Author: George Malik

The Red Wings made a trade to kick off the second round of the NHL Draft…

? TRADE ALERT ?#DRWDraft x #LGRW pic.twitter.com/57UAm7w6LF— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 24, 2021

And Detroit gave up picks 38 and 128 to select Shai Buium 36th overall:

Great pick by Detroit. The Red Wings get Shai Buium, one of my favorite players in the @NHL Draft. @NHLNetwork— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 24, 2021

Red Wings pick Shai Buium from Sioux City (USHL) another big, mobile LHD — headed to University of Denver where he’ll play on the same blue line as Antti Tuomisto— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) July 24, 2021

https://t.co/9HHTHlci3R #DRWDraft— Sarah Lindenau (@Lindy72) July 24, 2021

#RedWings take D Shai Buium at 36. 6-3, 209, shoots left.— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) July 24, 2021

Welcome to the #redwings @shai_buium— Sarah Lindenau (@Lindy72) July 24, 2021

https://t.co/acmNbSxnF9 #DRWDraft— Sarah Lindenau (@Lindy72) July 24, 2021

Detroit still making excellent moves early on Day 2 – Shai Buium has a ton of potential on the blueline: great skater, lots of size and offensive awareness— Ryan Kennedy (@THNRyanKennedy) July 24, 2021

The Detroit Red Wings have six more draft picks with which to add to their stable of prospects on Day 2 of the NHL Draft…

Day 2 of the NHL Draft begins in 35 minutes. As of now, Red Wings have six picks remaining

2nd round – 38
3rd round – 70
4th round – 102
4th round – 128
5th round – 134
6th round – 166— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) July 24, 2021

And Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff spoke with Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper regarding the unpredictability inherent during the draft’s second day:

“For the most part, we’ve seen the majority of the players but there’s certainly some players that we have to rely on our area scouts and the belief that they have in the prospects on some of the names that are going to be called,” Draper said. “We have a body of work on them for sure. Is it as much as a normal draft? Absolutely not.

“Especially some of the Ontario players. They didn’t play nearly as much. Even going to the Western Hockey League, some only played 25 games.”

Scouts will be required in some instances to rely upon reports filed on players from their underage seasons. Draper admitted that many of those players have undergone significant physical changes over the past year.

“Obviously on some of them you have to go back on video to watch how they played last year,” Draper said. “I’ve got to be honest. There’s some prospects we talked to that didn’t play this year that put on anywhere from 16 to 22 to 23 pounds. All they’ve done is train. They’ve been home, they’re eating properly, they’re getting to the gym.

“It’s intriguing when you start talking to these prospects. You see how they were in their underage year as 16-year-old players. Now all of a sudden they’re 18, putting on that much weight and getting that much stronger.”

Duff continues…

Of Red Wings draft-related note this morning:

1. The Free Press’s Helene St. James penned an article about the Wings’ decision to draft Simon Edvinsson with the 6th overall pick…

Simon Edvinsson checked the box for best prospect available Friday when the Wings made their selection at No. 6, after defensemen Owen Power and Luke Hughes and centers Matty Beniers, Mason McTavish and Kent Johnson were off the board. Edvinsson is a 6-feet-4, skilled, mobile, physical Swede who the Wings see as a player that can help move the rebuild forward.

“He’s a big, rangy D that can really skate,” Yzerman said. “He’s got good puck skills. We just see his potential to be a defenseman that can log a lot of minutes, a left shot defenseman that can log a lot of minutes and be a solid defender that can add some offense to the game as well. We like his skating ability, his size and his reach.”

Edvinsson, 18, boosts a defense corps prospect that is headlined by 6-4 Moritz Seider, Yzerman’s top pick in the 2019 draft. Seider is poised to join the Wings this fall; Edvinsson is most likely going to stay in Sweden and play for Frölunda, but at some point the hope is the two will be towering powerhouses on Detroit’s blue line.

“Once you are a solid defensive hockey team, you’re going to be competitive and you can win a lot of nights,” Yzerman said. “Over time, we’ll be able to add to the offense.”

2. St. James also wrote an article about the team’s 15th overall draft pick, goaltender Sebastian Cossa…

The Detroit Red Wings will attempt to add six more prospects to their pool of developing players this morning…

Day 2! Let’s see what happens.#DRWDraft x #LGRW
Draft Central: https://t.co/uMBcoq0eZ3 pic.twitter.com/3fG1covCDF

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 24, 2021

And the Red Wings are streaming a half-hour-long preview show on their YouTube channel at 10:30 AM EDT:

The Detroit News’s John Niyo weighs in on the Red Wings’ decisions to upgrade their goaltending for both the present and long-term future, via the team’s trades for 25-year-old Alex Nedeljkovic and the draft-day move up to pick Sebastian Cossa 15th overall.

