RED WINGS FANS WERE WRONG… HOW STEVE YZERMAN DODGED A MAJOR BULLET

[Music] Well, this is going to be an interesting discussion because today I wanted to respond to a social media conversation that I saw blasted on my Twitter feed that really got me thinking about the past. And reminiscing is fun once in a while. Maybe it’s not the only thing you should do. I think getting lost in the past is quite detrimental to one’s mental well-being. But when it comes to a conversation like this that revolves around the Detroit Red Wings, I think there’s room to acknowledge where things may have taken a turn for the better. This was a tweet posted by Rono on Twitter that talks about Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond and asks, “Is this good?” Raymond’s player card goes as follows. 18 games played. Six goals, 16 assists, 22 points, 23 years old, dual threat winger. 95 percentile wins above replacement number on offense. 97 percentile wins above replacement number on defense. And if you look at everything on the graph over here, I mean, Raymond has positive offensive and defensive impact ratings. His point production is in the top 7 percentile of the league. His finishing ability, penalties drawn, penalties taken. And on the graph underneath, you can see that Raymond has had a pretty steady decline defensively in the NHL. There was a little bit of a hiccup in 2223 in terms of his offense, but he has gotten to a pretty big peak this season and he’s been pretty good. No complaints there. Yes, he is one of the only few guys on Detroit that is consistently finding offense. But hey, you got to be good to get good results, I guess. So, Raymond to bring Kitlark and Kane to an extent. Moider, you can’t ask for anything more point production-wise out of these guys. And Lucas Raymond nowadays, I think, has fully come into his own as the guy that he was advertised to being. And when you think about that, it becomes a lot more exciting because back when Lucas Raymond was draft eligible in 2020, this was a guy whom we labeled in our Why I Want Scouting Report video as a Swedish Mitch Mner. A guy who could just dominate the play at both ends of the ice. A player with some very strong defensive capability, passing like soft butter, and a guy who could just be a very dual threat offensive tool. That’s the label that we threw onto Raymond 5 years ago. And it’s pretty much the label that you can say accurately describes Raymond in 2025, 5 years later. Now, here’s the thing. Raymond was drafted by Detroit in the fourth overall spot in 2020. But that 201920 season where in Detroit achieved that ranking for the draft pick was one where they were undoubtedly the worst team in the league. So thinking about it like that, it becomes a lot more interesting when you acknowledge, hey, the Red Wings were terrible in 2020. They finished last place, but they slipped from first overall to fourth overall in the draft lottery. You have Darth Rider at Castle Dog 17 going out there and saying this on Twitter that losing the 2020 lottery is maybe the best thing to have happened to the Detroit Red Wings. Because honestly, if you think of the contrary, how things could have gone if they went another way, it becomes a lot more scary when you think about the guy who was first in 2020. Of course, we are talking about Alexi Lafrrenier, a guy who was touted as the best QMJHL prospect since Sydney Crosby, a player that was undoubtedly the number one overall target in most people’s brains. You had Red Wings fans salivating at the idea of this QMJHL superstar coming over and being a franchiseing piece. But unfortunately, Lafrenier, either due to his own faults or the faults of the team that did draft him in the Rangers, he has not progressed in nearly the same way as Lucas Raymond has. Lucas Raymond is on pace for 98 points this season. Alexi Lafrenier is on pace for half of that. His best season has seen 57 total points in 82 games played. Lafrenier, we’ve documented his issues so much over the past few years. He was supposed to be a franchise altering piece. The point production that Raymond has right now, we probably would have expected Lafrrenier to do this in like his 20 or 21 or 22year-old, let alone his 24year-old year. He’s totally gotten overtaken by some of the guys that went after him in the draft, particularly Tim Stutla, Lucas Raymond. There are some other ones in there that you can say are more valuable pieces like Seth Jarvis for example. But Alexi Lafrenier totally has not lived up to first overall hype despite the fact that he has been a consistent NHL player. That’s the difference though, right? NHL player doesn’t necessarily mean franchise altering superstar, especially in the way that fans thought Lafrenir would be exactly that. So, I think I think it is a little bit of a relieving thought to acknowledge the fact that Detroit missed out on the opportunity to draft Alexi Lafrenir in the first place despite the fact that at the time Red Wings fans were all woe is me about the draft lottery and that season. Oh, the Red Wings are so bad. Oh, they haven’t made the playoffs in so long. Oh, they’re rebuilding. They’re tanking. They’re this and they’re that and they can’t even win the draft lottery. You got to remember the draft lottery winner in 2020 wasn’t technically New York at first. It was a playin series loser team. And if you had been following hockey ever since that time period, you hear playin series loser team and you just get negative flashbacks because that was how the draft lottery was decided back in that time frame. The winner of the lottery wasn’t an NHL team. It was a to be determined team, one of which would be selected from the list of playin series losers in the bubble playoffs they had going that year. It was a bananas time and one that I think a lot of fans will not necessarily remember. You can do more research about that if you want. Also, all the YouTube videos that we made during that time frame are still up on the channel. A playin series loser is going to win. Alexi Lafrenier. And then there was a second draft lottery done for the right for that specific first overall pick. And it was like between Pittsburgh and Edmonton and New York and Chicago. It was such a strange time for the 2020 NHL draft, but that’s how it went, man. Alexi Lafrenier, he didn’t know who he was going to go to until the second draft lottery. and Detroit, the team that everybody thought had the biggest odds, ended up slipping to number four. Maybe to their benefit though, because Lucas Raymond is all that and then some. I’m not saying necessarily he probably should have gone first overall. I think Timmy Stew is probably the best candidate for that, but Dylan Lin, knowing everything that we know about him now, I don’t think any Red Wings fan would change the results of that draft for anything. If you agree, you can let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. How do you feel about the Alexi Lafrrenier bullet dodged by the Red Wings and how these lottery balls, despite the odds favoring Detroit, took the team down a better path. If you enjoyed this video, feel free to hit the like button because likes help out with the algorithm in these trying times here on YouTube. Comment down in the comment section below how would Alexi Lafrenir had fared if he was a Detroit Redwing instead of a Ranger. Would he have been a lot better? Would he have actually found that 100 point caliber ceiling? Would he actually have lived up to the hype of being the best QMJHL prospect since Sydney Crosby? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. I hope you enjoyed this V rolls 999 and bye. [Music] [Music]

