Which franchise is the best in the draftroom?

14

by Alex Holowczak

My thinking is the Detroit Red Wings, they drafted these players since 1983, all of them memorable in Detroit, and all were held on to for a long time:

1983 (1/4) - Steve Yzerman
1983 (3/46) - Bob Probert
1983 (5/88) - Joey Kocur
1986 (1/1) - Joe Murphy
1986 (2/22) - Adam Graves
1989 (1/11) - Mike Sillinger
1989 (2/32) - Bob Boughner
1989 (3/53) - Nicklas Lidstrom
1989 (4/74) - Sergei Fedorov
1989 (6/116) - Dallas Drake
1989 (11/221) - Vladimir Konstantinov
1990 (1/3) - Keith Primeau
1990 (3/45) - Vyacheslav Kozlov
1990 (7/129) - Jason York
1991 (1/10) - Martin Lapointe
1991 (3/54) - Chris Osgood
1991 (4/76) - Mike Knuble
1992 (2/46) - Darren McCarty
1992 (10/238) - Dan McGillis
1993 (1/22) - Anders Eriksson
1994 (2/49) - Mathieu Dandenault
1994 (10/257) - Tomas Holmstrom
1998 (1/25) - Jiri Fischer
1998 (6/171) - Pavel Datsyuk
1999 (7/210) - Henrik Zetterberg
2000 (1/29) - Niklas Kronwall
2000 (2/38) - Tomas Kopecky
2002 (2/58) - Jiri Hudler
2002 (3/95) - Valeri Filppula
2002 (7/229) - Derek Meech
2004 (3/97) - Johan Franzen

Is there any better than the Wings? Three to Five future Hall of Famers, and other solid players too. The halycon days appear to have ended in the last five years... But still, that's a phoenominal record.

And it's not just Round 1 picks, Holmstrom was drafted in the 10th round! As was McGillis. Konstantinov, a Hall of Famer but for the tragic accident he suffered, was picked in the 11th round! Even recently, Datsyuk and Zetterberg were late round pickups that are now starting line potential.

Also, many stay in Detroit. Holmstrom, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Yzerman, Lidstrom, Fischer, Filpulla, Konstantinov, Kronwall have all spent their entire career there. Drake is returning this year, too, and Osgood returned.

Surely their draftroom pedigree is unmatched?

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MetsJetsDevilsDraft Pick

854 days ago

Score 4

I think the devils match that.

82- Daneko, Verbeek 83 - John MacLean, Terreri 84 - Kirk muller, Billington 85 - Burke, Weinrich 87 - Shanahan 89 - Guerin 90 - Brodeur, Dunham, Bombadir, Modry, Schwab Zelepukin (3 starting goalies in one draft!!) 91 - Neidermayer, Rolston, 92 - Jason Smith, Brylin, Yelle, Toms 93 - Perderson, Pandolfo, Morrison 94 - Elias, Souray, Sullivan 95 - Sykora, McCauley, 96 - White, Willie Mitchell 98 - Van Ryn, Gomez, Gionta 2000 - Paul martin 2003 - Parise

3004 - Zajac

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JuTMSY4Legend

854 days ago

Score 0

Dan McGillis...spurned the Red Wings for...

NU	This user is a Northeastern University fan

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IbeargRed-Shirting

854 days ago

Score 1

man... what was he thinking...

JuTMSY4Legend

854 days ago

Score 0

Probably this:

This user knows that it sucks to B.U.

JuTMSY4Legend

854 days ago

Score 0

This user knows that it sucks to B.U.

JuTMSY4Legend

854 days ago

Score 0

alright, what the hell...

IbeargRed-Shirting

854 days ago

Score 0

what about the penguins... they've drafted quite a few studs starting with Lemieux in 84.

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MetsJetsDevilsDraft Pick

854 days ago

Score 0

But drafting a guy first overall is hardly noteworthy, especially when you are widely considered to have intentionally lost games at the end of the season to ensure your ability to draft first overall.

IbeargRed-Shirting

854 days ago

Score 1

i don't disagree i was just throwing them out there, especially with the guys they've gotten recently.

MetsJetsDevilsDraft Pick

854 days ago

Score 0

very true. but the reason they have gotten the guys they have is because of where they have drafted. An aspect of it to me is where they get the guy. I mean the Devils have been one of the best tea,s of the last 15 years but have still managed to find guys like Elias, Sykora, Parise, Zajac and Gomez later in the 1st rd and in some instances the 2nd rd. Pitt has done great with Crosby, Lemiuex and Malkin, but these guys went into the draft as guys who were going to change the sport. Its kinda like giving the Cavs credit for drafting LeBron.

