BUFFALO, New York – The NHL Scouting Combine is, above all, a week full of meetings.
Yes, there are physical tests taking place – much of it on Saturday, with accompanying media zoo. But most of the value and time in Buffalo goes into meetings between prospects and teams. It is common for players to compete against more than 20 teams. The teams will likely meet with around 60 prospects. And from that point of view, you can’t read too much into the fact that a team meets with a single player.
But sometimes your ears perk up when you hear about it. And that’s exactly what happened on Saturday, when young forward Samuel Honzek said Detroit was one of the 25 teams he met with, and he took it a step further: “Detroit was one of – I would say, the best meetup that I’ve ever had here,” Honzek said.
At the end of the day, there is limited insight to be gained from a 20-minute conversation. But considering Detroit’s GM Steve Yzerman was spotted at Honzek’s playoff series, some smoke is starting to gather here.
The Red Wings have two picks in the first round, 9th and 17th, and Honzek could theoretically be in the game on both spots as he’s a 1.9m forward who can play in all situations. If he had his druthers, Honzek says he would play down the wing but this week told teams it was up to them and he had no problem playing down centre.
The center position is of course the more prime position and Honzek’s physical ability – with good skating for his size – would give him a solid ability to stay there, although it could be telling that he has a slight penchant for the wing. Corey Pronman’s comparison player for Honzek is Bruins forward Pavel Zacha, who just wrapped up a 57-point season for the record-breaking Bruins in which he held both forward positions.
Again, he’s a contender for both Detroit picks, but obviously the idea of potentially targeting Honzek in 17th place is particularly appealing because it means the Red Wings could have another prime target — out of an even bigger one pool of players. in 9th place.
One such candidate would be Honzek’s compatriot Dalibor Dvorsky, who was also among those Detroit met in Buffalo. For most of the year, Dvorsky’s score fluctuated due to his different results in Sweden’s Allsvenskan compared to his own age group. He was dominant in Sweden’s J20 league, averaging a goal (and over two points) per game, and almost doing the same in an outstanding performance at the U18 World Cup. But in the Allsvenskan his performance was more moderate with 14 points in 38 competitions for AIK.
However, it’s worth noting that Dvorsky belongs to the young side of this draft class. He played the entire season at the age of 17 and doesn’t turn 18 until later this week. This is a relevant context, especially given the difference in outcomes between peer competition and male competition. Dvorsky mentioned John Tavares and Anze Kopitar as players he orients his game towards, citing their abilities as good two-way centers with “great offensive instincts, good shooting, good hockey IQ, and they’re also strong on the puck.”
WHL center Nate Danielson is another notable centerman on the Red Wings roster, albeit at the senior rather than junior end of the class. One could argue that a Danielson pick might be a bit redundant compared to Detroit’s first-round pick of Marco Kasper last year as lithe, two-sided centermen with positive marks on their competitive level and perhaps underrated offense. But the addition of either Dvorsky or Danielson would suddenly give the Red Wings an enviable middle ground going forward, with Kasper, Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp (though the latter could certainly move to the wing in his later years).
However, I expect at least one of the two will be picked before #9 Red Wings, and it’s possible both are gone. However, this scenario of both finishing in the top eight would likely mean Detroit has a shot at a player I’ve highlighted since the beginning of the process: US NTDP winger Ryan Leonard.
Finding a perfect comparison player for Leonard is tricky as despite his enticing mix of power and offensive touch, he’s still under 1.80m, leaving room to wonder how much of that element of power will ultimately stand up to the pros. But his game reminds me of Tyler Bertuzzi in a way and getting a player of his level of competition who can add real attacking would be two big challenges for the Red Wings who have to replace Bertuzzi going forward.
A comment from Leonard that I liked this week. I asked him about his goal that secured USA the gold medal in overtime at the U18 World Cup and the blocked shot before it – which Team USA coach Dan Muse highlighted in a recent interview with The Athletic. I wanted to know: was he still feeling the effects of the blockade?
“The leg was a little broken,” he admitted. “But it’s a gold medal game, it’s going into overtime, the adrenaline is taking over. I can’t feel anything. I told them I was fine and the name was called and then yes. Game.”
Toughness and competitive level can sometimes seem like buzzwords in the NHL draft process given that every team obviously covets these traits. But that’s a pretty good embodiment of what the Red Wings want to build. I continue to believe that Leonard’s linemate Gabe Perreault will be in Detroit’s mix – for a Red Wings team lacking offense, Perreault’s IQ and creativity would fill a great need.
That’s a lot of names and they speak to the depth of this class, especially in the forward division. And that’s an argument for the Red Wings to instead put the ninth pick on one of the best defensemen in the class, confident that at 17 they can still get a forward they like but are aware that the top “D”s in the class – including David Reinbacher, Dmitri Simashev, Tom Willander and Axel Sandin Pellikka – could be snagged earlier due to relative scarcity.
