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Wings go heavy for defense at draft table |
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It’s no secret that defense was a need of the Detroit Red Wings, so it was no surprise at all that the Wings made choosing defensemen a priority during the 2016 NHL entry draft.
Four of Detroit’s top five picks were defensemen.
“We had identified this as being a fairly deep draft for D,” Detroit’s director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright said. “It was an organizational need that we thought we needed to get more defense into our system.
“When we got into the later rounds, the D just kind of kept falling to us.”
All of the defenseman drafted by the Wings is known for their ability to move the puck and join the rush.
“That's who we are, our identity as Red Wings,” Wright said. “Everybody wants to get bigger, faster, stronger and smarter. Those guys go 1-2 overall. Everybody later on, guys have got a little bit of deficiencies and we try to put those aside and see what they do really good.
“You get those puck-moving, smooth guys and sometimes they lack some size but you've got to give and take sometimes. So we thought on our back end with the prospects that we drafted, they have the quality to be some good, puck-moving defensemen in the NHL.
“We hope they take a bunch of steps along the way.”
The Wings were also able to address other areas of need. Givani Smith gives them a winger who will go to the net and provide sandpaper. Filip Larsson offers goaltending depth.
“We walked away pretty happy today,” Wright said. “Everybody says that but we're legitimately pretty excited. We targeted quite a few guys in areas and we thought we addressed those needs in more than one thing within the organization.”
The skinny on Detroit’s picks:
19. Dennis Cholowski, D, Chilliwack (BCHL)
Cholowski plays a controlled game on the back end, is a silky smooth skater and puck mover, the prototype of the modern NHL defender.
“He’s an elite skater and he’s got elite hockey sense, which is what really kind of drove us towards him,” Wright said. “We feel that projection-wise in four or five years we believe he could be a top-four guy, a top-four defenseman in the National Hockey League.
“He’s one of the best-skating defensemen in this draft. He’s kind of been a little bit of a late bloomer, has done a lot of growing in the last couple years. We still believe he could still be growing for that matter, which would be a plus. We think we’ve got a good group of kids coming along. We thought he’d fit in that defense mold for us.”
46. Givani Smith, RW, Guelph (OHL)
The younger brother of Dallas Stars prospect Gemel Smith, at 6-2, 204 pounds Givani is more of a physical presence than his older sibling, who’s known as a goal scorer. The younger Smith played for Canada Red at the 2014-15 World Under-17 Challenge.
Having an older brother who’d already been through the process helped Smith to relax during his draft year.
“The biggest tips he gave me is always play the way you played hockey, don't change your style of play,” Smith said. “That’s me being a power forward, competing every night, playing hard every single night.
Smith goes to the net, works well down low, and is a pain to play against but needs to work on his explosiveness.
“I play a mean game,” Smith said. “I like being on the forecheck, getting in guys' faces, playing hard, scoring goals and finishing checks.
“It's been working for me so I'm going to keep doing it.”
53. Filip Hronek, D, Hradek Kralove (Czech)
Hronek is a skating, playmaking, thinking man’s defender who played 40 games in the Czech Extraliga as an 18 year old, and he’s one of those coveted right-hand shot defensemen.
“We've seen him a lot this year,” Wright said. “Size isn't great, but he's a puck-moving guy, plays with a lot of jam as well, has the offensive ability to play on your power play.”
Equipped with an accurate first pass, Hronek is an instinctive player who was plus three for the Czech Republic at the world junior championship but at 6-0 and 165 pounds, strength will be an issue. He’s capable of quarterbacking a power play.
104. Alfons Malmstrom, D, Orebo Jr. (Sweden)
The annual Swedish sleeper pick by Wings’ European scouting director Hakan Andersson, Malmstrom wasn’t even ranked by NHL Central Scouting.
“He’s a little raw but more of a defending defender,” Wright said. “He skates well, defends, has got a big stick, a long stick, and chews up a lot of space. Offensively he doesn’t bring a lot right now but his size and the position were intriguing for us.”
A 6-2, 190-pound left-hand shot, Malmstrom is very mobile for his size and possesses decent passing skills.
137. Jordan Sambrook, D, Erie (OHL)
Another sleeper pick for the Wings, a year ago Sambrook was playing AAA minor midget for the Toronto Young Nationals.
“I’d say I’m a two-way defenseman,” Sambrook said. “I can jump in the play, contribute offensively. I’m working on my defensive game, being more physical, adding size.
“I’m a tall guy but I’m not the heaviest.”
At 6-2 and 190 pounds, he has time to grow more into his frame. Sambrook moves well, has a decent shot from the point and likes to join the rush. He impressed many NHL scouts with his poise, jumping from minor midget directly into a top-four D role with the Otters, one of the OHL’s best teams. Sambrook is not spectacular but plays a simple, relatively mistake-free game.
167. Filip Larsson, G, Djurgarden Jr. (Sweden)
The 10th-rated European goaltender by NHL Central Scouting, Larsson has size (6-2, 180) and has played internationally for Sweden at both the under-16 and under-18 levels.
“We got a goalie that we had pretty high on our list there late,” Wright said. “He got off to a real good start. The second half of the season wasn’t as strong as his first half but we really liked him early in the year.”
197. Mattias Elfstrom, LW, Malmo (Sweden)
Another off the board pick for the Wings, Elfstrom wasn’t even rated by NHL Central Scouting. He produced 11-20-31 totals in 43 games with Malmo’s junior team and also played five games for their team in the Elite League.
“He’s a big winger, 6-4, a good skater, and up and down winger who goes to the net,” Wright said. “Hakan really liked him and pushed real hard for him in the seventh (round).”
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