How Detroit Red Wings’ Steve Yzerman can make most of picking eighth in 2022 NHL draft

Luck passed on the Detroit Red Wings for a sixth straight year in the draft lottery, but general manager Steve Yzerman has an impressive streak of making the most of his first pick wherever it falls.

Tuesday’s lottery yielded the No. 8 pick for the Wings, mirroring where they finished in the standings. They had 6% odds to get the first pick, but could have dropped back to ninth or 10th.

The Montreal Canadiens, who host the July 7-8 draft, got the first pick.

Centers Shane Wright and Logan Cooley are projected to be the top picks. The Wings don’t have a top prospect at that position in their system, but could opt to address the need with 6-foot-4 Conor Geekie, a center out of the Western Hockey League who put up 70 points in 63 games this season. Matthew Savoie, a 5-9 WHL center who posted 90 points in 65 games, is another option. Marco Kasper, a 6-1 Austrian who split his season between the men’s and junior leagues in Sweden, is the top-ranked European center.

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Conventional wisdom is to take the the best available player, but the Wings are likely to lean towards a forward having drafted defensemen with two of their last three first-round picks. That could mean Cutter Gauthier, a 6-3 Swedish left winger with the USNTDP who had 65 points in 54 games, or Joakim Kemell, a 5-11 right wing out of Finland. Jonathan Lekkerimaki, a 5-11 right wing, represented Sweden at the U18 World Championship and split the season between the men’s and junior leagues.

The Canadiens had the best odds to get the No. 1 pick at 18.5%. In 2021, the Buffalo Sabres had the best odds and likewise got the first selection. When the Wings had those odds in 2020, they were pushed back to fourth, but Yzerman chose a gem in forward Lucas Raymond, who had a dynamic rookie season playing on the top line. In 2019, Yzerman’s first year, he turned the No. 6 pick into defenseman Moritz Seider, a leading candidate for rookie of the year. Drawing No. 6 in 2021, Yzerman selected another defenseman, Simon Edvinsson, who is expected to make the Wings next season.

Prior to Yzerman’s arrival, the Wings’ lottery picks were Michael Rasmussen at No. 9 in 2017, and Filip Zadina at No. 6 in 2018.

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Whomever Yzerman selects in July, it is doubtful the player will be ready to join the NHL next season. Neither Seider, Raymond nor Edvinsson jumped straight from their draft years to the NHL, and the 2022 class suffered a setback in development when leagues shut down for an extended time because of the pandemic.

The other teams picking ahead of the Wings are the New Jersey Devils (who picked in 2017 and 2019) at No. 2; the Arizona Coyotes at No. 3; Seattle Kraken at No. 4; Philadelphia Flyers, No. 5; Columbus Blue Jackets, No. 6 and Ottawa Senators, No. 7.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.