Prospect Info: Top 10 Red Wings Prospects: Summer 2026

[jaster]

I did a deep dive into this stuff earlier this season. Don't feel like getting into all of it again but long story short Plante has produced more like the formers than the latters in your examples.

Not all Hobey Baker winners are gold, true. But among them, Plante is in the right company.

It seems pretty clear he was the straw that was stirring the drink with the USMNT, outperforming both of his line mates who were drafted ahead of him. There were also questions about whether or not he could be a goal scorer and he silenced those this past season.

I'd say he's trending to be a 1LW.

How much stirring of a drink is an offensive player doing when he only puts up 1 point in 6 games?

He's shown he can score goals in college, though it was with an unsustainable shooting %. There's still lots of questions with this kid in terms of how he and his game will translate to the NHL level. He doesn't have size or skating as a strength to rely on, so there's a lot of pressure on his offensive game to shine. I think it certainly can, though I still don't see a 1st-liner here. If everything breaks right, you could have a valuable 2nd-liner. Gus Nyquist kind of value, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

 

[jaster]

Do you guys think Plante is better than Berger was?

Yes. However, 'Berggren' is still within the range of outcomes for Plante.

 

[Run the Jewels]

How much stirring of a drink is an offensive player doing when he only puts up 1 point in 6 games?

He's shown he can score goals in college, though it was with an unsustainable shooting %. There's still lots of questions with this kid in terms of how he and his game will translate to the NHL level. He doesn't have size or skating as a strength to rely on, so there's a lot of pressure on his offensive game to shine. I think it certainly can, though I still don't see a 1st-liner here. If everything breaks right, you could have a valuable 2nd-liner. Gus Nyquist kind of value, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

I'm talking about his USNTDP line mates.

James Hagens: 71 NCAA games, 0.48 goals per game, 0.7 assists per game, 1.18 ppg
Cole Eiserman: 71 games, 0.61 gpg, 0.30 apg, 0.90 ppg
Max Plante: 63 games, 0.54 gpg. 0.73 apg, 1.27 ppg

And this doesn't do justice to Plante's most recent season: 0.63 gpg, 0.68 apg, 1.3 ppg. Hagens was a 7th overall pick, Eiserman 20th overall.

 

[19 for president]

I view Plante as our highest upside prospect, the guy who is most likely to play on a top line. I view MBN and Bear as middle six guys. When you combine Plante's USNTDP pedigree with his point production and goal production last year, he has the highest trajectory of any of our forwards IMO.

I don't disagree mostly minus the fact that I don't view MBN as a middle six guy. I think he is firmly top 6 potential in my books. I think he has 60-70pt PF written all over him and that is a potential impact first line guy, but just not a line driver. Plante has by far the most line driver upside in our system, but he could also never made it past the AHL too. MBN at worst I think is a 3rd line physical winger.

ASP vs Antjo is kind of similar to me. I think Antjo lacks top pairing potential but I see him as the safer top 4 bet. ASP has back in Europe in 2 years kind of floor. But if he hits he could be a top pairing offensive dman that puts up 50-60pts. ASP does get a little rankings boost for getting through his rookie year in the NHL, but I could easily see those rankings swapping for me come next season.

I lean skill but also do take floors into consideration. Plante and ASP are boom bust guys for me. So I give a little preference to the guys that are maybe a step below ceiling wise but have what I view as a much safer ceiling.

 

[19 for president]

I’m very bearish on Plante, he’s a small 5’11” and wonder if he has what it takes to take the next step. And as has been pointed out previously Baker winners and NHL success aren’t strongly correlated. I can see why people are excited but I think he’s the most boom/bust guy in the system and after all the Wings busts I might be jaded.

I will note that when you look at Hobey winners of the same age or younger that impact of those players signficantly increases. Guys winning it their senior year doesn't mean nearly as much.

