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Tyler Wright weighs in on the Wings’ draft stead

Red Wings director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright weighed in on the Red Wings’ draft stead after the team learned that it would pick 6th overall in the first round via Saturday’s draft lottery:

“As pretty much everyone has said, this is a very strong draft,” said Tyler Wright, the Wings’ director of amateur scouting. “We’re excited. We think we’re going to get a real good player at six. We would have liked to be in the mix (for the top three), but that’s the way it goes.”

The draft lottery was held in Toronto with picks 4-15 announced before Game 2 between the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks. The league revealed the top three picks during the second intermission.

The Buffalo Sabres had the best odds to get the No. 1 pick and were successful. They get the chance to draft defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who has been everyone’s top-ranked player all season.

The Carolina Hurricanes were slotted to pick 11th but moved up to second. With the fourth-worst record, the Montreal Canadiens had the best odds to get the sixth pick but moved up to third. The Ottawa Senators fell to fourth. The Arizona Coyotes have the fifth pick.

“Obviously Dahlin has separated himself,” Wright said. “But there is a good mix of scoring wingers, size, competitiveness, big defensemen, some smaller defensemen. I think it’s pretty interchangeable once you get 2-3-4-5 and then 6-7-8-9. If you had a magic ball and looked at everyone’s draft list, it would be different. That speaks to the depth of this draft in a good way.”

Wakiji and Wright continue, and Wright weighs in regarding his firsthand knowledge of the pressure placed upon a player picked high in the draft.

Walleye lose 5-3 to Fort Wayne as 2nd round begins

The Toledo Walleye lost a bizarre playoff game on Saturday night, dropping a 3-1 lead to the Fort Wayne Komets, who ultimately won 5-3 during a game in which the Komets out-shot the Walleye 36-15.

Toledo was out-shot 21-5 in the 1st period and 8-3 in the 2nd period, so the Walleye afforded the Komets a peppering of goaltender Pat Nagle. Without much support, he could only keep Fort Wayne down for so long, and the Komets now lead the second-round series 1 game to 0 going into Sunday’s rematch.

The Walleye’s website posted a recap:

Continue reading Walleye lose 5-3 to Fort Wayne as 2nd round begins

Red Wings to draft 6th in the 2018 draft

The Detroit Red Wings will draft 6th in the 2018 draft. No lottery win for the Wings.

Update: Ken Holland spoke briefly with the Free Press’s Helene St. James regarding the news:

“You’re hoping to get into top three, but you know the odds,” general manager Ken Holland said Saturday. “We’re disappointed not to get a lottery pick, but it’s a good draft. We’ll get a good player for our organization.”

Sweden’s Rasmus Dahlin is the prize of the draft, the sort of generational player who will immediately improve a team. Instead the Wings could be looking at defensemen Evan Bouchard or Noah Dobson, or perhaps forward Oliver Wahlstrom.

…

The Wings will gather their scouts for final pre-draft meetings May 5-10. The draft is June 22-23 in Dallas.

While Dahlin is NHL-ready as soon as next season, the Wings might still get a player who can come right in and contribute.

“Let’s get to training camp and see them on the ice,” Holland said. “But it would not surprise me if three or four or five players out of this draft start out in the NHL next season.”

Griffins’ Eric Tangradi suspended for Game 5 of Griffins-Moose series

From the AHL:

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE ANNOUNCES SUSPENSION

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced that Grand Rapids Griffins forward Eric Tangradi has been suspended for one (1) game as a consequence of a cross-checking incident in a playoff game vs. Manitoba on Apr. 26.

Tangradi was suspended under the provisions of AHL Rule 28.1 (supplementary discipline). He will miss Game 5 of the Central Division Semifinals, Monday (Apr. 30) vs. Manitoba.

Jensen joins Larkin on Team USA’s World Championship roster

Team USA released its initial roster for the World Championship today, and Nick Jensen will join Dylan Larkin on the Jeff Blashill-coached Team USA.

