Red Wings focus on offence in NHL Draft

Author of the article:

Jim Parker • Windsor Star

Published Jun 29, 2024 • Last updated 5 hours ago • 3 minute read

The Detroit Red Wings made Michael Brandsegg-Nygård the first Norwegian-born player ever taken in the first round of the NHL Draft. Photo by Candice Ward /Getty Images

Offence was the focus for the Detroit Red Wings.

While it might not have been planned, Detroit selected a forward in each of the first three rounds and ended up with five among the team’s eight selections in the seven-round NHL Draft, which wrapped on Saturday in Las Vegas.

“It wasn’t necessarily by design,” Red Wings’ general manager Steve Yzerman said. “It’s just kind of the way our list shaped up. How our list laid out and where we were picking each round, we had forwards.

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“At each spot, we got a kid that we’re very excited about that we kind of had projected in that range. Again, we feel good about it today and we’ll see down the road how it plays out.”

It started with the Red Wings making forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard the first Norwegian ever taken in the first round of an NHL Draft when Detroit selected him with the 15th pick overall.

The 18-year-old was solid for Norway at the world juniors with three goals and five points in five games. The six-foot-one, 207-pound Brandsegg-Nygard added three goals and five points in seven games for the senior national team at the world championship.

“Against NHL players (at the world championship), he could think it and keep up,” Yzerman said. “Big, strong, young man. Physically developed, can really shoot the puck I think he’s a really good two-way player. Kind of a goal-scoring winger that obviously fills a void in our prospect pool.”

Max Plante was selected in the second round of the NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings. Photo by Bruce Bennett /Getty Images

Three times the Red Wings looked to the National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Mich. for a selection starting with forward Max Plante, who is the son of former NHLer Derek Plante, in the second round.

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“We like a lot of those kids on the development team,” Yzerman said. “(Plante has) tremendous hockey sense. Moves the puck well. Deceptive skater. Moves well on the ice and I really like his hockey sense and creativity.”

Passed over twice in the draft, the Red Wings jumped on Czechia centre Ondrej Becher in the third round after the 20-year-old put up 32 goals and 96 points in 58 games for Prince George in the Western Hockey League.

“You can arguably say he’s one of those late bloomers,” Red Wings’ director of amateur scouting Kris Draper said of the six-foot-two, 187-pound Becher. “He’s a kid that put up great numbers. His skating, when you watch him play, he has that extra gear.”

Goalie and Detroit Red Wings’ fourth-round pick Landon Miller talks with general manager Steve Yzerman after being selected. Photo by Bruce Bennett /Getty Images

The Red Wings added six-foot-five goalie Landon Miller, who plays for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, in the fourth round.

“We don’t want to draft a goalie just to draft a goalie,” Yzerman said. “Our plan isn’t necessarily to take one every year, (but to) have enough prospects at every position. You want to make sure they have a runway to go pro. You don’t want a logjam.”

Back to the NTDP, the Red Wings nabbed six-foot-one,192-pound defenceman John Whipple in the fifth round.

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“Whipple skates and he’s steady,” Yzerman said. “He played against other team’s top players.”

Six-foot-three, 212-pound Swedish forward Charlie Forslund, who went in the sixth round, played in the country’s lower junior league’s last season, but still combined for 40 goals and 71 points in 52 games.

The club closed out the draft with a pair of picks in the seventh round. The Red Wings grabbed NTDP forward Austin Baker at pick 203 and defenceman Scott Fisher, who played in the United States Hockey League, at pick 208.

“We thought we addressed a lot of needs up front,” Draper said. “Scoring, we got speed, we got some competitiveness, some smarts. So, we thought what we wanted to do over the last couple of days, we were able to do it and, probably like 32 other teams, we’re excited with what we did.”

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