The Detroit Red Wings finally selected a defenseman with their fourth selection in this past draft. Jared McIsaac was selected 36th overall in the second round of the 2018 NHL Entry Level Draft.
Detroit Red Wings prospect Jared McIsaac plays his junior hockey for the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, (QMJHL). The 18-year-old McIsaac is expected to return to Halifax next season, another season to learn and grow as a young prospect.
McIsaac played on the same junior club as Filip Zadina, expect both to remain teammates for many years to come with the Detroit Red Wings. Although Zadina is expected to make an immediate impact for the Wings, McIsaac will have to wait a bit longer to debut with Detroit, but he will definitely be in the future plans for the Wings.
Jared is expected to grow into a top-four defenseman, filling a much-needed role for the Red Wings. Detroit is searching for talent on the backend, someone who can match-up against an opposing team’s top line.
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In a story by Ansar Khan of Mlive.com, this is exactly what the Detroit Red Wings director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright also suggests;
"The 6-1, 193-pound left-shooting McIsaac as steady and hard-nosed, a good skater who can play against the opposition’s top line.“With McIsaac, we liked the defense,” Wright said.Defense is just what the Red Wings need to upgrade, on their roster and in their system. McIsaac arrived at development camp “wanting to make a name for myself at this camp and moving forward and prove within a couple years that I belong here.”"
It will be a welcoming sight to have a “hard-nosed” addition to the back-end of the Detroit Red Wings line-up. Detroit being able to add a good skating defenseman who is willing to be physical when necessary, Jared becomes a piece who begins to brighten a gloomy defense group.
McIsaac last season for Halifax, notched 9 goals & added 38 assists to total 47 points. Jared was also a plus 14 and accounted for 86 minutes in the “sin bin.”
McIsaac in the article credited above explains his skating ability as being his best attribute, idolizing and admiring Drew Doughty. Later would go onto mention his style of play being a lot more like Ryan McDonagh rather than Doughty only because he considers himself as having a defense-first mentality.
If Jared McIsaac turns into either of the aforementioned skaters it’s a huge win for the Red Wings. McIsaac was widely viewed as a fringe first rounder, some scouts placed him as high as 25th overall, others around 40.
Jared has offered some areas where he feels he needs to improve over the next couple of seasons.
"“I want to keep working on everything possible about my game, but I think the biggest thing is probably my decision-making with the puck and my shot, having a more lethal shot,” McIsaac said. “Working hard this summer to make a difference and move forward.”"
Scouts have suggested when Jared is having an “off” night he can become a turnover machine. When he’s struggling he will quickly fire the puck into a crowd instead of waiting patiently for a play to develop and lacks quick decision-making ability at times.
Expect Jared McIsaac to develop over the course of the next couple of seasons and make a push in 2020 to become a regular in the Detroit Red Wings everyday line-up. McIsaac will benefit from a little more junior hockey to improve his craft.