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We’re taking a blast to the past to the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, and how the Detroit Red Wings got lucky by not winning the lottery and drafting inevitable New York Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere.

Of course, the Wings ended up taking Lucas Raymond.

This video is taking place after the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, and after the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The 2025 NHL Draft 1st Round went as follows:

1st) New York Islanders, Matthew Schaefer
2nd) San Jose Sharks, Michael Misa
3rd) Chicago Blackhawks, Anton Frondell
4th) Utah Mammoth, Caleb Desnoyers
5th) Nashville Predators, Brady Martin
6th) Philadelphia Flyers, Porter Martone
7th) Boston Bruins, James Hagens
8th) Seattle Kraken, Jake O’Brien
9th) Buffalo Sabres, Radim Mrtka
10th) Anaheim Ducks, Roger McQueen
11th) Pittsburgh Penguins, Benjamin Kindel
12th) Philadelphia Flyers (from New York Rangers via Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins), Jack Nesbitt
13th) Detroit Red Wings, Carter Bear
14th) Columbus Blue Jackets, Jackson Smith
15th) Vancouver Canucks, Braeden Cootes
16th) New York Islanders (from Calgary Flames via Montreal Canadiens), Victor Eklund
17th) New York Islanders (from Montreal Canadiens), Kashawn Aitcheson
18th) Calgary Flames (from New Jersey Devils), Cole Reschny
19th) St. Louis Blues, Justin Carbonneau
20th) Columbus Blue Jackets (from Minnesota Wild), Pyotr Andreyanov
21st) Nashville Predators (from Ottawa Senators), Cameron Reid
22nd) Pittsburgh Penguins (from Colorado Avalanche via Philadelphia Flyers), Bill Zonnon
23rd) Ottawa Senators (from Tampa Bay Lightning via Nashville Predators), Logan Hensler
24th) Pittsburgh Penguins (from Los Angeles Kings), Will Horcoff
25th) Chicago Blackhawks (from Toronto Maple Leafs), Vaclav Nestrasil
26th) Nashville Predators (from Vegas Golden Knights via San Jose Sharks), Ryker Lee
27th) Washington Capitals, Lynden Lakovic
28th) Winnipeg Jets, Sascha Boumedienne
29th) Chicago Blackhawks (from Carolina Hurricanes), Mason West
30th) San Jose Sharks (from Dallas Stars), Joshua Ravensbergen
31st) Los Angeles Kings (from Edmonton Oilers via Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins), Henry Brzustewicz
32nd) Calgary Flames (from Florida Panthers), Cullen Potter

This video is also taking place after 2025 NHL Season, and after the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the Finals.

Lucas Raymond was one of the top NHL prospects at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

The 2020 NHL Entry Draft saw many top NHL prospects get selected by a variety of teams. The Top 30 of the draft went as follows:

