With their third pick in the second round, the Red Wings selected forward Cross Hanas from the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks with the no. 55 pick. Yzerman and his team went a little off the board here, though Elite Prospects likes his puck-handling abilities. Most other scouting services had Hanas in the 90-110 range.
Hanas is the first non-Swede the Red Wings have taken in the 2020 NHL Draft, and while his numbers as a second-year WHLer don’t exactly jump out at you, his highlight reel is something to behold:
Oh yeah… He can do “The Michigan Goal.”
Future Considerations had Hanas ranked at 109, again, carrying on the narrative that he’s a gifted playmaker, but the six-foot-one winger has room to get stronger:
“Known as a playmaking forward, he can be a bit weak on his skates and easy to knock off balance. He could improve on his speed and needs to keep his feet moving to keep up with the play as he often is caught trailing the play. He carries a long stride and has decent quickness when given a second to adjust and find his form. He is willing to fire shots from all angles on the ice but needs to work on being more selective on this front, as well as not throwing bad passes out.”
To me, it’s clear what Steve Yzerman is doing: He’s racking up prospects that are “high-ceiling” type projects. That shows that he’s trying to swing at as much potential talent as he can with the wealth of picks he has. The Red Wings have two picks in the 3rd round, and two picks in the 4th round.. It should be interesting to see where he goes from here.