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Jared McIsaac may finally be healthy enough to have a solid pro year. The left side of the blue line could certainly use some good news in the prospects realm. Drafted in Holland’s final draft for Detroit in 2018, McIsaac has long been touted as having NHL upside. Of the 4 “top” prospects from that draft (Zadina, Veleno, Berggren, McIsaac) 3 have yet to take a full time NHL job. In reality, it seems to take 3 to 5 years to know where a lot of these prospects will land in the organization. Age wise, it’s certainly not time to panic. The constant trips to IR are the most concerning issue for McIsaac.
When last year ended, I looked at some of the UFAs and thought that it may well be time to move on. Two of those, Helm and Filppula, have had a solid NHL run. Filppula was drafted back in 2002, and Helm was in 2005. Hurdler, Ericsson and Meech (for those who remember) all came out of the 2002 draft and Filppula is the last man standing from Detroit’s draft class. Helm was drafted in 2005 along with Kindl, Abdelkader and Ritola. The later never really caught on. Abdelkader lasted longer than some thought he should. Kindl had some glimpses but drew similar ire to Ericsson’s play as a defenseman. Lidstrom and Kronwall covered up for a lot of defenseman.
The average NHL career is 3 years. For Filppula to have lasted 18 years past his draft, and Helm 16, is certainly a decent run. Both work incredibly hard. At this point, they take whatever role they’re given and run with it. What’s impressive about Helm’s staying power is that no Detroit draft pick from 2006 to 2012 is still with the organization. Nyquist (2008) and Tatar (2009) were the best in that gap before they were moved. Still, it’s a shocking amount of dead space in draft picks that didn’t pan out or were moved.
Here is a link showing Detroit’s past drafts. It’s a bit of a trip down memory lane, and time definitely seemed to fly by. Part of me sinks a bit as I read through names that just didn’t pan out. High picks in Corey Emmerton, Tom McCullom, and Brendan Smith. Years without first round picks (2009, 2011, 2012). 2013 turned out Mantha and Bertuzzi. That was the start of pieces that were able to stick. Larkin in 2014 is, at this point, the face of the franchise. 2015 is still up in the air with Svechnikov still looking to establish himself. (Chase Pearson is still with the organization in GR). Hronek is the only solidified NHLer from 2016 with Smith and Cholowski still looking to grab a spot. Rasmussen grabbed a 3rd line spot last year as the standout of 2017 with Lindstrom looking like a 6 or 7 Dman.
Yzerman said that if you get 1 to 3 NHL players out of a draft, it’s a successful draft. If that’s the case, then the team has bean steadily adding 1 or 2 players since 2013. That’s 8 drafts ago this July. Think about the struggles that have come as the team finally went into rebuild mode. It’s going to take some luck (and possibly trades/free agents) to build a contender.
If this is “goodbye” for Helm and Filppula, it is a fond farewell. Both played a part in the 2008 Stanley Cup. While Filppula did the career “boomerang”, Helm has spent all of his NHL career with Detroit. The longevity of both careers is a testament not only to hard work, but a willingness to accept whatever roles are given.
Having the last of the players from the ‘08 cup move on is a symbolic “final push” into the next contender. Yzerman did well to move on from Ericsson and Howard. The buyout for Abdelkader was an exclamation point in how different the organization is functioning. (Abby and Howard were black aces during the ‘08 cup). All the players/pieces that were supposed to take the reigns from Lidstrom, Z and Pav just weren’t able to do so. As those players declined, retired or moved the team just fell in on itself. Too many misses in too many drafts. Though Yzerman is only entering his third as the Wings GM, his approach seems to be more focused and diligent than ever. We are seeing the beginnings of players who will be part of this team for 10+ years. Hopefully, we’re seeing the future veterans of a championship team.
Check out some of my previous posts
My first “summer reading post” covered Chelios’s career defining fib.
Friday was my first gear corner with Doug Todd from Warrior Hockey.
Albert Johansson won’t be competing for a spot in North America this season
I will be featuring the writings of Kevin Allen for a summer reading program this year. It’s tough to break up the summer months, and the one on one formats that Kevin has perfected is not only a pleasure to read but gives insight that isn’t easy to come by. I’ll be starting with Chris Chelios “Made in America”.
Colorado is out of the playoffs.
Isle be darned, Boston is out
(M)Over Achiever - Seider getting accolades
setting the limits on trades
Moritz Seider reminds me of Jiri Fischer
Mo Seider is getting good ice time at the IIHF Worlds Championship.
There may be some blockbuster deals coming.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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