The Hockey News’s prospect guru, Tony Ferrari, asked THN’s 32 correspondents to weigh in with a single take from each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams’ summer development camps, and Sam Stockton praised Red Wings prospect Carter Mazur:
Detroit Red Wings: At development camp in Detroit, Carter Mazur looked like the player most ready for the leap from development camp to the NHL. Whether in the 3-on-3 tournament or drills, Mazur was a force of nature. Whenever the puck came to his blade, the game slowed to whatever tempo Mazur chose. He showed a thunderous shot, he dominated the walls all camp long, and his knack for puck protection put him at another level from all of his peers. Put it all together, and you can see that Mazur has a nice collection of habits that will serve him at the NHL level already under his belt.
“I’m more of a hard worker, I would say, and when I stick to that, then my skill comes out,” Mazur said. In an interview dripping with charisma, he extolled the virtues of his mom’s cooking and the way chirping “makes hockey fun.” – Sam Stockton
Continued; I’m going to actually disagree with Sam and say that Marco Kasper looked subtly more NHL-ready to me, but Mazur is only behind “by a nose,” as they say. He’s still working on adding body mass and strength, so we’ll see what #43 can do this fall at the prospect tournament and training camp.
