helene st. james, detroit free press
·4 min read
LAS VEGAS —Håkan Andersson saved Kris Draper one trip and put him on another that landed the Detroit Red Wings the only Swede they selected in the 2024 NHL draft.
It was a forward-thinking draft, and a diverse one — and come back in 3-5 years for an evaluation that really will reflect its value. But as with the other 31 teams, the Wings hockey operations contingent left Sphere on Saturday feeling like they made the right selections.
"I’m very pleased in that there were kids we liked and we thought were going to be in range for our pick, and with each pick we were kind of keeping our fingers crossed thinking these are one of the guys we want in this spot," general manager Steve Yzerman said. "At each spot, we got a kid we were very excited about that we kind of had projected in that range. So we feel good about it today and we’ll see down the road how it plays out."
MBN IS A-OK: Steve Yzerman on 'responsible' Michael Brandsegg-Nygård: 'Going to play in all situations'
The Wings came away with five forwards, two defensem*n and a goaltender. The first-round pick landed forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, at No. 15. Forward Max Plante was drafted at No. 47 and forward Ondřej Becherat No. 80. Next came goaltender Landon Miller, at No. 126. Defenseman John Whipple was the pick at No. 144. Another forward, Charlie Forslund, followed at No. 176. Austin Baker was chosen at No. 203 and defenseman Fisher Scott closed out the class at No. 208.
"We thought we addressed a lot of needs up front," Draper said. "Scoring, we got some speed, we obviously got some competitiveness and smarts. What we wanted to do over the last couple of days, we were able to do it."
Plante is a shrewd center headed to play at Minnesota Duluth.
"We feel we got a really nice hockey player in Max with everything that he can do," Draper said. "We really like the hockey sense and how he can pass the puck."
Most draft picks are 18, but occasionally teams take an older one who has shown dramatic improvement. That was the case for Becher, whose 96 points in 58 games with Prince George of the Western Hockey League convinced the Wings to take a chance on him.
"We saw him quite a bit this year," Draper said. "He got a great opportunity and took advantage and looked really comfortable. He put up great numbers. His skating is something that when you watch him play, he has that extra gear that we talk about."
Miller is 6 feet 5 and was ranked sixth among North American goaltenders by NHL Central Scouting. He was in attendance.
"Everything just kind of went numb there for a second there," Miller said. "You're sitting up there thinking about it the whole time and when it finally happens, you down really know how to react. My head went for a spin, my feet went numb and then it felt like a movie from that. It was a dream come true, really."
JEFF SEIDEL: Even in an NHL draft too often a crapshoot, Detroit Red Wings' top pick feels like a win
Whipple is a strong skater. "We really like the way he plays," Draper said. "At U-18, and any international event, he looked comfortable, he looked comfortable playing against the other team's top players."
Forslund was the guy Draper ended up seeing on a fluke. He wanted to scout Dominik Badinka (who ended up being drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes at No. 34) when Andersson, the team's director of European scouting, intervened.
"I was in Sweden, I was supposed to see Badinka play, and he ended up being a healthy scratch," Draper said. "I was literally getting on the train to Gothenburg to go watch him play and I got the call from Håkan that, 'Badinka is not playing; we'd like you to go see Charlie Forslund.'
"I don't even know where I went. It might have been his hometown of Falun. It was deep in Sweden."
Forslund played at the lower level, but he stood out for his good size (6-3, 212 pounds): "He can skate and he can really shoot the puck," Draper said. "He scored a couple goals that game. We did a lot of background checking and you sit there, this could potentially be somebody that could be really good for us down the road."
Along with Plante and Whipple, Baker is an USNTDP product out of Plymouth. The left wing has good speed — which he'll showcase next season when he's headed to Michigan State.
Scott is also headed to the NCAA, to Colorado College.
"It was a pretty diverse draft," Yzerman said. "We managed to squeeze a Canadian in there. We liked a lot of those kids on the development team.We'll see how it goes down the road."
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. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings excited about choices made in 2024 NHL entry draft
