Here’s an interesting question to ponder after the first round of the NHL entry draft - who was more stunned by the Detroit Red Wings’ sixth overall pick - you, or the guy they picked?
“Yeah, I was kind of surprised,” admitted Pavel Zadina, the Czech right winger from the QMJHL Halifax Mooseheads that the Wings selected with that No. 6 pick.
Remember what former NHL GM and TSN draft analyst Craig Button said about the Wings earlier this week heading into the draft?
“I’m a big believer that if you can’t get the puck out of your own zone - and that requires defensemen - I don’t care how good your forwards are, how good your scoring on the wings are, if you don’t have defensemen who can move the puck out of your own zone, if you’re spending too much time in your own zone, you can forget about it. I don’t care how good your forwards are, it doesn’t matter.
“To me, the success of their Stanley Cup teams was on the blue line. Until they get that moving forward in a significant way, they’re not going to return to that level. I’m not saying anything that (Wings GM) Kenny Holland doesn’t know. Kenny Holland knows it as well as anybody.”
Evidently he does not.
The way the draft fell, all of the high-end rearguards not named Rasmus Dahlin were still on the board as Detroit stepped to the podium. Noah Dobson. Quinn Hughes. Adam Boqvist. Evan Bouchard.
Take your pick.
The Wings chose none of the above.
Detroit better hope that Dennis Cholowski turns out to be something else.
Now, we’re not saying that Zadina was a bad pick. In fact he’s an elite scorer, a guy with a nose for the net and a hunger to light the red lamp. And he’s a pretty fair playmaker to boot.
Zadina, who dropped from his projected status as third overall and was passed over by Montreal and Ottawa, two of Detroit’s Atlantic Division rivals, is more than excited to be a Wing.
“I told my agent (ex-Wing Ryan Barnes) if they will pass on me I’m going to fill up their net with pucks,” Zadina said of teams that didn’t select him. “I just want to prove to them they did a bad decision. I just want to prove to Detroit they made a good decision.”
There’s just one issue with this selection - who’s going to get the puck up the ice so Zadina can work his magic?
The NHL has become a league where mobile, puck-moving defenseman ignite the attack. You’ve watched the Wings defense in action. Most of them lumber up the ice like a freight train rumbling through your neighborhood. Outside of Trevor Daley and Mike Green, their puck skills and mobility isn’t the least bit pretty. And Green, a UFA, could be gone by next week.
Another factor that perhaps played into this selection - the Wings aren’t moving season tickets like they used to in their glory days, and goal scorers are sexy. And sure, you’re going to point out that the Wings lost a lot of one-goal games last season. Well, you know what? They had late leads in many of those games and lost them because they didn’t have a reliable defender to get the puck out of their own end.
Next season, enjoy Zadina’s goals when he can get them. And enjoy the lottery pick that’s coming after another dreadful season, because with personnel decisions like this, there’s only direction the Wings are headed.
And like their back end, it isn’t upwardly mobile.
30 Rock
Drummondville center Joe Veleno, tabbed by Detroit with the 30th choice of the first round, the pick they got from Vegas in the Tomas Tatar trade, is a curious case. He was granted exceptional player status that allowed him entry into the QMJHL at the age of 15, the same ruling that got Connor McDavid, John Tavares and Aaron Ekblad into the OHL early.
Veleno is known for his world-class speed and elite hockey IQ. But his detractors say he lacks the creativity and natural goal-scoring ability to be an elite NHL center.
Taking Veleno here would be just fine had the Wings filled their need for a blueliner with the sixth pick. Instead, with two first-round picks and a desperate need for a high-end puck mover on the back end, they took none.
“We want to get some D at some point,” Holland said. “We just felt we couldn’t pass these forwards up.”
Detroit has five picks in the next two rounds when drafting resumes Saturday, but they aren’t going to find that polished rearguard there. It will be more rolling the dice on Filip Hronek project types, or undersized sorts like Vili Saarijarvi.
Bylsma Hired
As had been rumored for a couple of weeks, the Wings hired former Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma to their staff as an assistant coach.
“Dan and I had a pretty unique experience being able to work together at this most recent World Championship for the U.S. and when I set out to hire an assistant coach I wanted to hire somebody that, one, had lots of experience,” Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “I think the more experience you have with real good minds, the better information you get as a head coach to make decisions. I also wanted somebody who would help our power play and add value to our team.
“The experience in Denmark gave me a firsthand knowledge of Dan as a coach, specifically as an assistant coach, and I thought he did an excellent job for us over there. I thought our interaction was excellent and he really at that point went to the top of my list for assistant coaches.”
Blashill admitted that Bylsma brings strengths to his staff that he has proven to come up short on during his three years behind the Detroit bench, a moribund power play being at the top of that list.
“He ran our power play in Denmark,” Blashill said. “One, he’s got a very organized plan as to how he believes a power play should execute, how he believes a power play should be run, having a multiple number of breakouts to be able to utilize in a a game if needed if you’re struggling. Dan’s an excellent faceoff play guy, it’s something that … I coached against him, I know this firsthand, his teams have always been good on the faceoffs and having a good plan off the faceoffs and on the power play. Honestly, that’s something I haven’t been good enough. Those things for sure he can really add to our power play and I just think having a chance to see it firsthand, and I think one of the most important things you have as a coach is the ability to relate to players and find a way to get the most out of them and I think he did an excellent job with that group over there.
“We’re going to need a number of players to either execute at a higher level or certain players to come in on the power play to add value to our power play. Certainly, this is not something that we’re going to go from ranking in the 20s to ranking in the top 10 without a number of players executing at a real high level. I think Dan brings an ability to help us get toward the right direction on the power play.”
Bylsma has a specific mindset when it comes to what makes for a successful power play, something that hasn’t been consistently seen with the Wings for years now.
“I think there’s several different aspects that you need to have on your power play to be an effective one but possession and entry into the zone is a key importance,” Bylsma said. “It starts with the faceoff, might be a breakout but gain that possession and entry is vital to your power play. Shot and attacking mindset and mentality is a huge indicator of power-play success and teams that have those aspects to their power play, they have success. Toronto is a perfect example of that type of mentality where they’re attacking and shooting and converging to the net. That’s where they gain their power-play success over the last two years.
“Once we evaluate who’s going to be on the power play and who’s going to be put there, you’ll see a certain kind of mentality but it’ll always end up with shots and activity around the net and chaos around the net, attacking and converging is really a core essence of having success on the power play.”
Born in Grand Haven, Mich., Bylsma, 47, was also intrigued by the chance to work for the NHL team in his home state.
“I’ve lived two lives in this aspect,” Bylsma said. “The first 20 years of my life I was a Detroit Red Wings fan and for the next half of my life I may not have been. But I’ve always had in the back of my mind that coming back home and working for the Red Wings and being a part of the Red Wings organization is something that I wanted to do and certainly this is an opportunity and an aspect that Jeff afforded me to come back home, so to speak.
“It’s a ways away from where I lived in Michigan but I’ve been been around the Red Wings family and the Red Wings fans for a long time and I’ve already gotten a lot of love and support from people in the area, saying welcome home and welcome to the Red and White. It is a big aspect of my decision to join Jeff and join the Red Wings.”
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