Two days, two netminders, and perhaps one less pressing concern for the Wings’ rebuilding effort in Detroit.

Thursday’s trade with Carolina for goalie Alex Nedeljkovic offers the more immediate solution, bringing in a 25-year-old Calder Trophy finalist signed for two years at a reasonable $3 million annual salary-cap hit. That deal only cost the Wings a late third-round pick (94th overall) and the rights to pending free agent Jonathan Bernier, the 32-year-old who’d made nearly 100 starts for Detroit over the last three seasons.

But then Yzerman followed it up Friday with a bold move in the first round of the draft, swinging another trade — this time with old friend Jim Nill and the Dallas Stars — to move up with Detroit’s second first-round pick and select who the Wings felt was the top goalie in this class, 18-year-old Sebastian Cossa of the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings.

That made a big night even bigger for the Red Wings, who’d already used their initial first-rounder (No. 6 overall) on a smooth-skating, left-shot defenseman from Sweden, Simon Edvinsson, who carries some serious upside in his nearly 6-foot-5 frame. And yet he still may find himself looking up to Cossa one day, because the new goalie is a towering 6-foot-6 presence in the crease.

Niyo continues (subscriber-only), noting that there are similarities between the latter move and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s drafting of Andrei Vasilevskiy in 2012 (with a pick snagged from the Red Wings), but he points out that Cossa is, of course, newly-drafted…

MLive’s Ansar Khan penned a late-night article discussing the Red Wings’ first-round selections, Simon Edvinsson and Sebastian Cossa, noting that the Red Wings’ emphasis here is on improving their team’s defense:

The Detroit Red Wings went big during the first round of the draft Friday, with a focus on preventing goals against.

The Red Wings selected 6-4 left-shooting defenseman Simon Edvinsson with the No. 6 pick and 6-6 goaltender Sebastian Cossa with the 15th pick, after trading up from 23.

“I think it’s imperative to have a good defense to win championships ultimately,” Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said. “You’re not winning without a good goalie; you’re not winning without a good D corps. Once you are a solid defensive hockey team, you’re going to be competitive. You can win a lot of nights. Over time you can add to the offense.”

Khan continues…

Pat Nagle has served as an integral part of the Red Wings’ minor league system as a starting goaltender for both the Toledo Walleye and Grand Rapids Griffins, but he enters this summer as an unrestricted free agent-to-be, and Nagle spoke with the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe regarding his uncertain future:

“I want to build off of the [2019-20 season]. Last year was such a different year, you don’t really want to close the book on your career on that note,” he said. “But if that’s the way it works out, that’s the way it goes and I’ve had [11] years of professional hockey and I’m fortunate to be able to say that.”

Nagle said he will get together with his family and agent to determine the best course of action.

“We’ll see if the best option is to stay in North America or if the best option to go to Europe or if it’s best just to call it,” he said. “We’ll see what happens in the next month. It’s another summer of being a free agent.”

Continued

97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield noted that Red Wings 15th overall pick Sebastian Cossa is one confident, cool cat:

In the Red Wings’ rebuild, one of the biggest questions marks — perhaps thebiggest — is in the crease. Cossa might be the answer. He’s highly confident in his game, and he has every reason to be based on his performance the past two seasons. His belief in his ability was reflected in his nonchalance about being the first goalie off the board.

“I think my play earned it for me,” he said. “The confidence I have in my game, I think I’m going to be the best goalie in this draft. So I got picked where I should be.”

Wallstedt, the other top-rated goalie in the draft, went five picks later to the Wild.

“The draft is Day 1. There’s a lot of work to be done from now,” said Cossa. “Being picked first, that’s more motivation. I can’t let him catch up to me.”

Continued; here’s more from MLive’s Ansar Khan:

In his WHL rookie season of 2019-20, Cossa went 21-6-3 with a 2.23 GAA, .921 save percentage and four shutouts.

“When I’m at the top of my crease, there’s not a lot to shoot at,” Cossa said. “Still recognizing that and patterning my game after that. My hands don’t have to move as much. My depth control is a big focus for me. There’s bigger holes with bigger goalies, but when I’m seeing the puck very well I definitely use my size to my advantage.”

Cossa is looking forward to a bright future for the organization.

“They have a lot of bright, young prospects,” he said. “I think this team is really going to be making a big push in the next couple of years. I can’t be happier to be there with them in a couple of years.”

Continued…

Red Wings beat writer/Word on Woodward host/renaissance man Art Regner spoke with Simon Edvinsson after his media Zoom call this evening:

Update: Here’s Art with Sebastian Cossa:

Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper will discuss the Red Wings’ picks of Simon Edvinsson and Sebastian Cossa with the media shortly:

Here’s the YouTube version: