2025 DRAFT Discussion

[Gniwder]

Yzermans comments at the trade deadline presser seem to be going under the radar imo. They are looking for really physical guys with skill to round out the team.

So is everyone else. The problem is that most players are either physical or skilled, but not both. Need a top 5 pick to get both in one player.

 

[Frk It]

Out of curiosity if we’re picking 10 and we can get a eklund desnoyers Hagens or whomever it is that falls at 7 would we trade the 10th pick +2nd and a 3rd to move up 3 spots?

Cause I would ... got enough prospects might as well use some picks to add another top end prospect

If we didn’t trade up 2 spots for Michkov, then I wouldn’t count on it.

 

[norrisnick]

If we didn’t trade up 2 spots for Michkov, then I wouldn’t count on it.

Not to mention, for everyone clamoring to trade up, you've got to convince a franchise to trade down.

 

[schuelma24]

Not to mention, for everyone clamoring to trade up, you've got to convince a franchise to trade down.

which I suspect is the much bigger issue!

 

[Holden Caufield]

which I suspect is the much bigger issue!

Not to mention, for everyone clamoring to trade up, you've got to convince a franchise to trade down.

I could see Kyle Dubas trading down.

He is one of those analytics nerds to his core. I’m sure he has some draft pick value chart that he drools over before bed. Give him more ‘technical value’ then his pick is worth and you’re probably cooking.

 

[wingsfannnn9191]

We are drafting 12ish, not 3rd OA. If you are expecting a first line/top pair prospect, you will be disappointed.

If we’re picking in the top half of the draft I’m picking someone who has the potential to be something. I have no interest in the “sure” nhler who plays bottom 6 ... we have np giving those guys 5 year terms in free agency

 

[Coach Reggie Dunlop]

I would be very, very happy with Aitcheson, but realistically he won't be a truly functional NHL player for four or five years. No one we take this year fixes any immediate holes on our roster.

4-5 years I think is a little much. But I agree, I wasn’t saying he was going to fix an immediate hole, but he will fix a long term one.

 

[Coach Reggie Dunlop]

So is everyone else. The problem is that most players are either physical or skilled, but not both. Need a top 5 pick to get both in one player.

Completely untrue, MBN is a very physical but skilled player. He was a top 3 shot in the draft last year and he got taken 15. Those types of players are still in the draft after 5.

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

So I watched some of Jackson Smith and Radim Mrtka this weekend. I fully expected to like Mrtka better, but I liked Smith significantly more.

Mrtka is extremely vanilla to me. Don't really see what he excels at outside of being bigger than everyone. I thought with how productive he was this year he would have some things that pop in his game, but I just didn't really see it.

I am shocked in a draft like this Jackson Smith is/was ranked #10 by Mckenzie. I would draft a defenseman with his skill set and frame every day of the week. He is so impactful with the puck on his stick and leading a rush, it is incredible. I would be really excited if Detroit were to draft this kid.

I'd pass. Doesn't have IQ.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Still on the Gastrin train. From Corey Pronman:

Gastrin is a good-sized center who skates well and competes hard. The captain of Sweden’s age group, he's a responsible two-way player who creates offense at the net front very well. He has skill, and while I would not describe him as a dynamic offensive type by any means, he makes enough plays to go with his responsible two-way play to make me think he could be a middle-six NHL center.

 

[Frk It]

I'd pass. Doesn't have IQ.

Sounds like an oversimplified narrative that gets echoed around on boards like this.

You’d have to tell me more. The plays he make with the puck on his stick certainly don’t make it look like he lacks IQ.

 

[HisNoodliness]

General question for the amateur scouts here: with the selection of Max Plante, do you think the Red Wings are at a point in their rebuild where they are willing to take more risks on offensive guys who are a departure from our typical focus on 2-way, 200 foot forwards?

They did draft Mastrosimone who was a shoot-first, defense is optional prospect in 2019, and Amadeus Lombardi in the 4th round in 2022, so they've selected guys with skill in the past. I just wonder if this is a once every few drafts lottery ticket, or whether you think they may start to prioritize skill now that they have a solid nucleus of 200 foot guys with Kasper, Danielson, MBN, etc?

Yeah I don't think our draft strategy will change much. On the rare occasion that they think a pure skill type is the best pick, they'll take them. That appears to be the case once a draft or every other draft.

