The Red Wings took a hit at this weekend’s NHL Draft Lottery when they fell two spots to the 9th overall pick. The New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, and Dallas Stars all jumped the queue into the top-3, forcing Detroit out of their comfy spot at number 7. After the season they had, falling two spots at the draft doesn’t feel so good, but we can take solace in the fact that this draft class is weaker than previous years. It’s been said that outside of the top-2, the talent level between three and ten is very similar. This will make it hard for us to predict who exactly will be available when Detroit takes the podium, but I wanted to get some kind of idea about who might be available and whether or not the Wings should take them.

Here are five players the Wings may get a chance to draft with their ninth overall pick.

Cale Makar, from Calgary, Alberta, is a right-handed defenseman from the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits. He climbed the prospect rankings this season as he put up 24 goals and 75 points in 54 games for Brooks. It was the highest point total among team and league defensemen. He’s ranked 7th overall on Bob McKenzie’s latest prospect rankings, up from 12th at the midterm. He’s the highest ranked North American defenseman and the second-highest total behind Miro Heiskanen. I’m not sure Makar will fall to Detroit, especially with Colorado drafting fourth and one of their biggest needs being defense. If he is available at ninth, though, the Wings should jump on that.

From Surrey, British Columbia, Michael Rasmussen is a left-handed centreman who put up 55 points in 50 games for the WHL’s Tri-City Americans. At 6’5″ and 215 lbs, Rasmussen is one of the bigger players available at the draft. He throws his weight around on the ice, unafraid to go into the dirty areas and dig the puck out. He’s used frequently for important faceoffs and penalty killing. He sounds like a Matthew Tkachuk kind of player. Currently, he’s ranked number 8 on McKenzie’s list. I can’t see the Wings making a play for Rasmussen as they’ve already got a lot of mid-6 gritty players inked to long-term deals. A depth centre, which is what Rasmussen would be on this team, is far from their biggest need.

Cody Glass is from Winnipeg, Manitoba and he jumped from number 14 to 9 on McKenzie’s latest prospect rankings. He just finished his second full season with the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL where he put up a staggering 94 points in 69 games played. This was a huge improvement on his 27 points in 65 games in 2015-16. Glass is a creative playmaker with a high hockey IQ. As much as his point totals are impressive, he has a very strong two-way game. He helps out defensively, has good awareness and great anticipation. If Bob McKenzie is right about the draft order, then this is who Detroit ends up with. I wouldn’t be too upset about that.

In his rookie season in the Czech Hockey League, Martin Necas put up 15 points in 41 games. He’s a centreman from the Czech Republic who dropped two spots on McKenzie’s rankings list from 8 to 10. He’s a great skater who’s able to make tough plays at top speed. He’s a little small, though, only holding 167 lbs. on his 6’0″ frame. When he adds some more muscle to that frame, he’ll have the power to really compete in the corners and protect the puck. Necas will likely still be available at number nine, but I don’t think the Wings should target him. I’d take Rasmussen or Glass before him, but, again, a top-6 centre is not our greatest need right now.

The thing to keep in mind when it comes to prospect rankings and draft predictions is that it can be a crap shoot. It’s not an exact science. You never know which players are going to pan out in the long run. Plus, you never know how teams and GMs are going to act on draft day. They may pass on the most obvious choice or they may go off the board completely. That forces other teams to re-adjust on the fly.

These five guys that I just wrote about may go before or fall below where they’re ranked. One of them may end up as a Red Wing. Personally, I’m hoping for a right-handed defenseman. Bring me Timothy Liljegren.

By the way, Bob McKenzie’s latest prospect rankings can be found here. This is what I used for the player rankings and their stats.