DwalbertVarsity Captain

854 days ago

Score 0

Let's not give the early Penguins credit that they dont deserve for throwing games, they were in fact that bad.

DwalbertVarsity Captain

854 days ago

Score 1

And I agree with you MJD about its where the Pens drafted. All of the players that make up the core of the Pens that they have drafted have been with high first round picks. There wasn't really a whole lot of brainstorming behind "well, maybe we should pass on Crosby"

MetsJetsDevilsDraft Pick

853 days ago

Score 0

The early Pens were bad, but so were the early Devils. Going into the last weeks of the season, the Pens and the Devils were neck and neck in the Lemiuex derby. There has long been speculation that the Pens tanked the last few weeks in order to get Lemiuex.

Silencer76AAA-er

854 days ago

Score 0

I wouldn't plug Kocur as a great player, the guy was a goon. 2519 career PIM, and 80 career goals. He also won his first Cup in 94 with the Rangers, where he spent six seasons. Sillinger only played 129 of his 990 (to date) career games in DET. Boughner never suited up in a DET uniform. Jason York played just 19 in a Wings sweater. A fair number of the players you mentioned had their best seasons elsewhere, as opposed to Hockeytown, and in a time when free agency was not as prevalent as it is today.

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MetsJetsDevilsDraft Pick

854 days ago

Score 1

I am not sure that matters. I didn't think he was writing about homegrown players, I thought he was writing about the ability of a teams scouts to see talent and therefore draft a guy. Looking at my Devils example, buys like Kirk McLean, Brendan Morrison and Denis Pederson were all excellent draft picks, but they all had their success eslewhere because the Devils used them in big trades.

Silencer76AAA-er

854 days ago

Score 1

His comment was that all of them were well known in Detroit, and all of them were held on to for a long time. I think that pointing the stats out that I did, showed that was not the case with all of them.

Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

853 days ago

Score 0

They are all well known in Detroit - but they need not have played there - my point was that they played there intially, and a good portion stayed to become legends. Especially from the later rounds.

Silencer76AAA-er

853 days ago

Score 0

Legends? Now you are reaching Alex, and that branch you are on is about to snap. Outside of Yzerman, Lidstrom and probably Fedorov, who on that list is legendary? Probert, and his coke problem? Datsyuk and Zetts have not played long enough to stabilize themselves as anything approaching legend status. When you speak the term legend in hockey, you conjure up names like Maurice Richard, Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden, etc. You don't think...hey Dallas Drake.

MetsJetsDevilsDraft Pick

853 days ago

Score 0

yeah. I am not sure if any of them are legends. I think you should stick to your initial 3 hall of famers because Yzerman, Lindstrom and Federov should all make it there.

JuTMSY4Legend

854 days ago

Score 0

Didn't Bob Probert...like assault someone?

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Silencer76AAA-er

853 days ago

Score 1

lol he has been arrested several times Justin. In 89 he was arrested for cocaine possession crossing the DET-Windsor, ONT border...served three months in a federal prison and three in a halfway house, was suspended indefinitely by the NHL, which lifted the suspension after his sentence ended.

94 crashed his motorcycle into a car, leading DET to not offer a contract to him. Jim Devellano said: "This is the end, [In] my 12 years with the organization ... we've never spent more time on one player and his problems than we have on Probert."

In 2004, Probert was arrested for allegedly parking his BMW SUV on the wrong side of the street and entering into an altercation over drugs with bystanders. Several police officers intervened and had to subdue Probert with taser and stun guns. He was later acquitted on all charges related to this incident.

On July 1, 2005, Probert was arrested at his Windsor-area home for breach of peace, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer. Probert's attorney, Patrick Ducharme, advised the media, "I anticipate he will be pleading not guilty and going to trial."

Probert was arrested again on August 23, 2005, at a bar in Tecumseh, Ontario for violating two conditions of his probation that he not consume alcohol or be in an establishment that serves liquor.

Anonymous Fanatic #1

853 days ago

Score 0

Remember the Wings didn't want Yzerman. They wanted LaFontaine. They got stuck with Yzerman. He was more of a default pick.

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

848 days ago

Score 0

The point about the wings is less about the early round draftees like Yzerman. In fairness any team with early 1st or 2nd round drafts should be guarenteed a few great players...even Ottowa managed it eventually. The really impressive thing is the late round drafting, particularly in the late 80's, early 90's and late 90s. The 88-93 stretch formed the core of cup-winning teams or were traded in wings preferable trades. And the late 90's helped the wings remain competative coming into the salary cap era, where other traditional big spenders have struggled...and more importantly have helped a team drafting very late every year avoid a complete re-build. Even some of the current wings prospects look very promising considering their draft postions, though the inability to stock up on maturing europeans as before will hit the wings hard...

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