The Hockey News’s Adam Kierszenblat examines the WHL-drafted prospect pool of the Red Wings this afternoon. The Wings’ prospects from the WHL constitute a small pool of two players, forwards Emmitt Finnie and Carter Bear:
The Red Wings have a long history of selecting WHL players in the NHL Entry Draft. In fact, Detroit has drafted at least one WHLer in five of the last six drafts. This includes Everett Silvertips’ Carter Bear and Kamloops Blazers’ Emmitt Finnie, both of whom had significant impacts on their WHL teams last season.
Starting with Bear, he was selected 13th overall in June after posting 82 points in 56 games. The 18-year-old forward finished tied for seventh in the WHL with 40 goals, while his 1.46 points per game ranked 13th in the league. Listed at 6’0″, 179, Bear has already signed his Entry-Level Contract and is projected to return to the WHL next season.
As for Finnie, he spent the year as captain of the Blazers. The 20-year-old forward set a new career high with 84 points in 55 games, and had the opportunity to play in his first three AHL games after his WHL season came to a close. Listed at 6’1″, 190 lbs, Finnie’s WHL career has now come to a close as he will make the jump full-time to the AHL next season.
Bear and Finnie are cut from the same cloth. Bear may be the better deke-and-dangle player, but both players make up for their lack of size (by today’s NHL standards) via work ethic and a bit of prove-everybody-wrong grit. They both skate well and are determined players who wear their hearts on their sleeves, and they’re both big assets for the Red Wings’ organization.
