For Detroit Red Wings, picking fourth yielded best — and worst — pick in franchise history

One selection turned out to be the best draft pick in franchise history. The other was the biggest bust.

When Steve Yzerman makes the fourth overall selection in the 2020 NHL draft, it will be the third time the franchise has picked at that spot. He himself was the most recent, selected in 1983. In this edition of the Detroit Red Wings Revisited, we look at the other No. 4 pick. 

That happened in 1976, when they selected a center from Saskatoon named Fred Williams. If the name evokes little in the way of remembrance, fret not. 

The ’76 draft had a fairly forgettable first round — the only player to reach 1,000 games in the NHL was Bernie Federko, whom the St. Louis Blues took at No. 7. The No. 1 pick, Rick Green, played 845 games for the Capitals, Canadiens, Red Wings (1990-91) and Islanders, but no one else topped 500 games. Five of the 18 players reached double digits.

One of those was Williams.

Alex Delvecchio was general manager of the Wings at the time. He also was the coach, although Larry Wilson served as an interim coach for 36 games.

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The mid-1970s were dismal times for the Wings. In 1975-76, they missed the playoffs for the sixth straight year. They finished fourth in the Norris Division with a 26-44-10 record, saved from last place by the second-year Washington Capitals, who went 11-59-10 (three of those victories were against the Wings).

The Wings’ 2.83 goals-per-game average was fourth-worst and their 3.75 goals-allowed average was sixth-worst.

Williams looked good at the time of the pick: He’d put up 31 goals and 87 assists for 118 points in 72 games in 1975-76 with the Saskatoon Blades in the WCHL (known today as the Western Hockey League). He was fast and skilled, his talents on display in two playoff runs during which he produced 51 points in 37 games.

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The hype appeared warranted when Williams scored in his NHL debut, Oct. 7, 1976, against the Capitals. But he produced no points during the next 10 games, and spent 34 games in the American Hockey League with the Rhode Island Reds, where he had seven goals and 19 assists. He rejoined the Wings at the end of January 1977, at which point they had won 13 games and were last in the NHL.

He scored only one more time, finishing his first NHL season with two goals and five assists in 44 games.

It also was his last NHL season. The Wings waived him a year later. Among the franchise’s own first-round picks, Williams is the highest-picked, least productive player in team history.

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The Wings fared much better with their second pick. Defenseman Reed Larson, selected 22nd overall, led the team with 569 points in 694 games between 1977-78 and 1985-86. He was elected to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.