The Red Wings' best sixth round picks include a magical Russian center, a fearless power forward turned NHL coach, and one of the frustrating forwards who was an inspiration for the Grind Line
The Red Wings' best sixth round picks include a magical Russian center, a fearless power forward turned NHL coach, and one of the frustrating forwards who was an inspiration for the Grind Line
Left Wing: Gerard Gallant
107th overall, 1981
When the Red Wings started to turn the corner out of the Dead Wings era, Gallant played a role in the renaissance. He rode shotgun to Steve Yzerman’s most offensively productive seasons, scoring 467 points in his Red Wings career from 1984 to 1993. Part of the reason Gallant earned that right came from his offensive instincts, but it also came from his ability to throw knuckles. He kept Yzerman protected by getting into more than 100 career fights in the regular season and playoffs. In 1987-88, he dropped the gloves 22 times.
Naturally, Gallant became a coach. He’s coached 705 NHL games for Columbus, Vegas and the New York Rangers. In those stints, he’s combined for a .576 points percentage. He also took the inaugural Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final.
The only other left wing picked by Detroit to crack an NHL lineup is 2019 pick Elmer Soderblom, who earned a spot out of training camp two seasons ago but was sent down to Grand Rapids after just 21 games. He could make it back to the Red Wings roster at some point, but it would take a lot for him to unseat Gallant on this sixth round All-Draft team.
Center: Pavel Datsyuk
171st overall, 1998
For a player nicknamed the Magic Man, the Red Wings pulled off a trick of their own by finding Datsyuk in the sixth round. He's a member of the Triple Gold Club, one of the best 100 players in NHL history, and he's got multiple highlight reel moves named in his honor. He won four straight Lady Byng trophies and three straight Selkes. For the majority of his career, Datsyuk was one of the most exciting players to watch in the entire league.
Datsyuk started his career off strong as a depth forward on the Red Wings' 2002 Stanley Cup team. It's fitting that a future hall of famer was a disciple of that star-studded roster, because Datsyuk carried the torch throughout his 14-year NHL career. He led the Red Wings in scoring seven times, finishing with 918 points in 953 games. In the playoffs, he scored 113 in 157 games, including 23 points in 22 games during the 2008 Stanley Cup run.
Datstyuk could have been considered for the left wing position on this All-Draft team, too, having played often alongside star teammate Henrik Zetterberg as the famed "Euro Twins." However, his primary position was center.
Among all Red Wings sixth-rounders, Datsyuk has scored the most points and played the second most games. The only other center to make the NHL drafted by Detroit in the sixth round was 1970's Bernie MacNeil.
Right Wing: Randy McKay
113th overall, 1985
If it weren't for Randy McKay, the Grind Line wouldn't exist.
OK, that's a bit generous, but McKay was one of the three members of the New Jersey Devils' famed Crash Line, which inspired Scotty Bowman to create the Grind Line after it rolled all over his Red Wings in the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals. In a 932 game career, McKay won two Stanley Cups and racked up more than 1,700 penalty minutes.
Before he was foiling Detroit's Stanley Cup dreams, McKay was a tough power forward in the Red Wings farm system after a four-year career at Michigan Tech. He won the 1989 Calder Cup with the Adirondack Red Wings, and played roughly half of the next two seasons with Detroit. McKay's time with the Red Wings ended when he was part of an arbitration package sent to New Jersey after Detroit signed free agent Troy Crowder. Needless to say, the Red Wings regretted the move later.
Even if McKay and his linemates frustrated Detroit later on, his line also offered inspiration for one of the most important units in the Grind Line.
McKay isn't the only talented right winger drafted by Detroit in the sixth round. 1,000-game checking forward Dallas Drake was also picked there in 1989.
Defense: Tony Horvath
94th overall, 1976
Believe it or not, no Red Wings defense prospect picked in the sixth round has made it into an NHL game. That makes selecting two defensemen for the sixth round All-Draft team kinda difficult. Alas, we move forward.
For criteria, I shifted what I’m looking at to reflect how effective a player could have been in the NHL, rather than judging how close they got. This selection isn’t about opportunity so much as it is effectiveness.
