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You can take a look at Detroit’s first round results here, and
Day 2 of the 2021 draft can be found here
All in all, Yzerman and co drafted 3 defensemen, 1 goalie, 2 centers and 2 left wings. The top three picks addressed the left side D and goalie positions. Simon Edvinsson was the 6th overall pick. Back on June 23, I wrote that
Updated mock drafts have Detroit looking at Wallstedt, Eklund and Edvinsson. For the first time in three years, a mock draft actually landed on the correct pick. Regarding Edvinsson, I wrote:
you can check out Edvinsson’s prospect page here. listed at 6’5” and 207 lbs, Edvinsson is ranked as high as 2nd for international skaters. I’ve seen some mocks have him taken at 9th, I’ve also seen mock drafts where he’s taken at 3rd overall, so don’t get too excited about this prospect. His highlight reel is worth the watch. Very good skating, good edges. He uses his reach to protect the puck while skating. This would be a nice “get”, for sure.
Obviously, I felt good about Detroit being able to grab this promising defenseman, but overall comments were fairly negative. The biggest complaint was the “pass” on Eklund. It was surprising that he was still there at 6, and there seemed to be a general consensus that taking Edvinsson instead was a huge “miss” by Yzerman. San Jose made no hesitation grabbing Eklund at 7. And, for the foreseeable future, this will be brought up every time Eklund has an outstanding performance and/or Edvinsson doesn’t seem to meet expectation. Vancouver fans flocked to Twitter to mock the pick, for what it’s worth.
Detroit traded up to 15 and grabbed (to the chagrin of “never draft a goalie” types) Sebastian Cossa. The 6’6” goalie has no lack of confidence/swagger, and his zoom call was something special. He confidently asserted that he deserved to be the first goalie picked in the draft, and stood by his performance and work. If you’re not someone with “swagger” (myself included) it is something you never really quite get comfortable with. It’s absolutely necessary in net. I saw a case study that compared the shots an NHL goalie takes to the impact of a 22 caliber bullet. Anyone who gets excited to face that day in and day out has to be really confident and a little crazy.
The third pick saw another big left side defender in Shai Buium. Those first three picks, combined with a trade acquisition earlier in the week, did a lot to boost the stock of the left side defense and goaltending. It’s amazing what Yzerman can do in a week to completely shift the “need-o-meter” in terms of prospects. Grabbing Edvinsson’s best friend at 134 took a swing at center depth grabbing Liam Dower Nilsson. Perhaps the Lidstrom/Holmstrom style carpool will have a revisit in the two Swedish compadres.
Reality will settle in over the next 2 to 5 years. Hopefully 1 to 3 of these picks will become important pieces for Detroit’s future. Going back to 2019, so far 2 picks have signed their ELC. Seider and Johansson. It was announced that Yzerman expects Berggren and Raymond both to play in North America this coming year. Berggren, at center, is very promising. He and Veleno will try and make statements this year. With Veleno’s propensity to drift back to wing, the two could very well end up as linemates. Johansson will spend the year overseas again.
To me, and Liam Dower Nilsson expressed this well in his interview, the draft is a ticket. It’s a ticket to boot camp. Everything you’ve done has given you the opportunity to work harder than you’ve ever worked before to try and get to the highest level. Whether or not a player gets to the NHL has as much to do with their work ethic as it has to do with their talent. Yzerman continues to focus on character and focus in selecting the pieces to try and build the team up.
Overall, I sensed a bit of apathy regarding the first round. The “what if” was huge in the comments section. I like the selections, but I am fully prepared for the return of “I told you we should have picked….” It’s a very real part of this process. I saw people asking for Ken Holland to come back after Seider was picked. Zadina has a lot of potential, but he’s not Quinn Hughes. Cholowski, the less said the better. Raymond isn’t exciting to many of you at this point either.
Yzerman built an incredible team in Tampa. There were questionable picks along the way. Drouin, whose playing future is (?) was turned into a fantastic trade. I trust Yzerman. He turned down deals for Bernier at the trade deadline that were “lowball” offers. He somehow turned an expiring UFA and third round pick into a very good goalie. Even if the high picks that we scrutinize don’t turn out as hoped, the GM continues to find ways to bring in the pieces. The process has a lot of moving parts, and I’m confident in Yzerman’s ability.
For the next three (or more) years, I’m sure I’ll hear about my enthusiasm for Edvinsson. The pick is being trolled in articles and comment sections all over the internet. The potential is there for a deep need. The teams winning the cup still have to have really good defense. I believe that the blue line for this time in 3 or 4 years will be very exciting. It will have gone from a point of pain to a point of strength. Until then, the picks will have to prove that Yzerman made the right choice.
Check out some of my previous posts:
Day 2 of the 2021 draft can be found here
You can take a look at Detroit’s first round results here.
Yzerman extended Rasmussen and acquired Alex Nedeljkovic yesterday.
Seattle has selected Dennis Cholowski.
While we wait on RFA contract status for Detroit
RedWings TV did a quick hit on centers MacTavish and Lusius as possible draft targets
Detroit acquired Leddy for Panik, 52nd pick
The market for Zack Hyman is blowing up.
Yzerman has kept contracts short and sweet.
In my previous post we looked at the core vs the core values
My fourth “gear corner” focused on equipment for special events.
The Canadiens have to get down to business after the post season ended. 
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