Holland/Wright the Worst Drafting Duo of the Century?

[FriendlyGhost92]

Felt like going over this because it seems like it's carried over into Edmonton from his God awful last couple years in Detroit. Once Holland brought Tyler Wright on in Detroit to run their scouting, they seemed to largely move away from Europe and started drafting heavily in North America. Then Yzerman took over and it seems Detroit has turned back on the "European Pipeline" they had previously established. With that in mind, here's the last 10 drafts involving Holland and Wright, with a disclaimer that the two technically didn't draft together in 2019, even though they worked together right up until a month or so before the draft.

For reference, NHL players are in bold. Picks in the top 3 rounds will be noted regardless. Anybody outside the top 3 rounds without NHL games is just in "Other draftees".

2014

#15 - Dylan Larkin - 205G 286A in 639GP
#63 - Dominic Turgeon - 0G 0A in 9GP
#106 - Cristoffer Ehn - 5G 8A in 114GP

Other draftees - Chase Perry, Julius Vahatalo, Axel Holmstrom, and Alexander Kadeykin.

2015

#19 - Evgeny Svechnikov - 20G 25A in 172GP
#73 - Vili Saarijarvi
#140 - Chase Pearson - 0G 0A in 3GP

Other draftees - Joren Van Pottelberghe, Patrick Holway, and Adam Marsh.

2016

#20 - Dennis Cholowski - 10G 20A in 117GP
#46 - Givani Smith - 9G 12A in 148GP
#53 - Filip Hronek - 35G 167A in 372GP

Other draftees - Alfons Malmstrom, Jordan Sambrook, Filip Larsson, and Mattias Elfstrom

2017

#9 - Michael Rasmussen - 48G 64A in 299GP
#38 - Gustav Lindstrom - 5G 27A in 155GP
#71 - Kasper Kotkansalo
#79 - Lane Zablocki
#83 - Zachary Gallant
#88 - Keith Petruzzelli

Other draftees - Malte Setkov, Cole Fraser, Jack Adams, Reilly Webb, and Brady Gilmour

2018

#6 - Filip Zadina - 37G 50A in 245GP
#30 - Joe Veleno - 29G 33A in 211GP
#33 - Jonatan Berggren - 17G 16A in 76GP
#36 - Jared McIsaac
#67 - Alec Regula - 1G 0A in 22GP
#81 - Seth Barton
#84 - Jesper Eliasson

Other draftees - Ryan O'Reilly, Victor Brattstrom, and Otto Kivenmaki

2019*

#8 - Philip Broberg - 2G 9A in 79GP
#38 - Raphael Lavoie - 0G 0A in 7GP
#85 - Ilya Konovalov
#100 - Matej Blumel - 1G 0A in 6GP

Other draftees - Tomas Mazura and Maxim Denezhkin

2020

#14 - Dylan Holloway - 6G 7A in 82GP

Other draftees - Carter Savoie, Tyler Tullio, Maxim Berezkin, Filip Engaras, and Jeremias Lindewall

2021

#22 - Xavier Bourgault
#90 - Luca Munzenberger

Other draftees - Jake Chiasson, Matvey Petrov, Shane LaChance, and Maximus Wanner

2022

#32 - Reid Schaefer

Other draftees - Samuel Jonsson, Nikita Yevseyev, and Joel Maatta

2023

#56 - Beau Akey

Other draftees - Nathaniel Day and Matt Copponi

 

[banks]

Larkin, Hronek, and a bunch of nothing.

You can't judge the 2023 or even the 2022 drafts at all yet. But in 10 years? That's lousy.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

For people who don't want to read all that, in 10 years, that's:

66G 231A in 767GP for 2nd round picks. 31G 55A in 395GP for 2nd round picks if you subtract Hronek.

7G 8A in 145GP for all players drafted outside the top 2 rounds.

 

[nucks88]

Well, thanks for Hronek....

 

[Nicko999]

Habs scouting is even worst. Check from 2008-2021.

