The Red Wings made a surprising second round pick 40th overall in forward Dylan James, who blossomed with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a profile of the enthusiastic Calgarian and future North Dakota Fighting Hawk tonight:
Dylan James got the chance to play hockey again this past season and made the most of it. Playing junior hockey in Alberta in 2020-21, James only played seven games for the Okotoks Oilers (AJHL) because of three COVID-19 disruptions during the season. Obviously James wasn’t alone, many players endured rough seasons, but it still hurt.
There was some rust to knock off and it was an adjustment playing for Sioux City this past season. But James scored 28 goals during the regular season and added five more in 10 playoff games to help Sioux City to the USHL championship, all while simply enjoying playing hockey again.
“It was tough. I quarantined for 50 days (two seasons ago), three different times. That was tough obviously on and off the ice,” James said. “You didn’t know if you were going to practice that afternoon, that year. But coming to the USHL, I was a little nervous, I hadn’t played a season, but I felt I played pretty well.”
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A 6-foot, 180-pound left wing, James plays with a lot of speed, and uses that speed at both ends of the rink. Scouts view him as a potential two-way forward who will be able to help the Wings in a variety of ways.
“I like to pride myself on my defense,” James said. “My offense comes from that. My speed is my best asset and I use it to forecheck and limit the defense’s time and space. I like to do that.”
Continued; the Wings seem to believe that James might end up projecting as a Carter Mazur-like middle-six scorer, and it’s entirely possible…
