Taking a Look at the Detroit Red Wings Draft History

I have written that the Detroit Red Wings have not been able to acquire a superstar player in the NHL Entry Draft due to their not having won the NHL’s draft lottery since its inception in 1995. Before this, the draft order was set in reverse order of the standings from the previous season. Defenseman Bryan Berard was drafted first overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators. The Woonsocket, Rhode Island native was the third American to be selected number one overall in an NHL draft.

Berard never played for the Senators; instead, he was traded to the New York Islanders as part of a three-team trade along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, along with Martin Straka and Ken Blanger. Berard played 619 games in his NHL career for the New York Islanders, Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Columbus Blue Jackets. In 12 seasons in the NHL, Berard scored 76 goals and added 247 assists. Berard’s career was cut short due to a debilitating eye injury that he received early in his career.

The fact remains that the Red Wings have fallen the most of any franchise in the draft lottery. The Red Wings fell one spot in the 2025 draft lottery when they drafted Carter Bear. One draft pick that has not worked out for the Red Wings, despite the player still being on the roster. The Red Wings fell two spots in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft when the team finished with a record of 33-36-13. Rasmussen was drafted by the Red Wings with the ninth overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Before the draft, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic described Rasmussen as a “once every 10-year kid.” Rasmussen played the year before his draft for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League. The Red Wings fell in love with Rasmussen’s size at 6’6” and 220 lbs. However, his size is something that Rasmussen does not always employ in the NHL. The Surrey, British Columbia native has seen his role with the Red Wings evolve into a third-line forward.

Revisiting the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, as with any draft, can lead to many what-ifs. Left winger Jason Robertson was selected one pick later than the Red Wings drafted defenseman Gustav Lindstrom with the 38th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Robertson is an Arcadia, California, native who moved to Detroit, Michigan, to start his hockey journey with the Little Caesars 13U AAA team and then the Detroit Kings 15U AAA team.

The addition of James van Riemsdyk and Mason Appleton to the Red Wings’ lineup may push Rasmussen’s role with the team further down the lineup. Rasmussen scored 11 goals and added 10 assists in 77 games for the Red Wings during the 2024-25 season. These 11 goals were the third most in Rasmussen’s young career. Before the 2017 draft, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic called Rasmussen a “once every 10 years kid.”

Filip Zadina is a draft pick that the Red Wings made due to the Pardubice, Czechia native falling into their lap at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. The sixth overall pick was expected to be drafted number one overall leading up to the draft. Former general manager of the Red Wings, Ken Holland, had finally found the elite scoring forward that the team desperately needed. The Red Wings finished the 2017-18 season with a record of 30-39-13, good for fifth place in the Atlantic Division.

The 2017-18 season was the third under former Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill. Blashill is the last Red Wings coach to lead the team to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in April of 2016 with a roster built by Holland and former head coach Mike Babcock. The signs that the Red Wings needed to rebuild their roster were evident. Babcock left to become the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

When Zadina fell in the draft, he said he would fill other teams’ nets with pucks. In four seasons with the Red Wings, Zadina scored 27 goals and added 38 assists for a total of 65 points. Zadina terminated his contract and “bet on himself” when signing with the San Jose Sharks. In his one season with the Sharks during the 2023-24 NHL season, Zadina scored 13 goals and added 10 assists in 72 games played.

Former captain of the Red Wings, Steve Yzerman, became general manager of the team in 2019. In that time, he has proven he is willing to do whatever it takes to remake the Red Wings’ roster. The only thing that the Red Wings have not done with Yzerman as general manager is make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs. The closest that the Red Wings came to making the playoffs under Yzerman was when they were eliminated from contention on the final day of the 2023-24 season despite defeating the Montreal Canadiens in a shootout.

With the 13^th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, the Detroit Red Wings selected forward Carter Bear from the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League. Bear is a 200-foot player who embodies the Yzerman draft archetype of being difficult to play against. The Red Wings have since signed Bear to a three-year, entry-level contract. “Very skilled, very tenacious. We like the way he thinks the game,” said Kris Draper, the Red Wings’ assistant GM and director of amateur scouting.