Planting Seeds

Jul 01, 2004

>The Red Wings, working without a first-round draft pick for the fourth straight season, grabbed eight players at the 2004 NHL Draft, held June 26-27 in Raleigh, N.C.

>Picking late has never seemed to hinder Detroit, which has uncovered diamonds such as Tomas Holmstrom (10th round, 257th overall in 1994), Pavel Datsyuk (6th, 171st in 1998) and Henrik Zetterberg (7th, 210th in 1999) in the deep rough of previous drafts.

>Here is the current crop that may one day bloom into AHL and NHL stars:

>Johan Franzen (3rd round, 97th overall)
Center, 6-2, 207 lbs.
Vetlanda, Sweden
2003-04: Linkopings ( Sweden) – 49 GP, 12 G-18 A—30 PTS

>Evan McGrath (4th round, 128th overall)
Center, 5-11, 181 lbs.
Oakville, Ontario
2003-04: Kitchener (OHL) – 68 GP, 15-36—51

>Siarhei Kolasau (5th round, 151st overall)
Defenseman, 6-4, 187 lbs.
Novopolotsk, Belarus
2003-04: Minsk ( Belarus) – 52 GP, 1-6—7

>Tyler Haskins (5th round, 162nd overall)
Center, 6-1, 177 lbs.
Cleveland, Ohio
2003-04: St. Michael’s (OHL) – 61 GP, 18-23—41

>Anton Axelsson (6th round, 192nd overall)
Left wing, 6-0, 183 lbs.
Ytterby, Sweden
2003-04: Frolunda Jr. ( Sweden) – 28 GP, 7-10—17

>Steve Covington (7th round, 226th overall)
Right wing, 5-11, 167 lbs.
Maple Ridge, British Columbia
2003-04: Calgary (WHL) – 72 GP, 6-13—19

>Gennady Stolyarov (8th round, 257th overall)
Right wing, 6-4, 187 lbs.
Moscow, Russia
2003-04: Tver ( Russia) – 20 GP, 2-1—3

>Nils Backstrom (9th round, 290th overall)
Defenseman, 6-0, 183 lbs.
Stockholm, Sweden
2003-04: Stocksund ( Sweden) – 12 GP, 1-6—7

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