Back in the day, some members of Red Wings leadership were in the same shoes as the prospects they’ll pick in the 2024 NHL draft. Here’s what scouts had to say about them as players and how they measured up.

When the Red Wings’ executives and coaches make their decisions at June’s 2024 NHL Draft, they’ll be making some prospects’ NHL dreams one step closer to reality. Once, this was their own dream.

When some of the Red Wings’ staffers were still players, they were once on the opposite side of the draft process, hoping to be picked up by someone in the NHL Draft. All along the way, they were analyzed and predicted by many scouting reports.

What did those reports say? What was right, and what was wrong? In this edition of From the Archive, we take a look back at what scouts had to say of the Red Wings’ leaders when they were the prospects of yesteryear.

Steve Yzerman
Current Position: Executive Vice President and General Manager
Draft: No. 4 overall, DET, 1983

What scouts said:
“A complete hockey player with sound instincts, Yzerman was selected for the Canadian national junior team because of his versatility. He is regarded as having all the skating and passing skills necessary to be a fine center in the NHL but some have questioned his physical strength. According to one scout, however, ‘Yzerman is deceptive. He often has scored goals with a defenseman draped all over him.’” — 1983 The Hockey News Draft Preview

What scouts got right:
Finishing his career as the second-leading scorer in Red Wings history and setting the team record for assists at 1,063, Yzerman was a great scorer. He also showed the versatility this scouting report mentioned throughout his career, but especially when he focused on his defensive commitment later in his career under Scotty Bowman.

What scouts got wrong:
Questions about his “physical strength” are probably observations that were drawn from two things: one, Yzerman was 5-foot-10 in his draft year (he grew an inch afterward); two, he wasn’t a power forward. I think this part of the scouting report was more so a reflection of the gap between what Yzerman was at the time and what the writer wanted him to be. By the way, those criticisms were rather wrong. While he had troubles with injuries, especially his knees, he willed his way forward. His strength also didn’t stop him from winning battles at the NHL level, especially when he developed into a refined two-way player.

What we can learn:
As much as questions of physical strength can arise around a prospect, these arguments don’t last so long as 18-year-old draftees turn into grown men who’ve gone through NHL conditioning programs. But, for some reason, we’re still struggling with the strength argument. Just look back to 2017, when Casey Mittelstadt was ripped for not being able to do a single pull-up (“LOOK,” this CBS Sports article about the struggles begs you). As much as strength can be a plus for some prospects, it’s a trait that constantly evolves for players throughout their career, and it’s a bad bet to hinge criticisms on it.

Bob Boughner
Current Position: Associate Coach
Draft: No. 32 overall, DET, 1989

What scouts said:
“Bob Boughner’s primary asset is obvious. Just look at his penalty minutes. ‘He’s a tough guy, a real hard-nosed defenseman,’ says one scout. But not without a modicum of skill, either. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds’ first pick in last year’s OHL midget draft from St. Mary’s Jr. B earned plaudits for standing up for his teammates. The Greyhounds were a young team this season and not blessed with a lot of tough guys. ‘He’s one of the toughest guys in the league,’ adds another scout. ‘His skill level is average. He’s got a decent shot, but if you’re projecting, it’s as a tough-guy defenseman.’ Consensus has him as a possible third-round selection.” — 1989 THN Draft Preview

What scouts got right:
That is an all-time lede on this scouting report, and one that was entirely accurate. Boughner was a tough guy in the NHL. He racked up 1,382 penalty minutes in 630 NHL games, none of which were played for the Red Wings who let him walk in free agency.

What scouts got wrong:
As much as Boughner had a little bit of skill as a prospect, he rarely used it at the NHL level. He had a role to play as a scrappy, protective defenseman and he played it. He did score 13 points for the 1998-99 Nashville Predators and 17 for the 2002-03 Calgary Flames, but these were two bottom-feeder teams that gave him the chance to slot higher in the lineup than he would’ve on a more competitive team.

