READING, PA – The Detroit Red Wings missed out on the Stanley Cup finals last season but as usual the Wings will not panic and rely on their scouting staff to do their part in adding pieces to their puzzle through the draft. One of, if not thee best scouting staffs in the NHL come up with gems in the later rounds that teams only dream about.
Still, the Wings have needs like any other team in the league. The Wings were 14th in offense, 7th in defense, 8th in face-offs, 9th on the power play and 10th on the penalty kill. Detroit got most of their offense from the left wing and center positions, but their defense contributed as well. The Wings had three players with 20 or more goals and 7 with 10 or more.
On defense Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom anchor the blueline but they careers are closer to retirement with each passing day. The Wings top two prospects are defensemen but they will need to restock their farm system once they graduate and since the Wings like to stay 2-3 years ahead of the game expect the Wings to go for defense high in the draft. The Wings don’t have any free agents that are of high value so don’t expect a huge roster swing in the off-season.
That said the Wings could go with a right wingers in the draft as well since it appears to be their weak spot in their organization. If the draft goes the way PHN’s mock draft is going so far they could go for Nick Bjugstad or Charlie Coyle, but if they decide to go for a d-man Jonathon Merrill from the USA development program who is from Oklahoma City but moved to Michigan when he was 5, is 6’ 3” and his favorite player is Lidstrom.
The Wings have a soft spot for great stories like Merrill’s so expect to hear the following words come draft day.
“With the 21st pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, the Detroit Red Wings select, from the USA development program , defenseman Jonathon Merrill.”
To learn more about Jonathon Merrill click on his name.
Contact the author at Brian.jennings@prohockeynews.com
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