The Athletic’s Craig Custance penned an article discussing the tricky business that is assessing a prospect’s worth based upon their performances at the Red Wings’ prospect tournament in Traverse City, especially as that applies to Filip Zadina, who’s been very good, but not dominant:
In asking around about Zadina, the most important opinion right now might come from the man who will have a big part in determining his fate to start his NHL career. Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill was watching these games closely since the future of his team is playing out on the ice in front of him.
He’s looking for players who create more opportunities than they give up when they’re on the ice. If you’re an offensive player like Zadina, it’s hard to do that simply by scoring, so he wanted to see how much attention he paid to defense, how much attention he paid to managing the game. There were positives on both fronts there.
And like us all, Blashill saw the dynamic ability that made Zadina such a sought-after prospect in the draft.
“What’s impressed me is he wants the puck on his stick,” Blashill told The Athletic after the second game. “He by no means is a one-dimensional scorer. Certainly, I think he can score. He wants the puck on his stick. He wants to make plays. He’s got excellent edges, and he’s strong on his skates for a young guy. That all puts him in position to be a real good player for us at some point.”
Custance continues at length…
