Red Wings draft eight players on second day of 2018 NHL Entry Draft

DETROIT -The Detroit Red Wings today drafted eight players during the second day of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Red Wings began the day with two picks in the second round, selecting right wing Jonatan Berggren (33rd overall) and defenseman Jared McIsaac (36th overall) before selecting three times in the third round: defenseman Alec Regula (67th overall), defenseman Seth Barton (81st overall) and goaltender Jesper Eliasson (84th overall). With their fourth-round pick, and eighth pick within the top-100 of the draft, Detroit chose right wing Ryan O'Reilly (98th overall). The final two rounds of the draft saw Detroit select goaltender Victor Brattstrom (160th overall) and center Otto Kivenmaki (191st overall).

Detroit's first selection of the day came with the second pick of the second round (33rd overall), acquired from the New York Rangers in a trade for Brendan Smith on Feb. 28, 2017, and the Red Wings selected right wing Jonatan Berggren, a 17-year-old winger from Uppsala, Sweden. Berggren has spent the last three seasons in Skelleftea's system, leading the Swedish under-20 league with 57 points (18-39-57) in 38 games. He also made his professional debut by playing in 10 games for Skelleftea in the Swedish Hockey League. The 5-foot-10, 181-pound forward captured bronze with Sweden twice internationally in 2017-18, pacing the team during the 2018 IIHF World Under-18 Championship with 10 points (5-5-10) in seven games, which tied for third in the tournament, and picking up five points (3-2-5) in five games at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. In 67 career games for Skelleftea's under-20 team, Berggren has registered 69 points (24-45-69), while adding 140 points (67-73-140) in 109 games at the under-18 level for Enkopings and Skelleftea since 2013-14.
Three picks later (36th overall), the Red Wings selected defenseman Jared McIsaac, who was a teammate of both of Detroit's first-round picks - Filip Zadina (sixth overall) with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Halifax Mooseheads and Joe Veleno (30th overall) at various international tournaments for Hockey Canada. In 65 games for Halifax during the 2017-18 campaign, McIsaac led the team's defensemen and ranked seventh overall with 47 points (9-38-47) in 65 games, which also tied for 10th among QMJHL defensemen. McIsaac has skated two seasons with Halifax, totaling 79 points (13-66-79), a plus-21 rating and 146 penalty minutes in 124 games. He earned a spot on the 2017 QMJHL All-Rookie Team and won the Raymond Lagace Trophy as QMJHL Defensive Rookie of the Year. McIsaac has also played extensively on the international level for Canada, totaling five points (1-4-5) in 10 games at the 2017 (winning gold) and 2018 IIHF World Under-18 Championships. That marked his first gold medal for Canada, which he added to at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament with three points (1-2-3) in five games.

With the first of three third-round picks, the Red Wings selected West Bloomfield, Mich., native and defenseman Alec Regula (67th overall). Regula earned a spot on the Ontario Hockey League's First All-Rookie team in 2017-18, in which he skated for the London Knights and produced 25 points (7-18-25), placing 10th on the team in scoring and second among defensemen. Prior to joining the Knights, the 6-foot-4, 203-pound blueliner spent one season in the United States Hockey League for the Chicago Steel, picking up five points (1-4-5) and eight penalty minutes in 53 games. Regula attended Cranbrook Schools in West Bloomfield, capturing a Michigan high school state championship in 2015. Regula's father, Chet, worked as the Red Wings' team dentist for 29 years and currently serves in the same capacity for the NFL's Detroit Lions.
Detroit's next pick, acquired from Philadelphia in a trade for Petr Mrazek in 2017-18, was defenseman Seth Barton (81st overall), a 6-foot-3, 179-pound blueliner who spent the season with the Trail Smoke Eaters of the British Columbia Hockey League. In 49 regular-season games for Trail, Barton posted 33 points (6-27-33) and 32 penalty minutes, adding 11 points (3-8-11) in 16 postseason games. A native of Kelowna, British Columbia, Barton appeared for Canada West at the 2017 World Junior A Challenge and earned two assists in five games. During the 2016-17 campaign, Barton racked up 38 points (11-27-38) in 35 games for the Okanagan Rockets in the British Columbia midget-major circuit, debuting for the Nanaimo Clippers in the BCHL with two games played. Barton, 18, is slated to attend the University of Massachusetts-Lowell starting in 2019-20.
At 84th overall, a pick acquired in the trade which sent Riley Sheahan to Pittsburgh, the Red Wings drafted goaltender Jesper Eliasson. Eliasson split the 2017-18 campaign between the under-18 and under-20 teams for IF Troja-Ljungby. He ranked statistically among the top goaltenders at the under-20 level, placing fifth with a 0.930 save percentage and sixth with a 1.93 goals-against average. He was also named the best goaltender in the under-18 league, leading the circuit in save percentage for the second-straight season (0.946). Born in Eksjo, Sweden, the 6-foot-3, 209-pound netminder debuted for his national team at the 2018 Five Nations Tournament in Plymouth, Mich., posting a 3.00 goals-against average and 0.878 save percentage in two games, and the 2018 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, sporting a 3.00 goals-against average and 0.884 save percentage in one appearance. He is slated to start the 2018-19 season with the Vaxjo Lakers' under-20 team.

With their fourth-round pick (98th overall), Detroit selected Ryan O'Reilly, an 18-year-old winger from Southlake, Texas, who was drafted in his hometown rink as a former product of the Dallas Stars youth hockey organization. O'Reilly spent the 2017-18 season with the USHL's Madison Capitols, ranking among the team's leaders with 21 goals (2nd) and 34 points (7th), while picking up only eight penalty minutes in 45 games. He was also second in goals and eighth in points among league rookies, earning USHL All-Rookie Second-Team honors. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound winger also spent a year in metro Detroit, playing for the Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club in 2013-14. O'Reilly was acquired by the reigning USHL-champion Fargo Force on May 7 and is committed to the University of Denver for the 2019-20 season.
Detroit originally held back-to-back picks in the sixth round, but traded the 159th overall selection to Columbus in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. With the 160th pick, the Red Wings tabbed goaltender Victor Brattstrom, a 21-year-old goaltender who spent the 2017-18 season playing professionally for Timra IK in the Swedish Allsvenskan, the second-highest professional league in Sweden. Brattstrom was statistically among the top goaltenders in the league as a first-year pro, sporting a 1.93 goals-against average (2nd) and a 0.919 save percentage (T6th). The 6-foot-5, 198-pound native of Goteborg, Sweden, led the Swedish junior-league in save percentage (0.935) over 31 games in 2016-17. Prior to that, Brattstrom was a member of Frolunda HC's junior system from 2012-16, leading the under-18 league in save percentage in 2013-14. Brattstrom helped Timra earn a promotion to the Swedish Hockey League for 2018-19.
The Red Wings' eighth pick of the day and 10th pick of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft was center Otto Kivenmaki, who competed in the Finnish junior league in 2017-18 for Assat's under-20 club. Kivenmaki scored at a point-per-game pace for Assat with a team-leading 37 points (11-26-37) in 37 games and was honored as the Rookie of the Month in November. In 2016-17, the 5-foot-8, 154-pound 18-year-old helped Assat's under-20 team to a second-place league finish with nine points (3-6-9) in 29 regular-season games. Kivenmaki hails from Pori, Finland, and his father, Marko, played professionally in Norway and Finland from 1996-2011.