 

[nturn06]

For people who don't want to read all that, in 10 years, that's:

66G 231A in 767GP for 2nd round picks. 31G 55A in 395GP for 2nd round picks if you subtract Hronek.

7G 8A in 145GP for all players drafted outside the top 2 rounds.

I think that in the same span, Avs did much worse outside the first round.

 

[Coffee]

Felt like going over this because it seems like it's carried over into Edmonton from his God awful last couple years in Detroit. Once Holland brought Tyler Wright on in Detroit to run their scouting, they seemed to largely move away from Europe and started drafting heavily in North America. Then Yzerman took over and it seems Detroit has turned back on the "European Pipeline" they had previously established. With that in mind, here's the last 10 drafts involving Holland and Wright, with a disclaimer that the two technically didn't draft together in 2019, even though they worked together right up until a month or so before the draft.

For reference, NHL players are in bold. Picks in the top 3 rounds will be noted regardless. Anybody outside the top 3 rounds without NHL games is just in "Other draftees".

2014

#15 - Dylan Larkin - 205G 286A in 639GP
#63 - Dominic Turgeon - 0G 0A in 9GP
#106 - Cristoffer Ehn - 5G 8A in 114GP

Other draftees - Chase Perry, Julius Vahatalo, Axel Holmstrom, and Alexander Kadeykin.

2015

#19 - Evgeny Svechnikov - 20G 25A in 172GP
#73 - Vili Saarijarvi
#140 - Chase Pearson - 0G 0A in 3GP

Other draftees - Joren Van Pottelberghe, Patrick Holway, and Adam Marsh.

2016

#20 - Dennis Cholowski - 10G 20A in 117GP
#46 - Givani Smith - 9G 12A in 148GP
#53 - Filip Hronek - 35G 167A in 372GP

Other draftees - Alfons Malmstrom, Jordan Sambrook, Filip Larsson, and Mattias Elfstrom

2017

#9 - Michael Rasmussen - 48G 64A in 299GP
#38 - Gustav Lindstrom - 5G 27A in 155GP
#71 - Kasper Kotkansalo
#79 - Lane Zablocki
#83 - Zachary Gallant
#88 - Keith Petruzzelli

Other draftees - Malte Setkov, Cole Fraser, Jack Adams, Reilly Webb, and Brady Gilmour

2018

#6 - Filip Zadina - 37G 50A in 245GP
#30 - Joe Veleno - 29G 33A in 211GP
#33 - Jonatan Berggren - 17G 16A in 76GP
#36 - Jared McIsaac
#67 - Alec Regula - 1G 0A in 22GP
#81 - Seth Barton
#84 - Jesper Eliasson

Other draftees - Ryan O'Reilly, Victor Brattstrom, and Otto Kivenmaki

2019*

#8 - Philip Broberg - 2G 9A in 79GP
#38 - Raphael Lavoie - 0G 0A in 7GP
#85 - Ilya Konovalov
#100 - Matej Blumel - 1G 0A in 6GP

Other draftees - Tomas Mazura and Maxim Denezhkin

2020

#14 - Dylan Holloway - 6G 7A in 82GP

Other draftees - Carter Savoie, Tyler Tullio, Maxim Berezkin, Filip Engaras, and Jeremias Lindewall

2021

#22 - Xavier Bourgault
#90 - Luca Munzenberger

Other draftees - Jake Chiasson, Matvey Petrov, Shane LaChance, and Maximus Wanner

2022

#32 - Reid Schaefer

Other draftees - Samuel Jonsson, Nikita Yevseyev, and Joel Maatta

2023

#56 - Beau Akey

Other draftees - Nathaniel Day and Matt Copponi

Larkin makes up for all of it

 

[Nocashstyle]

Lou/Conte Devil-era post lockout comfortably has that beat.

From 05 - 14, Damon Severson, Adam Henrique, Adam Larsson, and Blake Coleman are the only NHLers of note to be drafted.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Lou/Conte Devil-era post lockout comfortably has that beat.

From 05 - 14, Damon Severson, Adam Henrique, Adam Larsson, and Blake Coleman are the only NHLers of note to be drafted.

