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4 months ago: Detroit Red Wings second round picks Landon Ferraro, left, and Tomas Tatar, from Slovakia, meet backstage at the 2009 NHL entry draft in Montreal Saturday, June 27, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ryan Remiorz)

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With their first pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Detroit Red Wings selected Landon Ferraro. Detroit used their No. 32 pick to grab the son of former NHLer Ray Ferraro. With the Red Deer Rebels in the WHL, he posted 37 goals and 18 assists for a total of 55 points.

Quick stats:

Born: August 8, 1991 (Burnaby, B.C.)

Position: Center (shoots right)

Size: 6-0, weighing in at 170

He spoke with TSN right after the announcement and here is what he said (that I was able to quickly type down so it may not be 100% accurate):

"It's pretty nice one. I've always loved the red. It was dissapointing to slip last night. It's a great organization and I'm thrilled right now...They [his family] had a pretty good feeling I was going to head to Detroit

[On his strengths...] My speed and knowledge, vision on the ice. I get myself in pretty good decision and whack in some rebounds.

The interview went pretty well I think. As soon as they went down, I knew they knew I was probably going to be around. I'm just really happy."

For more on Ferraro, click on the link below.

NHL.com:

NHL Central Scouting’s Blair MacDonald
"He's very good defensively. He has very good defensive positioning; he's always on the right side of the puck. If there's a turnover he's in good position right away. And he comes back deep in his own zone to help. He's very strong defensively, as well as being an offensive threat."

Red Deer Rebels head coach Jesse Wallin
"Ferraro is the most highly-touted of the (Rebel’s prospects). He's got great natural ability, he's got tremendous speed and he's got that knack to score goals that you can't teach. He's got that innate ability to find the net that makes him a special player."

The Hockey News Draft Preview (print):

Playing for a very weak Red Deer Rebels team, Ferraro managed to score 37 goals and made a positive impression.

Landon is not much bigger than his father [Ray], but his size is not viewed as a detriment to his NHL future. He needs to work on his defensive game, but will look a lot better in that area when his team improves.

And that's the only wart on what is otherwise a strong combination of attributes. Ferraro skates well, thinks the game on a high level and has a consistent work ethic. He's also developed into a player who can find the net, just like his father.

"Really good puck skills and hockey sense," a scout said. "He does everything pretty well."

Vancouver Sun:

Landon just completed his second season with the Rebels and scored 37 goals and 55 points. He's a lot like his dad, with good speed and a nose for the net.

"There are definitely things we do the same," Landon says. "He was a fast player, but I think I am a bit faster than him. I'm pretty sure that he was a bit quicker than I was down low. He really made his mark in a game down low and attacking the net.

"I'm more of a player that uses my speed wide and can take a shot and kind of bully my way a bit more than he could to the front of the net. I think our vision is where we are most similar. He had a lot of rebound goals and so do I."

Ray, who scored 408 goals in 1,258 NHL games, thinks it is his son's speed that has caught the attention of NHL scouts.

"He's just a terrific skater," Ray says of Landon. "As far as flat-out speed, I don't think there's many guys in this draft that go much quicker than him. But his greatest strength is just his ability to know where to be and to be there at the right time. In my opinion that is not a taught skill. You've either got it or you don't and he's always seemed to have a knack to be in the right place on the ice."

Matchsticks & Gasoline (they had picked Ferraro in the SBN mock draft):

It came down to Carter Ashton and Landon Ferraro in the reader poll, so I made a judgment call: Ferraro, although smaller, outscored Ashton by 7 goals and 5 points, even though he played on a vastly inferior team. The Lethbridge Hurricanes managed 227 goals for during the regular season, while the Rebels garnered a second-in-the-league worst 172. In terms of percentage of total team offense, Ferraro accounted for 32% of those 172 goals while Ashton was a more modest contributor to his club's attack (22%). 

The only statistical area in which Ashton was superior was plus/minus - but that probably had more to do with cirucumstances than anything else. The Hurricanes were one goal under water in terms of goal differential last season. The Rebels, in contrast, were -78 (!). In fact, most of Ferraro's scouting reports claim he is defensively responsible, suggesting his number is a result of being on the ice a lot for a bad team (own zone draws, empty net goals against, etc.).

Via Andrew's Dallas Stars Page:

"Pure goal scorer put up solid numbers despite having little help on a bad team. Has the ability to score in a variety of ways - off the rush with a solo effort, near the circles with a 1-timer, or jumping on rebounds in the crease. Terrific shooting accuracy and a super-quick release."
- Red Line Report 2009 Draft Guide

"Ferraro is blessed with imagination and sports tremendously skilled hands. He is blessed with the patience and confidence of a goal scorer.
- Ron Jones, McKeen's Hockey

Sports Forecaster:

Scouting Report: The son of former NHL center Ray Ferraro led the Rebels with 37 goals in his second WHL campaign in 2008-09. He also led Red Deer in points and power-play goals... has a sniper's mentality and a great release... needs to get stronger in order to battle bigger players in the pro game... must also become a better passer in order to keep defenses honest... sported a team-worst minus-23 rating in '08-09...

Red Wings Central:

ANALYSIS: The son of former NHLer Ray Ferraro is a tenacious, two-way worker who goes into traffic and wins faceoff. He was ranked by most publications as a first-round pick. "That boy can skate," one scout said. "He has good hockey sense and he knows how to play the game."