1st) New York Rangers, Alexis Lafrenière
2nd) Los Angeles Kings, Quinton Byfield
3rd) Ottawa Senators (from San Jose Sharks), Tim Stützle
4th) Detroit Red Wings, Lucas Raymond
5th) Ottawa Senators, Jake Sanderson
6th) Anaheim Ducks, Jamie Drysdale
7th) New Jersey Devils, Alexander Holtz
8th) Buffalo Sabres, Jack Quinn
9th) Minnesota Wild, Marco Rossi
10th) Winnipeg Jets, Cole Perfetti
11th) Nashville Predators, Yaroslav Askarov
12th) Florida Panthers, Anton Lundell
13th) Carolina Hurricanes (from Toronto Maple Leafs), Seth Jarvis
14th) Edmonton Oilers, Dylan Holloway
15th) Toronto Maple Leafs (from Pittsburgh Penguins), Rodion Amirov
16th) Montreal Canadiens, Kaiden Guhle
17th) Chicago Blackhawks, Lukas Reichel
18th) New Jersey Devils (from Arizona Coyotes), Dawson Mercer
19th) New York Rangers (from Calgary Flames), Braden Schneider
20th) New Jersey Devils (from Vancouver Canucks), Shakir Mukhamadullin
21st) Columbus Blue Jackets, Yegor Chinakov
22nd) Washington Capitals (from Carolina Hurricanes via New York Rangers and Calgary Flames), Hendrix Lapierre
23rd) Philadelphia Flyers, Tyson Foerster
24th) Calgary Flames (from Washington Capitals), Connor Zary
25th) Colorado Avalanche, Justin Barron
26th) St. Louis Blues, Jake Neighbours
27th) Anaheim Ducks (from Boston Bruins), Jacob Perreault
28th) Ottawa Senators (from New York Islanders), Ridly Greig
29th) Vegas Golden Knights, Brendan Brisson
30th) Dallas Stars, Mavrik Bourque

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Hi. I’m “Gio Palermo”, also known as “legorocks99” (“legorocks99Gaming”, “LR99Gaming”, or “LR99”). I post video game commentaries on YouTube revolving around “hockey”, with a primary focus on “Vancouver Canucks”, “Montreal Canadiens”, “Detroit Red Wings”, and top “NHL prospects” topics. These videos are uploaded with “NHL 26” gameplay in the background. I enjoy making these videos and I hope that you enjoy watching them!

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11 comments

  2. Its hard to say how laf would have done in detroit and Raymond would have done in new york. The rangers have a very obvious player development issue going on. You could make an entire video just on that.

    Im seeing that beginning with the 2021 draft, all of their draft picks COMBINED since then have a grand total of 5 NHL goals scored in the NHL. 5.

    Meanwhile Emmett Finnie was a 7th round pick for the wings in 2023 and has 5 NHL goals just by himself.

    Like… what are they even doing in New York with their draft picks?!?

    Edits for typos

  3. Stats rely heavily on ice time…the more ice time you have your stats will trend higher. Premium minutes are worth more than non-premium minutes. First line, first power play, and 3v3 OT are premium minutes. Detroit put Raymond on the first line and first powerplay for almost his entire career (occasional 2-3 game windows on the 2nd line). He stayed on that line and power play even when he played poorly. For the first 2.5 seasons of Raymond's career a strong wind could have stolen the puck from him and yet he remained on the first line and first power play. His stats have benefitted from this compared to other players from his draft year. The last red wing to receive that kind of treatment that I can remember was Yzerman and Raymond was nowhere near as good as yzerman in his early career. A guy like Lafreniere did not receive that treatment. Lafreniere has been grinding up and down the line up and getting punished for playing poorly. You can't really compare them. They've had two completely different trajectories.

  4. Yzerman would have taken Stutzle if he had the 1st overall pick. He doesn't pick who people expect, and Stutzle would have fit his style perfectly. Lafreniere was an older player in his draft. That didn't get the attention it deserved, and it should have been a red flag. He was dominating because of his size and his age. The Rangers also totally screwed up his development. He was not ready when they forced him into the NHL, so he never fixed the areas of his game that needed to be fixed. It basically reinforced every bad habit and technique.

  7. You can't slip in the draft lottery.

    If top 3 picks are lottery, the worst team in league is entitled to 4th pick overall.

    IMPOSSIBLE TO DROP, THEY DO NOT OWN THE #1.
    Worst team has the BEST odds to move up sure, but to drop, that's not possible.

  8. Raymond is gonna end up being the best player of the 2020 draft. But in all seriousness I think LaFreniere would be producing much more on a team that would have developed him better and gave hime more premium ice time. He was drafted onto an already very good Rangers team. I wouldn't trade anybody for Raymond though.

  9. but that's the wings fans biggest excuse, we didn't get draft luck lol

    if you would've won that draft lottery you wouldn't have raymond so stop crying 😂

  10. 1) Yzerman was heavily documented as LOVING Stutzle above all others. That is whom Steve would have taken no question. 2) They literally changed the lottery rules because Detroit got so F'ed by what happened. In fact, in the 10 years Detroit has missed the playoffs they have lost position 9 of 10 years and the other year got their crappy middle round pick. They have NEVER moved up with lottery luck and ALWAYS lost spots. It has cost them SIGNIFICANTLY through the years with players they wanted but were previously taken. 3) Bought time the Wings are showing life being #1 in the Atlantic 20 games into the season.

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