Detroit Red Wings: Top 10 prospects entering 2018

TORONTO, ON - MARCH 24: Detroit Red Wings right wing Evgeny Svechnikov (77) skates during the warm up before a game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 24, 2018 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs won 4-3. (Photo by Nick Turchiaro/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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Jared McIsaac #14 (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

7. Jared McIsaac, D [18] (2-36, 2018)

Stats (Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL): 65 games played, 9 goals, 38 assists, 47 points, 4 power-play goals (17 assists), 3 shorthanded assists, 178 shots on goal, .72 points per game (9 playoff games played, 0 g, 4 a, 4 p, 2 PPA, 25 SOG, .44 pts/g).

Jared McIsaac is a good sized, two-way defensive prospect who looks like an eventual NHLer. It’s hard to tell what exactly his ceiling is, but the fact that he was taken just outside the first round is a good sign. Anybody taken in the top 40 is usually a very good prospect, and in a draft like 2018’s, McIsaac is an excellent one. Before the draft, some prospect writers had McIsaac in their first round. He is that good.

It feels like he’s bound to be a member of the Detroit Red Wings, and if he can keep taking steps forward, he’ll have excellent potential

But he’s far removed from being an NHL ready player. It feels like he’s bound to be a member of the Detroit Red Wings, and if he can keep taking steps forward, he’ll have excellent potential. But that’s a lot of ifs, and he still has to get to a point where he can play at the professional level. Even with the need the Detroit Red Wings have at defense, McIsaac likely won’t step into the NHL before he’s allowed to exit the CHL for the AHL.

McIsaac was tied for 10th in defensive scoring, 18th in goal scoring, 10th in assists, and 18th in points per game in the regular season. In the playoffs, he took a step back but was tied for 26th in defensive assists. He’s right where he needs to be, and so long as he doesn’t regress, it appears as if the Red Wings are looking at a piece of their future in McIsaac, it just might be a while.

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