How Are the Detroit Red Wings Top Five NHL Draft Picks Performing?
As the 2018-19 season heads towards the end, the Detroit Red Wings have a lot to look back on, however, what happened with our top five picks from last years 2018 NHL Entry Draft. With Zadina leading the way by being on the NHL roster as of now, what happened to the rest of them as of now.
Last year, the Detroit Red Wings went into the 2018 NHL Entry Draft with a strong need for a defenseman, but they ended up coming out of the first round and their first three picks all being forwards. With the sixth overall pick, the Red Wings selected forward Filip Zadina and then with the 30th overall pick they selected forward Joe Veleno.
The Red Wings then took forward Jonatan Berggren in the second round at pick number 33. Almost, immediately following Berggren’s pick the Red Wings finally took a defenseman, Jared McIsaac, at pick number 36. With their third-round draft pick, the Red Wings selected another defenseman, Alec Regula.
All these names are great, but who are they? Where are they now? Have they panned out as great as GM Ken Holland has talked them up to be? The Red Wings have obviously called up Filip Zadina, and he recently netted his first NHL goal, but the thing is that is only one of their top five draft picks.
By taking a more in-depth look at these five guys, we can get a better sense of where this franchise’s young talent is coming from, as well as how good of a draft class we managed coming out of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
A lot of the Red Wings post-draft talk revolved around Filip Zadina and the talent he could bring to the table for the Detroit Red Wings in the near future.
Filip Zadina who was recently called up to the Red Wings NHL roster, recently scored his first NHL goal in a game against the Avalanche. Zadina is a 6’0 foot, 196lb left-hand shooting right-winger. Zadina who spent most of his time this year with Grand Rapids posted a 15 goal, 16 assists for 31 point campaign throughout his 45 games with the Griffins.
Besides his time with the Griffins, Zadina joined the Czech Republic for the 2019 World Junior Championship(WJC) where he played in 5 games, tallying 1 goal for 1 point on ten total shots. His WJC stats were not the most impressive, but they still allowed him some extra time to develop against this new wave of young talent including some names that should stand out like Team USA’s Jack Hughes or Team Finland’s Kaapo Kakko.
During his time with the Griffins, he has not had the most amazing stats but the adjustment to American Hockey League(AHL) caliber of play, has been a tough one for the 19-year old rookie. Zadina just needs time, and allowing him to get a taste of the NHL talent level for nine games is only going to help him over his development.
The reason he will only be up with the NHL club for nine games is so that he does not lose a year off of his entry-level contract. It would also make Zadina eligible for the 2021 Seattle NHL expansion team draft. With Zadina, there could be plenty to look forward too, he is 19 and needs time to adjust and adapt to this new level of talent here at the NHL and AHL levels of play before he excels at the NHL level.
Assuming he is able to overcome these struggles, Zadina could blossom into the sixth overall pick we were all sold on last June.
After taking a top-rated forward in Zadina, the Detroit Red Wings opted to take a chance on another possible top-rated forward who fell on the draft board. A team that was shooting to grab defensemen ended up leaving the first-round with two forwards.
The Red Wings selected Joe Veleno with the 30th overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Keep in mind; the Red Wings did not necessarily trade up for him, when we traded Tomas Tatar we acquired the 30th overall pick as a return. Veleno is a 6’1, 191lb left-handed shooting center. Just like Zadina, Veleno participated in the 2019 WJC for Team Canada where he notched 2 assists in 5 games.
Veleno has been making some noise, not at the NHL or AHL level, but he has been putting up some serious numbers in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Veleno has 41 goals, 58 assists for 99 points through 53 games for the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL.
Veleno was initially projected to be a top ten pick in the draft, but he fell later to when the Red Wings scooped him up. This pick was huge for them to be able to add two supposed top ten players to their organization even if the focus was supposed to be on defensemen.
As Octopus Thrower Site Expert Bob Heyrman recently wrote that even though Veleno may be at the QMJHL level, he is a serious threat to make this roster come training camp next season. This may be a bit much looking ahead into next year right now, but the 19-year old is third in the QMJHL in points and could definitely be a real threat in the coming years.
