Detroit Red Wings 2019 draft a success or failure?

A quick background, the National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Level Draft is considered hypothetical guesses at best, blind shots in the dark at the worst.

With seven rounds, a draft is considered a success for a team if they find two NHL-caliber players in one draft. Anymore than that–in terms of volume or quality player–increases the considered success of the draft. 

Generally, a prospect outside the top-three pick of an NHL Entry Level Draft is expected to make the NHL in five years or less. Otherwise, the likelihood of him seeing NHL ice in his lifetime is slim to none. 

For this reason, I think it’s a bit shortsighted for my own analysis (other people are empowered to value other things than I do) to attempt to gauge drafts until the five year mark has elapsed. Of course, we can see how players have developed and if their path is on the right track. Also, there are players who haven’t signed a contract within a certain timeframe that are considered out of the organization before this five-year time period commences. 

To make sure that I don’t jump the gun on a player, I like to give the full five-years to assess a draft and each individual player’s development. Since Detroit Red Wings’ general manager, Steve Yzerman took over the team just before the 2019 NHL Entry Level Draft, I thought it would be a fun exercise to assess the draft class as a whole.

Was the Detroit Red Wings 2019 NHL Entry Level Draft considered a success?

It was a question that I posed to Twitter (I refuse to call it by the other name) as I still go back and forth myself. Having a sounding board is nice to help me gather my thoughts. Here are the results of the single day poll:

Thank you to everyone who participated! 

A high percentage believe in the Yzerplan’s initial draft, with almost 19% still unsure of the outcome. Just under 13% considered it a failure of a draft.

Honestly, I’m a bit surprised at the results.

The Detroit Red Wings fans as a whole have seemed to lose a little glimmer of hope with the Yzerplan over the last year or so. However, maybe the people I’m counting as dampening the excitement are just the loudest, not as voluminous as I thought previously.

To reflect, here are the picks from the 2019 NHL Entry Level Draft for the Detroit Red Wings:

Round 1: Moritz Seider
Round 2: Antti Tuomisto; Robert Mastrosimone; Albert Johansson
Round 3: Albin Grewe
Round 4: Ethan Phillips
Round 5: Cooper Moore
Round 6: Elmer Söderblom; Gustav Berglund
Round 7: Kirill Tyutyayev; Carter Gylander

To me, the draft’s merit is based on their successes. Here’s te list I have compiled of successes from the 2019 NHL Entry Level Draft and my reasonings for why they are a success in my mind.

Moritz Seider:

Clearly, the number one player from this draft is Moritz Seider. 

Regardless of where you stand, he is a cornerstone of the Detroit Red Wings defense. I don’t care if you do or don’t think he’s a number one defenseman, if he’s elite, or if he’s overrated, all that I can say is that without Seider the Detroit Red Wings would be up a creek without a boat–let alone a paddle.

Some fans might say that because he’s so valuable that the draft is an overall success no matter draft selections following. I tend to agree, if a team finds someone so valuable it’s a successful draft.

However, I wouldn’t call it a homerun of a draft. 

Elmer Söderblom:

I think it’s an interesting concept to grade drafts and prospects. 

On the surface, I could see the argument that Elmer Söderblom is not a success.

This season proved his toughest challenge so far, and I’m not sure things will get easier this upcoming season. He’s part of the mushy middle in terms of winger prospects. Considering his raw skill and abilities, it’s a bit disappointing seeing him not flourish like I hope he could.

At the same time, Söderblom was drafted in the sixth round overall.

Rarely do we sixth round picks play NHL games, sometimes they don’t even come to North America. 

No matter where Söderblom ends his career, he has been a success in terms of where he was drafted and how far he’s come. Also, I reckon he’s not done in his development path with the Detroit Red Wings. I look forward to what his future holds this season and beyond.

Albert Johansson: 

The stars didn’t quite align for Albert Johansson this season in terms of making his regular season debut in the NHL. 

This fact doesn’t detract from the positive steps that Johansson has taken last season and across his development thus far. When he’s at his best, Johansson is reliable, plays well with most defense partners, and reads plays exceptionally well–especially in the defensive zone while trying to stop the opponent’s cycle.

He should be a NHL player and I’m hoping it’s longer with a better role than fans are expecting at this point.

Antti Tuomisto:

After an unconventional path to the American Hockey League (AHL), Antti Tuomisto had a bumpy start. Showing pretty well opening weekend, it took a while for him to get healthy and earn trust from his coach.

For a good chunk of the season, though, Tuomisto was the number one right handed defenseman on the Grand Rapids Griffins. Whether that’s purely from his play or by default, Tuomisto played well.

It should be interesting to see how the lineup shakes out this season in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as I think Tuomisto might have some more work to do before making the jump to the NHL. However, I think he makes the jump sooner than later, if nothing more than to see if the Detroit Red Wings want to offer another contract to Tuomisto.

Carter Gylander:

Maybe I’m a bit biased, as I have always had a soft spot for Carter Gylander, but he’s still developing in the Detroit Red Wings system.

Goalies tend to take longer to develop and being a seventh round pick gives Gylander more runway to prepare himself for a run at the NHL. Being under contract through the 2025-26 season, I think it will be interesting to see him and Jan Bednař fight for the backup role for the Grand Rapids Griffins (barring one of the Detroit Red Wings goalies being reassigned to the team).

He’s been a success in terms of his uphill climb just to get this far, but he still has a chance to play in the NHL. An impressive feat in my book.

Kirill Tyutyayev:

As an honorable mention, I have to share that Kirill Tyutyayev may not be within the Detroit Red Wings system anymore, but for a pint-sized kid from seventh round, Tyutyayev spent time in the AHL and ECHL before returning to Russia.

It may not have ended the way we all hoped, but it doesn’t diminish how far Tyutyayev came in his development. He’s a fun player and I hope he has a blast in his career wherever that may be.

The Detroit Red Wings: Success

I can see the Detroit Red Wings 2019 NHL Entry Level Draft being considered a failure based on the historical, industry standards (two-to-three NHL players from each draft that play in the NHL within five years of being drafted) as a failure.

Yzerman, though, marches to his own drum. Call them air, bongo, or belly drums, the usual standards don’t seem to apply. More time is needed to properly assess a handful of players (namely: Söderblom, Johansson, Tuomisto, and Gylander) before the final verdict can be handed out.

In the meantime, I would consider the 2019 NHL Entry Level Draft for the Detroit Red Wings as hopefully a success. Considering the number of players still under contract who have a chance to not only play in the NHL, but play meaningful roles within the team is something to celebrate.

After this season, I hope to revisit this concept with a much more confident answer to this question.