Future-oriented Red Wings strengthen their system depth in the draft

The Detroit Red Wings spent the weekend filling up their pool of promising forwards at the Entry Draft in Las Vegas.

After Detroit selected right winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard 15th overall on Friday, the team selected four more forwards on Saturday from the seven players it selected on the second day of the draft at Sphere.

The Red Wings picked up talented passer Max Plante from the US National Team Development Program in the second round (No. 47), over-aged and high-scoring center Ondrej Becher from Prince George (WHL) in the third round (No. 80), Swedish winger Charlie Forslund in the sixth round (No. 176) and speedy Austin Baker, another USNTDP product headed to Michigan State, in the seventh round (No. 203).

“If you look at our roster, you’ll see that we’ve taken a lot of defensemen in the last few drafts,” Kris Draper, the Red Wings’ assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting, told the media at the draft. “If you have a defenseman you like, you’re going to take him for sure. The way it went, we filled a lot of needs on offense – we scored goals, we got some speed, we got some competitiveness, some intelligence. We thought we were able to accomplish what we wanted to do over the last few days.”

In addition to Plante’s passing and skating, the Red Wings also value his hockey sense and ability to play in any situation and in any lineup. He is the son of former NHL center Derek Plante and will play for Minnesota-Duluth next season.

“He’s smart, he can play shorthanded, he can play power play,” Draper said. “What we really like is that he can play with really good hockey players, and he’s shown that.”

A late bloomer who was passed over in the previous two drafts, the 20-year-old Becher scored 32 goals and 96 points in 58 games.

“It just seemed like he had accomplished everything at 19 that he could have accomplished at 17 or 18,” Draper said. “He got a great opportunity, took it and really enjoyed it. When you watch him skate, you can see that he has a special something.”

Forslund has been a prolific scorer in Sweden’s lower leagues (40 goals, 71 points in 53 games). He will play for Mora IK’s J-20 team, the same program that trained Brandsegg-Nygard.

“Charlie stood out playing against these lower level guys,” Draper said. “He’s got good size, he can skate, he can move well and shoot the puck.”

Draper described Baker as a big, strong kid and a powerful skater.

“This kid is very athletic,” Draper said. “The way he skates, the way he moves, the way he trains. We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback on his behavior in the weight room. He’s the type of player that brings a lot of energy with the way he skates.”

The Red Wings were able to qualify with a pair of defensemen: John Whipple, one of three young players they acquired from the USNTDP, in the fifth round (No. 144) and Fisher Scott from the USHL Dubuque with their last selection in the seventh round (No. 208).

Whipple is a good figure skater who will play in Minnesota and of whom Draper said, “At the U18 tournaments, at every international event, he looked confident when he was competing against the best players on the other team. His competitiveness and the way he skates, and he defends hard.”

Draper said one of her scouts “banged on the table” to accept Scott, who is heading to Colorado College.

“He’s a very good skater and has put up good numbers,” Draper said. “When you get to the later rounds, you’re happy to see local guys excited about the opportunity to have a say in the selection process, and that’s what happened here.”

The organization strengthened its goaltending position by drafting 6’5″ Landon Miller from Sault Ste. Marie in the fourth round (No. 126).