The Athletic’s Corey Pronman analyzed and ranked the prospect pipelines of each and every one of the NHL’s 31 teams prior to the 2020 draft, ranking the Red Wings 18th, but there’s some good news for Wings fans this morning: Pronman has reassessed said prospect pools after the 2020 draft, revising his rankings, and the Wings now sit 13th:
Detroit Red Wings
Pre-draft org ranking: No. 18
2020 NHL Draft grade: A-Things are getting better in Detroit. There’s still a lot of work to do given the Red Wings won 17 games last season. In terms of young players, they still need a lot more, particularly of the top of the lineup variety, but things are moving in the right direction. Their No. 4 pick Lucas Raymond has the potential to be one of the keys to ending the tough times.
1. Lucas Raymond, LW
2. Moritz Seider, D
3. Filip Hronek, D
4. Filip Zadina, RW
5. Joe Veleno, C
6. Jared McIsaac, D
7. Michael Rasmussen, C
8. William Wallinder, D
9. Dennis Cholowski, D
10. Jonatan Berggren, RW
11. Elmer Soderblom, RW
12. Robert Mastrosimone, LW
13. Donovan Sebrango, D
14. Albert Johansson, D
Continued (paywall); you’ll notice that many of the Wings’ “top prospects” per Pronman’s estimation are at or near the NHL level, which is a bit of a concern, but the Wings really are rebuilding their prospect pool, so any progress forward is good progress.
I should note that Swedish sports tabloid Aftonbladet produced a tell-all article about Jonatan Berggren’s comeback from back and shoulder injuries a couple of days ago, but the article is regrettably behind a paywall. Berggren sits 2nd in the SHL in points right now, having posted 2 goals and 11 assists for 13 points in 9 games played.
