Month: July 2023

HSJ on Filip Zadina and other first-round ‘flops’

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a column which reflects upon the fickle fate of first-round draft picks, like one Filip Zadina:

His performance certainly isn’t what was anticipated when former general manager Ken Holland drafted Zadina at No. 6 in 2018. The team’s director of amateur scouting, Tyler Wright, was in disbelief the Wings got a player projected to go as high as third overall.

“Zadina at sixth for us was a little bit of a shock,” Wright said at the time. “We need to score goals. We need offensive players. He’s a guy that has the ability to win hockey games because he’s got that offensive ability. He finds a way to score in different ways. His No. 1 attribute that we think that he can bring is high-end skill.”

But as the seasons passed, it became clear Zadina couldn’t translate the skills that made him a star in the Quebec junior league (82 points in 57 games with Halifax in his draft year). He didn’t capitalize when given chances in the top six and power play, and wasn’t physical enough to play in the bottom six.

In recent years, the Wings have cut ties with 2015 first-round pick Evgeny Svechnikov (No. 19), who also ended up on waivers and was not re-signed, and 2016 first-round pick Dennis Cholowski, who was exposed in the Seattle Kraken draft. Neither has become a regular in the NHL with another team.

The Zadina flop looks worse because the guy who went No. 7, Quinn Hughes, has emerged as a star defenseman. But as good as the Vancouver Canucks looked making that pick, in 2016 they took a defenseman named Olli Juolevi at No. 5. He might ring a small bell for Wings fans who remember he played eight games with Detroit in 2021-22, but Juolevi has spent most of his North American pro career in the AHL. If the Wings regret not picking Hughes, imagine how the Canucks feel passing on the guy who went right after Juolevi: Matthew Tkachuk, one of the best young players in the league.

Continued

Tweet of note: Griffins coach Dan Watson’s introduction receives ‘BTS’ treatment

The Grand Rapids Griffins posted a 2-minute “Behind the Scenes” video of coach Dan Watson’s introduction as the Griffins’ new bench boss:

Tweet of note: The Fourth Period’s Pagnotta talks DeBrincat

The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta spoke with the NHL Network regarding the Red Wings and “at least one other team’s” statuses are regarding one Alex DeBrincat:

DetroitRedWings.com’s Mills on Kris Draper’s comments regarding his promotion to AGM

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills wrote an article which focuses on Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper’s promotion to the team’s second assistant GM (alongside Shawn Horcoff):

“In talking with Steve about it, I want the opportunity to sit in on meetings like last week with free agency, the negotiations of contracts and entry-level deals,” Draper said. “I’d love to sit in and learn how to do those.”

Draper is entering his 12th season in the Red Wings’ front office. He was named the organization’s director of amateur scouting before the 2019-20 campaign after working the previous eight seasons as assistant to former GM Ken Holland.

“It was a great opportunity for me to be around Ken and learn everything in all areas of the game,” Draper said. “It was obviously special. I appreciate being able to walk out of the Detroit Red Wings’ dressing room into the front office. Ken gave me that opportunity and that’s a big reason why I’m sitting here.”

Draper is fortunate to be part of Detroit’s front office, which includes his “friends for life” and former Red Wings teammates in Yzerman, (Vice President of Hockey Operations) Nicklas Lidstrom, (Pro Scout) Kirk Maltby, (Associate Director of Player Personnel) Jiri Fischer, (European Player Development) Niklas Kronwall and (Assistant Director of Player Development) Dan Cleary.

“We’re all in this for the same thing,” said Draper, who played 17 of his 20 NHL seasons and won four Stanley Cups with Detroit. “We want to be good again and we want to be great. We all take a lot of pride in what the Detroit Red Wings organization meant to all of us. We played arguably in the greatest era of the Detroit Red Wings organization, and we want to bring that back. We all understand how hard it’s going to be but we’re all in this together.”

Continued

Red Wings officially place Filip Zadina on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract

It happened:

TSN’s Yost examines whether Filip Zadina can redeem himself elsewhere

The Red Wings are going to place Filip Zadina on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract today, and TSN’s Travis Yost wonders whether Zadina can find his professional form with another team:

What does the future hold for Detroit Red Wings forward Filip Zadina?

For starters, he may not be playing in Hockeytown much longer – the sixth-overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft has sorely disappointed the Red Wings front office over 190 regular-season games, so much so that the team is seriously considering a buyout of the remainder of his contract.

Whether it’s by way of a buyout or the organization convincing the player he needs more time in the American Hockey League (which at present time, appears unlikely), Zadina’s days in Detroit are numbered. That means it’s open season for every other NHL team. But can the player be salvaged? Can the right organization illuminate what made Zadina such a success with the Halifax Mooseheads, or is that merely a pipedream at this point?

It’s something teams are chewing on as I write this. It made me wonder about the likelihood of being able to salvage a player with Zadina’s background and profile – while organizations can be notoriously patient with blue-chip prospects (as opposed to your typical third-round skater, anyway), successful reclamation projects seem few and far between. That’s exactly what a team needs to be prepared to do if they dip their toe in Lake Zadina.

I do want to emphasize one piece: This is certifiably a reclamation project. Zadina has not only been a below-replacement level player over the course of his career, but his production also just painstakingly pales to his peers.

Continued

Tweet of note: Daily Faceoff’s Seravalli confirms that the Red Wings will waive Zadina again today

Per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli: