It’s been a while since the Detroit Red Wings landed a draft steal of their own, as the only recent late-round pick, Elmer Soderblom (sixth-round, 2019), has seen NHL ice. He played in 21 games for the Red Wings during the 2022-23 season and put up eight points and five goals.
Before Soderblom, you would need to flash back to Alex Regula (third-round, 2018), who has played in 22 games with the Chicago Blackhawks. Between his debut in the 2020-21 season and 2022-23, he scored just one point, and the bulk of his basic statistics have come on defense, with 32 blocks and 28 hits.
Christoffer Ehn (fourth-round, 2014) is the last player the Red Wings drafted in the mid-to-late rounds to have seen ample playing time, which occurred between the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons when he added 114 games and 13 points to his resume.
So it’s safe to say that the Red Wings have primarily benefited from the first two rounds of the NHL Draft. But will they land any future steals this season with six draft picks between the third and seventh rounds? Maybe, and there will be some surefire steals available on Day 2 on Saturday, June 29th.
William McIsaac, D/Spokane Chiefs
William McIsaac may look like a “defensive defenseman,” but I wouldn’t claim that’s all he will be if he makes it to the NHL just yet. Looking at the imposing blueliner’s numbers in the WHL between 2021-22 and 2023-24, he went from zero points in just five games to 11 points and two goals across 66 contests in 2022-23.
Finally, McIsaac more than doubled that total to 27 points and six goals in 67 regular season games this past year, leaving us wondering if there will be an encore in store for 2024-25. If so, we may swap the “defensive defenseman” label out for “two-way defenseman,” and from there, this projected mid-to-late-round pick should draw a lot of interest among fans if Steve Yzerman drafted him.
We know McIsaac will keep up a physical game and break up plays to return puck possession back to his team. But we don’t know if he’ll keep trending upward when his team has the puck, and that’s a burning question he will answer regardless of which system he’s playing in.