Defensive depth is strong, but they can use another RHD
The Red Wings have some phenomenal prospects in the pipeline, including Simon Edvinsson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, and William Wallinder, so the need is not as pressing as it otherwise may be in the 2024 draft. But if Detroit wants to break its playoff drought next season, calling up Edvinsson and playing him full-time will bring them closer to that goal.
He showed an immense improvement from the nine-game sample we saw last season to the 16 matchups he suited up for in 2023-24, so there should be a need early in the draft to fill the void he will leave in the pipeline.
Since we already talked about a dynamic scorer at right winger taking the top spot here, the second or, more likely, the third round would be a great spot to grab another blueliner and, ideally, right defense. Detroit is beyond deep at left defense, but the right side could use not one but perhaps a pair of prospects, possibly one in the early-to-mid rounds and another late.
Draft them both for the future while promoting Edvinsson to the big club full-time and maybe nabbing one more from outside the organization to win now, and Steve Yzerman should be more than deep here.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference and Elite Prospects)