Red Wings select F Ryan O’Reilly 98th overall

The Red Wings have selected forward Ryan O’Reilly with the 98th overall draft pick.

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Red Wings select goaltender Jesper Eliasson 84th overall

Red Wings select Seth Barton 81st overall

The Red Wings have selected defenseman Seth Barton 81st overall:

 

Red Wings pick Alec Regula 67th overall

With the 67th overall pick in the 2018 draft, the Red Wings have selected defenseman Alec Regula:

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Red Wings draft Jared McIsaac 36th overall

The Detroit Red Wings have drafted Jared McIsaac 36th overall.

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Red Wings draft Jonatan Berggren 33rd overall

The Detroit Red Wings drafted Jonatan Berggren 33rd overall.

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Morning news: ‘winning’ Wings, KH and Tyler Wright on the first round, BTS with Zadina and draft videos

The Red Wings drafted Filip Zadina and Joe Veleno in the first round of the 2018 draft yesterday night in Dallas, and many pundits suggested that the Red Wings emerged as “winners” because Czech sniper Zadina and QMJHL star Veleno “fell” to Detroit.

The Red Wings have 9 more picks this morning (rounds 2-7 take place at 11 AM EDT, on the NHL Network/NHL.com), including the 33rd and 36th picks, the 67th pick, 81st and 84th picks, so the Wings are going to be very busy today.

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. The Sporting News’s Brett Schlager echoes the comments of other pundits in declaring the Wings a draft “winner”:

Winner: Red Wings

In some respects, Red Wings general manager Ken Holland is managing for his job this summer. This is a critical offseason for a team whose few promising pieces are bogged down by aging, cap-strangling players. Holland’s Day 1 haul makes him perhaps the biggest winner in the first round. Filip Zadina, the Czech winger regarded by many as the best pure scorer in the 2018 class, slipped past the Canadiens, Senators and Coyotes and into Detroit’s lap at No. 6.

Passing on Michigan product Quinn Hughes must have been a difficult decision for the defense-starved Wings, but Zadina may have been the one player worth doing so. As icing on the cake, center Joe Veleno, the sixth-ranked prospect on Sporting News’ big board, was available at No. 30 after a first-round free fall. That’s value.

2. Ken Holland and Wings director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright both spoke with the media after last night’s first round, as noted by MLive’s Ansar Khan:

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NHL.com posts a ‘draft diary’ entry from Joe Veleno

NHL.com posted a “draft diary” penned by now-Red Wings prospect Joe Veleno:

When the Red Wings called my name at No. 30, it was such a special feeling. So ecstatic, so excited to hear my name called. I’ve watched the draft for a couple years now and I put myself in that situation, imagining my name getting called and going up on stage, shaking hands with the organization. It was an awesome feeling to actually do it. Words can’t describe the emotions that I was feeling getting up from my seat.

And I had no idea it was coming. I had gone out for dinner with Detroit at the combine — they were the only ones I went out for dinner with — so that showed they had a little bit of interest in me, but I didn’t know how much until now.

I got to talk to Commissioner Gary Bettman on the stage and he said, ‘welcome, the day has finally arrived.’ I’m never going to forget that. I also talked to some of the Red Wings people. They congratulated me, said they were happy they got to pick me, they’re happy I’m with their organization, they had me high on their list, and they really liked me.

I’m going to try to enjoy this moment with everyone here, but I have development camp coming up June 26 and then I’m going home to Montreal to train for the summer before I have rookie camp in August.

Detroit is a first-class organization with a lot of history, a good winning mentality, and a good staff. It’s going to be fun to see what the future holds and how I’m going to progress with that organization.

Continued, and there are oodles of videos of Veleno’s media availability in the Veleno draft entry.

 

Red Wings pick Joe Veleno 30th overall

The Detroit Red Wings picked Joe Veleno 30th overall at the 2018 NHL draft.

Update: Here’s the Free Press’s Helene St. James on Veleno:

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