New Red Wings GM Kevin Smith made many unexpected moves on draft weekend but none more impactful than trading top defenceman Erik Gudbranson, young top forward Vasili Podkolzin, and a mid-1st for third overall and a late first. This put Smith in a rather interesting position, with Lafreniere and Byfield certainties to go one-two but a lot of uncertainty in drafting third.

Eventually Smith decided that the German Tim St??tzle was the player to rebuild the team around. Whether the pick, or even the trade, were good moves remains to be seen, but no one can argue that it was an ambitious blockbuster.

It was not the only blockbuster move he would make that weekend. In a more controversial move, Smith dealt Toews for a large package that essentially boiled down to stud defensive prospect Kevin Bahl, a 2nd round pick, and two offensive forwards in the veteran Phil Kessel and the youngster Kasperi Kapanen, as well as versatile prospect Isac Lundestr??m and some future picks.

Toews, who had 45 goals in 19-20, did not fetch as much as some commentators had been expecting. However, Smith argued that Bahl was underrated and a key piece of the Wings' puzzle going forward, while Toews' may have been over-performing compared to his analytics.

These two deals also combined to lead to some others - the 2nd round pick from the Toews deal was traded for a 1st and defenceman John Moore. That 1st, along with the late-1st acquired in the move up to 3rd overall, were packaged with Mike Green for a higher 1st, veteran Rostislav Klesla, and a late-2nd.

Smith used this newly acquired 1st to draft William Wallinder 14th overall, later describing him as possibly "the 5th best player in the draft", while another GM said Wallinder could become the "top D in the draft".

In another clear sign of rebuilding, Smith traded Drew Doughty to Dallas for a package including Joonas Donskoi, Derek Forbort, prospects Henry Thrun and Alexander Yakovenko, the rights to Jayce Hawryluk, and a 2nd.

In the end, these moves left Detroit with two 2nd round picks, and they selected centres Thomas Bordeleau and Jaromir Pytlik.

Further moves followed as Smith restocked an empty cupboard, moving a mid-third for three 4th round picks and a 5th, while trading a 2021 5th round pick for David Pastrnak and four 5th round picks in 2020.

More information on the players chosen with those picks will follow.