What a day! With all rounds now complete, here’s a look at the rest of the new faces joining the Red Wings prospect pool.
Round 3
Pick 73
The Wings grabbed Noah Dower-Nilsson quickly in the third round. Younger brother of current Wings prospect Liam Dower-Nilsson, the left-shot LW/C comes to us from Frölunda. Elite Prospects lists his top attributes as vision, shot, and puck handling.
After starting the season on an offensive tear, he got derailed only after an injury took him out for some time. This could be a big steal if he can translate his offensive instincts and overcome the weakest parts of his game – skating and playing 200 feet.
Round 4
Pick 117
Yzerman & Co took Larry Keenan (grandson of this Larry Keenan). A LD from Culver Military Academy, the 6’3″ 185lb prospect is noted by Elite Prospects as a transition and offense-minded defenseman. He needs to work on play in his own zone, particularly along the boards, and on using his body more instead of just relying on stick-checks to disrupt play.
EP thinks he has the tools to develop into a top-4 defender if he can put it all together.
Sorry, no video found for this one.
Round 5
Picks 137 and 147
The target at 137 was Jack Phelan. The 6’2″, 185lb right-shot defender committed to the University of Wisconsin for next season along with 2nd Round pick Brady Cleveland, and that’s about all I’ve got on the kid at the moment courtesy of his Twitter profile and basic Elite Prospects page. This could be a reach, or a brilliant under-the-radar selection.
At newly acquired 147 (thanks, Nashville!) the Red Wings selected Kevin Bicker out of Jungadler Mannheim. A left-shot LW, standing 6’1″ and weighing in at 174lbs, he has a lot of development to do before he’s considered a prospect that will project as an NHL player but seemed to put some things together at the end of the season. His stats currently make him look like he could be another offense-first type guy, and hopefully he blossoms with another year in the DEL.
Round 6
Pick 169
Nice. Draper got to announce goalie Rudy Guimond from Taft High School (CT) as one of the newest Red Wings prospects. At 6’3″, 179lbs, left-catching Guimond is committed to Yale and will absolutely impress there if he can keep his numbers up. His high-school SV% of .940 (in 28 games played) translated directly into his Yale Jr Bulldogs play where he posted a .939 SV% (in 17 games).
According to Elite Prospects, he used his size well enough this past season but played shallow in the crease and wasn’t a great skater around his posts. Those are fixable issues with time, and we all know goalies are voodoo and usually take the longest to develop. A few years in the Yale system will serve him well.
Round 7
Pick 201
The Wings’ last selection in this Draft was Emmitt Finnie. A 6’0″, 170lb left-shot Center out of Kamloops, Finnie is touted as a hard worker that can take appropriate measures to affect play even when he doesn’t have the puck. Going on a heater late in the season, with 21 points in 15 games, there is definitely some upside to his game but lots of question marks as he got little ice time on a talented Blazers squad.
EP notes nothing dynamic about his game, but also notes him as a breakout candidate if he can hit the weight room a little harder this summer and translate more of his flashes of skill into increased ice time. Not bad to have your 7th round guy noted as a breakout candidate!
And with that, we call it a day! Welcome to all the new Red Wings prospects, and thanks to everyone who chatted live with us on Discord!
LGRW
Full 2023 Red Wings Draft Breakdown
41 – Trey Augustine (G)
42 – Andrew Gibson (D)
47 – Brady Cleveland (D)
73 – Noah Dower-Nilsson (LW/C)
117 – Larry Keenan (D)
137 – Jack Phelan (D)
147 – Kevin Bicker (LW)
169 – Rudy Guimond (G)
201 – Emmitt Finnie (C)
