DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings find themselves in a very usual place in the 2017 NHL Draft: Having a top 10 pick. By missing the playoffs for the first time in a quarter century, the Red Wings have the 9th pick overall, the highest the team has had since they took Martin LaPointe 10th overall in 1991. However, one can’t help to think that the pick should have been higher.
This team wasn’t going to make the playoffs this year — not even in the Eastern Conference where seemingly everyone was in the mix until the last couple weeks of the regular season. It just wasn’t good enough, and the construction of the team is a large reason why. Part of reason the team is picking 9th instead of higher is because the team never quite committed fully to its youth. Many fans, knowing the playoff streak was going to end, would’ve rather seen the team miss the postseason with a roster stocked with kids rather than a mix of a few kids and overpaid veterans.
This year’s draft is pivotal for many reasons. For starters, the team opens its long-awaited (and much needed) new rink. Second, Head Coach Jeff Blashill is entering the third year of his four-year contract. A poor season and the Ilitch family won’t hesitate to eat the final year of the contract.
Finally, General Manager Ken Holland is entering the final year of his current contract as well. The Stanley Cups that he presided over are getting further and further in the rearview mirror. Holland was able to win the Stanley Cups in two different ways: Both by mortgaging the future in terms of prospects and picks to get high-priced veterans, and mixing vets with homegrown stars. And he did it without the luxury of high first round picks, and in the cases of the 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2010 drafts, he had no first round picks at all.
But now, tight to the salary cap with too many immovable contracts thanks to no-trade or no-movement clauses doled out like Halloween candy (Jonathan Ericsson? Darren Helm? And let’s not even get started on Justin Abdelkader), this draft is crucial. It’s not a deep draft where you can use the plethora of third round picks to your advantage as the team has done in the past. This year is a must-hit situation.
The glaring holes in the system are center and defense, and part of the direction they go will be determined by who Vegas picks in the Expansion Draft. Likely the Golden Knights are taking a young defenseman. Expecting a blue-liner to end up in Vegas, the Red Wings will need to not only restock that area, but will need someone who can move the puck and have a strong two-way game.
Sweden has been good to the Detroit Red Wings: Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Nicklas Kronwall, Johan Franzen were all crucial cogs to Stanley Cup teams in years past. IN our own humble opinion, we see Detroit going back to that Swedish well one more time with Timothy Liljegren.
Liljegren is that elite, top-pairing defenseman that Detroit needs, especially after trading Jakob Chychrun to Arizona for the cap hit of Pavel Datsyuk. Liljegren has been praised for his hockey IQ, offensive skill, and ability to quarterback the powerplay. He checks the boxes of everything you need.
“With the 9th pick of the NHL Entry Draft, the Detroit Red Wings select Timothy Liljegren defenseman of Timra in the Swedish Elite League.”
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