Detroit Red Wings' Kris Draper already scouting for 2019 NHL draft

Helene St. James | Detroit Free Press

Kris Draper is excited about the 2019 draft.

As a special assistant in the Detroit Red Wings’ front office, Draper was part of the contingent that scouted the Hlinka Gretzky tournament, a preseason showcase for next year’s draft prospects. The event ran Aug. 6-11 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.

Draper spoke to the Free Press about the tournament, the next crop of prospects, and more.

A good year

The Wings already hold 11 picks in 2019, including two second-round picks (their own and the New York Islanders’, via Vegas from the Tomas Tatar trade). For a team that’s likely to pick inside the top 10 again, the 2019 edition looks promising.

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“Spending the week in Red Deer and Edmonton where the Hlinka Gretzky was, you can once again see there is a lot of skill out there. There are a lot of high-end centermen who are going to be in the mix for top picks, some real good Swedish defensemen, and then Finland has a high-end winger.

“Going into the draft last year with the amount of picks we had, it was highly anticipated for how it was going to play out, and in the end we felt we walked away with a great crop of young hockey players. We’ve got a lot of picks going into the draft again. You see these players now and we are going to be following them throughout the year and we’ll see where we are at in Vancouver.”

Swede D, fine forwards

Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin was the prize of the 2018 draft. Philip Broberg could be the first defenseman taken in 2019. At 17, he’s already 6-foot-3, 199 pounds, and excels at breakouts. Victor Soderstrom is another high-ranked defense prospect; he had a goal and an assist when he suffered an injury in Sweden’s second game of the tournament.

“When you are talking about a puck-moving, elite-skating defenseman, Broberg was all that. Good size and it even looks like he has room to get bigger and stronger. He is going to be a fun one to watch for sure. He’s a player we need to know.”

High-end forwards include Jack Hughes, Dylan Cozens and Vasili Podkolzin. Hughes, the brother of Quinn Hughes (drafted seventh overall by Vancouver in June) and is dynamic center who can be a difference maker. Cozens, another center, is a 6-foot-3, 181-pound playmaker who was Western Hockey League rookie of the year last season with 53 points in 57 games. Podkolzin, a right winger out of Russia, has great skill with the puck.

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“Podkolzin scored some highlight goals. Cozens is a 6-foot-3 right-handed centerman. He was put into checking role, a third-line center, and he contributed. He’s a kid that takes a lot of pride in playing the right way. He knows how to play in his own end. Great skater. He has the ability to make players around him better. He faced a lot of the other team’s top lines.

“Jack Hughes wasn’t at the Hlinka Gretzy, but I’ve seen him play a lot last year. He’s just a dynamic hockey player. He’s slippery, he’s great on his edges, he knows how to protect the puck. He has high-end vision. He is the player when you go scout a hockey game and you walk away from the rink, every night he is going to do three or four things that you shake your head at, that are amazing. He’s a fun hockey player to watch. He has creativity, he skates, he’s competitive.”

Zadina excitement

Draper scouted Filip Zadina extensively leading up to the 2018 draft. He’d been expected to go as high as third, but was available when the Wings drafted at sixth. That caused a lot of grins on the faces of Wings front-office personnel during the draft, and the excitement is still high as training camp draws closer.

“We had him very high on our list. Goal scoring is so important at the level we play at, and when you get a chance to add a goalscorer, you have to go with that. It was a no-brainer. We are very excited to add Filip Zadina to the Detroit Red Wings.

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“How soon is he going to be a Red Wing? A lot is going to depend on Filip. I would say there are a lot of us that are hoping that he makes it really, really hard on us to make the decision. He obviously has the mindset he is coming to training camp to make the Detroit Red Wings. You have a highly skilled player, a determined player, a focused player and someone who is driven. He is going to get a lot of looks in preseason and in the end have to make a decision: one, what’s best for him in terms of long-term development, and No. 2, what’s best for the Detroit Red Wings.”

Rasmussen ready

There’s also great excitement about 2017 first-round pick Michael Rasmussen after he dominated the 2018 WHL playoffs with 14 goals and 17 assists in 14 games. He had multi-point performances in 10 games, and only went without a point in one game.

“We are expecting big things from Ras. At playoff time, when it’s the hardest to play and it’s the time you want your players and prospects to step up, he had an unreal year for Tri-City. He’s coming in and I think he has the mindset he’s going to make the Detroit Red Wings. We love that. We need that. We want him to do everything he can to make our hockey club."

Watch: Red Wings prospects Filip Zadina and Michael Rasmussen on camp Red Wings prospects Filip Zadina and Michael Rasmussen on development camp finale. June 30, 2018 at Little Caesars Arena.

Playoffs or high-end prospect

While the coaching staff and players should want to get back to the playoffs right away, the long-term competitiveness of the club is best served by getting into the draft lottery and getting a high pick.

“I know how proud NHL players are. I know the pride of the Detroit Red Wings players. They want to win. We know what we are going to get out of our hockey team, we know what we are going to get out of our coaching staff. Those guys want to do everything they can to win hockey games and make the playoffs.

“But you also realize when you have an opportunity to get four picks in the top 40, there is a reason why you get them. You are not a playoff team. We have the sixth pick in the draft, we get Filip Zadina. We have the 30th pick in the draft, we get Joe Veleno. Then we get Jonatan Berggren and Jared McIsaac. We feel that those players, with some maybe as soon as next year, but probably all four over the next two-to-three years are going to be a huge part of where this organization is going to go.

“The way you get better is through drafting and development. You can’t make your team substantially better through free agency like it used to be. Teams draft their players, they develop their players, and they sign them to long-term deals. We’re all aware of that.”

A man for all seasons

Draper, 47, has been part of the Wings front-office personnel since retiring from playing in 2011. Duties include scouting and advising at both the amateur and professional level.

“I love doing what I’m doing. I love being able to go to the office and work with Ken Holland and Ryan Martin, and I love being able to go on the road and scout with Tyler Wright. I’m also intrigued by Shawn Horcoff and Dan Cleary do with player development. I love being a part of all those situations.

“I would like to do as much as I can for this organization.”

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.