Grading the 2024 Red Wings Draft Class

[Run the Jewels]

Overall Grade: B

General Comment: Detroit seems to have its nucleus in place. It is characterized by size on the back end (Seider, Edvinsson, Wallinder, Cossa), forwards geared to embrace the constricted play that is a hallmark of playoff hockey (Larkin, Raymond, Danielson, Kasper, Mazur, MBN) with seeds being planted for skill to push through to the starting lineup (Sandin-Pelikka). All you can ask for is a coherent plan and the plan is so coherent that everyone was finally able to guess who Steve Yzerman would draft with the #15 overall pick.

With that being said, here is the far too early grades for each draft pick.

15 OA: Michael Brandsegg-Nygaard
Grade: B

Comment: Everyone saw this pick coming. MBN seems like a perfect Red Wings pick at forward: high compete, rock solid two-way play, with what we hope is some untapped upside on offense. He's also considered one of the prospects who is closest to making it to the NHL outside of Macklin Celebrini. My view is that Detroit will have most if not all of its core in place by 2025-26 and that's exactly when MBN is projected by some to make it to LCA.

I view him as a guy who will fit equally well on a hellacious third line alongside Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur or a scoring line centered by Dylan Larkin or Nate Danielson.

47 OA: Max Plante
Grade: B-

For the record, I have nothing against Plante and his passing skills are potentially exciting as a member of the Red Wings. My biggest concerns are two-fold: our North American scouts haven't done a great job discovering skill, and I am not sure about the University of Minnesota-Duluth as a program where Plante will develop his skills. UMD put up an abysmal 65 goals last season. For comparison's sake, national champ Denver put up 110. A resurgent MSU program put up 92 goals. You know which program put up similar goal totals to UMD? Jeff Jackson's Notre Dame team where offense goes to die. They also rely quite a bit on overagers. Leading goal scorer Ben Steeves is a 22 year old sophomore. Plante seems like the type of prospect who will not be trusted and as a result his skill may atrophy playing in a system where veterans get the ice time because they don't screw up.

So this is not so much a criticism of Plante, more the environment in which he will be asked to develop the part of his game that is most exciting.

80 OA: Ondřej Becker
Grade: C+

As an over-ager it is intriguing to think about Becker's potential trajectory within the organization. He feasted against younger competition in the WHL, so it begs the question: is this a guy who is poised to take off and become one of the better under the radar picks in this draft, or did his long development arc and talented teammates produce an outlier campaign?

If I felt more confident that the offense is here to stay I would certainly rate him higher. The one sustainable and translatable part of his game is his defensive play and that is how I want to consider him at this point. He feels like a Joe Veleno type prospect and if that's his ceiling he will be a fine draft pick. If the offense is legit, then I am underrating him as a prospect.

1226 OA: Landon Miller
Grade: C

Detroit has spent significant draft capital on goalies Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine, but there's not much organizational depth. You generally grade goalies on their save percentage and Miller's wasn't spectacular, and Detroit hasn't had much luck when drafting goalies outside of the top 50 picks. At a bare minimum Miller gives them a goalie prospect who will be nurtured slowly. We'll need to check back in a year or two and see if he's able to move beyond an organizational depth piece.

144 OA: John Whipple
Grade: C-

I'm sorry, whenever I see a prospect where the only thing mentioned is his physical play I wonder how well the guy can hockey. He can skate backwards! Awesome, in the world of hockey we call that table stakes for a rearguard. Some people get upset when you denigrate a guy who brings the bone crunching hits and fisticuffs but nothing else and I would love it if Whipple could develop one additional hockey skill. Kill penalties! Develop a nice first pass! Maintain good gap discipline! I am pulling for Whipple, let's see what this young man can do.

Whipple is going to the University of Minnesota, so he's certainly going to a school where he can learn how to hockey.

