1a. Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper spoke with the media on the draft floor in Montreal on Thursday night, and the Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a 6:15 video of the noisy scene:
1b. EDIT/UPDATE: Here’s better sound from the Red Wings’ video of Yzerman speaking with the media:
1c. EDIT/UPDATE: Here’s Draper, per the Red Wings:
2. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler also weighed in on the Red Wings’ first-round pick, suggesting that Detroit is an “overtime loser” for having picked a player they could have taken later in the draft:
Pick: 8. C/LW Marco Kasper
My ranking: No. 24 (change: +16)Kasper and the Red Wings, a lot like [Logan] Cooley and the Coyotes, felt as close to inevitable as things can feel in an exercise like the draft that is anything but certain. He’s viewed as one of the more complete prospects in this draft, playing the game with energy, competitiveness, and skill between battles. The Red Wings trust the folks in Rogle — and deservedly so, the Abbott twins have built one of Europe’s best programs — but this is a bet that he becomes a top-six player rather than an excellent third line one (which is his floor). I’m cautious he settles at that floor instead (or even slightly above it) and [Matt] Savoie, taken with the very next pick, becomes a top-of-the-lineup creator for the division rival Sabres.
Continued (paywall); it’s hard for me to say whether the Red Wings lost out on a dynamic lineup-breaker in Matt Savoie, but I’m not willing to suggest that Detroit’s draft is already dead-on-arrival.
