Red Wings draft John Whipple 144th overall at the 2024 NHL Draft

The Detroit Red Wings have drafted defenseman John Whipple with the 144th overall draft pick in the 2024 NHL Draft

Per the Hockey News’s Adam Kierszenblat:

The best way to describe Whipple is a no-nonsense defensive defenceman. He understands where he needs to be positionally in his own zone and has a tendency to throw massive hits when given the opportunity. While he may not be the most exciting prospect, players like Whipple are essential to every organization as they can provide crucial minutes at both even strength and on the penalty kill. 

When watching Whipple play, one area that stands out is his defence against the rush. He has good gap control and can use his reach to knock the puck off the opponent’s stick. Whipple is also a strong skater, which helps with puck retrievals as well as angling puck carriers towards the wall and away from the middle of the ice.

As mentioned, Whipple is also a physical player who loves to throw hits. He makes life difficult for any forward who tries to crash the net and uses his physicality to separate the opposition from the puck along the boards. Listed at 6’0″, 192 pounds, according to NHL Central Scouting, Whipple understands how to use his size to his advantage, which should help him next season at the NCAA level. 

Scheduled to join the University of Minnesota next season, Whipple will be given every opportunity to grow his game on what should be a stacked Gophers team. While he may not see a ton of ice time to start the season, he could end the campaign as one of the team’s top penalty killers. Overall, he is a good value pick at 162nd and, if developed properly, could become a late-round steal.

Here’s the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton:

Fifth round, 144th overall, John Whipple, D, U.S. NTDP

Detroit grabs its first defenseman of the draft in round five in the form of NTDP product John Whipple, who is committed to continue his hockey career at the University of Minnesota this season.  Whipple—a defense-first defenseman—scored two goals and 15 assists in 61 games this year for the NTDP, all while putting up a +19 rating.

From the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers’ website:

JOHN WHIPPLE
DRAFTED: 5th Round | No. 144 Overall | Detroit Red Wings
6-2 | 195 | Defense
HOMETOWN: Minnetonka, MN
LAST YEAR: USA Hockey National Team Development Program

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT JOHN:
“Whipple generates significant power on the backpedal and maintains his speed through pivots, making him a strong rush defender. He forces attacks wide, then explodes across and hammers the opponent into the boards. Aggressive net-front defense and flashes of deceptive, fast retrievals give him lots of defensive versatility.”-Elite Prospects

“Plays with pace. Simple with the puck. Outlets and lets the forwards got to work. Hard to play against defensively. Closes on opponents and battles hard to win pucks / keep the play to the perimeter. Plays with an edge – at times crossing the line with his aggression – but there is no easy ice for opponents when he is defending his zone. The kind of defender a coach will rely on to match up against middle six forwards and roll over the boards on the PK.”-Cap Friendly

There’s an NHL.com video in which Whipple is interviewed as well…

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, when MLive hired me to work their SlapShots blog, and I joined Kukla's Korner in 2011 as The Malik Report. I'm starting The Malik Report as a stand-alone site, hoping that having my readers fund the website is indeed the way to go to build a better community and create better content.

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