For the first time in Kevin Smith's tenure as GM of the Red Wings, the team was without a first round pick, having swapped it (along with a 4th round pick) for two firsts at the draft a year ago.

"We had a great offer on the table last year, as we felt sure we were a playoff team while they were banking on us being a lottery team. Turns out we were right, with both Sammy (Samuel Savoie) and Snuggy (Jimmy Snuggerud) looking like great prospects"

As a result, Detroit fans had to wait until the middle of the second round for Smith to make his first pick, grabbing Jaden Lipinski 49th overall, dropping two spots in order to add a third round pick.

"Jaden's a big strong kid with great positional sense, we definitely think he'll have a place in our bottom six a few years from now, though he also needs to work on some things."

The main knock on Lipinski is a lack of offence, particularly weak passing, while his consistency could be better.

In the third, Smith rolled the dice and chose Roman Kantserov, a diminutive winger who has shown flashes of potential, but is a bit of a risk. If he does fully develop, he'll still be in tough to make the NHL, but his shot may be enough to get him there.
>> Full story