Wouldn't suprise me. The Wings have taken a liking to hard-nosed grinder-types in the 1st round lately (Ferraro, Sheahan) while the rest of their picks in rounds 2-7 are selected based on skill level and potential.
Can't say it's my favourite strategy. Spending a valuable 1st round pick on a potential bottom 6 grinder doesn't make much sense to me. I understand it's a pretty safe pick and a good bet to produce an NHLer, why waste the time developing that player for 4-5 years for a mediocre result?
Given some of the gems that have been found in the 25-30 pick range over the past couple years, I'm very much in favour of drafting for skill in that realm of picks.
The Wings thought that Ferraro and Sheahan had a certain amount of skill when they drafted them. They didn't necessarily expect them to "only" become bottom-six players.
I will say this about the Wings, you rarely see them draft a kid with absoute hands of stone for the sake of acquiring a player with some other needed skill set. I think Ferraro and Sheahan are examples of this. They are not wholly unskilled.
Like I said before though I love the pure skill philosophy - if I was a scout or a GM of a team that's what I'd be looking for in a draft.
Power forwards, goalies, grinders, etc. are all relatively easy to find - even if you have too many guys with pure skill to fit into your lineup, there will always be a demand for a top six forward with pure skill so you could easily trade whoever didn't fit well on your team for the power forward, grinder, stay at home d-man, etc. that you need.
They did pick Athanasiou in the 4th and that was more of a skill deal. But Nill and Holland both talked about the way the game is evolving. I think a big reason for it is the amount of skill they already have in the system. When looking at Pulkkinen, Tatar and even a guy like Quine they have some guys that are skill guys that are a bit undersized that they are hoping pan out. The Wings have shifted a little, while puck skills are important they want guys with speed and size.
Even the skill guys they have been taking the last two years have frames that can get much larger as the fill out. Guys like Tvrdon, Frk, Jurco, Sheahan are all big kids or have the ability to play at well over 210 lbs.
The Wings have almost a "moneyball" philosophy. They look for where they think players are being undervalued. They have stepped up efforts in the Q, Slovakia and Czech Republic. Before that they along with the Devils seemed to emphasize low round picks that might play in the NCAA. They move the target a lot. It is easy to say they only care about skill, it has been a principle many believe of how they built in the past and an angle the organization played up. But really what I think they have always emphasized is being slightly different than everyone else.
I think the Wings scouts do a good job of getting these guys at a young age even outside of draft year. For instance a lot of the leg work on Tvrdon was done before he came to the WHL and missed most of the season due to injury. They knew what they had in Pulkkinen and Frk, despite their free falls due to injury as well. Athanasiou and Quine were both highly thought of at younger ages not necessarily in their draft year. They will never fully go away from the skill card, most teams don't.
However, they see a problem with size in the future and need some to counter balance a lot of the slick skill players in their system. They have done a good job of finding guys that fit a certain vision. The bigger guys all have above average skating especially in terms of size and a lot of them like Nedomlel and McKee show a good first pass even if they won't be much offensively at the NHL level.
Per the question really like the Collberg, McCabe and Frk picks.
He doesn't get a lot of hype but everything I've read about him has been positive and he has the raw upside to be a guy like Weber, Keith. He is the kind of good-at-everything but no notable flaws in his game. The thing that gets me most excited is that he dropped to the end of the second round because of the amount of quality defenders available and the Devils were intent on picking forwards this year, but felt they couldn't pass him up.
They did pick Athanasiou in the 4th and that was more of a skill deal. But Nill and Holland both talked about the way the game is evolving. I think a big reason for it is the amount of skill they already have in the system. When looking at Pulkkinen, Tatar and even a guy like Quine they have some guys that are skill guys that are a bit undersized that they are hoping pan out. The Wings have shifted a little, while puck skills are important they want guys with speed and size.
Even the skill guys they have been taking the last two years have frames that can get much larger as the fill out. Guys like Tvrdon, Frk, Jurco, Sheahan are all big kids or have the ability to play at well over 210 lbs.
The Wings have almost a "moneyball" philosophy. They look for where they think players are being undervalued. They have stepped up efforts in the Q, Slovakia and Czech Republic. Before that they along with the Devils seemed to emphasize low round picks that might play in the NCAA. They move the target a lot. It is easy to say they only care about skill, it has been a principle many believe of how they built in the past and an angle the organization played up. But really what I think they have always emphasized is being slightly different than everyone else.
