EP Rinkside’s Sean Shapiro shares a slate of observations from the Red Wings’ Prospect Games, including the following, on Substack:
Daniel Cleary said the quiet part out loud.
While meeting with media members on Sunday in Traverse City, the Detroit Red Wings director of player development mused about where top prospects Nate Danielson will play this season.
“I have inner thoughts that I don’t want to say out loud,” Cleary said. “But not a lot would surprise me.”
Reading between the lines on that statement, my conversations with others at Traverse City, and watching Danielson play myself, it feels like a decent bet the 19-year-old is actually part of the NHL plans this season.
A member of the Dallas Stars brass, who closely watched the games, told me Danielson was the best player in the Traverse City prospect games and that the first-round pick, “looked NHL ready to me.”
It makes sense, in the long-term the Red Wings need Danielson to become the No. 2 center that unlocks their lineup. Why not start that process this season?
Continued; I don’t think that Danielson will end up playing in the NHL unless he’s playing in the NHL, but stranger things have happened.
