DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examines the 2017-18 season stats of a “dark horse” prospect in Grand Rapids Griffins forward Matt Puempel. Pumpel’s a bit older at 25, but he displayed a scorer’s form after being traded to Detroit from the Rangers.
Here’s what Wings assistant GM and Griffins GM Ryan Martin had to say to Wakiji about Puempel:
Quotable: “He’s a guy that we kind of watched from afar. He’s had a couple of stints in the NHL but hasn’t been able to stick as a full-time player so when we made the trade for Ryan Sproul for him, I think it was a win-win. It was a situation where the Rangers needed a depth defenseman and we had too many defense(men) in Grand Rapids and the chance to get a guy like Matt into the organization where he’s not in his entry-level contract, he’s not in the first couple of years pro, he’s sort of what we like to call a middle-tier prospect where he’s 25 years old and maybe a new organization and change of scenery gives him the opportunity to show what he can do and then try to sort of establish himself as a more consistent NHL player.”