Where were they drafting though?

Holland's got about a handful of Top 15 picks in that time frame and Larkin's the only one of significant importance. Rasmussen's a solid role player but not really what you look for with a Top 10 pick.

 

[Nocashstyle]

Where were they drafting though?

Holland's got about a handful of Top 15 picks in that time frame and Larkin's the only one of significant importance. Rasmussen's a solid role player but not really what you look for with a Top 10 pick.

Well, in fairness, I was trying to cut Lou a break, but the 2015 draft still very much had Lou’s fingerprints on it and he was still president, and Conte was still head scout. They took Zacha at 6 OA in the deepest draft arguably of all time. Larsson at 4OA in 2011. Legit NHLers, but that’s it.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Bergevin/Timmins is unrivalled

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Well, in fairness, I was trying to cut Lou a break, but the 2015 draft still very much had Lou’s fingerprints on it and he was still president, and Conte was still head scout. They took Zacha at 6 OA in the deepest draft arguably of all time. Larsson at 4OA in 2012. Legit NHLers, but that’s it.

Fair point on Zacha. Larsson's kinda hard to criticize though... 2012 was just a God-awful draft class, at the top.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Woof. At least there’s Zadina, thank goodness for that.

 

[Ezekial]

Yea, they are brutal. Red Wings were blessed the day Wright left, our drafting has been noticeably better since he left and Yzerman arrived. (Wright was there for the 2019 draft but he gets no credit for Seider)

 

[Nocashstyle]

Fair point on Zacha. Larsson's kinda hard to criticize though... 2012 was just a God-awful draft class, at the top.

Sorry, I misspoke, I mean 2011 lol. Disregarding guys like Kucherov and Guadreau taken later. Still not the best draft at the top, but also still better options. Couturier, Schiefele, Hamilton, Zibanejad…

 

[Ezpz]

Habs scouting is even worst. Check from 2008-2021.

Closer to 2017 but yeah. KK may be a bust but getting three other NHLers in a single draft is more than Holland has done. 2019 also had three NHLers for us. 2020 got Guhle. 2021 is going to be at least Roy and Mailloux.

11 drafts with the only real impact player being traded for Drouin. Funny enough Tinordi and McCarron are finally starting to crack the league in their D+13 and D+10. Juulsen also is finally playing a regular role in his D+8.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Yea, they are brutal. Red Wings were blessed the day Wright left, our drafting has been noticeably better since he left and Yzerman arrived. (Wright was there for the 2019 draft but he gets no credit for Seider)

Can't put credit on Wright for Seider simply because it's well known that Yzerman flew overseas to watch Seider multiple times... But also can't take credit away because it was pretty well known that Detroit didn't trade back because they knew somebody else was going to pick Seider.

Given how emphatically it was stated that they knew he would be gone, it seems pretty obvious that Holland was the GM who was going to take him.

It'd be interesting to closely track how that all played out, given that Yzerman/Holland/Wright all worked with each other for a few months. Did everybody see the same thing, or did Yzerman put them onto Seider?

 

[Artemi Panarin]

Holland is my fave GM in the league

 

[JediOrderPizza]

Very bad yes.

 

[CraigBillington]

Outside of 2014, Jim Benning ams company were pretty terrible. Outside of Boeser and Hoglander, there has been nothing of value drafted

 

[Some Other Flame]

The Oilers incredibly bad drafting outside of lottery picks basically since the beginning of the Decade of Darkness is why they haven't already won the cup with McDavid.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

No no you see Holland is actually bringing it hard because [incomprehensible 2019 Wings fan speak]

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Can't put credit on Wright for Seider simply because it's well known that Yzerman flew overseas to watch Seider multiple times... But also can't take credit away because it was pretty well known that Detroit didn't trade back because they knew somebody else was going to pick Seider.

Given how emphatically it was stated that they knew he would be gone, it seems pretty obvious that Holland was the GM who was going to take him.

It'd be interesting to closely track how that all played out, given that Yzerman/Holland/Wright all worked with each other for a few months. Did everybody see the same thing, or did Yzerman put them onto Seider?