176 OA: Charlie Forslund
Grade: A-

There's a reason we use the phrase 'Hakan Special' around these parts. Like Becher, he's feasted at a lower level of hockey and now it's time to see how he fares with the bigger boys. I am not familiar with his skating, but at least he's the type of forward who can find the quiet spots on the ice and unleash his quick shot. He also has NHL size at 6'3".

Forslund may never play a single game for Detroit, but sometimes Hakan works his magic and finds a later-round steal. That's exactly what you want with the 176th overall draft pick.

203 OA: Austin Becker
Grade: B

Becker is headed off to MSU to further develop his game. Adam Nightengale is a fine coach and I look forward to following Becker's development. This late in the draft the best you can hope for is an organizational depth piece. Draft one of these speedy / forechecky / PK-y guys each year and let them marinate for a couple years then see what you got.

208 OA Fisher Scott
Grade: C+

Scott is a big defenseman who wasn't drafted last year and will go the college route. He had solid point production and a respectable plus/minus playing in the USHL and will have plenty of time to develop.

Feel free to add your grades to the thread.

Click to read more...

 

[ShanahanMan]

B-

 

[Our Lady Peace]

Overall grade: B

15: Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
Grade: A-

47: Max Plante
Grade: B-

80: Ondrej Becher
Grade: B+

126: Landon Miller
Grade: C

144: John Whipple
Grade: C-

176: Charlie Forslund
Grade: B

203: Austin Becker
Grade: C+

208: Fisher Scott
Grade: C+

 

[SantosHalper]

1. MBN A++
2. Plante B+
3. Becher B+
4. Miller C-
5. Whipple B-
6. Forslund A+
7. Baker C+
7. Fisher Scott C-

Grade: A

 

[Dotter]

If two kids play 50 games in the NHL, then it's a good draft. If 3 kids play 50 or more then it's a great draft. If everyone fails except for MBN being an impact player, then it's a solid B; If everyone fails except MBN just a role player, meh C.

Doubt more than 2 kids develop into anything from this group.

 

[Frk It]

I always have a hard time giving a letter grade, so I'll just say I think it was a solid draft.

Some thoughts:

15. MBN - With how the board fell, I think this pick was pretty reasonable. I would have went a different route, and I found it a touch underwhelming, but he undeniably brings some characteristics to this forward group that it desperately needs. Think he can be a really good complement to what we already have, and maybe he continues that upward trajectory and continues to surprise. Would be really cool if he could go on a Peterka arc post-draft.

(I wonder if our scouts were high on Helenius? It’s too bad he didn’t make it 1 more pick, I would have been pretty excited with getting him.)

47. Plante - Stylistically I think this is a really good follow-up pick to MBN. Get you a perimeter playmaker to pair with your physical forward who plays on the inside. Wasn't really on my radar but I love getting players from the USDP and he could be someone who really develops a lot in college.

(Would have been nice to get Ritchie or Howe but they go off the board right before we make this pick)

80. Becher - I think this is the kind of pick that makes a ton of sense in round 3. Get you a guy who has shown a lot of progress from his DY and recently impressed at the WJC and can play center.

122. Miller - There were like 3-4 goalies I would have picked in this draft, and this wasn't one of them. Would have liked to get Gidlof or Moysevich, ideally.

144. Whipple - Honestly wasn't on my radar at all. If he is just a guy who hits and can't do anything else then that's definitely not my type of player, but I don't know enough about him to say.

176. Forslund - This sounds like exactly the kind of dart throw we give Hakan in the later rounds we usually like, so I am interested to track this kid and see how he does.

203. Baker - I have been tracking this kid since last year, and I would have liked to take a chance on Van Vliet, but Baker has a decent skill set too. Think he could have the makings of a good bottom of the lineup player potentially. Hopefully he gets some good ice time at MSU.

208. Scott - I know nothing about this kid, but this feels like another version of that Phelan pick last year, which I really didn't get. We are talking about a 7th rounder though, so it is what it is.

 

[Michael Brand Eggs]

Like Becher, he's feasted at a lower level of hockey and now it's time to see how he fares with the bigger boys.