He's going to be under immense pressure to replicate this season again next year, and I just hope he can spend a good amount of time in the gym with the lighter playing schedule. Not sure he'll stick as a center at the next level, but he could enter the NHL at around the same size as Raymond. Guys with elite vision can make it work, but its certainly harder at that size without the elite skating.

 

[lilidk]

I don't disagree mostly minus the fact that I don't view MBN as a middle six guy. I think he is firmly top 6 potential in my books. I think he has 60-70pt PF written all over him and that is a potential impact first line guy, but just not a line driver. Plante has by far the most line driver upside in our system, but he could also never made it past the AHL too. MBN at worst I think is a 3rd line physical winger.

ASP vs Antjo is kind of similar to me. I think Antjo lacks top pairing potential but I see him as the safer top 4 bet. ASP has back in Europe in 2 years kind of floor. But if he hits he could be a top pairing offensive dman that puts up 50-60pts. ASP does get a little rankings boost for getting through his rookie year in the NHL, but I could easily see those rankings swapping for me come next season.

I lean skill but also do take floors into consideration. Plante and ASP are boom bust guys for me. So I give a little preference to the guys that are maybe a step below ceiling wise but have what I view as a much safer ceiling.

As much as I like Plante , he is not line driver, he is a guy with highest hockey IQ, ok speed and hands , don't remember he played PK.

 

[PelagicJoe]

Most of our prospects end up busting. Between that and Larkin wanting out, my hopes are going out the window.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

Most of our prospects end up busting. Between that and Larkin wanting out, my hopes are going out the window.

Quite literally, this a fact for every single NHL team

Can you be more specific as to whom you are talking about?

 

[The Zermanator]

How much stirring of a drink is an offensive player doing when he only puts up 1 point in 6 games?

He's shown he can score goals in college, though it was with an unsustainable shooting %. There's still lots of questions with this kid in terms of how he and his game will translate to the NHL level. He doesn't have size or skating as a strength to rely on, so there's a lot of pressure on his offensive game to shine. I think it certainly can, though I still don't see a 1st-liner here. If everything breaks right, you could have a valuable 2nd-liner. Gus Nyquist kind of value, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Time will tell ultimately, we’re just making predictions. But I think you guys are underestimating him, and overstating his weaknesses, for the following reasons:

1) He has been playing in a full-on men’s league, not a junior league. He is playing against players as old as 24, not as young as 16 as he would if he were in a junior league. Clearly his size and skating are not holding him back against grown men at that level of competition.

2) He is in extremely elite company based on what he is accomplishing. People are looking at Hobey Baker winners writ large and projecting based off of that, which is misleading because not all HB winners are created equal. Looking at the total list of winners, note that NHL stars are much more heavily-weighted to recent years. We’re talking like 10 in the past 15 years vs like 2 in the preceding 30 years, so the bar for winning that award has gotten considerably higher. But it also bears repeating, college hockey means some of these guys are in their mid-20s. So looking into this even deeper than just the strength of recent winners overall, here is the list of teenaged Hobey Baker winners: Paul Kariya, Jack Eichel, Cole Caufield, Adam Fantilli, Macklin Celebrini, and our very own Max Plante. That’s some uniformly elite company. Will Plante be the first teenaged HB winner not to go on to become a star? Possibly, but I’m not betting against him.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

How much stirring of a drink is an offensive player doing when he only puts up 1 point in 6 games?

He's shown he can score goals in college, though it was with an unsustainable shooting %. There's still lots of questions with this kid in terms of how he and his game will translate to the NHL level. He doesn't have size or skating as a strength to rely on, so there's a lot of pressure on his offensive game to shine. I think it certainly can, though I still don't see a 1st-liner here. If everything breaks right, you could have a valuable 2nd-liner. Gus Nyquist kind of value, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Fundamentally, he is a top-six, complementary winger or he is nothing at the NHL level. I really like him, I just think people are overrating him a bit.

