This upcoming draft for the Red Wings might be the most important in decades for the franchise. Barring any trades, the Red Wings will be making two picks in the first round for the first time since 1978. That’s a long time. For the record, they took Willie Huber and Brent Peterson that year, the first of 19 picks for the Red Wings in that draft.



It becomes an even more critical draft when you examine the current crop of prospects in the system more closely. The Red Wings are still in the early stages of their rebuilding process and a combination of draft misses along with traded picks means there isn’t much high-end talent in the system, making success this June even more imperative. Success has to be about landing difference-makers in this coming draft since early returns on the 2017 draft suggest the contributions from that group will be more about filling out depth in the organization than adding any stars. Unfortunately, there are already a few...