Subj : The Grind Line: Draft Redos From the Past 5 Years
To : All
From : The Hockey Writers - Main
Date : Tue Sep 15 2020 04:40 am
What's The Grind Line? Apart from the once-famous line of Kris Draper, Kirk
Maltby, and either Joe Kocur or Darren McCarty, The Grind Line is also The
Hockey Writers' weekly column about the Detroit Red Wings. This week, Devin
Little and Ian McNaughton are the muckers who make up THW's forechecking unit
and sound off on Red Wings topics.
The Detroit Red Wings have to hit on their first-round pick of the 2020 Draft.
No exceptions. Part of the reason it is so imperative to the organization is
because some of the picks made over the last five years have not panned out the
way that fans have hoped. Imagine how different the Red Wings would look if
they could go back and change just one of their past selections. Related: 8
Unbreakable Red Wings Records
That's where TGL comes in. If the Red Wings could go back and change any
first-round selection from the last five years, which pick would it be and who
should they have picked instead? Our muckers weigh-in:Ian McNaughton: 2016 NHL
Draft - 20th Overall�
Originally: D Dennis Cholowski (Chilliwack Chiefs, BCHL)��
Redo Pick: G Carter Hart (Everett Silvertips, WHL)�
The Detroit Red Wings were coming off an average 2015-16 season. They barely
snuck into the postseason, securing the final Atlantic Division playoff spot
thanks to having one more ROW (regulation plus overtime wins) than the Boston
Bruins. Their 93 points were two more than the league average of 91, their
goals against were exactly league average at 219, and their goals for (209) was
23rd in the NHL. Not exactly inspiring numbers.�Dennis Cholowski would skate
elsewhere if the 2016 draft had a do-over (Jenae Anderson / The Hockey Writers)
After falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games during the first round
of the 2016 NHL Playoffs, there were many questions surrounding Detroit's
future, one of them being the goaltending position and the future of that spot.
Petr Mrazek was coming off a career year, posting a .921 SV% and a 2.33 GAA
while making 49 starts, but would be an RFA after the season. His backup, Jimmy
Howard, also had solid numbers (.906 SV%, 2.80 GAA) as the 31-year-old was in
the middle of a 5-year, $31.75 million deal he signed in April 2013. Although
it wasn't a pressing need, taking a goalie made a bit of sense from a needs
perspective.�
The first goalie selected in the 2016 draft was Carter Hart, who was named the
2016 CHL Goaltender of the Year with a 2.14 GAA and .918 SV% in 63 games for
the Everett Silvertips. His junior career was simply incredible, taking home
the 2018 World Juniors gold medal with Canada and winning the CHL Goaltender of
the Year award in 2018 for the second time (the only player to win the award
twice), but his NHL numbers are also impressive.
Since joining the Philadelphia Flyers last season as a 20-year old, Hart has
started in 70 games, winning 40 of them, while putting up a .915 SV% and a 2.59
GAA. He is on track to become one of the best goalies in the NHL, and while he
might not have the same stats if he was a Red Wing, there is something to be
said for having a young goaltender that you can build your franchise around.�
This is nothing personal against Cholowski. I'm a fan of his game and believe
he has the tools to be a consistent top-four D-man in the NHL at some point. I
would just prefer to have a strong netminder who could possibly be the best
goalie in the league over a young D-man with top-four potential. I think you're
more likely to find that young D-man with top-four potential than an elite
young goalie, whether it be drafting or free agency. Devin Little: 2015 NHL
Draft - 19th Overall
Originally: F Evgeny Svechnikov (Cape Breton Eagles, QMJHL)
Redo: F Sebastian Aho (Karpat, Finland)
Except for their most recent first-round selection, Moritz Seider, every one of
the Red Wings' last five first-round picks have held a roster spot in the NHL
for an extended period of time - except for one. It's easy to look at 2018 and
point at Quinn Hughes, but I still like Filip Zadina. I considered Nick Suzuki
or Robert Thomas for the 2017 draft instead of Michael Rasmussen as well, but
Rasmussen's size and place down the middle still hold some value. But I cannot
ignore the fact that five years after he was drafted, Evgeny Svechnikov has yet
to make a mark on the Red Wings.Evgeny Svechnikov, Grand Rapids Griffins
(Jenae Anderson / The Hockey Writers)
It's not entirely his fault. The Red Wings probably could have given him bigger
opportunities to show his stuff. And then there was the knee injury that
forced him to miss almost all of the 2018-19 season. To this day, I still think
that the Russian winger has the potential to be a solid depth scorer in the
NHL - but I think we're going to find that the opportunity he needs isn't going
to come with the team that drafted him.
So then who should the Red Wings have drafted instead? For me, it's simple. As
we toss around names for the 2020 draft, a common thought that comes up is the
organization's lack of impact depth down the middle. That's why Cole Perfetti
and Marco Rossi are common mock draft picks for the Red Wings. But what if the
team already had a potentially lethal one-two punch down the middle in Dylan
Larkin and Sebastian Aho?
Aho was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes with the 35th pick in the draft - a
true second-round steal. Since then, he has become the top center for the
Hurricanes. He has 263 points in 310 games and regularly turns the tide in his
team's favor. While Aho (who plays with Svechnikov's younger brother Andrei)
seems to get better and better, the elder Svechnikov spent this season just
trying to get back up to speed. It's not a fair comparison, but there's no
doubt who I'd pick if I were in former general manager Ken Holland's shoes back
in 2015.�Get it Right
Maybe it's unfair to point these players out and wish you had someone else. In
my opinion, playing the "what-if" game does you no good, and it belittles the
value of the players you do have. That being said, a team like the Red Wings
needs impact players. How do you acquire impact players? More often than not,
you have to draft them.�Steve Yzerman and the gang need to make the most of
their picks during this rebuild (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
In a way, drafting is essentially a game of darts. Of course, you'd like to hit
a bullseye, but realistically, you can't expect it out of every single throw.
Over the last five years, the Red Wings have accumulated points on the
dartboard, but so far, it doesn't seem like they have hit the bullseye (though
it's too early to judge the most recent selections).Related: Revisiting Mickey
Redmond';s 1972-73 Season
In order for this rebuild to go smoothly, general manager Steve Yzerman and his
scouts need to make the most of the picks they have. In a few years when
somebody else writes an article similar to this one, the Red Wings and their
fans had better hope that they don't find the name of whoever the team selects
in next month's draft.
The post The Grind Line: Draft Redos From the Past 5 Years appeared first on
The Hockey Writers.
������
https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/635565138/0/thehockeywriters~The-Grind-Line-Draft
-Redos-From-the-Past-Years/
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (24:110/7)
