Kevin Dupont

O.K, my fellow NHL experts, three quick draft questions, and we will take them in chronological order:

1. In 1994, was the first pick of the draft Tomas Holmstrom (Detroit) or Ed Jovanovski (Florida)?

2. In 1998, did top honors go to the Tampa Bay Lightning, who chose Vincent Lecavalier, or to the Red Wings, who took Pavel Datsyuk?

3. In 1999, did the Thrashers go first and select Patrik Stefan, or was that Detroit again, taking Henrik Zetterberg?

All these years later, considering that the likes of Holmstrom, Datsyuk and Zetterberg make up arguably the NHL's best line this season, a casual hockey fan (not you, of course, dear reader) might figure the Winged Wheels had first dibs each of those years when it came time to selecting the game's future stars.

But it was hardly the case. In fact, the Red Wings selected Masseurs Holmstrom, Zetterberg and Datsyuk so late in those respective drafts, it is nearly an embarrassment to the world's international scouting brotherhood. Adding even more to the embarrassment, somewhat, is the fact that Stefan, a complete bust in the NHL, this year headed to Switzerland (Bern), and Jovanovski, his game these days a shell of his ''Jovocop'' days in Florida and Vancouver, is now a vastly overpriced spare part in Phoenix. Stefan was a total miss. Jovanovski sizzled and then fizzled.

To give him his due recognition, Lecavalier, now 27, eventually blossomed into a star with Tampa and won a Cup with the Bolts. At the moment, though, given how the Bolts have struggled in 2007-'08, they might be willing to swap Lecavalier for Datsyuk, straight up, but the Red Wings likely would ignore Bolts GM Jay Feaster's caller ID when it flashed on the phone.

For the record, Holmstrom, now with his name on three Stanley Cups, was the 257th pick in the '94 draft. Four years later, Datsyuk went 171st. Finally, Zetterberg, who stood as the NHL's No. 1 scorer (12-12--24) one month into the season, was selected 210th in 1999. Three true gems, and their average selection number was 213.

The NHL draft has been scaled back in recent years. This year, in fact, the entire draft (7 rounds) was comprised of only 211 picks. On average, the likes of Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Holmstrom would not even have made the board.

Go figure ... because it certainly appears the scouts often can't.

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But let's not include Detroit's scouts, who obviously have perfected the art of finding diamonds sprinkled in among the world's ice shavings. They've obviously got this teenaged talent thing nailed.

Based on these Big Three finds in Detroit, I've got my eye fixed laser-like on Gennady Stolyarov. Hey, so what if I can't come close to saying his name. All I know is that the Wings took ol' G-Sto at No. 257 overall in 2004. Good enough for me. Next time I swing by the Hall of Fame in Toronto, I'll tell 'em to prepare to give it up for Gennady. For now, the 6-foot-3 right winger is toiling for Dynamo Moscow. Who knew? But then, who knew that Datsyuk was toiling away for Yekaterinburg when the Wings made him their man. And at first, I couldn't say his name either.

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Holmstrom is more the corner man, net-crasher on Detroit's big line. The magic is made more among Datsyuk, who began to emerge as a star 2-3 years ago, and the lesser-known Zetterberg, who really was on a roll last year until a herniated disc in his back forced him out of the lineup for the final 6-7 weeks of the regular season. He returned in April and collected 14 points in the playoffs.

Zetterberg, a somewhat pedestrian 5-feet-11, 195 pounds, is a solid two-way performer, like so many of the Swedish-born forwards who come to North America, and his talents interface amazingly well with the speedy, shifty Datsyuk. He is sensational in ways similar to countryman Peter Forsberg, which is to say he almost never makes mistakes, is very strong on his skates and with the puck, and then makes the most of nearly ever opportunity.

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''Unbelievable without the puck,'' said Wings head coach Mike Babcock, ''and really dynamic with the puck.'' And especially so as a running mate with Datsyuk. No surprise that the two often pair up after practice and play endless games of keepaway with the puck.

With Holmstrom there as their wide-shouldered blocker, the only line that can compete with them these days is Ottawa's first line of Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson. Zetterberg is Detroit's Alfredsson, but right now it looks as if Zetterberg will shatter Alfredsson's career high mark of 103 points.

In fact, through his first 14 games, Zetterberg was on a pace to finish 2007-'08 with 141 points. If so, it would be the highest single-season point total in the NHL since Mario Lemieux led the way in 1995-'96 with 161 points.

''Good things happen,'' said Zetterberg, ''when you play with good players.''

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OK, look, he's a dry quote, right out of Cliche 101 Player Manual. But what do you want from a 210th draft pick? You want better than that, you're going to have to go a little deeper, like, maybe that Yevgeny Bumagin, No. 260 in 2000, or maybe that Nils Backstrom, No. 290 in 2004. Looks like the Wings have a million of 'em.

When asked who deserves credit for spotting such talent in the later rounds, Wings executive Jim Nill said it was a team effort by the entire Detroit scouting staff.

''Everyone pitching in, really...European scouts and North American scouts,'' said the assistant GM.  ''And I don't want anyone to think that we're smarter than anyone else. All clubs have these kind of guys.  I look at Boston with Patrice Bergeron (picked 45th in '03) and Colorado with Milan Hejduk (picked 87th in '94) ... some great picks. We've all had our hits and misses, and by no means is this an exact science.''

Years of dealing away first-round picks, noted Nill, placed an emphasis on scouting for the Wings, and the common thread in looking for talent was for scouts to train their eyes on individual player skill.

''Hey, we'd love to get a Joe Thornton, you know, pick first overall and have our choice of North Amercian kids,'' said Nill.  ''But when you are picking late, you try to look at skill, even if it's underdeveloped, and then hope it comes along.  Some of it is opportunity, too.  We had some kids in place, and when Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan were coming to the end of their careers, the chance was there for them to step in.''

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