RWC REPORT: Will 2006 draft class deliver?

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / May 26, 2008

The Detroit Red Wings’ 2006 draft class keeps looking better and better.

The Red Wings signed second-rounder Dick Axelsson this week, meaning six of seven picks from two years ago have landed NHL contracts. Five are in the Red Wings’ system, while one — Shawn Matthias — is with the Florida Panthers.

Cory Emmerton (41st overall), Matthias (47th), Axelsson (62nd), Daniel Larsson (92nd), Jan Mursak (182nd) and Logan Pyett (212nd) were all deemed good enough after two seasons to earn three more years of NHL development.

The other pick — college prospect Nick Oslund — is still in the system for three more years at St. Cloud State before his signing deadline rolls around. Oslund may be a long shot, but he’s a big-bodied energy player who hits hard.

It’s the biggest signing class since 2002, when Detroit inked six of 10 picks, including Jiri Hudler, Valtteri Filppula, Derek Meech and Jonathan Ericsson.

The Red Wings signed five of nine picks in 2005; two of eight in 2004; three of eight in 2003; three of seven in 2001; and five of 11 in 2000.

Axelsson and Mursak are potential scoring-line contributors with perhaps the most offensive upside of anybody in the system. Emmerton is a smart two-way forward who could be a great fit in Detroit’s system. Larsson has an outside chance of being a No. 1 goalie and Pyett could be a power-play defenceman.

Matthias, meanwhile, was ranked the 12th-best prospect in the world by The Hockey News in the magazine’s Future Watch publication in March.

The Red Wings typically hope to land one or two NHL regulars out of each draft, which they’ve done fairly consistently since 1998.

— Forward Jan Mursak’s season came to an end on Friday with a 9-0 loss to the host Kitchener Rangers at the Memorial Cup Canadian Hockey League championship. The Rangers eventually lost 4-1 to the Spokane Chiefs in the final. Mursak finished the tournament with just one goal in four games.

Mursak's final game also marks the end of weekly RWC Reports for the summer, but check back regularly for off-season coverage of the draft, free agency, development camp, the prospects tournament and training camp.

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	78	18	17	35	26
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	69	10	24	34	83
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	67	16	15	31	30
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	75	14	16	30	47
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	72	7	15	22	62
Kyle Quincey	Grand Rapids	AHL	66	5	15	20	149
Francis Lemieux	Grand Rapids	AHL	59	6	11	17	55
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	75	3	14	17	82
Randall Gelech	Grand Rapids	AHL	70	7	8	15	37
Johan Ryno	Grand Rapids	AHL	12	3	4	7	8
Zack Torquato	Grand Rapids	AHL	11	1	0	1	8
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	0	1	1	0
Igor Grigorenko	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	0	0	4
R U S S I A
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	57	2	12	14	34
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	27	4	6	10	24
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	37	3	2	5	22
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	47	12	13	25	44
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	54	10	10	20	10
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	30	2	7	9	18
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	9	1	0	1	2
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	33	6	17	23	26
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE-J20	6	8	2	10	30
B E L A R U S
Sergei Kolosov	Dinamo Minsk	BEL	47	4	6	10	73
C H L
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	66	25	42	67	112
Jan Mursak	Belleville	OHL	57	17	47	64	23
Cory Emmerton	Brampton	OHL	54	25	36	61	16
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	62	20	34	54	54
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	62	12	37	39	30
N C A A
Justin Abdelkader	Michigan State	CCHA	42	19	21	40	107
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	22	2	10	12	26
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	35	3	3	6	12
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	38	4	1	5	27
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	16	1	2	3	18

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	46	--	2.29	.921
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	54	21-28-2	2.83	.907

The following is an up-to-date playoff statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
R U S S I A
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	8	1	0	1	2
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	13	1	0	1	10
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	4	0	1	1	0
S W E D E N
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	11	2	2	4	4
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	4	1	1	2	2
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	5	1	0	1	2
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	5	0	0	0	2
C H L
Jan Mursak	Belleville	OHL	21	9	15	24	10
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	6	1	3	4	0
Cory Emmerton	Brampton	OHL	5	0	2	2	2
M E M O R I A L    C U P
Jan Mursak	Belleville	CHL	4	1	0	1	0

The following is an up-to-date playoff statistical report for goalies:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	5	--	2.64	.920

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; QMJHL -- Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; CCHA -- Central Collegiate Hockey Association; WCHA -- Western Collegiate Hockey Association; ECAC -- East Coast Athletic Conference.