(Received From Tampa) 4th Round Pick – Carson Latimer, Right-Winger
Carson Latimer rounded out a stacked Edmonton Oil Kings team that consisted of top-end prospects like Sebastian Cossa and Dylan Guenther.
Latimer’s five goals and 11 assists in 22 games got him crowned as the King’s rookie of the year. In the limited sample size, he quickly gave a boost to the team’s lower lines and become an important depth piece for Edmonton.
Latimer’s strength is his skating; much of his success on offense was due to the clean zone entries and bursts of acceleration past defenders while heading straight to the net. He’s not especially strong elsewhere, but for a player outside of nearly every top 100 list of prospects, he’s surprisingly well-rounded. Detroit could use a bit more depth on the speed side of things in the pipeline, and a winger succeeding on probably the best roster in the WHL is a good place to start (Also, if Guenther falls to Detroit at 6th, Yzerman might as well keep that Oil King’s connection running with another talented winger from the organization).