I don't think we're drafting two way guys because we want them to fill out the bottom 6. We draft two way guys because we're hoping that we've identified them as having more skill than the community thinks and then you have a guy that can score and play "winning hockey." Larkin is a great example of what we're hoping happens when we take these guys. Kasper looks to be following suit.

I think most of us evaluated that Eiserman is the higher ceiling player compared to MBN. We said "Eiserman's shot and puck skills could make him an elite goal scorer. Maybe he gets 50 someday as a trigger man. MBN looks like a fine pick but I don't think that he has that potential." I think the Red Wings said "MBN is already a complete hockey player. Plus he's heavy around the net and uses a strong shot to get a lot of goals. Maybe he'll be able to do that at the NHL level even more than this other prospect, Cole Eiserman, that's also a great scorer but not much else. Eiserman looks like a fine prospect but we don't think he has the potential to be as good as MBN could be."

I know the hockey drafting community thinks that we've been chasing low upside and high floor players. I don't think Yzerman and Draper think that's what they've been doing. They think they're getting the best guys. So far their results make it seem like maybe they're right even though I personally would be taking the Eiserman types over the MBNs.

 

[wingsfannnn9191]

Still on the Gastrin train. From Corey Pronman:

At this point might as well fall back a few times and get more 2nds and draft whoever

He caught my eye as well as nesbitt but I’d have to check more into all the kids

 

[deca guard]

Yeah I don't think our draft strategy will change much. On the rare occasion that they think a pure skill type is the best pick, they'll take them. That appears to be the case once a draft or every other draft.

I don't think we're drafting two way guys because we want them to fill out the bottom 6. We draft two way guys because we're hoping that we've identified them as having more skill than the community thinks and then you have a guy that can score and play "winning hockey." Larkin is a great example of what we're hoping happens when we take these guys. Kasper looks to be following suit.

I think most of us evaluated that Eiserman is the higher ceiling player compared to MBN. We said "Eiserman's shot and puck skills could make him an elite goal scorer. Maybe he gets 50 someday as a trigger man. MBN looks like a fine pick but I don't think that he has that potential." I think the Red Wings said "MBN is already a complete hockey player. Plus he's heavy around the net and uses a strong shot to get a lot of goals. Maybe he'll be able to do that at the NHL level even more than this other prospect, Cole Eiserman, that's also a great scorer but not much else. Eiserman looks like a fine prospect but we don't think he has the potential to be as good as MBN could be."

I know the hockey drafting community thinks that we've been chasing low upside and high floor players. I don't think Yzerman and Draper think that's what they've been doing. They think they're getting the best guys. So far their results make it seem like maybe they're right even though I personally would be taking the Eiserman types over the MBNs.

THE YZER'FENCE ERA :

THE NEXT LINK : DANNYSON
*and i wouldnt doubt draper is pounding the table for brady martin
*mbn-brady bunch-mazur

 

[Chad Smiley]

At this point I couldn’t care less about any of it anymore. Almost 10 years in and still can’t figure out when to try to win and when to lose. You want insanity,you’re seeing it with Yzerman. Pathetic free agent signings and picking 12th to 15th every season. Never bad enough to draft elite players and never good enough to make the playoffs. This is a clown show and not 1 reporter with the balls to call him out on it. It’s really pathetic.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Yeah I don't think our draft strategy will change much. On the rare occasion that they think a pure skill type is the best pick, they'll take them. That appears to be the case once a draft or every other draft.

I don't think we're drafting two way guys because we want them to fill out the bottom 6. We draft two way guys because we're hoping that we've identified them as having more skill than the community thinks and then you have a guy that can score and play "winning hockey." Larkin is a great example of what we're hoping happens when we take these guys. Kasper looks to be following suit.

I think most of us evaluated that Eiserman is the higher ceiling player compared to MBN. We said "Eiserman's shot and puck skills could make him an elite goal scorer. Maybe he gets 50 someday as a trigger man. MBN looks like a fine pick but I don't think that he has that potential." I think the Red Wings said "MBN is already a complete hockey player. Plus he's heavy around the net and uses a strong shot to get a lot of goals. Maybe he'll be able to do that at the NHL level even more than this other prospect, Cole Eiserman, that's also a great scorer but not much else. Eiserman looks like a fine prospect but we don't think he has the potential to be as good as MBN could be."