This kid has shown a lot more than Zadina has, however, Veleno is at a different level of hockey and may experience some growing pains when he moves to the next levels and the caliber of play changes. It is normal for players to go through this, and most players do but look out for Veleno to have a great impact on the Red Wings shortly.
A continuing trend from the Red Wings 2018 NHL Draft class was another forward… selecting Swedish forward Jonatan Berggren early in the second round again shying away from taking a defenseman still.
The Detroit Red Wings selected Jonatan Berggren in the second round three picks before they finally nabbed a defenseman. Berggren is an 18-year old Swedish prospect who represented Team Sweden in the IIHF tournament this year.
In the 5 games with Team Sweden, he managed only 3 assists and was even in terms of plus/minus. This season he has played only sixteen games in the Swedish Hockey League where he has also only put up three assists.
The 5’10”, 178lb winger has a lot to develop before we see him over here as a part of the Red Wings franchise. Berggren has flown well under the radar in this season most likely due to the lack of production.
He is merely trying to strengthen his game, he is known for his hands and puck control, and he will need to make sure other areas of his game can develop before he gets a shot at the Red Wings organization.
In terms of his future with the Detroit Red Wings, expect Berggren to be a revisited prospect in the coming years, he is still very young and has a lot of raw talent that needs to be shown, needs to be developed, and needs to be perfect.
At 18 years old it could take him some time before the Red Wings feel he is ready for NHL or AHL competition. His smaller build means that he will be required to develop some strength
The Detroit Red Wings finally took a defenseman three picks after taking Berggren, selecting Jared McIsaac with the 36th overall pick. McIsaac is just what the Red Wings needed coming out of the draft when they needed a defenseman in the first place.
Red Wings GM Ken Holland finally picked up a much-needed defenseman to add by picking up Jared McIsaac. The 6’1″, 192lb left-hand shooting defenseman is currently playing in the QMJHL for the Halifax Mooseheads. McIsaac is also a young kid; he is only 18 years old and will offer some much-needed defensive help for the Red Wings as he ages and develops further.
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McIsaac is tearing it up this year in the QMJHL coming in second among defenseman in points with 59 total points. He is tied for first among defenseman with 15 goals and has 44 assists to make up his 59 points.
Beyond the QMJHL, McIsaac also made the 2019 WJC roster for Team Canada registering one assist in four games for Team Canada. McIsaac has been playing excellent hockey lately and is making a case to be a strong candidate to make the team out of camp next year.
The Red Wings can only hope that McIsaac will join the crop of young defenseman whom we currently are grooming to be a part of this rebuilding team. With names like Dennis Cholowski and Filipp Hronek, the Red Wings can only hope that McIsaac can step into a role and flourish alongside these other young defensemen.
Expect McIsaac to make a strong push in development to do something similar to what Cholowski did this year and step into a starting role come training camp next season for the Red Wings.
In the third round, the Detroit Red Wings took Alec Regula, the hometown boy from West Bloomfield who is also a defenseman that can be added to the growing crop that the Red Wings have coming up in the future.
The hometown boy is an 18-year old who stands 6’4″ at 205lbs and is a right-handed shot. Regula has spent his time this past season in the Ontario Hockey League with the London Knights. Regula is very young, and there has not been a ton of recent news on him this season. Regula has put up 10 goals and 27 assists for 37 points for the London Knights in the OHL so far this season.
Regula offers a lot of upside heading into this summer, he is producing, and his numbers show it, and it can only mean good things for his development as time drones on the Red Wings should only hope that the hometown kid can be active on the blue line.
With the Red Wings having a lot of defenseman in their system, they can only hope that a few of them will stick out and blossom into these talented and prized NHL caliber players. Regula seems to be producing in a way that, if he keeps it up, he would be able to have a great effect on this team’s defenseman and hopefully work his way into that top six starting role.
With his father being the former team dentist, Regula knows what it takes to play professional hockey, and the Detroit Red Wings can only hope that he will work that hard enough to crack a spot in the top six and be a solid defenseman both offensively and defensively.
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Overall, the Detroit Red Wings have a lot to look forward too with these five guys, there are more, but in terms of our top five picks from the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, they left us with something to watch in the coming years.