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Update - Detroit has signed their second overall pick of 2021, goalie Sebastian Cossa, to his entry level deal. This should put Detroit at 42 contracts. I was surprised that Simon Edvinsson hadn’t been signed yet (as Seider and Raymond were both quickly signed after being drafted). Not sure if that announcement will come soon or not
Svechnikov has been linked to the jets, and of course it gets me thinking about the first rounders that haven’t quite panned out. Cholowski is in Seattle, and was a bad a trade in a draft as I can remember. The 2014 draft is full of 1st round disappointments. Players like Perlini and Ho-Sang are on their last legs of opportunity. Fabbri was traded to Detroit in a deal that turned out fairly lopsided in Yzerman’s favor. Larkin is one of the gems of that draft, in what he’s been able to achieve with the Wings.
I’ve spent more hours than a sane person would looking over Detroit’s drafting. As of now, 2013 is the furthest back you can look with a drafted player still on the roster. Tyler Bertuzzi is 2013’s lone organizational survivor, with Mantha being traded to the Capitols for Jakub Vrana. If I would have done this last year, you could go much farther back as Filppula (though a return player) was still active from the 2002 draft.
It’s an interesting “voyage”, to be sure. Post salary cap drafts certainly seemed to see more players actually hit NHL ice (even if just for a cup of coffee). In my next entry, I’ll start at 2013 and get to this past year’s draft. For now, enjoy the trip down the “ghosts of Red Wings past”.
I’m going to go in reverse order, back as far as the drafts that still have players in the NHL. If I’d done this last year, it would have landed us in 2002. Val Filppula was the 3rd round selection in the same draft that yielded Jiri Hudler, Johnathan Ericsson and Derek Meech. At this point, none of Detroit’s selections are playing in the NHL, but Fil certainly had an admirable run (outlasting Ericsson).
2003 and 2004 are also “dry” as far as current players. Jimmy Howard and Kyle Quincey both came out of 2003, and Franzen was the lone notable from 2004. Now, we’re up to date. The 2005 draft still has an active NHLer in it.
Darren Helm, the 5th round selection, is going to play in Colorado this year. One of the last Stanley Cup ring bearers to leave the organization, he will find himself on the depth charts of a contender once again. A veteran of 744 games, Helm continues to find employment as a 4th line grinder/pk specialist.
Notables - Jakub Kindl, Justin Abdelkader and Mattias Ritola also came out of this draft. Ritola was picked up on waivers by Tampa Bay, but is only credited with 43 NHL games.
2006 Draft:
No current NHL players. “Notables” would be Cory Emmerton, Jan Mursak and Shawn Matthias. Matthias had the most NHL games at 551 with Emmerton and Mursak clocking in 139 and 46 respectively.
2007 Draft:
Brendan Smith - the former first rounder is still playing. After being traded to New York, Smith was rewarded with a deal that quickly “soured”. He bounced between playing forward, defense, and jockeying the pine pony. Credited with 526 games played, he has a new team in Carolina. Other notable is former wing Joachim Andersson
2008 Draft:
Gustav Nyquist was the gem of ‘08. Veteran of 570 games, he had been Detroit’s new wave of leadership before the rebuild kicked in. He’s now plying his trade in CBJ. Only Tom McCollum played any NHL games out of the other 5 selections. He played 3.
2009 Draft:
‘09 was uncharacteristically good looking back. Tomas Tatar (2nd round) and Nick Jenson (5th round) are both still playing. (625 and 331 games respectively). Landon Ferraro (77 games), Andrej Nestrasil (128 games), Mitch Callahan (5 games) and Adam Almqvist (2 games) also came out of that group. Having 6 of 7 picks at least have a cup of coffee in the NHL was a big leap forward.
2010 Draft:
If 2009 was uncharacteristically good, 2010 was a virtual “home run”. There were four players still in the NHL last season in Petr Mrazek (278 games) and Calle Jarnkrok (508). Riley Sheahan is a UFA with 566 games played. Teemu Pulkkinen (83) is currently with the Vegas Golden Knights.
2011:
Tomas Jurco,Xavier Ouellette and Ryan Sproul are still plying his trade in the NHL from 2011. Credited with 221 NHL games, Jurco is still listed as part of the Vegas Golden Knights. Ouelette (178) is in Montreal. Ryan Sproul (44 games) is part of the Flames organization. Alan Quine (106) is currently a UFA and Alexey Marchenko (121) is playing for Lokomotiv in the KHL. Fairly impressive to see so many players still lacing up the skates.
2012:
Detroit’s most successful picks were Martin Frk (118 games played) and Andreas Athanasiou (350 games played). Both are part of the Los Angelos Kings organization, Frk with the Ontario Reign and A.A. With a new contract is with the Kings.
Check out some of my previous posts:
Carter Mazur’s “Coffee with Carley”
Vrana’s press conference
Vrana has a new three year deal with Detroit
Yesterday, I wrote about the gap between Detroit and Vrana.
Detroit still doesn’t have a top 6 right shot forward.
The second line continues to inch toward improving.
I have high (possibly too high) hopes for the top line this year.
The Griffins are worth the drive, at least I think so.
My third “looking forward” looked at Pius Suter.
My second “looking forward” focused on Alex Nedeljkovic.
My first “looking forward” talked about Moritz Seider.
Jakub Vrana and Adam Erne have filed for arbitration.
I posted “The Winged Wheel season 3, ep 1”
I posted Yzerman’s Zoom call
I posted Pius Suter’s Zoom call
I did a wrap up of the “Frenzy”.
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