Willander, in particular, has been a rising star since his outstanding game at the U18 World Cup after helping Rögle win the Swedish J20 Championship. And if his interviews with teams go anywhere like his interview with Pronman and I on The Athletic Hockey Show, I expect it will continue. Willander was impressive on a number of subjects, but he impressed me most when he spoke about the origins of his outstanding skating – his greatest asset as a player, in my opinion.
“I was terrible at first,” Willander said. “I was really bad at skating. In fact, it was so bad that I asked my dad to just take a whole winter break from school just to practice skating. It was that bad. At least that’s what he told me. I guess it didn’t come naturally to me, but we practiced a lot when I was young.”
Willander’s dad is youth hockey director at Sollentuna, so that certainly helps. But the dedication to developing his skating — and to this current level — is really indicative of the defender’s drive. He said he’s focused a lot this season on improving his offense both technically and tactically, and at the end of the year Willander played a big role for Sweden, scoring three goals and eight points in seven games at the U18 World Cup. And his goals for himself are even higher.
“Of course I set myself high goals. I want to be a first pair guy,” he said. “But I feel like my strength is in two-way play, I feel like I’m strong at skating, and I compete hard and I’m strong on the boards.”
His meeting in Detroit was scheduled for shortly after our conversation, so I don’t have notes on how it went, but I left the conversation quite impressed. He even showed a good sense of humor when asked about the idea of playing with Rögle colleague William Wallinder to form a Wallinder-Willander couple (this had actually happened before in an exhibition, he said) .
He’s also seen Red Wings fans joke about the idea, saying, “I think it’s a good idea to give the commentators … something to grapple with.”
There’s another side to getting the league together in one place for the Combine: Reports and rumors are circulating about which players may be moving ahead of the draft (which is now a little over two weeks away).
And the Red Wings found themselves in the thick of it over the weekend when Pierre LeBrun reported that local player Alex DeBrincat had given the Senators a list of preferred targets should Ottawa decide to trade him. Of course, Detroit is one of the most interesting potential landing spots — not just because of DeBrincat’s roots here, but because the Red Wings desperately need a scorer of his caliber and have both the space and the means to win one. He was at the top of our list of potential Red Wings trade targets last month.
The details of such a deal, if it were to happen, would be fascinating between two teams seemingly on similar timelines.
Ottawa gave up the seventh and 39th picks in last year’s draft, as well as a third-rounder from 2024, to take on DeBrincat, but that had two years left to maintain control of the team, one of which was on a team-friendly cap hit by $6.4 million. That’s no longer the case as DeBrincat received a year-long RFA from unrestricted free agency, received a $9 million qualifying offer and is coming off his least productive season since 2019-20. Simply put, the Senators aren’t getting back what they gave up for DeBrincat last summer.
But we’re still talking about a multiple 40-goal scorer here, which is precisely why the Red Wings should be interested at a reasonable price.
What could that be? A good recent comparison would be Kevin Fiala’s move from Minnesota to Los Angeles last summer. Fiala was 25, an RFA a year away from UFA status and having had a great season with the Wild when he was traded to the Kings for 19th overall pick and defensive contender Brock Faber.
So it’s easy to say that a hypothetical Red Wing package might need to be built around Pick 17 and a high-level prospect.
Finding a Faber equivalence is difficult as he was a very good candidate but also had some special circumstances as a college player two years before he was able to move to free agency. Still, he was a near-NHL-eligible candidate who would top his second-round draft pick. The two names that come to mind are winger Jonatan Berggren, who made his NHL debut last season, and Wallinder.
Losing would be painful for Detroit, but the Red Wings would have the perfect scorer in their top six that they desperately need. But of the two, Berggren might make the most sense, giving Ottawa back another smaller, attacking-minded player who can jump straight into their lineup, unlike Wallinder, who might need a little more time to break through (and whom Detroit might might prefer). also keep).
However, even if a deal did go through, DeBrincat would still need to be paid, as a long-term deal likely won’t earn him an AAV in line with his $9 million QO, but he’ll still be due an AAV for a hefty pay raise.
Detroit would certainly be happy to sign DeBrincat on something like Fiala’s seven-year, $7.875 million AAV contract, but his statistical career profile is actually more akin to that of Patrik Laine, who signed for four years last summer and has an AAV contract from received $8.7 million.
Comparatives by Alex DeBrincat
| player | Career G/GP | Career P/GP | Platform year G/GP | Platform year P/GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
0.42 | 0.83 | 0.33 | 0.8 | |
0.43 | 0.82 | 0.46 | 1 | |
0.3 | 0.73 | 0.4 | 1.04 |
That creates a little mystery. That Laine’s contract only runs for four years is a confounding factor, but DeBrincat’s account can certainly claim that Laine is his closest competitor. That’s the same cap hit as Dylan Larkin, though, and as good as DeBrincat is, there have been enough ups and downs in his production (even with a relatively high floor) that $8.7 million is uncomfortable territory could. Especially after giving up several key assets in the process.
While the fit is evident on multiple levels, the Red Wings still have a lot to think about on this front — and with draft and free agency fast approaching, there’s only about two weeks to make a decision.
(Photo by Alex DeBrincat: Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)