The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a 3-part development camp notebook on Monday afternoon, discussing prospects Antti Tuomisto, Chase Pearson and Elmer Soderblom. Here’s what Chase Pearson, whose father, Scott, played as an enforcer, had to say about his game:
The Wings were eager to select Tuomisto with the first of their second-round picks (35th overall).
“I’ve liked this kid all year, for sure,” said Tyler Wright, the Wings’ director of amateur scouting. “We talk at length, and you watch the playoffs and see the size of these guys with St. Louis and Boston, it doesn’t mean they’re big and just big.
“I wouldn’t be here without him,” Pearson said at the Wings’ development camp. “The countless hours before and after school, I’d practice all that extra time with him and he didn’t have do that. But to have him out there, he knows what it takes to get to the next level and he’s been through it all.”
Pearson, 21, said his father advised him to stay in school for several years and resist jumping to the pros too early.
“Take your time,” said Pearson, of his dad’s thinking. “Guys rush in sometimes and kind of get sifted out of the development pipeline. Me, having those extra years, was real good for my development.”
Pearson had 78 points (37 goals, 41 assists) in 107 games at Maine, serving as the team’s captain both his sophomore and junior seasons.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound center will play in Grand Rapids this season, projected to be a shut-down type of forward.
“For me, if I’m going to make the NHL, it’s going to be as a shutdown, defensive forward with some offensive upside,” Pearson said. “I just have to compete and make sure I’m not taking any crap out there on the ice. If I win my battles in front of the net, that’s going to be my MO at the next level.”
“This is a guy that’s 6-4, plays with a real bite to his game, but he’s a good player. He’s got good sense, he can find the middle of the ice.
“We really liked him. That’s what we stepped up and took him. He was a guy that we targeted for a while at 35 and he happened to be there. We were ecstatic to leave with him.”
