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

The Detroit Red Wings 2021-22 season is almost over. With only 10 games left to play, and being completly removed from the playoff race, they are looking to finish the season strong. However, I’d argue that they should just tank the rest of the season.

The Detroit Red Wings are currently set to finish with a top 10 pick in this years NHL entry draft. Now, rather they win all 10 games or lose all 10 games, their draft positioning wouldn’t really flucatuate all that much because of the point differental.

The Red Wings next 10 games are:

1. Ottawa Senators vs Detroit Red Wings
2. Detroit Red Wings vs Carolina Hurricanes
3. Detroit Red Wings vs New York Rangers
4. Florida Panthers vs Detroit Red Wings
5. Detroit Red Wings vs Tampa Bay Lightning
6. Detroit Red Wings vs Florida Panthers
7. Pittsburgh Penguins vs Detroit Red Wings
8. Detroit Red Wings vs New Jersey Devils
9. Detroit Red Wings vs Toronto Maple Leafs
10. Detroit Red Wings vs New Jersey Devils

As you can see, they have a very difficult schedule coming up. And quite frankly, I don’t expect much from them on this 10 game stretch. Because, let’s say they win all of those games- they would gain 20 points. Those 20 points would put them at 86 which would still have them missing the playoffs. Therefore, the best thing the Red Wings can do, is tank the rest of the season and keep themselves in position for a top 10 pick.

Now, if they can execute that game-plan, then the question arises: Who should the Red Wings target with their pick? Well, let’s take a look at some names we feel they should have on their draft board.

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.