The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an article this morning which discusses the relationship between 2026 47th overall pick Victor Plante and Chris Osgood’s family.
As it turns out, the Osgoods were billet families for Plante while he played with the National Team Development Program this past season:
As soon as she found out Victor Plante had been drafted by the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, June 27, Jenna Osgood reached out.
“I told him, yay, he can now live in our basement forever,” Osgood told the Free Press. She and her husband, former Wings goaltender Chris Osgood, have billeted U.S. National Team Development Program players for years, and their most recent houseguest at their home in Plymouth – where the USNTDP is based – couldn’t been a better tenant, in every way possible.
“Vic was great for my kids, because he’s on the ice every night in my backyard,” Chris Osgood told the Free Press. “Every night they’d be out there. We love having them all around. And Victor was just an awesome kid – he gets along with anybody. When I saw him get drafted on TV, he looked like the happiest guy in the draft. We were so happy for him.”
Continued (paywall); this is a very good read…
And St. James also posted a set of prospect profiles based upon the comments made by GM Steve Yzerman and assistant GM/director of amateur scouting Kris Draper yesterday afternoon. Here’s what Draper had to say about Plante:
ROUND 2: #47 Victor Plante
Pick: No. 47 overall.
The buzz: Plante is the younger brother of 2024 Wings draftee Max Plante (the Hobey Baker Award winner in 2025-26 as college hockey’s best player), and the son of former NHL’er Derek Plante. Plante (5-10, 165) has spent the past several seasons playing for the USNTDP. He posted 21 goals and 27 assists in 48 games last season with the U18 team.
“With picking Max and getting to know the family, you know, it’s an incredible hockey family,” Draper said. “We were real excited about the development of how and what Max has gone through over the last couple of years and feel that Victor’s wired the exact same way. He’s a very smart, competitive hockey player that has a passion and love for the game and we feel that those types of players are always going to get better. Sitting here a couple of years ago, that’s exactly what we said about Max: How much he loved the game and with that passion and love for the game that he was going to get better and that’s exactly what he did.”
Victor, Max and their older brother, Zam, will all be teammates next season at Minnesota Duluth.
Continued (also paywalled, sorry).
