The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted an article about Red Wings prospect Carter Mazur in which Red Wings director of player development Dan Cleary and assistant GM/director of amateur scouting Kris Draper do the talking:
“He’s had some tough-luck injuries over the course of his professional life, which has been unfortunate,” said Dan Cleary, the Wings’ assistant director of player development. “But I tell him, ‘I know this sucks, but you got to start over, you got to dig in, got to rehab, and you got to keep going’. He was in such a good place last year (and) put in tremendous work.”
Mazur, a Jackson native and the Wings’ 2021 third-round draft pick (70th overall) has continued to put in the work this summer. He’s put on approximately 25 pounds of weight this summer to better handle the bigger, stronger bodies at the pro level.
The plan now is to keep that added mass during the long, difficult regular season and possibly reach the NHL to stay, this time.
“He’s put on good weight to his frame,” Cleary said. “He’s been able to keep it and he’s going to need it. But for him it’s just some bad luck and I’m hoping he can get past that bad luck. I believe he will.”
Kris Draper, the Wings’ assistant general manager/director of amateur scouting, singled out Mazur during the Wings’ development camp in July. Draper felt Mazur, and the young player’s development and perseverance, was a good example for the young draftees in that camp.
“All these kids that we talk to, they talk about putting weight on,” Draper said. “But in the end, it’s going to happen over time, and we just have to be patient. I’ll give you a perfect example in Carter Mazur. He was at 165 (pounds) when we drafted him and he’s weighing in at almost 195 pounds right now. Twenty-three years old and he’s finally been able to put all that weight on — and he’s putting on the right weight. It’s something that he knows he needed to do. With some kids, it (the physical development) takes a little bit longer.”
Continued; Draper’s right, it’s important for players to not simply add bulk, but instead, to add muscle mass.
That’s the “right weight” that the Wings want to see players add, so you’ll often see a youngster show up 10 or 20 pounds heavier one year, and then they’ll drop some of that weight because they feel too bulky maxed out.
