NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Steve Yzerman looked relieved and sounded hopeful as he prepared to head back to Detroit.
He had just wrapped up his fifth NHL draft as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, adding four forwards, five defensemen and two goaltenders to the farm system. A busy week now shifts to Saturday’s start of free agency, but at least all the work leading up to the draft is in the books.
“We added to the prospect pool and hope some of them turn into players,” Yzerman said Thursday. “Once you get your list in order, you just kind of OK, let’s not overthink this. It’s much like as a player before a big game, you’re all nervous. Once the puck drops, you just play and you feel good. That’s the way it is here. Get a bit of a breather and get back to Detroit and get ready for the first and see what we do.”
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The biggest picks were made Wednesday, when the Wings took center Nate Danielson at No. 9 and defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka at No. 17. On Day 2, the Wings used their draft capital to add players at every position.
“We added four defensemen and generally all of them were on the bigger size,” Yzerman said. “We like them as prospects. It’s nice that they’re big and if they can play, that’s even better.”
Net gains
The Wings used their first pick Thursday on goaltender Trey Augustine, at No. 41, and took goalie Rudy Giumond at No. 169. Augustine, a South Lyon native who is committed to play as a freshman at Michigan State, is a product of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. He posted a 2.14 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in 32 games last season.
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“We watch that team all the time,” Yzerman said. “I thought he played really well. He’s a very competitive goalie. It kind of sounds silly, but he looks good in the net. He moves well, his positioning is good, he’s a competitive kid. We picked him in the second round, we think very highly of him.”
Augustine won the gold medal at the 2023 IIHF Under-18 World Championship.
“I’ll tell you, the last 15 seconds was pure entertainment and chaos and he came up with probably three huge saves. The way he handled himself, we loved the poise and control,” Kris Draper, the director of amateur scouting, said.
Augustine raved about being drafted by his hometown team: “I grew up watching games at Joe Louis Arena, so it’s pretty special it comes full circle now. I’m pretty excited about it.”
Big hitter
Pick No. 42 was used on Andrew Gibson, a smooth-skating, right-shot defenseman with a 6-foot-3, 198-pound frame who was named to Canada’s U-18 World Junior Championship team.
“He’s got good size, he’s a puck-moving D with good hockey sense,” Draper said. “He defends well. He has a bit of an edge to his game. He was actually off to a really good start, but he got injured. He was able to come back for the U18s and we saw him play against some pretty high competition in some pretty good situations. He’s a right-shot D that we like with size.”
Gibson said he was “shaking” when he heard his name called, but had settled down by the time he made it to the media interview area and sounded confident as he described his game.
“I’m a bigger guy, I like to use my size to my advantage,” he said. “I skate well for a big guy as well. I can play both ends of the ice, offensively and defensively.”
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Draper said Gibson has it in him to be a big hitter. “He will play physical. He certainly doesn’t back down from that side of it.”
Big gains
The Wings came into the draft holding the No. 43 pick but traded it to the Nashville Predators for Picks 47 and 137. They used No. 47 on Brady Cleveland, a 6-5, 209-pound defenseman who shoots left and was teammates with Augustine at the NTDP.
“He’s a big, strong, physical defensive defender that has an edge,” Draper said. “Kind of embraces that side of it. He was used in a shutdown role and in a penalty kill situation as well. He can skate and he can defend hard and he has a bit of a mean streak, so it was somebody that we decided to go with there.”
Oh, brother
The Wings mined Sweden in Round 1 to add Sandin Pellikka and drafted another Swede in Round 3 when they took forward Noah Dower Nilsson at No. 73. The last name should ring a bell: Liam Dower Nilsson was drafted by the Wings in 2021.
(Not that the Wings reached out to him for a scouting report: “He’s going to say good things,” Yzerman laughed. “So we don’t really need to ask the brother.)
“Noah had a great start to the season,” Draper said. “He got hurt, had an injury that kept him out for six, seven weeks. But we saw him early on, he had a really good start to the season. We think he has very good skill and hockey sense. He’s a talented kid. He can skate. We feel we got a good piece there. He does have puck skill.”
Dower Nilsson said Thursday he had an “intensive, competitive game. Loves to play offense and have the puck, loves to be in the offensive zone and score some goals.”
On potentially being teammates in Detroit with his brother: “It’s so cool. He has helped me along the way to be better and we always support each other to get to this point. We love each other so much.”
Speedy German
Kevin Bicker (Round 5, Pick 147) made a favorable impression while playing in his native Germany.
“He can absolutely fly,” Draper said. “He’s a great skater. He played for Germany at the U-18s, that was the first time I saw him play. All of a sudden I saw this kid flying down the left wing and you’re like wow, this kid can go. Skating is his best asset. It was interesting, I talked to a couple of the Mannheim Adler coaches, and they were bringing him up about how he can skate, he’s a competitive kid. Those are the best assets.”
Later rounds
At Pick 117, the Wings took defenseman Larry Keenan (6-3, 185, shoots left), who made a memorable impression on Draper.
“His grandfather played at St. Mike’s with my dad back in the day,” Draper said. “He came into the interview and said my grandfather played with your dad. I don’t know if he was trying to make me feel old, but pretty cool story there.
“Watching him, we like his size and skating. He’s a very good skater, very mobile d-man. He understands he has to get stronger. But the skating really stood out.”
Defenseman Jack Phelan (Round 5, Pick 137) is 6-2, 185 and shoots right. Draper said the Wings’ area scouts, “like him right off the hop. He’s smart, has some size and moves well.”
Their last pick, in Round 7, at No. 201, was used on forward Emmit Finnie.
“He’s a 5-11 centerman that showed some good compete, some skill with the puck.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
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Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings’ like their 2023 NHL draft class
