One more Red Wings draft grade, from ESPN

The Red Wings’ 2025 draft class has been graded by several draft experts over the course of the last 12 hours, and this morning, ESPN’s Rachel Doerrie discusses the draft classes of the NHL’s 32 teams.

She approves of Detroit’s 8-player haul, with the John Gibson trade boosting the Wings into “A” territory:

Detroit Red Wings
Grade: A-

There’s a lot to like about what the Red Wings did this weekend, and they likely nabbed at least two long-term NHL players in Carter Bear and Eddie Genborg. Bear was good value in the teens, and brings a projectable two-way game with high-end playmaking skills. As an added bonus, he’s got some of the coveted hard skill teams were looking for because he plays in the dirty areas, wins puck battles and creates space for his teammates. He’s two or three years away, but should be a quality top-six forward when he’s ready.

I liked the Genborg selection as a good middle-six player that thrives with skill. He’ll be a good complementary piece when he’s ready.

Once the top tier of goalies were gone, I really liked the swing on Michal Pradel. The Red Wings aren’t short on goaltending prospects, and he’s another guy who has a chance to be an NHL goaltender. Count me as a fan of the Michal Svrcek pick in the fourth round because of his upside as a speedster with competitive bite. Add in the John Gibson trade — which gives the Red Wings immediate help — and they had a pretty good weekend.

Continued;

Bear also scored 40 goals over the course of last season; Genborg is a scrappy bugger, and while Pradel’s selection was a bit of a surprise, I like the pick of Svrcek as well, and the Wings’ two high school graduates, Brent Solomon and Grayden Robinson-Palmer, are intriguing. Add in Russian puck-moving defenseman Nikita Tyurin and bruising D Will Murphy, and the Wings have a very balanced class of player picks.

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

2 thoughts on “One more Red Wings draft grade, from ESPN”

  1. I thought the draft was OK, not A- quality, but I’ve demonstrated time and time again that I would be a terrible GM, so there’s that. I would rather have seen them jump on Malcolm Spence for their second round pick.

  2. I’d give it a B overall. Would’ve rather had Eklund or Jackson Smith instead of Bear, but I absolutely love the Genborg pick.

    As far as the Gibson trade… A+++ The team finally gets a goalie that’s not over the hill reclamation project.

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