The Athletic’s Max Bultman spotlights Red Wings prospects Givani Smith and Jordan Sambrook this week, and as far as I’m concerned, Sambrook doesn’t get enough press, so:
Sambrook was also traded earlier this year, going from the Erie Otters to the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds and joining a higher-scoring team in the process. That hasn’t always led to more individual scoring for Sambrook, but at least he’s playing with a team that’s working the attack.
“He’s been steady in transition,” Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis told The Athletic. “He’s been able to kind of separate guys from pucks, get the puck going the other way. And we have a real lethal attack up front, but it really starts at our back end and our back end is really what kind of drives the bus for it.”
It’s worth remembering that Raftis traded for Sambrook, so he’s probably inclined to have a pretty high opinion of him. That said, any praise of the 6-foot-2 defenseman’s ability to generate offense — whether directly or indirectly — is a good sign for a prospect developing an all-around game, even if it’s perhaps more firmly rooted in his defensive basics.
“I think you look at the defensemen in the National Hockey League and it’s tough to play in that league if you can’t play in your own end,” Otters coach Chris Hartsburg told The Athletic. “And the guys that are one-dimensional players on the offensive side, generally, — they see their offensive time on power play — but for guys that play heavy minutes it’s important that they’re good in their own end.
Bultman continues (paywall)…