The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler has been going through the NHL’s 31 teams’ prospect pipelines over the past month-and-a-half, ranking each and every team’s prospect pool. Wheeler ranks the Detroit Red Wings as having the 4th-best prospect pool in the NHL this morning:
No team has made more picks in the past four NHL Drafts than the Detroit Red Wings. In 28 draft rounds from 2017 to 2020, they have made 44 selections — in effect drafting more than six draft classes in a four-year span.
Being ranked No. 4 is the outcome of that. Many teams have done better, and been more consistent, relative to the picks they’ve had during this span, but the Red Wings’ commitment to acquiring picks through their rebuild has allowed them to take a lot of swings and connect often enough to have one of the better prospect pools in the league — even after graduating a player like Filip Zadina or trading a prospect like Alec Regula.
They should stay in this tier, give or take, for the near future too. Because even though several of their top prospects are set to graduate in the next year or two, the Red Wings are well-positioned to replace them at the 2021 draft, with six picks in the first three rounds at the moment and likely another top-five draft slot on the way.
The Red Wings’ pool has impressive depth at forward and on defence, with players of all different shapes and talent levels. They’re weakest in net, a position they have dedicated a ton of selections to with mixed results.
Continued at extended length (paywall)
