The argument over a 2019 NHL redraft comes down to a familiar fork in the road: do you take the premium No. 1 center, or the premium No. 1 defenseman?
There isn’t a clean answer. It’s a matter of taste.
That much showed up in the fan reaction after The Hockey News ran the exercise and kept Jack Hughes at No. 1, followed by Matt Boldy at No. 2 and Moritz Seider at No. 3.
Hughes has clearly justified the pre-draft hype that surrounded him in 2019. Still, there’s a strong case for Seider, who originally went sixth, to sit at the top of the board.
Seider’s résumé has become hard to ignore. He recently captured the Rod Langway award as the league’s top defensive defenseman in 2025-26, and he’s also grown into a legitimate offensive threat from the blue line. Last season, only 10 NHL defensemen finished with more points than Seider’s 60.
Over his five NHL seasons, Seider has averaged 181 hits and 185 blocks a year. That’s the profile of a defenseman who does everything.
Durability only strengthens the case. Seider has played in 100 percent of his team’s games since reaching the NHL, a remarkable stretch of availability.
Then there’s the leadership angle. Detroit Hockey Now believes that if Larkin is traded, Seider will be Detroit’s next captain.
Hughes still brings obvious value. He’s averaged a point per game since entering the league, and that kind of production matters.
But he has also had trouble staying healthy, even if some of that has been the result of bad luck. In a league that puts a premium on availability, that counts.
The redraft also gets interesting when Cole Caufield is placed at No. 6 to Detroit. If that had happened, the Red Wings might never have gone after Alex DeBincat. The two are similar in size and scoring output, and Caufield already had a 23-goal rookie season by the summer Detroit acquired DeBrincat.
Even with Boldy slotted at No. 2 by The Hockey News, the evidence points to Hughes and Seider as the two most appealing players in the re-do. And that’s where the Blackhawks come back into the picture, because they owned the No. 3 pick in the 2019 draft.
In Other News...
Moritz Seider Just Raised Expectations For Detroits Next Step
Moritz Seider is already one of the main reasons the Red Wings can look at the blue line and see a real foundation, but he is not ready to treat last season as some finished product. After another strong year, the young defenseman said he still sees plenty of room to grow, and that is the kind of mindset Detroit has been looking for as it tries to take the next step from promising to genuinely dangerous.
The expectations around him are only going to climb from here, too. Seider finished in the mix for the Norris Trophy last season, which only sharpened the conversation about where he belongs among the leagues best defensemen, and the Red Wings will be watching closely to see how far that trajectory can go. If he keeps pushing the way he says he intends to, Detroits next step may end up being tied as much to his ceiling as to the roster around him. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings GM Search Just Got More Serious For This Roster
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Jeff Greenberg, the general manager of the Tigers, has also emerged as a reported candidate, which adds an unexpected wrinkle to a process that was already drawing attention around the league. His background is rooted mostly in baseball, though he does have some hockey executive experience, and that makes Detroits decision feel broader than a standard GM search as it continues to sort through a list that includes both familiar league operators and a surprise contender. [Read more 🡒]
Which Red Wings Prospects Could Force Their Way Into Detroit Soon
The Red Wings prospect pipeline remains one of the more interesting parts of the rebuild, and the latest look at the organizations top 10 young players helps sort out who might be close and who still needs more runway. The group spans different stages of development, with some prospects trending toward bigger roles in the minors or college before they are ready for Detroit, while others are already making a case that their path to NHL duty could come sooner than expected.
Carter Mazur stands out because his situation could force the club to make a decision rather than simply stash him in Grand Rapids, which adds another layer of urgency to his progression. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard is another name to watch after a strong evaluation of his long-term upside, and the broader picture is clear enough for Red Wings fans: the next wave is getting closer, even if the exact order of arrival is still up in the air. [Read more 🡒]