Red Wings promote Kris Draper to assistant GM, director of amateur scouting

Draper will continue his previous work, maintaining his role as director of amateur scouting, but will see elevated responsibilities with Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman and assistant general manager Shawn Horcoff in the hockey operations department.

Draper has spent the past 13 seasons in the Red Wings organization in a management role, first serving as a special assistant to the GM from 2011 to 2019. He then saw a promotion to director of amateur scouting in 2019 when Yzerman took over the role of general manager in Detroit. The Red Wings have made six first-round picks under his watch as director of amateur scouting, drafting Lucas Raymond, Simon Edvinsson, Sebastian Cossa, Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson and Axel Sandin-Pellikka.

Draper also had a 21-year playing career in the NHL, including 17 seasons with the Red Wings. He totaled 161 goals, 203 assists and 364 points in 1,157 regular-season games, with all but 20 games and three goals coming with the Red Wings, as well as 24 goals, 22 assists,and 46 points in 222 playoff games with Detroit.

Draper won four Stanley Cups with the Red Wings in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008. He also won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the league in 2004, a season where he also had 24 goals, 16 assists and 40 points in 67 games. He’s also known for being acquired by the Red Wings for future considerations in 1993, which ended up being only $1.

The Red Wings have had a busy offseason so far, bringing in several veteran players like J.T. Compher, Shayne Gostisbehere, Justin Holl, Daniel Sprong, James Reimer and Christian Fischer in free agency, along with acquiring Klim Kostin from the Edmonton Oilers for taking on Kailer Yamamoto’s contract, which they proceeded to buy out. They currently still have almost $10 million in cap space, with the only remaining restricted free agent on their NHL roster being Joe Veleno.