The odds are steep for late-round draft picks, but the Red Wings are at least giving Luka Arkko and Myles Brosnan a path to prove there’s more to their stories than where they were selected.
Arkko, a Finnish left wing taken 175th overall in the sixth round of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, carries a 16% historical chance of reaching the NHL. Brosnan, a defenseman picked 196th overall in the seventh round, sits at 11%. Those numbers don’t exactly scream certainty, but Detroit assistant director of player development Dan Cleary saw something encouraging right away in Arkko.
“He right away wanted to come over,” Cleary said. Arkko is set to play this season in the OHL with the Erie Otters.
Cleary’s first read on him was simple and direct.
“It’s great. I’m super excited.
We’re going to be able to see him quite a bit. My first impression of Arkko would be that he’s big, and he’s got pretty decent hands.
“He seems like a really nice kid.”
Brosnan brings a different profile. The Harvard commit is a right-shot defenseman with high-end offensive skill, and he put up 51 points in 30 games last season at Dexter Southfield, a New England prep school. He was also selected for the Chipotle All-American Game and won the John Carlton Memorial Trophy, an award from the Boston Bruins for the top high school senior hockey player in Massachusetts.
There are reports that Brosnan will spend this season in the QMJHL with the Moncton Wildcats.
“Miles, he’s also got an option to go to college or junior, so we might see both those guys here at rookie tournament, which is good,” Cleary said.
For players taken this late, the climb is real. But Detroit has a recent example that keeps the door cracked open. Emmitt Finnie, the Red Wings’ 2025-26 rookie of the year, was picked 201st overall in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and followed that up with 13 goals last season.
“Them being late picks, you know what, what’s the advice?” Cleary asked. “Well, my advice, first thing would be you should look up Emmitt Finnie’s name.
“That kid, when he got drafted, he was right away, ‘What do I gotta do?'
“So he sought it out, he was hungry, wanted it, went and did it.
“That’s what you gotta do.”
In Other News...
Red Wings Fans Just Got Another Reason To Doubt Larkin Pick Packages
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The numbers only sharpen that caution. Second-round selections from 2011 to 2020 have turned into regular NHL players only about 30 to 34 percent of the time, while even late first-rounders are hardly locks. That is why teams keep treating premium centers like assets you do not replace with a stack of futures unless the offer is loaded with real certainty. For Detroit, it is another reminder that any Larkin package would have to be built around proven help, not just the promise of what might develop years down the road. [Read more 🡒]
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Lucas Raymond, meanwhile, is moving into the third season of his eight-year extension and was recently seen alongside Edvinsson and Rasmus Dahlin at a Luke Combs concert, a reminder of how intertwined these young Swedish stars remain away from the rink. For Detroit, the bigger question is how quickly the Edvinsson situation settles, because every passing week keeps the focus on a player whose next step matters to the roster and to the teams long-term plans. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Offseason Is Stuck On One Massive Unresolved Situation
Dylan Larkins situation has become the kind of offseason hold-up that can shape everything else around it. The Red Wings captain remains at the center of a trade discussion with Steve Yzerman, and until there is clarity on where that goes, Detroits roster picture stays a little blurry. It is the sort of unresolved business that hangs over a teams summer, especially when the player involved is still under contract and the front office is trying to map out the next step without forcing the issue.
Yzerman does have time to work through it, with months still left to find a deal that makes sense for the organization. The wrinkle is that Detroit is not approaching this like a standard futures swap, which narrows the field and makes the negotiation more delicate. If nothing comes together, Larkin could still be on the roster when the season opens, a possibility that keeps this from being a clean break and leaves the Red Wings waiting on a decision that could define the direction of the whole offseason. [Read more 🡒]