More than likely, Detroit will pick 15th, but it could move up or down based on the lottery
With downtown Detroit currently hosting the NFL Draft, it feels an appropriate time to look ahead to the NHL Draft, and this afternoon, the NHL announced that the lottery for June's draft (to be held in Las Vegas on the 28th and 29th) on May 7th. The draft lottery has not been kind to the Red Wings during the Steve Yzerman-led rebuild. This time around, Detroit's lottery stakes aren't as high as they were during the most intense of the rebuilding years.
There is a 99% chance the Red Wings will select 15th overall with a 0.5% they move up and an 0.5% they drop down to the 16th pick. As of 2022, the NHL capped the amount a team can climb via the lottery to 10 spots, so Detroit's best possible selection is fifth.
If the likeliest scenario comes to fruition and the Red Wings do pick 15th, it will be the latest their own first round pick fell since 2016, when Detroit selected Dennis Cholowski with the 20th overall pick. To jump all the way up to fifth would be the earliest Red Wing first round pick since the team selected Lucas Raymond fourth overall in 2020.
Detroit won't have a chance to draft this year's top attraction—Macklin Celebrini, the British Columbia-born center who just won the Hobey Baker as a freshman at Boston University. However, the Red Wings will have a chance to make an impactful selection.
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