Bleacher Report asked its correspondents to rank the NHL’s 32 teams’ prospect pools, and the Red Wings finished slightly below average at 18th overall. That being said, Hannah Stuart suggests that there are at least three Red Wings prospects for Detroit fans to get excited about:
18. Detroit Red Wings
Prospects to Watch: Trey Augustine, Carter Bear, JP Hurlbert
Analysis: Keep an eye on the Detroit Red Wings. Their prospect pool has the vibe of one about to tip the balance of the ice for its parent organization. And thank god, because right now the parent organization looks a bit directionless. I don’t know what they’re doing; I’m pretty sure they don’t know what they’re doing. I think it’s okay not to know where you’re going when you don’t have a general manager, though, and they’ve got a lot of pieces in this pipeline to help move things forward.
There’s a decent amount of options at each position, some stronger than others—goaltending looks like a particular strength. Trey Augustine is, barring some freak act of God, the Red Wings goaltender of the future, and behind him they’ve got Michal Orsulak, Michal Postava, Michal Pradel, and Rudy Guimond, who proves they’re allowed to draft goaltenders not named Michal. It’s a good position to have depth at; goaltenders are hard to predict outside of the ones who scream “I’m a star”, and those are rare.
Carter Bear was a particular favorite of mine in his draft year, and more importantly, he suits the Red Wings quite well. He brings elite hockey sense and incredible passing ability, pairing them with an absolutely relentless drive that will infuriate opponents for a very long time. That tenacity and vision are true separating factors for him.
JP Hurlbert, drafted this year, is a fascinating player who absolutely blew WHL scoring out of the water. His puck-moving abilities are fantastic, as is his hockey sense and vision; he’s always one step ahead of opponents. That vision also allows a layer of deception to his game. He’s on par with Michael Brandsegg-Nygard for me in terms of likelihood of making the NHL, but Hurlbert’s vision gives him that extra edge.
Continued; it’s rare to read a prospect guru discussing the Red Wings’ prospect pool while utilizing superlatives. The Red Wings supposedly draft the same middle-ceiling, bland/blah prospect every time, and it’s nice to at least read somebody get excited about three Red Wings stand-outs.
