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.