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.”
By “my kids,” Chris means the hockey teammates of his son, 15-year-old Max, as well as the billeted players. Having a guy like Plante, a forward headed to play for Minnesota Duluth next season, was phenomenal. Whether on an ice sheet in an arena or in a backyard, his skill set always shows.
“He’s really smart, plays the game the right way,” Chris said. “I think he hasn’t hit a ceiling for his goal scoring yet, but his playmaking and his ability to read plays is incredible. I think the play that sums him up is when he scored the game-winner in Calgary, when he went there and played an All-Star team in the CHL, and in overtime, he scored.
“He’s just a really reliable center or winger that’s going to make the right play and make guys around him better. He’s an all-around player, andI those guys are hard to find those now.”
The Wings selected Plante at No. 47 overall on Saturday, Day 2 of the 2026 NHL Draft. It was the same spot where, two years earlier, they drafted his brother Max. Older brother Zam is a Pittsburgh Penguins prospect who is also at Minnesota Duluth, where all three brothers will be playing next season. Max, a sophomore forward, won the 2026 Hobey Baker Award in April, as the top player in college hockey. Victor is a similar player.
“He’s always on the right side of the puck,” Chris said. “He’s always making the right decisions defensively and offensively. He’s got to fill in and get bigger and stronger, and he will. But he’s just a really smart player.
“When you watch him, he’s always in the right spot. I don’t want to compare him to Henrik Zetterberg, because Zetterberg’s very smart, but kind of like that. I don’t want to get expectations that high, but like a Zetterberg or Patrice Bergeron-type smart player.”
While living with the Osgoods eased Plante’s hockey development, it also enabled him to be surrounded by a family knit as closely as Plante’s own.
“Victor was a part of our family from the minute he moved in,” Jenna said. “He was there for every birthday, Christmas, his billet brothers’ state championship and national championship. We were together all the time, had tons of family dinners. We had a tradition for big events to go to Hook and Reel. We loved our crab dinner nights.
“The boys played tennis almost every night once the weather broke. There was nonstop action at all times. Pickleball, escape rooms, movie nights, golf. We were active nonstop.”
While seeing billeted players move out is routine, it doesn’t lessen how much of a loss it can feel like.
“Victor was a big part of my family,” Jenna said. “Victor is the youngest in his family and with Max, he was able to have a younger brother for the first time, and he loved it. When Victor left, we were all so sad. The best thing I can say about Victor is, he always has a smile on his face.”
Contact Helene St. James at Hstjames@freepress.com.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Osgoods on Red Wings prospect Victor Plante: Never missed crab dinner
Reporting by Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
