Perhaps no other player in the Detroit Red Wings' system has had worse luck than Carter Mazur.
When he finally made his NHL debut last season, Mazur played a single shift before suffering a season-ending injury. This time around, he looked all but ready to make his full-time NHL debut only to suffer yet another injury that sidelined him for the majority of the season. While he managed to play his way onto the roster at the end of the year, he finished the season with zero points in eight games in the process.
All that seems to have changed the moment he returned to Grand Rapids.
Mazur has as many regular season points in the AHL season as he does games played -- 16 in 16 games. He's currently manning one of the top lines in the Calder Cup playoffs, leading all Griffins scorers with five points in six games (at the time of writing this article).
The best part is, he's everywhere on the ice. He's stopping odd man rushes. He's setting up key goals. He's even playing the goal-scorer, putting up key points in the toughest playoff run of his career so far.
With all that said, what should fans expect out of Carter Mazur? Is he going to be a key contributor for the Red Wings moving forward?
Well, yes and no.
Red Wings need bottom-sixers like Mazur
If the last season wasn't abundantly obvious, Detroit's entire bottom-six needs to be revamped. The passive play from guys like Michael Rasmussen and, at times, J.T. Compher is unacceptable. A lack of depth is what killed the Red Wings last season, which is why depth is exactly what they'll need moving forward.
Mazur has the potential to be part of that solution.
He plays an aggressive checking style that gets under his opponents' skin. Tenacious is a word often used to describe Mazur, who makes it his goal to upset and irritate the other team into making a costly mistake. That's the exact kind of player the Red Wings need -- but there are still questions abound with Mazur's play so far.
Hard to determine what Mazur can bring to the table
There are two big questions when it comes to Carter Mazur. The first comes from history: will his history of injuries hold him back? The 24-year-old has already had two shortened professional seasons with injuries. He's dealt with shoulder issues, elbow injuries and unspecified upper body injuries throughout his career. Perhaps it'll be a Robby Fabbri-type situation where his body just needs to catch up to him.
But, with that said, what can the Red Wings expect from him in terms of production? In eight games this season, he was unable to score a point. Now, to be fair, he was extremely limited in terms of deployment, often taking on bottom-line duties with just a few shifts per game. But is that all he can bring to the table?
A full season should show what Mazur can do at the NHL level.
Final Grade: INC
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