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Will Lidstrom's birthday prove a lucky day? |
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Saturday is a big day for one well-known Swedish defenseman and it will also prove to be a big day in determining the future of another Swedish defenseman.
It’s the birthday of legendary Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom. The Hall of Fame rearguard will turn 48, and the Detroit Red Wings can think of no better way to celebrate the legacy of Lidstrom’s greatness than by winning Saturday’s NHL draft lottery and locking up Rasmus Dahlin, the latest Swedish sensation on defense, to build their future around.
“From what I’ve seen, just his movement patterns, it’s just off the charts,” Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall said of his limited exposure to Dahlin’s body of work. “He seems to be able to play both sides of the puck. The coast to coast goals he’s been able to score, that is just something. You don’t really see those nowadays. I’m impressed with what I’ve seen and all I hear is this is someone who is very special.
“Just how he moves out there. Just how he laterally – he kind of floats out there - with the puck, without the puck. So smooth with and without the puck. He’s got a bit of an edge to him as well. He can play physically. It’s a lot of fun, the times I have been watching him.”
Not nearly as much fun as it would be for Kronwall and his teammates to see the Wings pulled as the team awarded the right to select first overall on draft day, June 22 in Dallas, and with it, the right to add Dahlin to their mix.
“I think our odds will be better to do better,” agreed Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg. “But we all know that has to do with a lot of luck. I don’t know who we are sending into the room this year but . . .”
It won’t be Lidstrom. Wings general manager Ken Holland indicated it would be Dan Cleary and either himself of director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright who would represent the team at the draft lottery order announcement in Toronto.
As for luck, the Wings will most certainly need it to walk out of there with first crack at Dahlin. Detroit is fifth in the lottery order, leaving the team with just an 8.5 percent chance of grabbing the No. 1 overall selection. In fact, the math suggests that it’s more likely that Detroit will go in the opposite direction, with sixth (34.5 percent) or seventh (26.7) overall speculated to be the Wings’ most likely landing point.
Certainly, that was their misfortune a year ago. Rated seventh going into the lottery, the Wings fell back to ninth overall, selecting center Michael Rasmussen from the WHL Tri-City Americans on draft day.
“Last year, we had the seventh odds going into the draft, and we ended up going back two spots,” Holland said.
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