 

[Frk It]

Time will tell ultimately, we’re just making predictions. But I think you guys are underestimating him, and overstating his weaknesses, for the following reasons:

1) He has been playing in a full-on men’s league, not a junior league. He is playing against players as old as 24, not as young as 16 as he would if he were in a junior league. Clearly his size and skating are not holding him back against grown men at that level of competition.

2) He is in extremely elite company based on what he is accomplishing. People are looking at Hobey Baker winners writ large and projecting based off of that, which is misleading because not all HB winners are created equal. Looking at the total list of winners, note that NHL stars are much more heavily-weighted to recent years. We’re talking like 10 in the past 15 years vs like 2 in the preceding 30 years, so the bar for winning that award has gotten considerably higher. But it also bears repeating, college hockey means some of these guys are in their mid-20s. So looking into this even deeper than just the strength of recent winners overall, here is the list of teenaged Hobey Baker winners: Paul Kariya, Jack Eichel, Cole Caufield, Adam Fantilli, Macklin Celebrini, and our very own Max Plante. That’s some uniformly elite company. Will Plante be the first teenaged HB winner not to go on to become a star? Possibly, but I’m not betting against him.

Until we see him against AHL/NHL competition, we are all just ultimately guessing more or less. Said the same thing with Augustine these last few years.

I think the #1 thing that doesn’t get stressed enough with Plante is the IQ/vision. The reason he has been such an efficient playmaker at every level and was called one of the best passes in his draft class is because of how he sees the ice and processes.

That can be a pretty big equalizer for guys that lack the ideal size/skating you want.

 

[The Zermanator]

Until we see him against AHL/NHL competition, we are all just ultimately guessing more or less. Said the same thing with Augustine these last few years.

I think the #1 thing that doesn’t get stressed enough with Plante is the IQ/vision. The reason he has been such an efficient playmaker at every level and was called one of the best passes in his draft class is because of how he sees the ice and processes.

That can be a pretty big equalizer for guys that lack the ideal size/skating you want.

That last line is really where I’m at with him. It’s not that I’m blind to those concerns, it’s just that sufficient talent has a way of shining through other potential shortcomings. And he’s managed to accomplish something that has exclusively been done by players who did become stars, which suggests to me there is a lot of talent to tap into there.

 

[jaster]

Time will tell ultimately, we’re just making predictions. But I think you guys are underestimating him, and overstating his weaknesses, for the following reasons:

1) He has been playing in a full-on men’s league, not a junior league. He is playing against players as old as 24, not as young as 16 as he would if he were in a junior league. Clearly his size and skating are not holding him back against grown men at that level of competition.

2) He is in extremely elite company based on what he is accomplishing. People are looking at Hobey Baker winners writ large and projecting based off of that, which is misleading because not all HB winners are created equal. Looking at the total list of winners, note that NHL stars are much more heavily-weighted to recent years. We’re talking like 10 in the past 15 years vs like 2 in the preceding 30 years, so the bar for winning that award has gotten considerably higher. But it also bears repeating, college hockey means some of these guys are in their mid-20s. So looking into this even deeper than just the strength of recent winners overall, here is the list of teenaged Hobey Baker winners: Paul Kariya, Jack Eichel, Cole Caufield, Adam Fantilli, Macklin Celebrini, and our very own Max Plante. That’s some uniformly elite company. Will Plante be the first teenaged HB winner not to go on to become a star? Possibly, but I’m not betting against him.

I'm hoping for the best, it's certainly exciting to have a Hobey Baker winner in our prospect pool. I like the kid. I've made comparisons to Nyquist before, and I was a big Nyquist fan. I also just want to say, while it may seem like I'm throwing cold water on him, I personally think that if he turns into a valuable 2nd-liner that's still a huge win for Detroit, especially given where he was selected.

As a big college hockey watcher since I first got season tickets at Yost 25 years ago, I would say that while, yes, competition in NCAA is notably bigger and tougher than in juniors, it's still a much bigger jump to the NHL from college than it is from juniors to college. The speed of the game is just so much faster, it's ridiculous. Small guys with average skating regularly thrive in the NCAA, but do nothing in the NHL.

