As Carter Mazur prepares to make his NHL debut against Utah HC tonight…
Dream come true. ♥️ pic.twitter.com/SWbRBB7S1P
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 6, 2025
The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan reports that Mazur’s parents were spilling the beans about their son’s recall yesterday afternoon on Facebook:
For sure there wasn’t — or isn’t, by this time — anyone in Jackson who doesn’t know Carter Mazur was recalled by the Red Wings. His parents Jeff and Erin pretty much let everyone know the day before on social media.
“My dad knows enough people who are his friends, and (Mom) spread the news, too; I think everyone knows,” said Mazur, a Jackson native who the Wings officially recalled Thursday and inserted into the lineup against Utah. “They’ve been part of the journey. I’m going to have 200 to 300 friends and family, and it’s going to be pretty exciting.”
Yes, you read that right. Mazur expected to have over 200 family and friends at Little Caesars Arena.
“I don’t have 200 to 300 family members, and I have a lot of friends, but nowhere near that number,” coach Todd McLellan said with a smile. “This guy is pretty popular.”
Mazur has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 20 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins, and 11 points (seven goals) in his last 11 games. Mazur (6-foot, 170 pounds) missed much of the first half of the season after suffering an upper-body injury. The Wings are hoping Mazur’s combination of offensive ability and edgy play can spark the lineup.
“It sounds like he has a tenacity to his game we could use right now,” said McLellan, adding Mazur was going to open the game on the fourth line. “But if we’re relying on Carter to drive our team, to spark us, it might happen a little bit, but there are some other players that have to find their own internal spark, too.”
97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield also told Mazur’s story, and coach McLellan’s take on his new young winger…
Mazur has an edge, and a nose for the net. He brings “pace and intensity,” said McLellan, and “really competes for open ice.” He brings Darren Helm, with a little more size and a little more skill. Mazur does see parts of himself in Helm, “a little bit of the speed, the penalty killing, but I want to be my own player here,” he said.
“I want to make my own name, for sure, and just be Carter Mazur.”
That’s all the Red Wings are asking him to be. He will start on the fourth line, “and hopefully he can provide a little spark,” said McLellan. “But there are some other players that have to find their own internal spark, too.” Mazur isn’t here to save the day, or to play a major role right away like defenseman Simon Edvinsson did when he arrived last March. But he can force his way into one.
“This wasn’t just a, ‘Hey, bring him up and let’s see what we have,'” McLellan said. “He’s earned the opportunity. He’s overcome the injury, now he’s got his legs underneath him in the American League, began to produce some points, which at that level we expect from him. A lot of the things he’s done down there, he’s promoted his own game to the people that make the decisions. He’s ready, it’s time.”
Mazur has traits the Red Wings’ forwards are missing. He has an attitude they need. He has a style suited to the cramped, tight-checking games they will have to win down the stretch, when a battle here or a body there is often the difference. He’s missing two front teeth, and his dad decided two and a half years ago that he wouldn’t shave his beard until his son made his NHL debut. Maybe he should keep it for the playoffs.
“Growing up a Red Wings fan and seeing how much they’ve won and how much the fans really love the playoffs, it’s something that I hope I can be a part of,” Mazur said. “It’s pretty awesome to join a team in the push that they’re in right now.”
On Thursday morning, Mazur’s mom sent him the picture of his drawing from 15 years ago. As he sat in his stall in the Red Wings locker room, he was asked what that eight-year-old would say if he could see him today, what might be going through his head. Mazur grinned his toothless smile and said, “Man, he’s as proud as he can be.”
“It’s just a lifelong dream, and it’s finally coming true.”
And DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted a game preview which discusses Michael Rasmussen’s return to the lineup as well:
In addition to Mazur’s first career NHL game, Michael Rasmussen (undisclosed) is expected to return to the Red Wings’ lineup on Thursday. The 25-year-old forward last played on Feb. 23, and has 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in 56 games this season.
“We’ve come a long way since Christmas,” Rasmussen said. “A couple of games not going our way isn’t going to bring us down, so just got to stick with it and keep going. There’s going to be lots of ups and downs. A bit of a down right now, but there’s going to be more ebbs and flows throughout the season and even going forward as a team into the future.”
Detroit dropped its third consecutive game on Tuesday, losing, 2-1, to the Carolina Hurricanes. As for Utah, who sits four points out of the Western Conference’s second Wild-Card spot, the club has won six of its last nine games and most recently fell, 3-1, to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
Captain Clayton Keller has a team-leading 69 points on 22 goals and 47 assists this season, while Logan Cooley (17 goals, 30 assists) and Nick Schmaltz (12 goals, 35 assists) are tied for second on Utah in scoring with 47 points apiece.
Goalie Karel Vejmelka, who signed a five-year contract extension with Utah on Thursday morning, is 16-16-4 with a 2.45 goals-against average and .910 save percentage in 38 games this season.
“They work really hard,” Rasmussen said about Utah. “From what I’ve watched briefly, they just look like like hard workers. They look like they have a good system. Obviously, some high-end skill up front, a pretty deep D-core and some depth. We got to stick to our game, just worry about ourselves and make adjustments as they come.”