The first defenseman picked to the sixth round team is Tony Horvath. Drafted in 1976 by the Red Wings and the World Hockey Association San Diego Mariners, Horvath was a physical enforcer with average playmaking ability. He spent his career toughing it out in the IHL with three different teams, but he never got a call-up.
In the end, I think that Horvath’s enforcer archetype could hold up against other players in his era — getting drafted by two teams reinforces this belief. If Horvath was born later or played long enough to reach the height of the 1980s enforcer era, perhaps his career would’ve included some call-ups to throw fists on NHL ice.
Defense: Richard Nedomlel
175th overall, 2011
In the past decade or two, the true shutdown defenseman has been replaced with a lot more two-way peers in the sport’s best leagues. That discounts what Nedomlel brings as a big and tough defenseman who controls play in his own end. In the AHL, ECHL and most recently the Czech Extraliga, the 6-foot-4 blueliner has carved out a role as a shutdown force who teams consistently use. He’s also had his fair share of fights, especially in major junior with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos.
What Nedomlel lacks in scoring touch, he makes up for in the goals he prevents in his own end. As much as the current trends of the NHL don’t suit his style of play, his size and defensive acumen would make him less of a hazard than some of his peers.
Other defensemen considered for this sixth round All-Draft team include 2015 pick Patrick Holway and 2012 pick James De Haas. Both have more offensive upside than Nedomlel, but they also haven’t ever carved out a long-term role at the pro level in the way that Nedomlel has.
Goaltender: Victor Brattstrom
160th overall, 2018
This pick might prove controversial, however inconsequential the following debate may be,, because we’re going off the board to pick a player in Brattstrom who has never played an NHL game (at least, not at this point). But hear me out:
The Red Wings have gotten one single game out of a sixth round goaltender — 1983 pick Chris Pusey got in a single game in 1986, the same season he played backup for the Calder Cup winning Adirondack farm team. But, that game was more so an anomaly forced by injury issues, and Pusey let in three goals on 12 shots after coming in as the backup. He wasn’t supposed to play that game, and he didn’t convince anyone that he should have with his performance.
With selecting Brattstrom, my argument rests on two points: First, he has been a starter in a professional league; Second, he is a modern NHL goaltender who has been trained to have far more skill than any predecessors in earlier eras. If we got in a time machine and put Brattstrom head to head against Pusey, I’m more confident that the former would win. This might beg the question why I don’t just pick the most recent players for this team in general based on how much better coaching and development has become. However, the technical differences between goalies of old and goalies of the present are a far greater divide than those of skaters, who at least follow similar techniques. With goaltenders, the position has been revolutionized decade to decade through both technology and education.
Brattstrom is currently a goaltender for Farjestads in the SHL, and he played games on loan to Bofors IK in the HockeyAllsvenskan (Sweden’s second tier league) this season. He was once the backup to Calvin Pickard in the 2021-22 Grand Rapids season, and only Alex Nedeljkovic played more games than him for the Griffins in 2022-23. His current move to the SHL might give him a chance to come back to North America as a goaltender renewed, but I think it’s more likely that he’ll try to find a role over there.
Other goaltenders considered for this team include 1984 pick Randy Hansch, who started for the same Canadian National Team in 1988-89 that Kris Draper played on.
Previous All-Draft Selections
First Round
LW: Pete Mahovlich
C: Steve Yzerman
RW: Mike Foligno
D: Niklas Kronwall
D: Moritz Seider
G: Jim Rutherford
Second Round
LW: Adam Graves
C: Calle Jarnkrok
RW: Darren McCarty
D: Reed Larson
D: Bob Boughner
G: Jimmy Howard
Third Round
LW: Vyacheslav Kozlov
C: Valterri Filppula
RW: Johan Franzen
D: Nicklas Lidstrom
D: Steve Chiasson
G: Chris Osgood
Fourth Round
LW: Teemu Pulkinnen
C: Sergei Fedorov
RW: John Ogrodnick
D: Kyle Quincey
D: Stewart Malgunas
G: Tim Cheveldae
Fifth Round
LW: Petr Klima
C: Darren Helm
RW: Bob Probert
D: Jim Korn
D: Brad Shaw
G: Petr Mrazek
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