What we can learn:
On the one hand, Boughner’s draft experience shows us how much teams used to value toughness and physicality. In fact, the Red Wings went out on a limb to draft Boughner higher than anticipated, probably with the hope that his physicality would be a baseline for his game to grow from. Instead, that didn’t happen. The NHL has largely moved on from picking enforcer types high in the draft, but it’s worth asking what quality is our version of the protective, nasty trait of the past. Is it size, where big fellas get the benefit of the doubt by scouts? Is it strength, like we discussed in the case of Yzerman? Sometimes, we prioritize the wrong skills in prospects that don’t end up making much of a difference. Finding — and avoiding — these traps is vital.

Nicklas Lidstrom
Current Position: Vice President of Hockey Operations
Draft: No. 53, DET, 1989

What scouts said:
Nothing. They said nothing.

Lidstrom, one of the greatest defensemen of all time, was not included in THN’s scouting reports. In fact, he wasn’t even really scouted by many teams, let alone the media. He wasn’t on any national junior teams, and back in 1989, teams didn’t have the global scouting systems that they do today.

As former Red Wings GM Ken Holland explained to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun, “Back then, teams might have one person over there. All you really did was hit the major tournaments. I remember (chief scout) Neil Smith coming back from a scouting trip in December, and Christer Rockstrom had taken him off the beaten path to Vasteras. … Neil said to me, ‘We don’t want to go over there too much and alert anybody to Nick Lidstrom. But we’ve got him on our list.’”

Detroit’s stealth paid off. Drafted 53rd overall in the third round, Lidstrom was perhaps the greatest gem of a 1989 draft class that included Vladimir Konstantinov, Dallas Drake, Sergei Federov, Mike Sillinger and Bob Boughner.

What we can learn:
In the modern NHL, pretty much everywhere is covered by scouts. Still, there’s clear favorites for scouting, like the proven NHL factories of the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Finding players off the beaten path can be a means to draft excellence as was the case with Lidstrom. In the past few drafts, countries such as Germany and Latvia have emerged as strong developers of talent outside of the usual leaders. This year, Stian Solberg and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard are poised to put Norway on the map. There will almost always be a gap in scouting coverage, and good shouting departments should seek to exploit those when they’re able to.

Kris Draper
Current Position: Assistant General Manager and Director of Amateur Scouting
Draft: No. 62 overall, WPG, 1989

What scouts said:
“Kris Draper, a member of Canada’s national team, is a difficult player to assess. Just how good should a 17-year-old be when he’s pitted against world-class competition. He jumped from Don Mills (Ont.) midget to Dave King’s program. In minor hockey, he was a prolific offensive player but has yet to establish himself at the international level. Instead, he’s working to learn King’s defense-first style. ‘He’s showing signs of being a Doug Jarvis-type center,’ says one scout. ‘He’s a good skater.’ A nephew of Dave Draper, coordinator of Canada’s national junior team and GM of the Dukes of Hamilton (OHL), Kris is a consensus third-rounder who could go in the second.” — 1989 THN Draft Preview

What scouts got right:
The Doug Jarvis comparison was bang-on in a lot of ways, given the way that the Selke-winning Draper was such an integral part of the Red Wings’ shutdown units. From the Grind Line and beyond, Draper carved out well beyond a niche as a defensive specialist. While he didn’t make a crazy ironman streak like Jarvis, Draper was a core part of the lineup for 17 years in Detroit. Not bad for a third-round pick, especially one the Winnipeg Jets shipped to the Red Wings for $1.

What scouts got wrong:
I’m going to nitpick a bit of a technicality here because a lot of real estate in this scouting report is dedicated to the who’s, where’s and when’s of Draper’s youth career rather than his own merits. The scout’s observation that Draper’s offensive production had yet to show up at the international level — well, it really didn’t show up at all. Draper enjoyed four seasons of 30+ points from 2001-02 to 2005-06. He maxed out at 40 in his Selke-winning 2004. But, Draper wasn’t tasked with being a scorer so much as a defensive stalwart. However, this scouting observation was a rather minute detail mixed in with a lot of accurate predictions.

