improved the most by taking a defenseman at 6 that you think is the best candidate to eat minutes, then grabbing a couple of top 6 playmaking forwards and a second defenseman with great wheels and solid passing over the next few picks. But regardless of personal philosophy, analyzing what resources are likely to be there at each pick could help to make more informed decisions.

 

[FMichael]

I went with Hughes bc Michigan, but my suspicion thinks Bouchard about equally. (I think Bouchard so probably Hughes, if that makes sense?)

Same here if Hughes is on the board, And he should be pretty certain now that Holland takes him.

Whomever the Wings end up drafting - so be it, but after reading about how Hughes played with Larkin, and Jensen, and coached by Blashill at the WC - I get the impression he might be targeted by Holland, and Co.

 

[newfy]

Whomever the Wings end up drafting - so be it, but after reading about how Hughes played with Larkin, and Jensen, and coached by Blashill at the WC - I get the impression he might be targeted by Holland, and Co.

Yeah or they saw him with his shirt off and know hes 140 lbs so they steer away. I wouldnt read to much into situations like that, they wouldve scouted him all year in AA I'm sure they have a good idea of the player he is.

As for this list. I think if DObson is there theyll take him but he seems iffy to make to 6 now. Bouchard will be there and the press makes it seem like the wings like him but that could be a smoke screen. I hope its one of those 2 though.

As for the later picks, I hope they grab a D and 2 centers in the late first early second or 2 D and a center