Sudbury Sports’ Randy Pascal spoke with 2021 Red Wings draft pick Red Savage regarding Savage’s professional hopes as he prepares to embark upon his first NCAA season with Miami of Ohio:
Red Savage would dearly love to follow in his father’s footsteps and play in the National Hockey League. The way that he sees it, however, the recent 4th round pick of the Detroit Red Wings would slot into a much different role than the one that Brian Savage fulfilled while netting 192 goals in 674 career NHL games.
Even as scouts assembled for one last look at Savage and his class, this past March at the IIHF U18 World Championships in Texas, the 18 year-old 5’11” centreman recognized the key to his game differed notably from that of the long-time member of the Montreal Canadiens (1993-2002).
“The role that I had was to go against the top line and play those big minutes, take a lot of the defensive zone draws, just try and use my abilities as much as possible,” said Red, currently prepping for the start of his freshman season with the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks.
“I think that I played that role pretty much as I wanted to. I obviously wished that I could have been a little bit more offensive and maybe put up a couple more points, but given the role that I played, I think I played it pretty well.”
Continued; Savage definitely projects as a heart-and-soul center of the third line variety, but there very well may be more offense in his game than the Under-18’s suggested.
