Red Wings’ Emmitt Finnie Off To Impressive Start

Missing the playoffs for the last nine years, the Detroit Red Wings have had several top-15 overall picks in the first round and have several above-average prospects remaining in their pipeline. That’s what has made Emmitt Finnie’s emergence all the more inspiring.

Given that the team has had so many higher-end selections in the first round, Finnie had been treated somewhat as an afterthought in Detroit’s system, since he was drafted in the seventh round only two years ago. He had a relatively unimpressive year with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, scoring nine goals and 35 points in 64 games with a +11 rating.

He followed up his draft year with a productive campaign, scoring 19 goals and 59 points in 62 games. Still, it wasn’t enough at the time for Finnie to even chart on most Red Wings’ prospect boards, given that forwards scoring lower than a point-per-game average in the Canadian Major Junior system aren’t usually close to being NHL-caliber talents.

In his final year with the Blazers, and as the team’s captain, Finnie put it together on offense. Unfortunately, the team didn’t qualify for the WHL playoffs, but Finnie led the way on offense, scoring 37 goals and 84 points in 55 games. He finished the campaign with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, scoring one goal and five points in 10 games with a -4 rating.

At the beginning of training camp, few would have believed that he had a legitimate opportunity to crack the Red Wings’ roster. Still, as the team continued their search for a linemate next to Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, Finnie’s work ethic stood out amongst the pack. General Manager Steve Yzerman has been criticized in recent years for not promoting more youngsters to the roster from camp. However, many Detroit fans recognize this as being the mantra of the franchise for the past several generations.

As the preseason progressed, Finnie remained on the roster, leading to unexpected optimism that he might stay with the team for the regular season. He finished Detroit’s preseason action with two goals and four points in seven games with a 16.7% shooting percentage, averaging 14:28 of action per game.

He has already surpassed those scoring totals in fewer games in the regular season.

At the time of writing, the 20-year-old is tied for third on the Red Wings in scoring, with two goals and five points in six games with a +7 rating, with both of those goals coming in yesterday’s win over the two-time defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers. Still, there’s an argument to be made that anybody with a pulse may be able to engineer points at a relatively easy pace next to Larkin and Raymond.

That’s true to some degree, with Finnie only averaging a 43.4% CorsiFor% at even strength and his -0.7 Expected +/-. However, he’s tied for first on the team in hits (21), and has an excellent 96.7% on-ice save percentage at even strength, which is even more remarkable considering he begins nearly 2/3 of his shifts in the defensive zone.

There are few arguments this early in the season that Finnie is a bona fide top-six winger, nor is there any hope of him driving his own line anytime soon. However, he’s showing a degree of fearlessness that hasn’t been seen from a Detroit prospect in some time, and the team is better off for it.