The WHL is a lower level of hockey?

I want to add some background I read somewhere: Whipple was supposed to be the best defenseman on the NTDP going into this season, and for whatever reason, he didn't take that step. But he's got a lot more tools than that weird scouting report you guys saw. Think of him more as a McIsaac type where he was hyped from a young age as an all around defenseman and it just didn't happen in his draft year. It's not a safe pick, it's a gamble.

Like, here, look at this, especially the first few posts:

D John Whipple - USNTDP, USHL (2024, 144th, DET)

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/597751/john-whipple American born defender projects as a high end prospect for 2024. He is an excellent two way defender that does most everything well. Without a doubt one of the top defenders in his age group. I’m exited to see how he progresses. WHL...

forums.hfboards.com

I'm not saying it's a good pick or anything, but there's some rationale to this.

Edit:

I found it, that original bit is from Wheeler.

Viewed by many as the star D prospect in the American 2006 class when he arrived at the program, Whipple became more of a piece of the puzzle with the national team than the guy. He's a solid player with a competitive spirit and decent tools and skill. It took him some time to find out who he was and then to make better decisions on both sides of the puck (though his decision-making can still frustrate), but he slowly figured it out and I believe he'll show more creativity and offense in college than he was able to at the NTDP. He can defend, make reads, move it (he snaps his outlets) and can execute difficult plays (some of which I think was beat out of him by the way he was asked to play at the program). It was nice to see him involving himself more at U18 worlds offensively even if the points didn’t necessarily come. He does see the ice well when he’s dailled in (which isn’t always). He can play hard and firm defensively, too. But he’s prone to making mistakes with and without the puck and that soured some on him over time. I still think he's got another level to find in college hockey if the right team is willing to be patient. I know not all NHL scouts feel the same way, though. I'd consider him in the later rounds to see if he can put it back together.

 

[lilidk]

1. MBN A++
2. Plante B+
3. Becher B+
4. Miller C-
5. Whipple B-
6. Forslund A+
7. Baker C+
7. Fisher Scott C-

Grade: A

MBN has 2+ . Is it because we skipped Eiserman and Connelly?.

 

[lilidk]

Tomorrow development camp will begin, hopefully they show games like they have last couple of seasons. Buchelnikov is here, hope swedish brothers are healthy and they are here.

Without seeing kids I think it's solid B.
All have hockey size, good skaters and very good compete level and hockey IQ

 

[jaster]

Overall: B

15: Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
Grade: B+

47: Max Plante
Grade: B-

80: Ondrej Becher
Grade: C-

126: Landon Miller
Grade: F

144: John Whipple
Grade: F

176: Charlie Forslund
Grade: F

203: Austin Becker
Grade: F

208: Fisher Scott
Grade: F

I don’t like picks after the 3rd round. Should have traded up with all our late picks. Big fail there.

 

[SantosHalper]

MBN has 2+ . Is it because we skipped Eiserman and Connelly?.

It's because how excited our brass looked, when Wings were on the clock Yzerman was already running to the podium. They looked happy last year but they were on the whole another level this time. Most pumped up Yzerman we seen in past 5 years. MBN must have been high on their list.

 

[HisNoodliness]

I'll go with a solid B. None of our picks were who I would have taken, but I like the profiles of the guys that we took. MBN fits the team identity that we're building to a T. Planter is exactly the type of player that we're lacking in our system, and I think Be her is a great pick on the third. After that, I don't know too much, but the players seem alright. Hard to grade rounds 4-7 when anyone of those guys just stepping on to NHL ice is a big win.

 

[Pavels Dog]

8 picks
5F
2D
1G

Pretty much perfect distribution in terms of organizational need, especially using the first 3 picks on wingers.

Love the MBN pick, really like the Plante and Becher picks.

Rounds 4-7? Who the hell knows.

I'm glad we drafted a swede though, gotta keep the streak going. Since 1993 there's only been 1 draft where the Wings didn't grab at least one swede: 2015.

