Holy hell, the Oilers didn’t get it!
The Red Wings have found themselves in a familiar position — 6th overall in the Draft. The same spot they had in 2018 when they selected Filip Zadina. Detroit fell two spots in the lottery. The biggest surprise is the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks moved up 12 spots for 3rd overall. The winner of Jack Hughes came down to one of the NHL’s best rivals. The Devils and Rangers were the last two teams — the Devils coming out on top for the number 1 pick in Vancouver this June.
So, here’s the order for the lottery teams in the 2019 NHL Draft:
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Rangers
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Colorado Avalanche
- Los Angeles Kings
- Detroit Red Wings
- Buffalo Sabres
- Edmonton Oilers
- Anaheim Ducks
- Vancouver Canucks
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Minnesota Wild
- Florida Panthers
- Arizona Coyotes
- Montreal Canadiens
I’ll be honest, I see the drop-off of talent between the top-two, and bottom-six in this Draft as very steep. Tonight was all about number 1 and number 2. The Red Wings now need to focus on what they need at number 6. I have my eyes on guys like Alex Turcotte, Trevor Zegras, Kirby Dach, or Cole Caufield. As a primer, I’ve listed the top-20 prospects according to Future Considerations.
Top 20 prospects
| RANK | NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | POSITION | HEIGHT | WEIGHT | NATION |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hughes, Jack | NTDP | USHL | C | 5-10 | 170 | USA |
| 2 | Kakko, Kaapo | TPS | Liiga | RW | 6-2 | 195 | FIN |
| 3 | Podkolzin, Vasili | SKA St. Petersburg | MHL | RW | 6-1 | 190 | RUS |
| 4 | Byram, Bowen | Vancouver | WHL | D | 6-1 | 195 | CAN |
| 5 | Krebs, Peyton | Kootenay | WHL | LW | 5-11 | 180 | CAN |
| 6 | Dach, Kirby | Saskatoon | WHL | C | 6-4 | 200 | CAN |
| 7 | Cozens, Dylan | Lethbridge | WHL | C | 6-3 | 180 | CAN |
| 8 | Turcotte, Alex | NTDP | USHL | C | 5-11 | 190 | USA |
| 9 | Boldy, Matthew | NTDP | USHL | LW | 6-2 | 185 | USA |
| 10 | Zegras, Trevor | NTDP | USHL | C | 6-0 | 170 | USA |
| 11 | Soderstrom, Victor | Brynas | SHL | D | 5-11 | 180 | SWE |
| 12 | Suzuki, Ryan | Barrie | OHL | C | 6-0 | 180 | CAN |
| 13 | York, Cam | NTDP | USHL | D | 5-11 | 170 | USA |
| 14 | Robertson, Matthew | Edmonton | WHL | D | 6-3 | 200 | CAN |
| 15 | Seider, Moritz | Mannheim | DEL | D | 6-4 | 190 | GER |
| 16 | Caufield, Cole | NTDP | USHL | RW | 5-7 | 155 | USA |
| 17 | Broberg, Philip | AIK | Allsvenskan | D | 6-3 | 200 | SWE |
| 18 | Newhook. Alex | Victoria | BCHL | C | 5-10 | 190 | CAN |
| 19 | Lavoie, Raphael | Halifax | QMJHL | C | 6-4 | 190 | CAN |
| 20 | McMichael, Connor | London | OHL | C | 5-11 | 170 | CAN |
So, it’s not Jack Hughes, and it’s not Kaapo Kakko… But the Red Wings will find themselves another top talent to add to the cupboard. A top-10 pick could also be a useful tool in a trade. Who knows. It’s going to be a real weird summer.