 

Videos: Painting the Ice at LCA and hyping Griffins-Moose Game 5

Of Red Wings and Griffins-related video note:

1. The Red Wings posted a video chronicling their “Paint the Ice” day at Little Caesars Arena, which benefited the Detroit Red Wings Foundation…

2. And the Griffins have posted a hype video ahead of Game 5 vs. the Manitoba Moose (7 PM Monday at Van Andel Arena):

 

A superb article from Custance and more draft lottery hype (yadda yadda)

I must admit that I feel little to no excitement regarding tonight’s draft lottery (7:30 PM EDT on CBC/NBC). The Red Wings have an 8.5% chance of earning the top pick and a 26.1% chance of landing a top-three pick, but it’s more probable that the Wings will actually end up picking sixth instead of their current fifth spot, and I’m not thrilled about that.

There are some good media offerings regarding the draft and draft lottery today, with WDIV’s David Bartkowiak Jr. providing something of a draft primer, and MLive’s Ansar Khan produced a fine scouting report on the top twelve ranked skaters…

The Athletic’s Craig Custance also wrote a superb article regarding the slim probability that the Wings might land Dahlin, and it’s his words that explain why I’m trying to not be stung too hard by the high probability that the Red Wings don’t end up with the first overall pick:

“What stands out the most about Dahlin is his poise with the puck,” [Nicklas] Lidstrom wrote in an e-mail to The Athletic. “Especially playing against men in the SHL. He doesn’t seem to panic with the puck.”

He’s exactly what the Red Wings need. They need impact players. They need a top-pair defenseman. They need a young player who can play 28 minutes per night and control the course of the game. They don’t have it on their current roster. They don’t have that player in the system.

Landing him would speed up the process considerably. There’s not a compelling case for the Red Wings to pursue Tavares or defenseman John Carlson in free agency this year if they’re picking anywhere but first. But land Dahlin, and the expectation is that the Red Wings will throw their hat into those conversations. They’re not alone on this front among NHL teams.

In 2019, they’d love to be in on one of the big free-agent defensemen: Doughty, Oliver Ekman-Larsson or Erik Karlsson. Dahlin gives them a good reason to push in free agency and gives those three a legitimate reason to listen.

Custance continues (paywall), and while I fully believe that the Red Wings are going to try to bid for Carlson and Tavares (there have been indications that the Wings are interested in the latter player for a while now), it’s my job to prepare for the worst-case scenario, and every scenario in which the Wings don’t finish with Dahlin–a 91.5% probability–is worse than the best, so you’ll have to forgive me for not sharing your enthusiasm.

Walleye ready to get back to work for 2nd round series vs. Indy

The Toledo Walleye open their second-round series against the Fort Wayne Komets on Saturday night, and the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe spoke with the Walleye’s players and coach regarding the match-up:

Both teams had a full week of practice and time to rest after ousting their first-round opponents. Toledo swept Indy, while Fort Wayne eliminated Cincinnati in five games. But each was a hard-fought series, with two games going to overtime in each series.

“Both teams found ways to get through them to get some days off to rest. I think both teams will be very excited coming into Saturday night,” [Pat] Nagle said. “It’s almost unfortunate that we meet so early in playoffs.”

[Tyler] Barnes has a team-high seven assists, which is the most for any player in the playoffs. Forward Christian Hilbrich is tied for the league lead with five goals in the playoffs. Forward Austen Brassard and defenseman Simon Denis, with three assists, posted four points against Indy.

“It’s a different mentality,” Brassard said. “Playoffs are the time of year that really count, so it’s important to play your role and work hard and do whatever you can to help the team out.”

Fort Wayne forward Gabriel Desjardins scored two goals and had seven assists against the Cyclones, and he leads the ECHL in playoff scoring. Rookie Phelix Martineau had four goals and three assists. Goalie Michael Houser went 4-1 with a 2.56 goals-against average.

Nagle, who earned All-ECHL second-team honors in the regular season and ranks sixth in the league with a 1.79 GAA in the playoffs, said the Huntington Center and Memorial Coliseum are “equally tough” venues.

Game 2 also will be at the Huntington Center at 5:15 p.m. Sunday, with the series shifting to Indiana for Games 3 and 4 next week.

Continued, and Monroe posted a list of 3 keys to the series as well.

Prospect playoff round-up: Sambrook posts 2A in Greyhounds win

Of prospect-related playoff note:

In the OHL, Jordan Sambrook had 2 assists and finished at +3 as his Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds won 7-3 over the Kitchener Rangers. Givani Smith finished at -1 with 4 PIM for Kitchener.

Sault Ste. Marie now leads the OHL’s Western Conference Final 3 games to 2, and you can watch highlights of the game here.