The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan wonders aloud whether Red Wings prospect and Jackson, MI native Carter Mazur might crack Detroit’s roster out of training camp, utilizing GM Steve Yzerman and Wings assistant director of player development Dan Cleary’s comments about Mazur as a guide:
“He’s got a real good feel for the game,” Yzerman said at his season-ending press conference. “He knows how to get open, he knows to work, where to go. He goes to all the hard areas and he gets a puck on his stick and off the stick. It’s a little bit like the (Alex) DeBrincat shot. He shoots the puck and it’s a threat to go in. He’s got that every time he shoots — it’s a scoring chance.”
There was a smattering of disappointment among Wings fans on social media regarding the inability of Mazur and [Marco] Kasper (14 goals, 35 points in 71 games) to dominate in the AHL. But Yzerman was pleased with the steady progress both prospects made in Grand Rapids.
“Both are really good prospects for us, with good attitudes,” Yzerman said. “Their numbers weren’t off the charts in the minors this year, but if you watch their progression, at the end of the season you’re like, ‘These two kids are really good prospects.'”
A key question regarding Mazur, 22, will be his frame and strength. At 6-feet and 175 pounds, he is a willing and agitating player who enjoys frustrating opponents. But whether Mazur could sustain that level of difficult play over a long NHL season, at this point of his career, is a legitimate question.
Given Mazur’s age and experience level, he wasn’t at the Wings’ development camp last month. But Dan Cleary, Detroit’s assistant director of player development, also was pleased with Mazur’s development.
“Maze gets hurt right away and it took a little while to come back,” Cleary said. “They (Griffins coach Dan Watson and his staff) kept growing him and by the end of the year, they (Mazur and Kasper) were our best players in the most pivotal games.”
Continued; as Kulfan suggests, it’s going to take Mazur, Kasper or Nate Danielson pushing someone on the roster out of their job in order to make the team out of training camp.
