Redoing the Red Wings’ 2020 Draft Class

Obviously, re-drafts are inherently unfair due to the power of hindsight. I’m not making this article to laugh at the Red Wings because they honestly have done quite well with their early picks in recent history. I mostly want to do a bit of a fantasy lineup for the Red Wings throughout this process, and to see if there are any patterns worth watching, both in how Detroit has typically drafted, and in what type of players would have been worth taking a swing on. 

Last time, we made our way through the 2019 Draft and ended up with a couple of nice pieces on the wing, two stud defenders in Moritz Seider and Jackson LaCombe, and a strong starter goalie in Dustin Wolf. Let’s see if we can fill out the lineup a bit better here.

Lastly, I’m not going to just pick the seven best players willy-nilly and pretend that it is a realistic re-draft. No fair tennis without a net. Here are the rules I’ll be using. Any first round selection must be a player who was picked within the next five picks on draft day, to show that it was someone the team could have realistically considered. The wiggle-room will jump to 10 picks for round two, to a full round in round three, and then I’ll do a free-for-all after that. Let’s have some fun!

4th Overall (1st Round) – Jake Sanderson, LD

Original Pick – Lucas Raymond

This was a tough choice, with Lucas Raymond being the clear best forward available. In the end, I decided I should practice what I preach and take the player that I believe is the best player available. We miss out on the very best player in the draft class in Tim Stutzle at 3rd overall, but we get the next best player with Jake Sanderson at 4. Marco Rossi might be the best team-building choice here, as his post-Olympic break play suggests he could be a legit first line center going forward, but that required a bit too much projecting for my liking.

Is Sanderson going to have any ice time considering the ridiculous depth in this team’s defensive group? Unclear. However, I’d rather take the player I believe to be the most talented and sort the rest out later. Sanderson has established himself as a superstar on the blueline, earning a legitimate role for Team USA at last year’s Olympics at age 23. I think he’s only going to continue improving, and could be in the argument as a top-10, or even top-5 defender in the league very soon.

32nd Overall (2nd Round) – J.J. Peterka, RW

Original Pick – William Wallinder

JJ Peterka is a super talented young winger who has already shown that he can reliably score 25 goals and 50+ points in the NHL, with room to become more. I’m betting on his down year being a bit of a fluke after he was traded to the Utah Mammoth, and I think he could become a legit top-line winger in the NHL. Peterka gives us a much needed infusion of high-end skill and goal scoring in the top-six. I also heavily considered Luke Evangelista after the breakout he experienced last season.

51st Overall (2nd Round) – Will Cuylle, LW

Original Pick – Theodor Niederbach

Will Cuylle is a big, physical winger who works hard and wreaks havoc for his opponents without the puck. Cuylle has led the New York Rangers in hits in each of the past two seasons, and was fourth on the team in shots on goal to go with sixth on the team in blocked shots. He averages around a minute and a half on each special teams unit and is an all-around utility piece in the middle six. With Cuylle we’ve added a key penalty killer as well as a physical player who can bounce up and down the lineup as needed.

55th Overall (2nd Round) – Gage Goncalves, C

Original Pick – Cross Hanas

Gage Goncalves is a strong bottom-six center who once looked like he was going to be an AHL scoring forward. He has grown into a more physical play style, but he looks like he’ll still be good for 20-35 points a year in the NHL. Goncalves is a safe bet down the middle in our bottom six.

63rd Overall (3rd Round) – Alexander Nikishin, LD

Original Pick – Donovan Sebrango

One of the ultimate hindsight picks here, we land Alexander Nikishin at the start of the third round. Nikishin has been one of the top prospects in the sport since shortly after the 2020 Draft, but only just came over to North America for the 2025-26 season, the very year the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanely Cup. Talk about timing. Nikishin has a bomb of a slapshot and his offensive game generally translated well to the NHL. I don’t think it will take him long to be playing at the level of a strong first pairing defender in the NHL.

70th Overall (3rd Round) – Justin Sourdif, RW

Original Pick – Eemil Viro

97th Overall (4th Round) – Dylan Garand, G

Original Pick – Sam Stange

107th Overall (4th Round) – William Villeneuve, RD

Original Pick – Jan Bednař

132nd Overall – Brett Berrard, LW

Original Pick – Alex Cotton

156th Overall – Nils Åman, C

Original Pick – Kyle Aucoin

187th Overall – Louis Crevier, RD

Original Pick – Kienan Draper

203rd Overall – Devon Levi, G

Original Pick – Chase Bradley

I figured I’d group these seven picks together as they all basically amount to the same thing, organizational depth. A few of them might be on the final roster we build, but not in any significant role. Louis Crevier is intriguing as an absolute mountain of a man (6-foot-8) on the back-end. There’s a chance he’s on the final roster if we don’t draft too many more elite offensive guys in the next few drafts.

Fantasy Red Wings Re-Draft Roster

Here is where the re-draft team sits after the 2020 Draft.

Cuylle – Protas – Peterka
Maccelli – Goncalves – Leason
Harvey-Pinard – Åman – Gritsyuk
Soderblom – Parssinen – Sourdif
Extra: Berrard

LaCombe – Seider
Sanderson – Nikishin
Johansson – Crevier
Extra: Villeneuve

Wolf
Garand

I think there’s a good chance this team could beat the Vancouver Canucks in a seven-game series so we’ll count placing at least 31st as a success after just two years worth of re-drafting. Obviously, the biggest strength of this roster remains the defensive group, which is already looking absolutely ridiculous with the additions of Sanderson and Nikishin.

Goncalves and Åman give the team a few more legitimate centres to play serious minutes, though things would look a whole lot better if they were each bumped down a spot or two in the depth chart. Winger depth is still a moderate strength, with Cuylle and Evangelista both being credible top-six players. I’m not convinced that either of Garand or Levi are going to be more than third stringers in the NHL but I went with Garand for the stylistic differences between him and Wolf, giving us two different looks in net.

If I were to make these picks with positional need in mind, there’s a chance I’d go back and turn Sanderson into Rossi. There’s no doubt who’s the better player, but the massive talent logjam that we have on defense makes it easier to take a hit on total skill and add a top-six center. Will I regret that pick? You’ll have to tune in next time when we re-draft the Red Wings’ 2021 Draft class to find out.

What do you think of the re-draft team so far? Do you think we’ll ever find a top line center? Are there any players you think I missed? Sound off in the comment section below!