6 Red Wings to Watch at the 2024 Prospect Games

Red Wings hockey is back.

With the beginning of Detroit's Prospect Games against the Dallas Stars this weekend, members of the organization are officially hitting the ice. Granted, these aren't the NHLers and granted, prospect games are hard to glean much useful information out of. But after a long summer, these games are a meaningful entry to the season.

The Red Wings' 24-player roster plays Dallas' group at 6 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Both games are held at Traverse City's Center Ice Arena.

Of course, at an event of this prospect tournament's nature, the first round picks get a lot of attention. In terms of who to watch for, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Nate Danielson lead the list. But, they're two players that have been extensively covered as prospects. Their performances in training camp will be much more intriguing than their usage in two games against other prospects they are almost certainly better than. So, we're not going to dwell on them on this list.

Without further ado, here are six players to watch for on the Detroit side of the Prospect Games.

Shai Buium

Excuse Buium for getting into only one AHL game after he signed his entry-level contract — he was a little busy winning a national championship with Denver for the second time. While the 21-year-old defenseman's film against the pros is limited, his performance against college competition showed a lot to be intrigued with heading into his first pro season.

Immediately, what appears to be a genetic disposition to create offense jumps out from Buium's performances. He's a gifted skater and a wise passer, flipping the switch between defending and scoring at ease. Buium logged a career-best 36 points in 43 games last season with the Pios, alongside his brother, 12th overall Minnesota Wild pick Zeev

Offense is easy to point to for Buium's impact, but he's also a willing battler, using his 6-foot-3 frame to box out opponents and limit their lanes in the defensive end. How exactly he fits into the pro game will be a big question this season with Grand Rapids, but he should be one of the more relied-upon defenders with Simon Edvinsson's and Albert Johansson's graduation to the NHL level. This prospect camp is a real good look at where Buium is at heading into the year.

Matthew Virgilio

At one point, Virgilio was a top college prospect committed to the University of Michigan. Two years ago, he opted to kickstart his career with a jump to Major Juniors with the Soo Greyhounds. The decision seems to have fizzled out, as two not-so-wowing seasons on Soo's bottom pairing left Virgilio undrafted at last year's NHL draft.

Virgilio's skating lets him maneuver all over the ice, and he uses this well in the defensive zone. This excerpt from the Elite Prospects draft guide summarizes him well:

Virgilio is thought to be in line for an increased role now that he's been picked up by the Niagara IceDogs, and Detroit could be banking on this by inviting him to the prospect tournament. They saw him play on the same blueline as former prospect Andrew Gibson, and in front of goaltending prospect Landon Miller, who they picked up in the fourth round of the 2024 draft. That much familiarity leading to a free agent invite shows that the Red Wings see promise in Virgilio, at least enough to bring him in for a low-stakes prospect tournament. If he performs well in Traverse City and follows it up with a strong 2024-25 season, then he could be an interesting re-entry pick at next year's draft.

Ondrej Becher

The Red Wings picked up double-reentry winger Becher in the third round of the NHL Draft back in June. He's a particularly interesting prospect within their entire system, let alone this prospect tournament.

Becher still hasn't signed with a team for this season, the follow-up to a 96-point campaign with the Prince George Cougars of the WHL. His lack of formal affiliation is surprising given his remaining year as an overage player in Canadian Major Junior, as well as how his overall scoring output should have made him a top candidate to sign with a pro club somewhere else. At risk of speculating, it's worth wondering whether Becher might wind up with Grand Rapids or Toledo next season, if he doesn't have something else arranged.

Regardless of whose sweater he's wearing, Becher is a playmaker with decent size at 6-foot-1. He's a late-bloomer, which limits how long he has to continue developing his game. This season is an important one to show just how much he can grow, which makes his next team all the more important.

Carson Bantle

When Bantle signed with the Grand Rapids Griffins on Aug. 20, the move was a bit of a shocker. While his NHL rights — held by Utah né Arizona —expired Aug. 15, Bantle still had a season of eligibility in the NCAA, and he was coming off a career-best 14 goals and 19 points with Wisconsin. The decision to jump straight to the AHL is a curious one, but it makes him all the more interesting as a prospect.

At 6-foot-4 and a few pounds short of 200, Bantle is a big guy. He plays exactly how you'd expect of someone of his stature — not the most impressive skater or puck-handler, but with enough of a physical edge that those limitations are minimized. Last season's career-year came from a nice step in his own development. I've watched Bantle each of the past three seasons with Wisconsin when I was covering college hockey, and he really wowed me with the growth in his offensive positioning, particularly his usage around the net to maximize the impact of his size. That's how you score 14 goals out of 19 points, and that's what could make Bantle useful as a power forward.

Bantle is tied with Gabriel Seger as the tallest forward on the roster, followed by 6-foot-3 Hunter Johannes and Chase Lefebvre. How he holds up in the physical battles this weekend, and how he uses his results to his advantage, will be a good data point for his potential usage with Grand Rapids.

Borya Valis

Any player that celebrates a shootout goal with the Evgeny Kuznetsov Bird celebration is immediately one of the top guys I'm looking out for. I mean, look at this highlight reel.

I won't profess to be a Borya Valis expert, but that's part of why I'm so interested in him at this tournament. His tape shows a nose for the net, getting into the quiet areas and capitalizing off well-placed passes not unlike Jonatan Berggren. His goal totals suggest he isn't always consistent with this approach, although he did tally nine goals in the 2024 WHL playoffs.

Valis has been a solid scorer for a long time. He logged 48 points with the Connor Bedard-led Regina Pats in 2022-23. On a team that really needed to find some offense once Bedard left, Valis was one of its bright spots, scoring 33 points in 35 games. Once he wound up traded to Prince George — the same team as Becher — he kept up the pact with 37 points in 32 games, then scored those aforementioned nine goals in 15 playoff games. It's a little surprising that no one took a flier on Valis at the 2024 draft, and Detroit should get a good look at him at this prospect tournament. Much the same as Becher, Valis isn't signed with a team for 2024-25. Looks like an opportunity, if Valis proves his merit at this camp.

Gabriel Seger

One look at Seger's Elite Prospects page, and the intrigue is immediate. He's 6-foot-4, and scored 44 points for Cornell last season. That was 13 more than his nearest teammate. And boy oh boy has he had one heck of a hockey journey.

Before signing a pro deal with Grand Rapids, Seger took the road less traveled. He started in his home country of Sweden's junior leagues, then traveled to the United States' Tier 2 NAHL, not exactly the most prestigious league to leave home for. The bet worked out, as Seger earned a spot with Union College in the ECAC, playing two seasons there. In the middle of his time with Union, he missed the 2020-21 season entirely because the school was one of eight teams in the ECAC to suspend play due to COVID-19. In 2022, Seger transferred to Cornell and immediately became an impact player, culminating in his big year last season.

It's been a really, really weird path for Seger to get to this prospect tournament, and that makes whatever he does on the ice all the more interesting.

Much like Bantle, Seger's big frame should be useful. It's evident with a lot of these invites that Detroit is looking into the bottom-six type prospects that can round out the roster, and size like Seger's lends itself to be particularly useful in that capacity.

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