Rockstrom and Smith took Lidstrom to a Pizza Hut in Vasteras — in Smith's estimation the most expensive Pizza Hut he's ever been to — and talked about his game and what he wanted to accomplish. When Smith returned to Detroit, he told general manager Jimmy Devellano that Lidstrom was worth taking in the third round, the latest a team could draft an 18-year-old.

"I said to Jimmy if we don't take him in the third round this year he'll go in the first round next year because he'll play in the world juniors for Sweden and then everybody will know about him," Smith said.

Devellano agreed, but with the draft months away, the Red Wings were determined not to let the secret get out. Smith ordered his scouting staff not to talk about Lidstrom.

Lidstrom's agent Don Meehan got wind that the Wings had scouted his client and called Smith to do some digging. After a back-and-forth, Smith conceded he knew plenty about Lidstrom but pleaded with Meehan not to say anything and not to bring his client to the draft.

"I said, 'I'm taking him, but don't screw me on this,'" Smith recalled. "He listened to me."

At the 1989 draft, the Red Wings took Mike Sillinger in the first round, Bob Boughner in the second round and then in the third round, 53rd overall, selected Lidstrom. Smith called it by far the best pick of his career — and that includes Steve Yzerman.

By taking Lidstrom and then a round later Russian Sergei Fedorov, who's also in the 2015 Hall of Fame class, the Red Wings' fortunes changed. Rockstrom, who now works for the Montreal Canadiens, remembered them being called the "Dead Wings," but now they're a model NHL franchise lauded for superior drafting.

Lidstrom wasn't the only home run the Red Wings hit on, but he was the most satisfying. By the next season Lidstrom already stood out, and it was clear the Red Wings pulled off a steal.

"That wouldn't happen today," said Red Wings GM Ken Holland, who was a western scout at the time. "I don't know how we got him in the third round, but I know he's a top-10 pick today."

Lidstrom was so hidden that the Philadelphia Flyers took Vasteras teammate Patrik Juhlin 19 picks earlier while Lidstrom slid by.

"This was a very unique case. It was the only time in my career it ever happened," Smith said. "There are fables about guys getting diamonds in the rough, but they're all fables. That never happens."

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By Stephen Whyno, The Canadian Press