There’s A Logical Choice For Red Wings at No. 15

If you are among Red Wings fans hoping against hope that Jarome Iginla’s son, Tij, or Shai Buium’s younger brother, Zeev, might be available for Detroit to draft at No. 15,  then you will be disappointed by TSN analyst post-lottery Craig Button’s mock draft

No mock draft is ever perfect, and most are not all that close. But Button has been scouting for a long time, and his opinions are respected. He has left wing Iginla landing sixth to Utah and defenseman Buium landing 10th to New Jersey. Earlier in the week, Button’s TSN colleague Bob McKenzie had Iginla ranked 10th.

Some fans thought it might be comically fitting if the Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman drafted Cole Eiserman this year. It makes sense because Eiserman is a prolific scorer (57 goals in 56 games) for the U.S. National Team Development Program. He has been slipping in the draft ranking this season.

But McKenzie has him ranked 13th and Button also has him landing 13th with the Minnesota Wild.

The player Button projects the Red Wings will take is right wing Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. He plays in Sweden’s second division (Mora). It makes sense because the Red Wings do like how their players develop in Sweden. The twist here is Brandsegg-Nygard was born in Norway. The Red Wings had a similar scenario two years ago when they drafted Austria’s Marco Kasper when he was playing in Sweden.

Brandsegg-Nygard totaled three goals and two assists for Norway at the World Junior Championships.

Goes to the Net

“He is a hard driving winger,” Button said. “He wants to make a difference in the game.”

The scouting consensus on Brandsegg-Nygard is that he has a chance to be a top six forward. He is already engaged defensively. He has some bite to his game and the Red Wings are looking for players with push-back.

And if you are still holding out hope for Eiserman, note that the Sports Writers Logan Horn’s mock draft has the Red Wings selecting him at No. 15. But it seems hard to believe that Eiserman would drop that far.