With NIL money, more top players are now opting for college, which is partly why you're seeing those future NHL stars lately. But Plante didn't really have to beat any of those types out this season. You could say Gavin McKenna, but he didn't even make it as a finalist. Plante beat out a 5th rounder and an undrafted TJ Hughes. So I don't think looking at the Celebrinis and Fantillis as past winners is very helpful in projecting Plante at the NHL level. Winning as a teenager is very notable though, I respect that.

Like you said, time will tell. I won't say a 1st-liner is out of reach for Plante, but that's like 100th percentile outcome to me. I see the most realistic ceiling as that of a 2nd-liner, because his size/skating quotient simply isn't high enough, and his offense, while dynamic, just isn't dominant enough to mitigate the former. I mean, there are only 60 humans on Earth who can claim to be 1st-line NHL wingers at any given time. That's an incredibly high bar to reach. But hey, I will say, he's in an organziation that will probably have an opening there in the near future lol.

 

[Frk It]

That last line is really where I’m at with him. It’s not that I’m blind to those concerns, it’s just that sufficient talent has a way of shining through other potential shortcomings. And he’s managed to accomplish something that has exclusively been done by players who did become stars, which suggests to me there is a lot of talent to tap into there.

I like Plante for a lot of the same reasons I liked Perreault (NYR) in his draft year.

These guys are always seeing things 1-2 steps ahead of everyone else.

I like how some of these guys potentially fit with other pieces we have. I could see Plante pairing really well with MBN, and I could see Bear pairing really well with Raymond.

 

[Holden Caufield]

1. Paul Kariya
2. Ryan Miller
3. Jack Eichel*
4. Cale Makar
5. Cole Caudield
6.Adam Fantilli*
7. Macklin Celebrini*
8. Max Plante

Going back 35 years those are the only players to win the Hobey Baker as a freshman or sophomore. Having that young of a breakout age seems to be an incredible indicator of future success.

Heck of a list, Plante would literally be the only outlier if he is not a star in the NHL.
People worry too much about the NHL failures of undrafted 22/23 year olds who win the award.

Plante is my #1 current prospect, with by far the highest upside.

 

[Run the Jewels]

1. Paul Kariya
2. Ryan Miller
3. Jack Eichel*
4. Cale Makar
5. Cole Caudield
6.Adam Fantilli*
7. Macklin Celebrini*
8. Max Plante

Going back 35 years those are the only players to win the Hobey Baker as a freshman or sophomore. Having that young of a breakout age seems to be an incredible indicator of future success.

Heck of a list, Plante would literally be the only outlier if he is not a star in the NHL.
People worry too much about the NHL failures of undrafted 22/23 year olds who win the award.

Plante is my #1 current prospect, with by far the highest upside.

Yeah, there's a pretty good chance he's basically Cole Caufield who just had an 88 point, 51 goal season. I mean if you think he's going to bust that's fine, but when guys win the award in their freshman or sophomore season, it usually indicates he's a player. It's not outlandish to expect him to be very successful in the NHL.

I don't disagree mostly minus the fact that I don't view MBN as a middle six guy. I think he is firmly top 6 potential in my books. I think he has 60-70pt PF written all over him and that is a potential impact first line guy, but just not a line driver.

Yeah, while I said MBN is a middle six guy, I think he's most likely a second line guy. I don't see him outscoring Plante or Ray, but I do believe he'll be on a scoring line.

 

[FMichael]

Most of our prospects end up busting. Between that and Larkin wanting out, my hopes are going out the window.

This unfortunately...

I find it rather amusing when watching/listening to any random Wings based podcast...It's mentioned often about the 'amount of prospects' we have in the system...If only that meant they were all legit NHL'ers.



But with that said...Yzerman really needs to nail this Larkin trade - preferably with quality NHL talent, or 'something' that can be used to obtain NHL talent from a 3rd team...Prospects/picks always worries me considering it's a BIG REASON why we missed the playoffs these past 10 seasons...Our drafting since Holland has been rather poor overall.

