Luckiest jerseys in the NHL’s long and storied history

7. Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings luck comes in the form of a world class scouting staff that was head and shoulders above the rest of the NHL for the better part of two decades. The team was the San Antonio Spurs of the NHL, making it to the playoffs in 25 straight seasons, from 1991 to 2016. The streak is behind only the Chicago Blackhawks, who began their streak two decades earlier.

Part of the reason the Red Wings have been so consistently good is because of their ability to draft and develop players. Sure, they had studs like Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan and Dominik Hasek through the 1990’s but the players that came after them weren’t the first round picks we’re used to seeing. They were late picks that developed into incredible players.

Sergei Federov was a fourth round pick in 1989. Slava Kozlov, who was huge for the Wings in the 90’s was a third rounder. Pavel Datsyuk was a sixth round pick in 1998. Henrik Zetterberg came in the seventh round of the 1999 draft. All of these players hould have been first round picks, if not lottery picks.

The Red Wings have won 11 Stanley Cups, four of which came in the modern NHL (1997, 1998, 2002, 2008). Each of the players listed above were instrumental in one or more of those Cups. When your sixth and seventh round picks become franchise players, you’re doing something right. There also has to be a little luck involved. That’s why this iconic franchise is ranked so high on this list.

Unfortunately for the Red Wings, it seems as though their luck has run out. They are currently bottom dwelling in the Eastern Conference and in the midst of a rebuild. We’ll see if they are truly lucky as we follow the development of guys like John Adams, Brady Gilmour and Otto Kivenmaki (Their sixth and seventh round picks in the last two years). Good luck living up to the hype of the late picks before you, kids!