Red Wings: Steve Yzerman sets his sights on 2020 NHL Draft Lottery

The Detroit Red Wings are approaching the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery.

Since the announcement a few weeks back that the 2019-20 regular season was cancelled meaning the 2020 Detroit Red Wings season was over, the sights have changed. General Manager (GM) Steve Yzerman has adjusted and set his sights on the upcoming 2020 NHL Draft Lottery.

Yzerman’s attention is focused on going through the typical offseason plans, but the Draft Lottery is scheduled to be next on the list of things. According to TSN Insiders like Pierre LeBrun, the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery is expected to take place on Friday, June 26th.

The Red Wings horrifying 17-49-5 record should have earned them the best odds in the NHL Draft Lottery; however, the Ottawa Senators somehow have ducked the system. Since they traded Erik Karlsson back in 2018, they possess the rights to the San Jose Sharks first-round pick this year.

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Conveniently, the Sharks have been struggling and wound up with top lottery odds, which means the Senators possess two of the top three odds.

That being said, the Senators actually have better odds to get the first overall pick with their two selections than the Red Wings who had the worst record.

The Red Wings will just have to keep their hope high with their 18.6% percent odds compared to the Senators 25.0% chance.

The Detroit Red Wings Lottery outcome is just the beginning for Steve Yzerman.

On June 26th, when the little white lottery balls decide who picks when; it will kick off a time where the Red Wings front office needs to get to work to have a successful draft. The top five-ish talents in the draft class are already known, being led by forward Alexis Lafrenière, who is the undisputed top prospect.

In an ideal world, the organization will land the first overall selection and be able to select Lafrenière and have the rebuild expedited by bringing in such a dominant prospect. But in the real world where it seems, things are stacked against the organization.

Yzerman will most likely end up with a top-three pick and have their scouting work cut out for them. With the lottery being the thing that will lay the groundwork for draft prep for the organization, expect Yzerman’s sights to be set on the upcoming event.

Scouting was taking place before the suspension and cancellation of amateur league seasons across the world. Still, the Red Wings will get a better idea of which players to really start looking into after the lottery is completed.

The Red Wings organization has seemingly done a great job scouting talent over the years, especially in the European leagues to ensure they are bringing in some of the top talents, and this NHL Draft Lottery is just the first step for this year’s draft scouting.

Once the Red Wings learn their fate, they will have a better idea at which players to get better reports on, Yzerman has to be awaiting the day of the lottery, eager to start crafting a plan for the Red Wings 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

The expectation has to be that the Red Wings lack of luck leaves them winding up with the second or third overall pick where they will have to explore options like Quinton Byfield or Tim Stützle. Beyond that, it gives them an idea of which players to start looking into for the second round and beyond.

It would allow Yzerman to have his scouts start looking into players like Brandon Coe, Wyatt Kaiser, Dylan Peterson, who are all top talent who could be taken early in the second round. The Red Wings have three selections in the second round of this upcoming draft.

Once the NHL Draft Lottery comes and goes, Yzerman will be able to get together with his guys to come up with a better plan for the Red Wings. They possess ten selections during the 2020 NHL Draft, and the organization has six of those ten selections in the first three rounds.

The Detroit Red Wings should be poised for a strong 2020 NHL Entry Draft, but the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery will dictate how GM Steve Yzerman goes about the first overall selection.