2024 NHL Draft: Building Team Ferrari with the Detroit Red Wings' Picks

If prospect expert Tony Ferrari had a team at the NHL draft, and he had the same picks at the Detroit Red Wings, these are the players he would choose.

The NHL draft is a wild process. 

Every team’s scouting staff and talent evaluators spend years looking through players, watching them play in person and on video to build their scouting database. It’s all done in an effort to build a pipeline of players who can help bolster their roster over time as the 17- and 18-year-old players develop physically and mentally on their way to hopefully become pros.

It's anyone's guess how it will turn out in the end.

The ‘Team Ferrari’ exercise is essentially a multi-year continuous activity in which I choose an NHL club and draft in their position to build a prospect pool of my own. The team I’ve chosen is the Detroit Red Wings, a team I grew up across the river from.

This exercise is meant to force me to put my money where my mouth is – at least as much as I can while not employed by an NHL club – and choose a player at a given spot to put my name behind. This allows me to look back over the next few years and refine my process and self-evaluate. It’s a fun way to see just how right or wrong I am on certain players and evaluate why.

You can find my first installment of this exercise from the 2023 NHL draft here, with the players I selected including Zach Benson, Oliver Moore and Timur Mukhanov. 

Without further ado, I’d like to introduce to you the newest members of ‘Team Ferrari’ from the 2024 NHL draft.

Detroit selected Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, RW

This was an easy selection for me, and Detroit thought the same thing. The Norwegian winger is a powerful player who has seen his offensive game grow throughout the season. He was impressive in the Allsvenskan playoffs, showing himself as one of Mora’s best players at both ends of the ice.

I wouldn’t have done anything different in this case. Brandsegg-Nygard was my sixth-ranked skater because I believe the offensive game will continue to progress. He has a wicked shot and a very mature game on the forecheck and along the boards.

Some people have said the Wings drafted essentially the same player as Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson in the two prior drafts, but I don’t even think those two are the same player to begin with. Brandsegg-Nygard has the potential to be a top-six power winger who can use his big shot to score in the offensive zone while doing most of the dirty work. Kasper and Danielson may bring the same “safety” as prospects, but Brandsegg-Nygard has a higher ceiling than either of them.

Detroit selected Max Plante, C/W

I thought for sure I was going to match up with Detroit again, but they went with Plante, a different member of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. While Plante has always shown skill and talent, it’s come inconsistently. Stiga was the NTDP’s second-best player behind 2025 top prospect James Hagens, with a motor that never quits and the ability to play with just about anybody.

Stiga brings everything I want in a complementary forward. He plays a relentless game and never quits on the play. If the other team has the puck, he will hunt it down. He starts playing defense in the offensive zone, looking to prevent the threat before it even has the chance to develop.

In the offensive zone, he is always looking to generate offense. His passing is high-end, with great vision and the ability to read the ice as lanes develop. He isn’t a heavy shooter, but he has a quick release and gets to the middle of the ice.

I went into this draft thinking that if a team really wanted Tij Iginla and missed out on him, they could take Teddy Stiga and get a player with a similar package and skill set. Stiga could be the steal of the draft the way Logan Stankoven was a couple of years back.

Detroit selected Ondrej Becher, LW

Josephson is a transitional wizard with so much more to give. He wasn’t on a great team this year, but he showed solid offensive flashes, and his game is well-rounded because it had to be this season. Josephson is a north-south, quick-strike attacker who plays with pace.

Becher was a fine pick in this spot, and the two players likely fill the same role in the NHL as bottom-six energy forwards, but the upside and pace that Josephson plays with is the difference-maker for me. He has some added versatility to his game as well.

Detroit selected Landon Miller, G

Leaving Misa until this point was a gamble for me. I hoped he would be here, and he was, which seems asinine to me. 

He is undersized, and that’s the reason he fell. But Misa's ability to move the puck, make plays in the offensive zone and make himself one of the most undoubtedly solid forecheckers in the draft class all give me the belief he will become the best player selected in the fourth round this year.

Landon Miller is a solid goalie, but I felt like I could get a netminder that I liked at least as much later in the draft (hint: I did). Getting a player I really liked was what I wanted to do with my picks, and Misa fits that bill.

Misa fell outside of where almost everyone had him in their draft rankings. He was 26th on my board, 49th on Ryan Kennedy’s board and 52nd on the consensus board among the biggest rankings in the media. Clearly, his size was a major factor, but his engine and effort, combined with his skill, wouldn’t scare me off.

Detroit selected John Whipple, D

I had to play the strategy game a bit with this pick. The NTDP players were beginning to fall, and I really wanted to get John Whipple because I think there is way more there than what was shown on the ice this season. He is a very mobile defender who is incredibly smart at both ends of the ice. He defends with his feet more than with the body, but he can rub a player out along the boards when needed.

He is an impressive breakout passer, but he can be a lethal transitional skater. He, along with quite a few other defenders on this year’s NTDP, seemed to rein in his aggressiveness on the breakout, which seemed to be systemic. Whipple flashes offensive flair thanks to his upper level skating and passing, and there may be a more effective playmaker from the back end as well. There is a lot to like about Whipple’s upside.

Detroit selected Charlie Forslund, LW

This was the first of two players I selected who went undrafted. In hindsight, I would take both again, and it’s not even a question. I almost took him earlier in this draft, and based on the way things were going, I felt like he might be available late.

Ustinkov is a smart, capable defender who plays a quiet and effective game. He’s not a highlight-reel player, and he won’t rack up points, but he skates well, gets to his spots and always finds a way to kill play in his own end. Ustinkov should have been drafted, and he likely should've been drafted higher than here.

Detroit selected Austin Baker, LW

This was my second pick who went undrafted. I get it to a degree, as Galvas is a swing for sure. But I didn’t think that among the 13 Czech players drafted – the most since 2005 – Galvas wouldn't be the one not getting selected. He is a highly skilled, undersized defenseman who sometimes struggles in his own end. He had an up-and-down World Junior Championship, but there was some hype for him coming out of the tournament. His puck-moving is impressive, and he's more than worth a flyer this late in the draft.

Detroit selected Fisher Scott, D

I said that there was a goalie that I liked better than Miller, and Ryerson Leenders is that guy. He has been one of my top netminders in the class all year, and despite that, I knew he was going to fall based on how teams seemed to view him. He was low on NHL Central Scouting’s list, and he was always a question mark when talking to people on the team side of things. Leenders is a solid, athletic goaltender who was one of the best in the OHL this season. He shouldn’t have been drafted this late, but I will happily take him in a goaltending class that wasn’t all that strong.

What do you think of my picks? Let me know in the comments below, at The Hockey News' forum or on social media. And read more about who Detroit did choose in depth here.

Get the latest news and trending stories right to your inbox by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here.