The Red Wings have drafted a significant number of prospects over the course of the NHL Draft’s 2nd round over the past couple of seasons, and MLive’s Ansar Khan notes that the Wings’ record has been hit-or-miss, with the exceptions of Dmitri Buchelnikov, Dylan James and Max Plante:
The Detroit Red Wings have loaded up on second-round picks since Steve Yzerman became general manager and Kris Draper the director of amateur scouting, with 14 selections in seven drafts.
Only defenseman Albert Johansson, the lowest of those picks at No. 60 in 2019, has reached the NHL thus far.
Three others – defensemen Antti Tuomisto (No. 35 in 2019), William Wallinder (No. 32 in 2020) and Shai Buium (No. 36 in 2021) are with the Grand Rapids Griffins, hoping to soon reach the NHL.
Michigan State goaltender Trey Augustine (No. 41 in 2023) is one of the organization’s top prospects.
Defenseman Brady Cleveland (No. 42 in 2023) is headed into his third collegiate season with his third different school (Minnesota-Duluth). Eddie Genborg, a physical two-way forward selected this year (No. 44), will be playing for Timra in the Swedish Hockey League.
Defenseman Andrew Gibson (No. 42 in 2023) was traded to Nashville for prospect Jesse Kiiskinen and a second-round pick needed to move Jake Walman to San Jose.
Robert Mastrosimone (No. 54 in 2019), Theodor Niederbach (No. 51 in 2020) and Cross Hanas (No. 55 in 2020) didn’t pan out and are no longer in the organization.
Continued with profiles of Buchelnikov, James and Plante; the draft is a hit-or-miss business, and I’m not overly concerned that the Wings’ 2nd round picks have been more “miss” than hit.
Ideally, you want to draft 3 or 4 NHL players per 7 picks, and that’s not easy to do for anyone.