 

[RabidBadger]

Overall Grade: B

General Comment: Detroit seems to have its nucleus in place. It is characterized by size on the back end (Seider, Edvinsson, Wallinder, Cossa), forwards geared to embrace the constricted play that is a hallmark of playoff hockey (Larkin, Raymond, Danielson, Kasper, Mazur, MBN) with seeds being planted for skill to push through to the starting lineup (Sandin-Pelikka). All you can ask for is a coherent plan and the plan is so coherent that everyone was finally able to guess who Steve Yzerman would draft with the #15 overall pick.

With that being said, here is the far too early grades for each draft pick.

...not sure about the University of Minnesota-Duluth as a program where Plante will develop his skills. UMD put up an abysmal 65 goals last season. For comparison's sake, national champ Denver put up 110. A resurgent MSU program put up 92 goals. You know which program put up similar goal totals to UMD? Jeff Jackson's Notre Dame team where offense goes to die. They also rely quite a bit on overagers. Leading goal scorer Ben Steeves is a 22 year old sophomore. Plante seems like the type of prospect who will not be trusted and as a result his skill may atrophy playing in a system where veterans get the ice time because they don't screw up.

So this is not so much a criticism of Plante, more the environment in which he will be asked to develop the part of his game that is most exciting.

I'm not sure where you got your numbers but Duluth put up 103 goals last year which is roughly a median number for them. Their Hallmark is defense and goaltending but I don't think the offense suffers. They haven't had many high end forwards go through the program. The ones they have had , Alex Iaffollo, Jack Connolly, Justin Fontaine, etc. have put up good numbers.

I saw someone else make the comment about relying on overagers. I think there is a mix up with Minnesota State. I've seen Sandelin utilize underclassmen in critical situations throughout his tenure. If Plante has the goods, I would be shocked if he gets buried in the depth charts.

Edit: it is true older players have had a more prominent role in Duluth the past couple years. That has more to do with them having the most garbage rosters I've seen in the past 25 years than the coaching philosophy of Sandelin.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Thanks @RabidBadger, I was looking strictly at league stats for UMD. So on the one hand that's good but I was also looking at league stats for Denver, MSU and Notre Dame. Regardless, like Notre Dame that's not a team I think about when it comes to developing skill players. Its all low event hockey that leans heavily on veteran players in their early to mid twenties.

Overall: B

15: Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
Grade: B+

47: Max Plante
Grade: B-

80: Ondrej Becher
Grade: C-

126: Landon Miller
Grade: F

144: John Whipple
Grade: F

176: Charlie Forslund
Grade: F

203: Austin Becker
Grade: F

208: Fisher Scott
Grade: F

I don’t like picks after the 3rd round. Should have traded up with all our late picks. Big fail there.

Yeah, this is fair. You don't really see teams bundle the late round picks that are never likely to sniff the NHL. Pretty much once you get past the 3rd the odds of a prospect becoming a quality NHL'er are extremely low.

 

[Run the Jewels]

The WHL is a lower level of hockey?

The comment is that he's a double over ager at 20 years old.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

I think it is probably a B-. I like our first three picks and honestly don't know where this "upside" is that the malcontents claim we passed on in the first. Plante is a good little player, easily one of the three best draft eligible forwards on that team. I have time for overagers as long as you don't take them too high. Everyone in the WHL knew Becher was getting drafted this year. The Third Rounds seems fine. Forslund could be interesting (although if he was Paul from Peterborough and played in North Bay everyone would hate the pick). I remember Scott from youth hockey in Colorado put lost track of him. I am curious about what he looks like at CC. The others neither excite nor frustrate me.

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

I give it a C.