What we can learn:
Later in the draft, players with good enough skating and a clear archetype can be good bets for contributing players. A lot of the time, teams invest on players who have a good collection of tools but just haven’t rounded into a complete player. However, in Draper’s case he was drafted more so for his ability to be a defensive difference-maker than any hopes that he could become some shocking draft gem. Emphasizing present ability over future potential can pay off.

Dan Cleary
Current Position: Assistant Director of Player Development
Draft: No. 13, CHI, 1997

What scouts said:
“Finally, it is Dan Cleary’s draft year. The Belleville Bulls’ winger emerged in the fall of 1994, scoring more than anyone would expect from a 15-year-old Newfoundlander. Since then, the 6-foot, 203-pounder has had a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs. He failed in two bids to make the national junior team. He has been around so long that every shortcoming has been exposed. The good news for Cleary is as the 1997 draft approaches, his stock has, curiously in a 32-goal season, taken a turn for the better. Among the knocks on Cleary have been poor skating and conditioning. The skating issue is odd. Cleary, with his trademark wide stances, was the third fastest lap skater at the CHL prospects skills testing and fourth-fastest in both the 60- and 150-foot sprint. ‘If you think he can score at the NHL level, you don’t hesitate on him,’ one scout said. ‘But if you aren’t sure, you steer clear because he’s the type of player who has to put up significant numbers to be effective.’” — 1997 THN Draft Preview

What scouts got right:
At that stage in his career, Cleary did have to score to be effective as a player. When the points didn’t come at a high rate, teams sort of gave up on him. He scored nine points in 34 games with the Blackhawks before they sent him to Edmonton as part of a package for two-way defenseman Boris Mironov. He never really became the score the Oilers envisioned, either, never topping 35 points. Other areas the report got right: Cleary also wasn’t a lousy skater, a criticism that this scouting report served to debunk. He was rather mobile, including vertically as he jumped and leapt out of the way of shots from a net front role.

What scouts got wrong:
Reading this scouting report, you would think that Dan Cleary never played a lick of defense. That’s a stark contrast to how he joined the Red Wings as a defensive presence in 2005-06, a move earned through a strong training camp tryout. This doesn’t mean that Cleary wasn’t the most responsible defensive forward when he was a prospect, but rather it’s a reflection of the work he put in to get better over his career.

What we can learn:
Even players who are billed as scorers early in their careers can adapt to a different role. Take a look at Michael Rasmussen and Joe Veleno as two recent examples for the Red Wings. Both lit up major junior, only for their offensive impact to diminish at the NHL level. This isn’t to say they’re draft busts, but rather that their function as professional players draws from skills outside of scoring. In the case of Cleary, it’s easy to see his first-round selection as a whiff given his inability to score like scouting reports might have hinged his success on, but his ability to check — and chip in smaller point totals — made him a valuable player for Detroit for nearly a decade.

Alex Tanguay
Current Position: Assistant Coach
No. 12 overall, COL, 1998

What scouts said:
“Alex Tanguay scored three more goals in seven fewer games than No. 1 ranked Vincent Lecavalier, so why isn’t the Halifax Mooseheads’ center rated in the first round? Start with size. Tanguay is four inches shorter than Lecavalier. Finish with speed. Tanguay doesn’t have that extra gear. ‘He’s a bit-time junior scorer, but will he be able to do it at the next level with his speed limitations?’ one scout asked. That’s the question.’ Jumping into the first round isn’t out of the question for one of the few bright spots on Canada’s disastrous national junior team. Tanguay was a last-minute addition to the roster and performed well, better than Lecavalier for that matter. Some have speculated the Colorado Avalanche, with four first rounders, might use one to tab Tanguay, whose smarts, competitiveness and spirit will still make him an attractive prospect in spite of his skating limitations.” — 1998 THN Draft Preview

What scouts got right:
First off, hats off for the Avalanche prediction; they grabbed him 12th overall with their very first pick in the draft. In terms of scouting observations, Tanguay was, in fact, a below average skater, but that didn’t really stop him from becoming a really valuable NHLer who played more than 1,000 games.