I know the hockey drafting community thinks that we've been chasing low upside and high floor players. I don't think Yzerman and Draper think that's what they've been doing. They think they're getting the best guys. So far their results make it seem like maybe they're right even though I personally would be taking the Eiserman types over the MBNs.

I think this is largely right. While we may think some of our picks are "low-upside picks," I don't think the organization subjectively sees them that way. I also think we probably overstate the number of high skill, high offense players in the league who do not put in an honest day defensively. We have this fascinating way of sorting players in a binary fashion between "skilled" and "competitive" and ignore the fact that the best players in the league are really a combination of both. I also think it is prudent when selecting between players of the same overall individual, technical skill with the puck, that you favor the prospect who plays harder off of the puck.

 

[Frk It]

At this point I couldn’t care less about any of it anymore. Almost 10 years in and still can’t figure out when to try to win and when to lose. You want insanity,you’re seeing it with Yzerman. Pathetic free agent signings and picking 12th to 15th every season. Never bad enough to draft elite players and never good enough to make the playoffs. This is a clown show and not 1 reporter with the balls to call him out on it. It’s really pathetic.

Let go of this fallacy that you or Steve Yzerman can just control where this team finishes in the standings.

12th to 15th every season? That's funny, because prior to this last draft we had drafted top 10 seven years in a row.

 

[Run the Jewels]

At this point I couldn’t care less about any of it anymore. Almost 10 years in and still can’t figure out when to try to win and when to lose. You want insanity,you’re seeing it with Yzerman. Pathetic free agent signings and picking 12th to 15th every season. Never bad enough to draft elite players and never good enough to make the playoffs. This is a clown show and not 1 reporter with the balls to call him out on it. It’s really pathetic.

 

[wingsfannnn9191]

What are thoughts of trading the 1st for another younger player ?

Eiserman didn’t sign with islanders and going back to ncaa ... can we blackmail him to tell lou it’s detroit or he bangs the college girls till he’s a Ufa ?

Musty? Wood? Maybe in a package for a mintyukov or Bichsel?

 

[JohanFranzenstein]

At this point I couldn’t care less about any of it anymore. Almost 10 years in and still can’t figure out when to try to win and when to lose. You want insanity,you’re seeing it with Yzerman. Pathetic free agent signings and picking 12th to 15th every season. Never bad enough to draft elite players and never good enough to make the playoffs. This is a clown show and not 1 reporter with the balls to call him out on it. It’s really pathetic.

 

[Winger98]

What are thoughts of trading the 1st for another younger player ?

Eiserman didn’t sign with islanders and going back to ncaa ... can we blackmail him to tell lou it’s detroit or he bangs the college girls till he’s a Ufa ?

Musty? Wood? Maybe in a package for a mintyukov or Bichsel?

Wouldn't deal it for a guy who hasn't seen the NHL, and not really a fan of dealing it for a guy in his 30s (like Rakell or Rust). Other than those two things, I think the 1st should definitely be on the table.

 

[RedHawkDown]

So is everyone else. The problem is that most players are either physical or skilled, but not both. Need a top 5 pick to get both in one player.

No you just need to draft well in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Protas, Marchenko, Verhaeghe, Marchment, Kneis, etc...

 

[wingsfannnn9191]

Wouldn't deal it for a guy who hasn't seen the NHL, and not really a fan of dealing it for a guy in his 30s (like Rakell or Rust). Other than those two things, I think the 1st should definitely be on the table.

Eiserman just got drafted a year prior , not like hes a 22 yr old kid who's yet to see an nhl game . Kid we draft at 12 will likely never see a game until hes 21-22

 

[RedHawkDown]

Eiserman is not going to be a good player IMO.

I'd entertain dealing it for a player like Knies as part of a package (maybe something like Lombardi + 2025 1st) if Toronto doesn't end up having the cap to sign him.

Otherwise just pick Carbonneau and hope he can reach his ceiling.

 

[newfy]

we all luv the brady bunch , but being only 175 as a physical player put me off him so early in draft when theres two players with size n scoring there . but hes young and maybe bulks up to 195 and becomes a menace cuz this guy is an awesome hockey player :

#3 : NYGARD-MARTIN-MAZUR

Wait until he weighs in at the combine. The way he trucks guys I bet he comes in heavier. Not 200 pounds or anything but 180-185 wouldnt surprise me