from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

The Detroit Red Wings’ previous four draft classes feature five players who have played a combined 185 NHL games thus far.

Several more are certain to enter the league in the next few years, but it takes time.

So it will be a while before Steve Yzerman’s first draft as Red Wings general manager can be evaluated.

“The danger is we all want our draft picks playing as soon as possible; it helps justify the picks a little bit,” Yzerman told media at the draft. “Ultimately, you really have to make sure you’re doing what’s right for these kids, that they’re playing at a level that they can be competitive and improve and excel at.

“There is stress. Very few 18-year-olds play in the NHL today. Now that they’re in the fold, we’ll try to set them up as best as we can, educate them and provide them with resources to develop and then we’ll see. If it’s one year, two years, three years … some of these kids will be five years. It doesn’t mean they’re not going to be good players. But it’s going to take five years for some of them.”

Here is a look at the 11 players the Red Wings selected over the weekend at Rogers Arena in Vancouver:

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from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,