ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski attempts to determine the best draft picks at every draft position from 1 to 224, and the Red Wings draft picks earn 10 mentions on his list:
2. Marcel Dionne, C, Detroit Red Wings (1971)
Determining the best No. 2 overall pick is just as ferocious as pick the No. 1 first overall pick. Retired star forwards like Brendan Shanahan (Devils, 1987), Patrick Marleau (Sharks, 1997) and Daniel Sedin (Canucks, 1999). Current star forwards in Aleksander Barkov (Panthers, 2013), Gabriel Landeskog (Avalanche, 2011) and Jack Eichel (Sabres, 2015). Legendary defensemen like Chris Pronger (Whalers, 1993), Drew Doughty (Kings, 2008) and Victor Hedman (Lightning, 2009).
In the end, this came down to Evgeni Malkin (Penguins, 2004) vs. Dionne. The case for Malkin is that he scored his 1,346 points in 1,213 games and that he earned more hardware (Calder, Conn Smythe, Hart, two scoring titles) than Dionne. But the former Kings star had 1,771 points in 1,348 games, including the sixth-highest goal total (731) ever in his Hall of Fame career — and at a time when being a Kings star didn’t exactly work in his favor from a legacy perspective. There are a lot of right answers here. Dionne, we think, is the rightest one at No. 2, but it’s extremely close when adjusted for eras.
4. Steve Yzerman, C, Detroit Red Wings (1983)
He didn’t have the goals total of Mike Gartner (708), who was drafted fourth overall in 1979 by the Capitals, or the point total of Ron Francis (1,798), who was taken in 1981 by the Whalers. But Yzerman is seventh in career points (1,755) and 10th in career goals (692) while leading the Red Wings to three Stanley Cups — earning playoff MVP honors in 1998.
The other two were great players. Yzerman was an icon. But 10 years from now, will Yzerman concede this spot to Cale Makar (Avalanche, 2017)?
46. Bob Probert, LW, Detroit Red Wings (1983)
When Probert was 16 years old, he scored 60 goals and had 100 points for a team in Windsor. That’s just a reminder of what made Probert something beyond the NHL’s heavyweight champion for about a decade: He could also generate some offense for the Red Wings and Blackhawks, with 384 points in 935 games. But in the end, it was his fighting prowess that made him a legend on the ice, with 3,300 career penalty minutes — second all-time to Tiger Williams.
53. Nicklas Lidstrom, D, Detroit Red Wings (1989)
Bob Kellogg (48th, Blackhawks) and Veli-Pekka Kautonen (50th, Flames) were the two defensemen taken directly before Lidstrom in the third round in 1989. They played a combined total of zero games in the NHL. Lidstrom played 1,564 in the regular season, 263 more in the postseason and retired as one of the league’s greatest defenseman of all time.
Lidstrom won the Norris Trophy seven times, the Stanley Cup four times and the 2002 Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. And 52 players were selected before he was.
74. Sergei Fedorov, C, Detroit Red Wings (1989)
So how did one of the most talented skaters in NHL history in both ends of the ice end up going 74th overall in 1989? It was the Soviet Union thing. The Russians remained the great unknown even though their skills evident in tournaments like world juniors and the world championships. The Sabres waited until Round 5 to draft Alex Mogilny in 1988, and the Red Wings waited until the fourth round to select Fedorov — the first Soviet selected in that draft.
76. Mike Knuble, RW, Detroit Red Wings (1991)
While no other player in this draft spot had more 63 goals, Knuble tallied 278 times in 1,068 games during his 16-year NHL career. Many of those goals were scored in and around the crease, where Knuble forged his reputation.
“I’ll be talking to young players and I draw the East Coast of the United States. I draw Florida and then I draw Cuba and then a draw a big shark further away,” Knuble told ESPN earlier this year. “And I’m like, ‘If all the fish are right here between Florida and Cuba, why would you be swimming all the way over here if you’re a shark and you’re hungry? All the fish are right here! Go to where the fish are!'”
86. Petr Klima, LW, Detroit Red Wings (1983)
Blues defenseman Colton Parayko (2012) deserves consideration here, but we’ll give this spot to Klima, who scored 313 goals in 786 games with five teams over 13 seasons. He scored 130 of them with the Red Wings and another 119 with the Oilers.
97. Johan Franzen, RW, Detroit Red Wings (2004)
When the Red Wings are praised for their draft success during the glory years, it’s picks like Franzen: 370 points in 602 games, leading Detroit with 13 goals in 16 games during their 2008 Cup win.
210. Henrik Zetterberg, C, Detroit Red Wings (1999)
While Dave Taylor (Kings, 1975) has a stellar career (1,069 points in 1,111 games), Zetterberg gets the nod for his 13-season run with the Red Wings that included the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2008.
221. Vladimir Konstantinov, D, Detroit Red Wings (1989)
Continued; fair enough?
