TRAVERSE CITY, MI — It started as a strategy developed during organizational meetings.



Let’s draft as many defensemen as possible to re-stock the system.



Then came the execution, as Red Wings Director of Amateur Scouting Tyler Wright and his staff grabbed nine defensemen out of 18 draft picks in the 2016 and 2017 NHL drafts.



This weekend, the Red Wings got to see the plan come to life in the form of an exhibition game between the top prospects in the organization during development camp. There are 18 defensemen at Red Wings development camp in Traverse City and it was those defensemen who stood out most during that exhibition game.



Draft strategy became very real in that moment for the Red Wings.



“For us, it’s exciting because everybody knows the price it is to acquire a top-four defenseman. It’s virtually impossible,” Wright said on Monday. “If you are acquiring, you’re subtracting a...