Over the past couple of days, various mock drafts have linked the Red Wings to Cole Perfetti, Jamie Drysdale and even Yaroslav Askarov, and this morning, NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman, Mike G. Morreale and Guillaume Lepage continue to stir a lack of consensus as to whom the Wings might pick 4th overall–by making Marco Rossi their consensus Wings mock draft pick:
Detroit Red Wings
Kimelman — Marco Rossi, C, Ottawa (OHL): Rossi plays bigger than his size (5-9, 183), with a feistiness and compete level that’s reminiscent of Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux. Rossi led all CHL players with 120 points (39 goals, 81 assists) in 56 games, willingly goes to the net to generate offense, and has a high hockey IQ that makes him a solid two-way player capable of killing penalties.
Morreale — Rossi: The Red Wings need a difference-maker at every position, and the Austria-born left-shot center averaged 2.14 points per game, second in the CHL behind Lafreniere. Rossi is capable of winning puck battles, is strong on face-offs (58.5 winning percentage) and generates offense with his IQ, slick hands and playmaking ability.
Lepage — Rossi: The 18-year-old may have given up some size to his opponents, but he still dominated this season. Rossi would be a key addition to the Red Wings’ rebuilding effort at forward.
Continued; I just want the Red Wings’ management and scouts to draft the player who they believe has the highest possible developmental ceiling. I don’t care which player they draft as long as they make no compromises come draft day, because, in this instance, I’m more than willing to admit that they know better than I do.
