In an NHL Entry Draft filled with surprises, the Red Wings didn't.
They drafted with the first-round pick, the eighth overall, center Marco Kasper.
The Austrian center played in Rogle (Sweden) last season, where he had seven goals and four assists in 46 games.
Kasper (6-foot-1, 183-pounds) is projected to be a smart and responsible two-way center who isn't afraid to go into the hard areas.
"He can play all three forward positions but we drafted him a center" said general manager Steve Yzerman to ESPN after the selection. "We feel has underrated skill and he'll play in our top six (forwards) some day."
The evening began with a mild surprise.
Host Montreal, picking first overall, mildly surprised its fans drafting Juraj Slafkovsky over the expected selection, Shane Wright.
Slafkovksy, a 6-foot-3 wing who was the most valuable player at the Olympics, became the first Slovakian to ever get picked first overall.
Slovakia made further history when defenseman Simon Nemec was chosen second overall by the New Jersey Devils. The Devils, loaded with center depth, didn't see a need for Wright, who was projected to be the first overall pick for the last several years.
It was also the first time in history Slovakia natives were the first two picks in the NHL Entry Draft.
Arizona then took center Logan Cooley, from Plymouth Township-based United States National Team Development Program, with the third pick overall, the player that was projected to land in Arizona all along.
Wright (Kingston, OHL), not a flashy player but one that is good in all three zones, fell to number four overall to the Seattle Kraken.
Philadelphia grabbed forward Cutter Gauthier (USNTDP) with the fifth pick, adding a highly-rated power forward who scored 34 goals last season.
Columbus, with its first of two first-round selections, selected defenseman David Jiricek (Czechia), who was rated higher for most of the season until a knee injury ended his season and scared some teams.
After trading away forwards Alex DeBrincat (Farmington) to Ottawa and Kirby Dach to Montreal earlier, Chicago had the seventh pick (from Ottawa) and chose defenseman Kevin Korchinski (Seattle, WHL) for the rebuild ahead.