 

[lilidk]

Yzerman should take his time on Larkin trade, I don't expect anything happening until fall. With that if we get Vanhanen in the second , he will be my #1 prospect

 

[SirloinUB]

1. Paul Kariya
2. Ryan Miller
3. Jack Eichel*
4. Cale Makar
5. Cole Caudield
6.Adam Fantilli*
7. Macklin Celebrini*
8. Max Plante

Going back 35 years those are the only players to win the Hobey Baker as a freshman or sophomore. Having that young of a breakout age seems to be an incredible indicator of future success.

Heck of a list, Plante would literally be the only outlier if he is not a star in the NHL.
People worry too much about the NHL failures of undrafted 22/23 year olds who win the award.

Plante is my #1 current prospect, with by far the highest upside.

Outliers do happen though.

Didn't Plante have a weak WC compared to others that played at the same point of their career?

 

[FMichael]

Yzerman should take his time on Larkin trade, I don't expect anything happening until fall. With that if we get Vanhanen in the second , he will be my #1 prospect

I won’t lie…I’ll be upset and concerned if nothing is accomplished by the end of the draft weekend (given the nature of things I should probably prepare myself knowing how Yzerman will wait it out until he feels he’s getting a good deal).

 

[lilidk]

I won’t lie…I’ll be upset and concerned if nothing is accomplished by the end of the draft weekend (given the nature of things I should probably prepare myself knowing how Yzerman will wait it out until he feels he’s getting a good deal).

I only care about return, not how long it will take time. We are not going to win in that trade I just want to get maximum return possible

 

[jfrank21]

UMM YES, YES WE DO

in fact if there's someone available who's actually more of a hardass, hire that guy as an assistant

We have some guys with promise, in terms of their physicality and toughness, and we don't really need someone to coddle them into Rasmuffins and MeadowLarkins

(I'm not entirely happy with that MeadowLarkins thing (seems unfair to songbirds, which are actually tough little creatures), but I'm not really a huge fan of "Captain Ultra Soft," "Captain Charmin," "Captain Single-Ply" -- it all has a sort of Ottawa feel, where all of their fans are fixated on the anal stage of psychosexual development. If anyone has something better, that evokes Larkin's uncanny capability to disintegrate under physical duress, but without the weird butthole component, I'd really appreciate a better option here)

Captain Cream Puff?

 

[Winger98]

Outliers do happen though.

Didn't Plante have a weak WC compared to others that played at the same point of their career?

He had a bit of a weak WC in general, but he was also played out of position. Kinda weird to stick a guy at center for the first time when on the biggest stage with the highest competition.

 

[Waldorf]

I am a little skeptical of hardass coaches. Sometimes it’s what you need. But… They always seem to lose the room and it’s a crapshoot if their hockey acumen bears out in increased performance. Meanwhile you have guys who have been in the league for years dealing with a grown man’s circus and you’ve got young guys scared to make mistakes which is a necessary part of learning.

I have some reservations about McLellan going forward since this roster is going to presumably be younger and less competitive. Maybe Yawney balances it out, but I am skeptical.

 

[Run the Jewels]

I am a little skeptical of hardass coaches. Sometimes it’s what you need. But… They always seem to lose the room and it’s a crapshoot if their hockey acumen bears out in increased performance. Meanwhile you have guys who have been in the league for years dealing with a grown man’s circus and you’ve got young guys scared to make mistakes which is a necessary part of learning.

I have some reservations about McLellan going forward since this roster is going to presumably be younger and less competitive. Maybe Yawney balances it out, but I am skeptical.

Not really concerned about losing any room where Larkin is the leader. He failed under Newsy and he failed under McLellan.

I've pointed out how many young players have gotten time in Detroit, so I'm not really getting your narrative here. Can you provide any concrete examples of how McLellan is a hard ass who hates young players?