Emmitt Finnie turned a lot of heads as a 7th round draft pick that made the jump from juniors essentially straight to the Red Wings top six last year.

Now, there might have been a handful of games in the AHL and a summer between his final days as captain of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, but there were few who saw the then 20-year-old Lethbridge, Alberta native making the opening night roster for Detroit.

Fewer still would have expected that in his sophomore season, the now 21-year-old former 201st overall pick is centering the Red Wings top line while being tied for second place in the team’s goal scoring race.

And yet, here Hockeytown is. The Red Wings, despite an uneven start to their year, are getting consistent contributions from their younger players who have been playing above their pay grade in the absence of players like Dylan Larkin and Simon Edvinsson.

Dog Days

Despite the dreary outlook for the Red Wings going into the season, all things considered, the team has managed to put a respectable product out on the ice most nights. The team is not far behind a .500 record and has managed to give up just two more goals than they have scored so far this season.

Finnie, with seven goals on the year, has been the team’s most productive center, despite the fact that he is still learning the position at the NHL level. Finnie spent most of last year on the wing, but with the Red Wings lack of depth down the spine of their forward corps, Detroit put Finnie back in the position he was drafted at this year, and the move has paid dividends.

Finnie’s usual linemates Viktor Arvidsson and Alex DeBrincat both have 7+ goals and 15+ points to start the year. For his sophomore season, Finnie projects to finish with 37 goals and 21 assists, well on the way to replace Larkin‘s production after the former captain decided to quit on the team after a month.

Seeing ghosts?

Still, the Red Wings remain thin down the middle, and they’re hoping that another one of their centers will get back on track. Marco Kasper, who the Red Wings initially had plugged in on their second line is projected to return from injury later this week. The Red Wings took Kasper 8th overall in the 2022 draft, and the Austrian center showed a lot of promise in his rookie season with 19 goals and 18 assists.

Kasper’s sophomore outing wasn’t nearly as successful with just 19 total points. For a lot of fans, this season feels like do-or-die despite it being just his third year in the league. However, Kasper, if deployed back on the second line, feels like a far better fit for the pace and style of hockey the Red Wings hope to be playing this year.

With Lucas Raymond and rookie Michael Brandsegg-Nygard on the line, both fellow SHL alums, Kasper could very well be in for a much more productive season.

With their top two centers figured out, that would take a lot of pressure off of the Red Wings. Whether Kasper will follow in Finnie’s footsteps and break out this season is still yet to be seen.