The Red Wings drafted University of Denver forward Carter Mazur last summer hoping that the 6,’ 173-pound center would be a solid 4th line forward with bite. Instead, en route to an NCAA championship, Mazur posted 14 goals and 24 assists for 38 points in 41 regular season and playoff games, and served notice that he possesses top-six potential.
Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen took note of Wings assistant director of player development Dan Cleary’s remarks regarding Mazur’s maturity:
The Detroit Red Wings Development camp is in Day 2 today. Monday, Red Wings Director of Player Development Dan Cleary told a story about how he knew Carter Mazur wants to be a player last November.
“He reaches out on his own without me saying anything,” Cleary said. “I’ve already seen him play twice. Then we do video. Then, he calls you after video and says, ‘Hey can you send me samples of scoring stuff. I feel like I’m having trouble finding the net.’”
The Red Wings have an entire library of that kind of information.
“You send him some clips of maybe getting his shot off quicker, finding areas in the zone,” Cleary said. “It was like a five-minute video. After that, however it clicked in his mind, he went on an absolute tear. He just felt so much more confident and it just took off. Was it the five-minute video or was it some psychological thing where he just had to see it. But he took on a huge role in Denver. He’s bigger, thicker. He’s gonna have a really important role next year in Denver.”
