Red Wings earn surprising review over 2023 NHL Draft

Not a single trade was made in last night's 2023 NHL Draft opening, much to the surprise of many. Of course, this meant that the Red Wings didn't swing any deals and made their selections as listed rather than do what plenty of people had thought they would do and use some of their ample draft capitol in a trade for an established talent. 

In Round 1, the Red Wings selected Nate Danielson of the Brandon Wheat Kings with the 9th pick and then followed that up with Swedish defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka of Skelleftea with the 17th pick. 

“We have a lot of priorities,” GM Steve Yzerman said at the conclusion of Round 1. “We think we were able to address two of them here tonight.”

But for anyone looking for outlets to pan the Detroit draft for using all of their picks rather than making a big trade, think again. According to Yardbarker, the Red Wings are one of the "winners" from the Draft: 

"It doesn’t get much better than doing what the Red Wings did on Wednesday — addressing two areas of need and landing two players with All-Star potential. Some draft experts had center Nate Danielson going as high as No. 5 or 6 overall, and Detroit snatched him up with the ninth pick. He joins Dylan Larkin and Michael Rasmussen to form potentially one of the best young center trios in the NHL. Having defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka fall into their laps at No. 17 was another blessing. Perhaps the most offensively gifted blue-liner in the draft, Sandin Pellikka gives Detroit two of the top defensive prospects in the NHL along with Simon Edvinsson."

Are the Red Wings one of the winners in the 2023 Draft? As always, time will be the true indicator of whether or not that's true. 

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