The Detroit Red Wings face an uncertain situation in their top line. Two-thirds of the top line are locks, that is, captain Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. Unless either one suddenly falls off a cliff, they’ll surely hit the ice as part of the top unit.
But what about one crucial spot in the Red Wings’ top line, specifically, left wing?
When the Wings signed veteran James van Riemsdyk this summer, several analysts penciled the 36-year-old into that top line left wing spot. No offense, but van Riemsdyk’s days as a top-six forward a long behind him.
Unfortunately for van Riemsdyk, he’s now on the shelf with an injury, keeping him day-to-day. When he gets back, he’ll draw into the bottom six, most likely on the third line.
That situation still doesn’t solve the top-line left-wing spot. Well, the solution is to move Lucas Raymond over into the spot. But that’s like opening one hole to cover up another. Not if you have an emerging rookie who can take over in a pinch. That rookie is Emmitt Finnie.
Finnie is the sort of player no one saw coming. He was a seventh-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. While a serviceable prospect, few envisioned him leaping to the top line. But here were are.
As Max Bultman noted in a September 29 piece in The Athletic: “Finnie has shown he’s willing to go down low and dig out pucks. He’s shown he hustles back defensively. He has shown that he can think the game well enough to play with two brilliant players. And he has indeed shown that he can skate with them.”
That’s the reason why Finnie has earned a shot to start the year with Raymond and Larkin. If it works, the Red Wings will come out like bandits. If it doesn’t, more questions will arise as coach Todd McLellan will need to figure out who can fill out the top line.
Red Wings got talented, overlooked prospect in Finnie
The Detroit Red Wings could have found a gold mine where least expected. Emmitt Finnie’s numbers in the WHL suggest top-tier talent. However, no one really seemed to pay much attention to him.
In 2023-24, his age-18 season, he scored 19 goals and 59 points in 62 games for the Kamloops Blazers. The next season, he smashed his previous high by scoring 37 goals and 84 points in 55 games.
That performance earned him a 10-game trial with the Griffins, scoring one goal and five points in 10 games.
That’s the sort of progression one would expect from a first-round pick. As such, it seems like everyone’s scouts let one high-end prospect slip through the cracks. There’s really nothing in his background that would suggest a drawback to Finnie’s game.
The biggest issue, as Bultman noted, is that other candidates, to play on the top line, like van Riemsdyk and Elmer Soderblom, lack speed. Van Riemsdyk and Soderblom won’t easily keep up with Larkin and Raymond.
But that’s where Finnie excels. He can not only keep up, but he’s also wont to play hard without the puck. He’s the type of worker bee that high-end lines need. Think of the way Zach Hyman or Michael Bunting did a lot of the dirty work for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in Toronto. That’s the sort of player that Finnie could turn into for the Red Wings.
Having that hardworking forward who can check, dig for pucks, and play well on the backcheck could make him a highly valuable piece for the Red Wings moving forward.
The Red Wings could have the steal of the century if things work out with Emmitt Finnie. It doesn’t look like anyone will step in to overtake. Barring injury, Larkin will have two young wingers to roll with him.