 

[UpsideHockey]

Our Chief Scout E-Mac recently submitted and we've just now published:

Spoiler: We gave them a B grade
*so much worth checking out in our mammoth spreadsheet which also links up again to our prospect profiles, upwards of a 1000 video links, tons of different tabs to go through
*Note: the "E-Mac" column (and tab) is our final ranking of the prospect

Upside Hockey 2024 NHL Draft Results And Team Grades With Final Rankings:
UPSIDE - 2024 NHL Draft Results

 

[heyfolks]

1. MBN B
2. Plante F
3. Becher C
4. Miller C
5. Whipple A
6. Forslund C
7. Baker C
7. Fisher Scott C

MBN should make the League. The wrong pick at 15, but still a NHL level talent. The rest, Whipple aside, are just terrible. This may end up being the worst draft of the Yzerman era.

Why is Whipple an A.... Hey, I like these never gonna make it hard hitting tough guys. hahahaha

As for MBN and Plante, I already posted this on another thread. Both were consistently ranked below picks taken after them. As said, MBN will make the League, but I don't see Plante in the NHL. Every advantage to get where he is, is still not dynamic and I believe he is playing at his ceiling now. AS the competition gets better, he will only get pushed down in the rankings. Think Landon Ferraro.

 

[Holden Caufield]

1. MBN - S (Safe)
2. Plante - R (Raw)
3. Becher - O (Old)
4. Miller - R (Redundant)
5. Whipple - V (Vanilla)
6. Forslund - I (Interesting)
7. Baker - W (Worth a shot)
7. Fisher Scott - 2 ( 2 first names)


Overall, I’ll give an ‘M’. (Meh)
Not enough to get excited about. I’d prefer higher upside swings.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

I'm not sure where you got your numbers but Duluth put up 103 goals last year which is roughly a median number for them. Their Hallmark is defense and goaltending but I don't think the offense suffers. They haven't had many high end forwards go through the program. The ones they have had , Alex Iaffollo, Jack Connolly, Justin Fontaine, etc. have put up good numbers.

I saw someone else make the comment about relying on overagers. I think there is a mix up with Minnesota State. I've seen Sandelin utilize underclassmen in critical situations throughout his tenure. If Plante has the goods, I would be shocked if he gets buried in the depth charts.

Edit: it is true older players have had a more prominent role in Duluth the past couple years. That has more to do with them having the most garbage rosters I've seen in the past 25 years than the coaching philosophy of Sandelin.

It's more so a case of Plante needing to be consistently reliable defensively in order to keep getting big minutes. Sandelin likes bringing in older freshman and older veterans in general, so Plante will have his work cut out for him, as the tie usually goes to the veteran at UMD.

 

[norrisnick]

1. MBN - S (Safe)
2. Plante - R (Raw)
3. Becher - O (Old)
4. Miller - R (Redundant)
5. Whipple - V (Vanilla)
6. Forslund - I (Interesting)
7. Baker - W (Worth a shot)
7. Fisher Scott - 2 ( 2 first names)


Overall, I’ll give an ‘M’. (Meh)
Not enough to get excited about. I’d prefer higher upside swings.

First and last names reversed.

 

[RabidBadger]

It's more so a case of Plante needing to be consistently reliable defensively in order to keep getting big minutes. Sandelin likes bringing in older freshman and older veterans in general, so Plante will have his work cut out for him, as the tie usually goes to the veteran at UMD.

I'm pretty sure people are watching a different UMD team than I am or confusing them with Minnesota State. I've never seen a forward with offensive ability get buried on that roster.

Isaac Howard played on the top lines and saw PP time from the start. He didn't do squat because that roster was moribund. What prominent younger players did you see there that you felt got pushed back by older players?

 

[Hockeyville USA]

I'm pretty sure people are watching a different UMD team than I am or confusing them with Minnesota State. I've never seen a forward with offensive ability get buried on that roster.

Isaac Howard played on the top lines and saw PP time from the start. He didn't do squat because that roster was moribund. What prominent younger players did you see there that you felt got pushed back by older players?

Howard got a chance to play up the lineup, didn't meet Sandelin's defensive standard, then got pushed down the lineup. Ben Steeves, a 20 year old freshman got the big minutes the rest of the year.