Run the Jewels
Make Detroit Great Again
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.
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.