What scouts got wrong:
As much as Tanguay struggled as a skater, he made up for it in his ability to score. That question of how his speed limitations would translate was partially right — Tanguay wasn’t the primary driver of his lines, but he was the kind of passer who could make elite linemates that much better. He had a mythical run in the 2001 Stanley Cup Final, scoring 21 points in 23 games on a line with Joe Sakic. That run ended when he had a hand in every goal in a 3-1 Game 7 win over New Jersey to win the Cup. Colorado got a whole lot out of Tanguay, Overall, Tanguay finished with the fourth-most points of his draft class, behind Tampa Bay’s first overall pick Lecavalier that he was so closely compared to. Second place belongs to Lightning third-rounder Brad Richards, followed by some random Detroit seventh-rounder named Pavel Datsyuk. Tanguay was a great pick at 12th overall, even if there were skating concerns.

What we can learn:
A lot of the time, skating is valued very high in scouts’ reports, and it should be. Everything stems from skating, and it’s a difficult skill to develop given how many mechanical nuances there are to it. But, really good players can be terrible skaters. It just comes down to how they play around their weakness, that is, what they do to compensate. In Tanguay’s case, he was a really good passer who could often get the puck to someone with more mobility. Players can be poor skaters — they just have to be better in other areas.

Jiri Fischer
Current Position: Associate Director of Player Personnel
Draft: No. 25 overall, DET, 1998

What scouts said:
“When you’re 6-foot-5 1/2, 201 pounds and can skate like the wind, you’re going to attract a lot of attention. And so it goes for Hull Olympiques’ defenseman Jiri Fischer, a Czech import who was a Quebec League rookie this year. ‘This kid has a lot of upside,’ one scout said, ‘but truthfully, I thought he would be more dominant than he was.’ The knock on Fischer is he isn’t a punishing checker (doesn’t use his size to his advantage) and doesn’t generate significant offense (three goals, 22 points in 70 games). ‘If he was more punishing or more offensive, you could project him as a top four defenseman in the NHL,’ another scout said. But with his size, strength, mobility and ability to make a good first pass out of the defensive zone, Fischer is seen as a blue-chip investment, a possible top-10 pick whose first-round status is virtually guaranteed. ‘He showed steady improvement and was excellent in the playoffs,’ another scout said.” — 1998 THN Draft Preview

What scouts got right:
It’s difficult to assess right and wrong here given the way that Fischer’s heart complications ended his career. This scouting report predicted how Fischer’s style didn’t really lean into scoring. He figured out how to use those physical tools to defend, and he controlled his own end while earning a spot on some hall-of-fame deep Red Wings teams.

What scouts got wrong:
By the time he was 25, Fischer had, in fact, developed into a top four defenseman for the Red Wings. However, it didn’t come from being more of a punishing player, as far as the bruising bully defenseman archetype goes. The bruiser-scorer spectrum that this scouting report drew from didn’t acknowledge how adept skating and size can combine to be a big advantage in the defensive zone outside of simply manhandling opponents.

What we can learn:
Not all players, especially defensemen, fall in a neat little box. Sometimes they have attributes and abilities that fall into their own niche, and it’s with development that these can turn into more refined roles on an NHL team.

Shawn Horcoff
Current Position: Assistant General Manager and General Manager of the Grand Rapids Griffins
Draft: No. 99 overall, EDM, 1998

What scouts said:
Horcoff wasn’t included in THN’s 1998 Draft Preview, having been a late-blooming defensive forward at Michigan State. The Edmonton Oilers swung on him in the fourth round, banking on Horcoff’s ability to keep building on his success. He made it a worthwhile investment, having a breakout 1999-00 season two years later as the captain of the Spartans. Once he made the Oilers, he developed into a sound two-way player whose explosive 2005-06 season out of the lockout turned into a 73-point career apex on an Oilers team that made the Stanley Cup Final.

