3 Players the Red Wings Should Target in the First-Round

Brad Lambert, C, Pelicans(Finland)

The Detroit Red Wings are a terrific team in the big picture. I mean, they have one of the best prospect pool’s in all of hockey, but what they do lack is the talent over the middle part of the ice.

Between Dylan Larkin and Joe Veleno, there is definetly talent there. However, if you look at the other lines, Pius Suter and Mitchell Stephens are the ones manning the middle and you question their talent. That’s where Brad Lambert comes into play.

Age: 18

Height: 6’0″

Weight: 179 lbs.

Shot: Right

Brad Lambert Breakdown

Brad Lambert is by far and away one of the best skaters in this draft. Now, to be realisitic with this, It should be noted that he is not thee best skater in this draft, but he is undoubtedly a top five skater.

Lambert has great high-end speed and great edgework that allows him to manuver in between defenseman at the blue line and move to the insider in order to get a cleaner look. Additionally, he has also shown the ability to use his speed along the boards to draw defenseman away from the net in order to possibly find a back-door pass.

He is a great skater, and that alone makes him such a dangerous player in this draft. However, there is still more than needs to be talked about.

Yes, he is a very good skater, but that doesn’t mean as much if you can’t do other things as well. By that I’m referring to passing the puck and having a good shot. Potentially lucky for us, he has a terrific shot from the wing and has a very crisp pass- although that part of his game needs work. But, before we talk about his passing, let’s talk about his shot.

Brad Lambert has a very good wrist shot, but I was unable to find a clip of a one-timer which leads me to believe that’s probably a weak point in his game. Nonetheless, as you can see from the video I have posted below, he has quite the wrist shot.

Lambert really put everything he had into that shot which makes it a little bit less crazy how much power he had on the shot, but nonetheless, he still really showed a lot of power on the shot. If he finds a way to get the shot off a little quicker, he could truly become a terrific scorer at the next level. But they will have to work with him on developing a quicker release because he will not have time to get a shot like that off in the NHL.

In the NHL a defenseman is going to close that gap immediatley and there won’t be a shot to get off. It’ll also do him some good to work on his one-timer and grow more confident in that.

Now, let’s talk about his passing ability.

During the film I was able to watch on him, he didn’t really seem to have the whole ‘playmaking’ thing down. Which, to be quite honest, is a little discouraging. As a center, your job is primarily be able to pass the puck off to the wings for good looks. Now, that’s not as much the case anymore, but if you look at most of the centers in the league- a majority of them are elite passers. Lambert is not.

On the other hand though, the fact that his passing is the one thing making me think he won’t be a star in this league is pretty impressive. There are a lot of things people look for and lucky for us, the passing thing can be taught and practiced as long as he’s willing to put the time in on it.

David Jiricek, RHD, HC Plzen

The Detroit Red Wings organization has a lot of budding defenseman, but after taking a look at some of the top names, it appears as though most of them are left-handed defenseman. So, with that, I figured I’d take a look at a right-handed defenseman that the Red Wings should consider a top target with their first-round pick.

Age: 18

Height: 6’3″

Weight: 190 lbs.

Shot: Right

David Jiricek Breakdown

The Detroit Red Wings organization has a lot of budding talent in their system, but if you were able to add David Jiricek as your second-line right-hand defenseman, the defense in front of Nedeljkovic or Cossa would be quite remarkable.

I think it doesn’t really surprise many people if I say that Simon Edvinsson, when he makes the roster, will more than likely be apart of the first-line with Mortiz Seider. However, what are they going to do on the second line behind Seider? That’s where Jiricek comes in.

David Jiricek is a 6’3″ defenseman who makes a great impact on both sides of the ice. I definetly want to talk about both, but given the fact he is a defenseman, let’s talk about his defensive capabilities first.

As a big, strong defenseman, he generally likes to play a man-to-man approach that creates for quite the challenge if your the opposition. He is an aggressive player, which is what makes him such an impactful player to any team that has him. He’s the type of player that will make you get out of the way of his goalie or he’ll do everything he can to move you. Which, is something that would be nice to have.

I mean Mo Seider is definetly similar in that approach, but being able to have two guys like Seider and Jiricek who can play a strong 200 foot game, and put up 18+ minutes a night, it definetly wouldn’t hurt the team- that’s for sure. But, as we all know, defense isn’t the only part we like to have in our defenseman. We also like to have a defenseman who can carry the put through all three zones and be a threat along the perimeter.

David Jiricek is not only a very talented defenseman, but he is also a threat in the transition game with suprisingly good puck control. He very rarely ever seemed to lose the puck during a breakout, and even more so than that, he almost never made a bad pass. He always seemed to put it right on his players tape which is something I don’t think get’s talked about enough.

Anytime you can have a defenseman who has a high level IQ and terrific passing ability, it’s very rare that he will not at least become a top four defenseman. As for his shot, it’s going to make him a integrial part of the Red Wings power play if they land him.

With a phenomonal shot from the perimeter, he could find himself becoming a consistent 12-16 goal scorer. Which, I know that’s not really a ton of goals, but given the fact he is a defenseman- I’d argue that’s a respectable number.

Conor Geekie, C, Winnipeg Ice

As I stated previously with Brad Lambert, the Red Wings need to find a way to improve their center position. They just need to find a way to really make an impact, and given where they will be selecting from, Conor Geekie could be a perfect fit.

Age: 17

Height: 6’4″

Weight: 205 lbs.

Shot: Left

Conor Geekie Breakdown

If I had the choice to get Brad Lambert of Conor Geekie, I would personally chose Brad Lambert. However, Geekie is not to be taken as a joke.

Conor Geekie, being a 6’4″ center with the physical approach to things, doesn’t shy away from challenging people and making them have to really work for it if they wan’t to strip him of the puck. His length really makes it hard for teams to stop him from making a move to the inside or making a move to get to the outside of the defense. Similarly, his length allows him to really make plays on the defensive side as well.

Geekie has a reach that makes it quite easy for him to poke check and stop teams in transition. Knowing that, it could allow him to be one of the best two-way forwards from this draft class.

The biggest concern with Geekie is the fact that his frame, although very benefical to his play style, makes it hard for him to really beat defenders with speed. His top-end speed quite easily matched by the opposition which will make it hard for him to find a way to score in transition or on a breakaway.

Quite honestly, he reminds me quite a bit of Nolan Patrick coming out of the draft which does scare me a little bit. However, I firmly believe that Nolan Patrick still has the ability to become a good player, but he needs to find a team that can give him minutes in a more offensive line.

Having watched a couple games this season when the Vegas Golden Knights had him fill in on the top line, he actually had a couple very good goals and showed terrific offensive talent. That’s what gives me hope that Patrick just needs to find some more minutes on the ice and get a chance to be apart of a teams top six.

I think knowing that, or having that approach makes me have faith that no matter what flaws Geekie has, if he get’s put into a situation where the coach really let’s him go out there and just do what he does best, he could become a big part to this growing Red Wings team.