MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a profile of Red Wings draft pick Carter Mazur this morning, discussing the Jackson, MI native’s connections to Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper:
Mazur, a 6-foot, 170-pound left wing, was the captain for the USHL Tri-City Storm, where he experienced a spike in production and growth this past season.
He has a history with Kris Draper, the Red Wings director of amateur scouting, who was once his youth coach.
“He grew up playing Little Caesars all the way from 10 to U-16,” Draper said. “It’s been a lot of fun and I’m proud to watch Carter develop into the player he has. Last year he went into his first year in Tri-City and it’s a big jump. At the time he was maybe 5-9½, 5-10. He’s grown 2-3 inches; he’s put on about 20 pounds. He knows he needs to still get bigger and stronger.
“The interesting thing for me was watching Tri-City and seeing the improvement from Carter from last year to this year. Our area scouts, the reports they were putting in about Carter, talking about the improvement, it was great to hear. We (drafted) Carter in a spot where he deserved it. As we were talking to our scouts, it was a pick we all wanted to make.”
Gotta root for this kid to make it.