What we can learn:
A lot of the time, teams want to invest in younger prospects with more time and runway to grow into useful players. Sometimes, there’s a lot of value to gather from players who’ve taken a little longer to develop but are showing signs of a breakout. A lot of the time, these late bloomers are more likely to be UDFA signees or tryout players rather than full draft picks, but In Edmonton’s case, Horcoff was good enough to be worth guaranteeing draft rights. Perhaps in later rounds, these same sort of players might be on the table as flier candidates.

Niklas Kronwall
Current Position: European Player Development
Draft: No. 29 overall, DET, 2000

What scouts said:
“At 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds, there are fears that Niklas Kronwall’s lack of size and strength will prevent him from playing pro. It may not be comforting to the Swedish defenseman to know that at least one scout isn’t convinced Kronwall is even that big. ‘Maybe he’s 5-foot-11 in skates,’ the scout said. ‘He looks like he’s 13 years old. This is not a very big kid.’ But he is a bright one, a smart, swift-skating puckhandler who, in spite of his physical immaturity, played well for Djurgarden in the Swedish Elite League. ‘As you might expect, he’s not at all physical,’ said another scout. ‘But he has great anticipation, skates and passes well. He could be an effective power-play specialist. If (an underdeveloped defenseman) can make it, this could be the one.’ If he doesn’t go in the second round, he becomes a highly attractive third-rounder. Upside: A No. 4 or 5 mobile defenseman.” — 2000 The Hockey News Draft Preview

What scouts got right:
Well, this scouting report aged like fine milk. The scouting report was right in its assessment of Kronwall’s skating and offensive ability. He was an adept power play specialist, racking up assists as the quarterback. He was the eighth-leading scorer of his draft class, period, and second among defensemen behind only Lubomir Visnovsky.

What scouts got wrong:
When it comes to knocking Kronwall’s physical play and size, this scouting report got Kronwalled. I’m referring to the way that Kronwall’s name became a verb for brutal, high-speed hits that are the stuff of YouTube highlight reel legend. Kronwall, you won’t be surprised to hear, grew. He put on 25 pounds and grew an inch from his draft year. He was a hit machine, pinching on the blue line with devastating results.

What we can learn:
I’ve already covered the way that prospects can grow after their draft year, but with Kronwall, I will address the hockey sense side of physical play. Sometimes, for whatever reason (pain, it’s definitely pain), young players shy away from the physical areas of the game. Hits, blocked shots — they’re not exactly fun, and you’d be hard pressed to find an 18-year-old who’s keen on blocking shots instead of putting them in the net. So, it’s hard to assess who’s going to be a solid physical presence. In the case of Kronwall, eventually he learned to play heavy, and surely a little extra weight helped him with that. Sometimes size is one part of projecting a player’s physical play potential, while their will to do so is an entirely different quality.

The THN Archive is an exclusive vault of 2,640 issues and more than 156,000 stories for subscribers, chronicling the complete history of The Hockey News from 1947 until today. Visit THN.com/archive and subscribe today at subscribe.thehockeynews.com

Sign Up for THN's Red Wings Round Table

To check out THN Detroit's new Red Wings forum, use this link to sign up for a free account and start posting!

Also from THN Detroit

Around the League: Can the Rangers Keep up with the Panthers at Five-on-Five?

These Former Red Wings are Unrestricted Free Agents. Could Any of them Return to Detroit?

The Red Wings Could Trade their First Round Pick; Here’s Why they Shouldn’t

Around the League: Conference Final Field Assures Fresh Stanley Cup Champion

Breaking: Danielson Debuts for Griffins in Game 2

Must Watch: Raymond Continues Strong Worlds Campaign with Snipe vs. France

Nichushkin Suspension Raises Serious Doubts About Efficacy of Player Assistance Program

The Red Wings Could've Had Wyatt Johnston and Brock Faber; What this Teaches us About Rebuild Trades

Who is the Red Wings Most Important Prospect?

Breaking: Red Wings Prospect Danielson Joins Griffins

What Are the Red Wings' Best Trade Assets Heading into the Offseason?