If memory serves Yzerman said he did try to move back but couldn’t find a taker. And figured Seider would be gone by the time they hit their next pick.

 

[WarriorofTime]

I think you gotta look at the 5-10 immediate after picks (more narrow at the top, wider the deeper into a draft) to get a real sense of how they draft compared to how they could have drafted.

 

[lwvs84]

Felt like going over this because it seems like it's carried over into Edmonton from his God awful last couple years in Detroit. Once Holland brought Tyler Wright on in Detroit to run their scouting, they seemed to largely move away from Europe and started drafting heavily in North America. Then Yzerman took over and it seems Detroit has turned back on the "European Pipeline" they had previously established. With that in mind, here's the last 10 drafts involving Holland and Wright, with a disclaimer that the two technically didn't draft together in 2019, even though they worked together right up until a month or so before the draft.

For reference, NHL players are in bold. Picks in the top 3 rounds will be noted regardless. Anybody outside the top 3 rounds without NHL games is just in "Other draftees".

2014

#15 - Dylan Larkin - 205G 286A in 639GP
#63 - Dominic Turgeon - 0G 0A in 9GP
#106 - Cristoffer Ehn - 5G 8A in 114GP

Other draftees - Chase Perry, Julius Vahatalo, Axel Holmstrom, and Alexander Kadeykin.

2015

#19 - Evgeny Svechnikov - 20G 25A in 172GP
#73 - Vili Saarijarvi
#140 - Chase Pearson - 0G 0A in 3GP

Other draftees - Joren Van Pottelberghe, Patrick Holway, and Adam Marsh.

2016

#20 - Dennis Cholowski - 10G 20A in 117GP
#46 - Givani Smith - 9G 12A in 148GP
#53 - Filip Hronek - 35G 167A in 372GP

Other draftees - Alfons Malmstrom, Jordan Sambrook, Filip Larsson, and Mattias Elfstrom

2017

#9 - Michael Rasmussen - 48G 64A in 299GP
#38 - Gustav Lindstrom - 5G 27A in 155GP
#71 - Kasper Kotkansalo
#79 - Lane Zablocki
#83 - Zachary Gallant
#88 - Keith Petruzzelli

Other draftees - Malte Setkov, Cole Fraser, Jack Adams, Reilly Webb, and Brady Gilmour

2018

#6 - Filip Zadina - 37G 50A in 245GP
#30 - Joe Veleno - 29G 33A in 211GP
#33 - Jonatan Berggren - 17G 16A in 76GP
#36 - Jared McIsaac
#67 - Alec Regula - 1G 0A in 22GP
#81 - Seth Barton
#84 - Jesper Eliasson

Other draftees - Ryan O'Reilly, Victor Brattstrom, and Otto Kivenmaki

2019*

#8 - Philip Broberg - 2G 9A in 79GP
#38 - Raphael Lavoie - 0G 0A in 7GP
#85 - Ilya Konovalov
#100 - Matej Blumel - 1G 0A in 6GP

Other draftees - Tomas Mazura and Maxim Denezhkin

2020

#14 - Dylan Holloway - 6G 7A in 82GP

Other draftees - Carter Savoie, Tyler Tullio, Maxim Berezkin, Filip Engaras, and Jeremias Lindewall

2021

#22 - Xavier Bourgault
#90 - Luca Munzenberger

Other draftees - Jake Chiasson, Matvey Petrov, Shane LaChance, and Maximus Wanner

2022

#32 - Reid Schaefer

Other draftees - Samuel Jonsson, Nikita Yevseyev, and Joel Maatta

2023

#56 - Beau Akey

Other draftees - Nathaniel Day and Matt Copponi

I usually judge a pick by the guy that was taken and the 4 after him (essentially the 5 picks when the team went on the clock). That should be the guys that are ranked around then. Sometimes it's just a bad round/draft and it's all a bunch of guys that end up doing nothing, sometimes you end up with a nothing player before a run of all stars/hall of famers.