I think the Wings scouts do a good job of getting these guys at a young age even outside of draft year. For instance a lot of the leg work on Tvrdon was done before he came to the WHL and missed most of the season due to injury. They knew what they had in Pulkkinen and Frk, despite their free falls due to injury as well. Athanasiou and Quine were both highly thought of at younger ages not necessarily in their draft year. They will never fully go away from the skill card, most teams don't.
However, they see a problem with size in the future and need some to counter balance a lot of the slick skill players in their system. They have done a good job of finding guys that fit a certain vision. The bigger guys all have above average skating especially in terms of size and a lot of them like Nedomlel and McKee show a good first pass even if they won't be much offensively at the NHL level.
Per the question really like the Collberg, McCabe and Frk picks.
Since you're the only person to mention McCabe and most seemed to have him ranked even lower than where Buffalo took him (though Kevin Devine said they had him going late in the first round), can I ask what you like about him?
The Wings thought that Ferraro and Sheahan had a certain amount of skill when they drafted them. They didn't necessarily expect them to "only" become bottom-six players.
I will say this about the Wings, you rarely see them draft a kid with absoute hands of stone for the sake of acquiring a player with some other needed skill set. I think Ferraro and Sheahan are examples of this. They are not wholly unskilled.
I might be reading this wrong, but Sheahan doesn't have hands of stone. He's actually a very good stickhandler with some moves and a decent shot. He's a weird kind of player now, almost like a science experiment: what happens when you take a big, skilled forward and put him on a very defensive team and use him basically like a defenseman?
You get Sheahan now: a guy who's big, very good defensively, plays a physical game, and has about zero offensive confidence. Who knows? He might be damaged for good. But at one point he was a promising kid with some intriguing offensive upside.
I think if the Wings could do it all again, they would put him in the CHL right after the draft.
I might be reading this wrong, but Sheahan doesn't have hands of stone. He's actually a very good stickhandler with some moves and a decent shot. He's a weird kind of player now, almost like a science experiment: what happens when you take a big, skilled forward and put him on a very defensive team and use him basically like a defenseman?
You get Sheahan now: a guy who's big, very good defensively, plays a physical game, and has about zero offensive confidence. Who knows? He might be damaged for good. But at one point he was a promising kid with some intriguing offensive upside.
I think if the Wings could do it all again, they would put him in the CHL right after the draft.
Since you're the only person to mention McCabe and most seemed to have him ranked even lower than where Buffalo took him (though Kevin Devine said they had him going late in the first round), can I ask what you like about him?
Very good puck mover and is going to be at a place that really develops D-man with the best of them. Has a good frame, good positioning, skates well, good first pass, reads the game and doesn't rush things. Is now 6'1" 200 lbs and probably could fill out all the way above 210. He impresses me defensively, but has a lot of offensive upside. There were nights last season where I saw the Badgers play and thought he was their best D-man as a true freshman and we all know he has some celebrated teammates. I think he will be pretty physical as well, when he gets older. He is the next big Badger product on the back-end in my opinion. Not even a Wisconsin fan either despite the Wisconsin address, but I do get to see them a lot and he has left a lot of positive impressions.
I might be reading this wrong, but Sheahan doesn't have hands of stone. He's actually a very good stickhandler with some moves and a decent shot. He's a weird kind of player now, almost like a science experiment: what happens when you take a big, skilled forward and put him on a very defensive team and use him basically like a defenseman?
You get Sheahan now: a guy who's big, very good defensively, plays a physical game, and has about zero offensive confidence. Who knows? He might be damaged for good. But at one point he was a promising kid with some intriguing offensive upside.
I think if the Wings could do it all again, they would put him in the CHL right after the draft.
No, I am with you. I am very bullish on Sheahan and think his stats don't tell the full story about him. I was trying to say that while they may develop into bottom-six players down the line, they were still considered "skill" players at the time they were drafted (or had demonstrated a fair amount of skill). I think both still have a fair amount of skill for the record.
I agree, Erie probably would have been better for his goal-scoring instincts. That is the past though.
In terms of second rounders, I really like the picks of Hart, Bystrom and Severson.
