2026 Draft (Buffalo, Jun 26-27): Wings have NO 1st, first pick ~#47. Now what?

no first rounder. in a year we picked top 6. love it here. thanks robby faulk you were worth it

the faulk pick is gone, nothing we can do about it now. lets actually scout the 2nd round. theres always center value in the 40-60 range if you do the homework

At 47 the center names I keep circling: a couple of OHL pivots and one really intriguing Swede who fell because he's small. I watched our area scouts a ton this year and the org clearly prioritizes 200-foot centers who can skate. Expect them to take the best middle-six center available even over a flashier winger.

Agreed on the profile. For me the upside swing at 47 is the undersized Swedish center , high-end hockey sense, plus skating, the floor is a 3C and the ceiling is a middle-six playmaker if he fills out. The OHL guys are safer but the offensive ceiling is a 3C/4C. In a draft where we have one early pick, I take the upside. Floor doesn't matter much at 47.

i'll be in Buffalo for the first two rounds and then TC for camp in september so i'll get eyes on whoever we grab. saw the OHL center live twice this year, he's a worker, wins every wall battle, but yeah the hands are a 3C. danM is right that you swing for ceiling when you only get one early bite

trade up package:

Wings get: STL pick back (lol) or a late 1st

Wings give: 2 2nds + a prospect

worth it for a center?

@tj_morris said:

Wings give 2 2nds + a prospect to move up

You'd be giving up the only real draft capital we have to move into the 20s for a marginally better center prospect. The value curve from late-1st to early-2nd is nearly flat. Stand pat, take your two swings, save the futures. Moving up in a non-elite draft tier is how you turn one asset into zero.

This is where I trust Yzerman more than any GM in hockey. His draft record outside the first round is excellent. Seider was a "reach" at 6 and looked like a genius pick within two years. Edvinsson, Kasper, the whole pipeline. Give him a 2nd and a 3rd and he finds an NHLer. The lack of a 1st hurts but the process is sound.

"Seider was a reach" -> guy turns into a Calder winner. meanwhile we're here in a thread about our SECOND rounder because the first one is in St. Louis. the duality of this franchise.

Back in my day you didn't need 14 rounds of analytics to find a player. Scotty Bowman drafted Datsyuk in the 6th round at 171st overall. SIXTH ROUND. Now everyone cries because we pick 47th. Spoiled.

Grumpy's right about Datsyuk, and Zetterberg at 210th. This organization built dynasties out of late picks and European gems the rest of the league ignored. There is a romance to finding a hidden gem at 47 that a lottery pick can never match. I'll be watching round two with more hope than most.

the pavel and z comps get thrown around too easy but the point stands. you can absolutely find a top 9 forward at 47 if your scouting is good and ours is. patience

if larkin gets dealt to florida for the 9th pick then this whole thread changes lol. suddenly we DO have a top 10 selection and were drafting a center in the first round

@chris_l said:

if larkin gets dealt for the 9th pick we DO have a top 10

Correct, and that completely rewrites the board. At #9 in this class you're realistically in range of one of the top-3 centers. THAT is the prize in the Florida package even more than Lundell, in my view. A blue-chip center at 9 + your second-rounder at 47 = the pipeline goes from thin to deep down the middle overnight.

yep. the 9th overall in a Larkin deal is functionally our 1st round pick this year. I'd be thrilled. the names available at 9 are a different universe than at 47. the center we draft at 9 could be a top 6 piece, the one at 47 is a project.

man imagine getting a real first round center back in the same week we lose larkin. would soften the blow a lot. still gonna be weird seeing him in a panthers sweater though

Cap-wise a #9 pick is also the ideal asset back: an ELC center is the cheapest possible way to add middle-six scoring while you're paying Edvinsson's new deal. Picks don't count against the cap. From a roster-construction view the Florida pick matters more than people focused on Lundell realize.

so let me get this straight. the only way we get a 1st round pick this year is by trading our captain of 11 years. cool cool cool. love this timeline

draft a center named brayden and complete the prophecy

regardless of the larkin stuff, my pipeline note: our center depth in GR is thin behind kasper, so whoever we take at 47 (or 9) needs to be a center. no more best player available winger picks this year. we have enough wingers in the system

please draft a center who can actually win a draw. our team faceoff % was bottom 5 again. it matters more than people think especially on the PK

and someone who can run a PP2 from teh middle. we have nobody. draft a center with vision not just a faceoff specialist

For the thread record: now that Florida's offer (#9 + Lundell) is out there as of today, the draft calculus is officially live. If that deal closes before the 26th, Detroit walks into Buffalo with a top-10 selection for the first time since the rebuild's early years. Yzerman drafting in the top 10 with a clear center mandate is the most interesting thing to watch in this entire saga.

Bookmarking this thread to revisit on the 26th. If we pick at 9, I'll have a full ranked board of the centers in range posted the night before. If we're still at 47, same but for the sleepers. Either way, this is the most important draft of the rebuild's second phase. Lot riding on Yzerman's table in Buffalo.

in. I'll have Griffins-relevant notes on whoever we draft within a week of camp. this is the fun part of being a fan of a team that lives at the draft table

"the fun part of being a fan of a team that lives at the draft table" is a sentence with a lot of pain hidden in it gabe

ngl you're right doug, having that much draft capital go out the window every year gets old, its a wonder they dont just tank for more picks

I can understand the frustration with our draft capital volatility, but tanking isn't a viable solution - that'd cost us valuable roster talent and developmental time for years to come. Our current strategy of stockpiling picks via trades has its risks, but it's also yielded some solid players in Dvorak and Zadina.