#NHLDraft21 Recap: Detroit selects six versatile prospects on Draft Day 2

DETROIT --After bolstering their back end with 6-foot-4 defenseman Simon Edvinsson and trading up to select 6-foot-6 goaltender Sebastian Cossa on Day 1 of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, the Detroit Red Wings repeated that strategy to start Day 2 by trading up to select 6-foot-3 defenseman Shai Buium with the 36th overall pick.
With their next three selections, the Red Wings addressed the offensive side of the puck with three forwards, including left wing Carter Mazur in the third round (70th overall), center Red Savage in the fourth round (114th overall) and center Liam Dower Nilsson in the fifth round (134th overall).
Detroit rounded out its draft by selecting defenseman Oscar Plandowski in the fifth round (155th overall) and center Pasquale Zito in the sixth round (166th overall), giving Detroit four forwards, three defenseman and a goalie in the 2021 class.

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Red Wings executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman said he was pleased with the overall variety of prospects he selected throughout the draft.
"We hope we've made good choices. We definitely wanted to address some needs," Yzerman said after the draft concluded. "Particularly on left D in our prospect pool. We talked last night about the goaltender as well. We feel now we have stabilized our goal in Detroit and also with a very good prospect within our system. We're comfortable with the depth of prospects that we have on left D and on the right side as well.
"Today, we were able to add some forwards, a centerman in particular. If you look at our prospects, we have a lot of wingers, we'd consider them skilled wingers. And we wanted to add to that with some centermen. So we were able to do all of those things."

Detroit traded up from No. 38 to No. 36 to select Buium, a 209-pound defenseman from San Diego, who's split time the past two years between the U.S. prep hockey ranks and the United States Hockey League's Sioux City Musketeers.
Buium began the 2020-21 campaign with Shattuck St. Mary's and earned 13 points (2-11-13) in 17 games before shifting to the USHL and posting 26 points (4-22-26) and a plus-16 rating in 50 games.
Yzerman said his staff had Buium high on their draft board and didn't want to miss the opportunity to select him.
"We had him pretty high, probably higher than most people, and we just felt like, let's get him," Yzerman said. "We've been in that spot before where we're waiting, waiting, waiting. We thought the cost to move up to make sure we had him was reasonable."
Buium, the son of Israeli immigrants, said he's ecstatic to realize his dream of hearing his name called on NHL Draft night.
"It's a dream come true. I'm super excited to be part of this organization," Buium said Saturday. "I think I'll be a good, solid top defenseman in the NHL playing a two-way game. Hopefully bring my offensive game to it."

Although he grew up on the west coast, Buium said he was extremely familiar with the Red Wings as a kid and loved watching their stars in the late 2000s.
"Growing up, Detroit was kind of my favorite team. Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk, they were my two favorite players, so it's a dream come true getting drafted the Detroit Red Wings," Buium said. "I love the staff. I mean, Steve Yzerman is a legend, so it was pretty intimidating at first, but I'm just super excited to be part of this organization."
The Red Wings focused on offense with their next three picks, including Mazur, who is a local prospect from Jackson, Mich., and an alumnus of the Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club in Detroit.
The 6-foot, 170-pound forward said he never fathomed being drafted by his hometown team.
"It's unbelievable. Growing up in Jackson, the Red Wings were always my favorite team," Mazur said. "So being drafted by an organization like the Red Wings is just an unreal feeling and just so surreal."

This past season, Mazur captained the USHL's Tri-City Storm and lit up the scoresheet, earning a team-leading 20 goals and 24 assists in 47 games.
Mazur took a big leap last season, more than tripling his point total from 2019-20 and gaining strength to cement himself as a legitimate NHL prospect.
"I felt like I was kind of hitting my stride (last season) and I also put on 30 pounds over the offseason, which really helped how I play," Mazur said. "I feel like that was a massive part in how I produced this year, for sure."
Before their next pick, the Wings traded down, acquiring the 114th and 155th overall selections in exchange for the 102nd pick.
With the 114th pick, Detroit selected Savage, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound forward who also has local ties as a Belle Tire and Compuware AAA alumnus and as a member of U.S. National Team Development Program for the last two seasons.
The forward prospect, whose father is 12-year NHL veteran Brian Savage, earned 18 goals among 42 points in 46 games last season for the USNTDP, and also represented Team USA at the 2021 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, scoring one goal in five games.
Savage, who lives locally in Northville, Mich., said he hopes to follow his father's lead as a polished NHL veteran.
"He's taught me the biggest things about becoming a good hockey player are the things you do away from the rink," Savage said about his dad. "It's the preparation and putting yourself in the best spot to strive. So it's something that I'm that I'm hoping to do and follow in his footsteps."

The Red Wings wrapped up their draft with Dower Nilsson and Plandowski in the fifth round, and with Zito in the sixth.
Dower Nilsson, a 6-foot, 176-pound center, is the sixth player in the last three drafts that the Red Wings have selected from Frolunda, following Edvinsson this year, as well as Lucas Raymond and Theodor Niederbach in 2020 and Gustav Berglund and Elmer Soderblom in 2019.
Detroit used its extra pick in the fifth round to select Plandowski, whose father, Darryl, worked with Yzerman in Tampa Bay. Yzerman said he's known Plandowski since he was a little boy, and the Wings' GM likes what the smooth-skating blueliner from the Charlottetown Islanders of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League brings to the table.
Last season, the 6-foot, 190-pound Plandowski earned 17 points (5-12-17) and a plus-22 rating in 39 games, providing the offensive punch that Detroit is looking for in its defensemen.
The Red Wings made their final selection in the sixth round with Zito, who didn't play last season due to the cancelation of the Ontario Hockey League. During the 2019-20 season as an OHL rookie, the 6-foot, 174-pound center earned 13 points (3-10-13) in 46 games with the Windsor Spitfires.
Yzerman said all the prospects that Detroit selected have a few similar key characteristics that he hopes will help the Red Wings' return to championship contention.
"We're trying to find good kids. Solid character kids that have drive and motivation," Yzerman said to wrap up the draft. "Ultimately, we think they're all competitive kids. We think they're all motivated and driven, and time will tell.
"But I guess what would be in common, and we're trying to do that every year, is draft kids that are good, solid kids that we think have a chance to play in the league and are really driven and motivated."
Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper agreed with Yzerman in his optimism for Detroit's 2021 Draft haul. Draper said he's excited to see these players compete in the 2021 Prospects Tournament this fall and continue developing as they strive to don the Winged Wheel at Little Caesars Arena in the future.
"We feel good about today. We felt we drafted in a lot of areas that we needed," Draper said. "You talk about the character of the prospects that we brought in, the talent of the prospects, and now they all know the work starts now, and that's something that's been always true. Once they're named, selected and they're part of the organization, away they go."