from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,
A deal made on the first day yielded what so far has been the best pick the Detroit Red Wings made at the 2016 draft.
The June 24-25 event in Buffalo, where the Wings made seven selections, took place a week after Pavel Datsyuk announced he would return to Russia, even though he had a year left on his contract at a $7.5 million cap hit.
General manager Ken Holland unloaded the deal on Arizona in exchange for flipping first-round picks (Wings dropped from 16th to 20th) and the Coyotes’ second-round pick. Four years later, that pick has produced the biggest payoff for the Wings. (Holland used the cap space freed to sign forward Frans Nielsen, whose production has dropped from 41 points in 2016-17 to nine points this season.)...
D Dennis Cholowski
Drafted: No. 20Scouting report: Excellent skater with high-end offensive abilities....
In hindsight: The Wings could have had forward Alex DeBrincat (39th, Chicago Blackhawks), a Farmington Hills native who already has a 40-goal season to his credit and who has 173 points in 234 games.
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