The Grand Rapids Griffins What if night inspired this post. It was a confusing night on paper, but in execution, the Flying Toasters became a staple among the Grand Rapids Griffins and Detroit Red Wings fanbase. Before the Grand Rapids Griffins were sold on Griffins in their names, they thought about the name the Flying Toasters. It was a night of what could’ve been.
For a handful of reasons, the idea caught fire among fans. Partly, the Grand Rapids Griffins went all out. Also, Simon Edvinsson’s first professional fight was the icing on the cake. It being a Winged Wheel Podcast night was a cherry on top.
Much like this what-if theme for the Grand Rapids Griffins night, I have ventured down the path of what-if scenarios. Seemingly, something so minor can have a major impact on the path we are traversing. It's a long, winding thought process.
Over the last few years, I have caught myself wondering a lot about the Detroit Red Wings and their rebuild.
Here are three scenarios of what if as it applies to the Detroit Red Wings in recent years
There are plenty more scenarios we could review, but I wanted to start with these three.
1 What if the Detroit Red Wings did not pick Filip Zadina?
I’ve heard this idea as often as any what-if scenario among the Detroit Red Wings fandom.
Detroit Red Wings fans were not excited with the way things ended with Filip Zadina. At the time, public scouts (and likely the Detroit Red Wings) had Zadina ranked in the top three of the 2018 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Level Draft. When he fell to sixth overall, the Detroit Red Wings about tripped over themselves to get to the stage.
From my perspective, Zadina kept my interest that was fading in a Detroit Red Wings team starting a rebuild. Even though things didn’t work out for Zadina and the Detroit Red Wings, he holds a special place in my heart. I’m happy he’s enjoying his time in Switzerland (quite frankly, I’m jealous of the beautiful views he gets to see every day).
Now, I have heard everyone in hindsight saying the Detroit Red Wings should have taken Vancouver Canucks superstar Quinn Hughes. Of course, now that we know what we know, Hughes likely should have gone first overall. The Buffalo Sabres aren’t mad with Rasmus Dahlin (first overall), the Carolina Hurricanes aren’t made with Andrej Svechnikov (second overall), and the Ottawa Senators fans may complain, but they found their captain in Brady Tkachuk. Hughes is on another level, though.
In a perfect world, former Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland would have selected Hughes. The reality, though, is that had Zadina not been available, Holland would have picked Evan Bouchard. A current Edmonton Oilers player, he’s leaving a positive mark in the NHL. He is not Hughes, though. Let’s get that straight first and foremost.
Second, a 6’3” right-handed defenseman who is described as “a highly intelligent all-around defenseman that plays with poise and can shift the pace of play in a multitude of ways” on Elite Prospects. It makes me wonder, had the Detroit Red Wings selected Bouchard who would they have selected at sixth overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Level Draft?
In his return to the Detroit Red Wings, would newly named general manager Steve Yzerman have selected Moritz Seider? Seemingly, Seider and Bouchard possess a lot of the same skills and are a similar size. We can’t ever have too many big right-handed defensemen but it seems like a duplicate that maybe Yzerman might not go for (but maybe he would, who knows).
It would be an odd picture to have the Detroit Red Wings without Seider in the mix. Or, it might be neat to see two large right-handed defensemen on the Detroit Red Wings blueline. The question would emerge, would the Detroit Red Wings keep Seider and Bouchard, or would one have been traded instead of Filip Hronek? This rabbit hole runs deep, so I’ll just stop there.
2 What if the Detroit Red Wings promoted Yzerman to general manager instead of choosing Holland?
The year was 2010. Seemingly a lifetime ago when “Tik Tok” was a popular tune on the radio rather than an app on someone’s phone.
As the Detroit Red Wings shifted gears, Holland had spent time teaching Yzerman the ways of management. The prevailing thought, or natural step, would have been seeing The Captain promoted to general manager. Where Holland would land, we weren’t sure but it seemed pretty likely that Yzerman would get the reins of his storied team.
It wasn’t the case, though, and Yzerman had to pack his bags. Flying south, he found a home with the Tampa Bay Lightning for almost a decade.
The blow to Detroit Red Wings fans was harsh, only made worse by the poor performance on the ice season after season. As Holland desperately tried hanging on to a dying playoff streak, the Detroit Red Wings system floundered in both the standings as well as drafting and developing.
Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Lightning built a formidable team that is still wreaking havoc on the rest of the league. No matter if it’s the regular season or playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning are not fun to play against. They’re nasty and highly skilled season after season. Each season, we think (or at least hope) the Tampa Bay Lightning fall off the ladder, but nope, they keep chugging along, defying age and salary caps alike.
Although this situation seems upsetting to Detroit Red Wings fans, what could Yzerman have done in the same decade for the Detroit Red Wings if he were in charge?
I will say that as fun and exciting as it seems on the surface, Yzerman did a lot of hard learning with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Specifically, with drafting, he would try to take the best player available regardless of personality. It’s something that we continue to see throughout the NHL today. However, Yzerman is adamant that his players are of high character. It’s a contrast to the original thought process we saw for picks like Tony DeAngelo.
From day one, Yzerman has focused on bringing in high-quality people instead of guys who are questionable, at least personality-wise. Of course, he’s not perfect (he’s brought in questionable free-agent signings), but for the most part, he’s continuing to build a team of great people.
I can attest that regardless of their status within the organization, every player I have interacted with has been stellar. It’s not always the case, as some players I have (or tried) to interact with in the past have not been…nice. It’s cool to see how far Yzerman has grown as a general manager and human being. I have to wonder if this same growth would have happened had he stayed with the Detroit Red Wings organization.
3 What if the Detroit Red Wings picked first overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Level Draft?
Not going to lie, the 2019-20 season was possibly the most difficult season to watch. I feel like the Detroit Red Wings should have paid us fans to watch it that’s how bad it was.
Luckily for them and us, we had Yzerman at the instilling hope in a trying time. Even after the news broke that the Detroit Red Wings were picking fourth overall, Yzerman was typical Yzerman. Calm, confident, and reassuring to the Detroit Red Wings fanbase. Without missing a beat, he assured fans that they would get a great option at fourth overall. He even said, who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky like the Colorado Avalanche and Cale Makar. The best player can be found anywhere in the draft.
Maybe at that time, he already knew who he was picking, but maybe not.
Curiously, if the Detroit Red Wings picked first through third in the 2020 NHL Entry Level Draft, would they have selected Lucas Raymond?
For discussion’s sake, let’s say the Detroit Red Wings picked first overall to make the options less abundant.
Originally, the draft went as follows:
1 Alexis Lafrenière (New York Rangers)
2 Quinten Byfield (LA Kings)
3 Tim Stützle (Ottawa Senators)
4 Lucas Raymond (Detroit Red Wings)
For this scenario, it’s hard to set aside my bias. Cards on the table: Raymond is my favorite player on the current Detroit Red Wings roster.
People can throw their reasonings why the Detroit Red Wings would have selected any of the other top three players. I’m not quite sure any of them would have the impact that Raymond has had on the Detroit Red Wings. It’s wild to say as Stützle is a center who performs in the offensive zone at an unreal rate, Lafrenière and Byfield are coming into their own with their respective clubs. Let’s face it, most teams would have probably selected the top three according to how they went on draft night, but there’s just something so special about Raymond.
It’s not to minimize anything else any other player on this list has done, but Raymond is so mature and confident in himself. He’s got that Yzerman, Henrik Zetterberg, Derek Jeter quality about him where you can’t quite put your finger on what makes him so great, but if you know, you know.
There’s the hat tricks he scores, the higher the pressure, the better he performs, or his ability to provide consistent offense at such a young age in a challenging league. However, I go back to Raymond passing up an empty net goal so that his captain, Larkin, would break his goalscoring drought as my main source of why I love Raymond so much. Raymond tried downplaying the action. Fans, media, and Larkin seemed concerned about the scoring drought. Raymond’s confidence in his captain didn’t waiver, knowing Larkin only needed a spark to reignite his scoring touch. It’s something so small, but something Raymond does for his teammates that is wise beyond his years.
Just like I couldn’t picture this team without Seider, I couldn’t fathom a world in which Raymond is anything but a Detroit Red Wings player. Even as incredibly, Raymond made a season like the 2019-20 season, which was so painful and exhausting as a Detroit Red Wings fan, worth every second.
I guess it’s like they say: everything happens for a reason.