Red Wings Review: Consistency the Key for Finnie

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Emmitt Finnie

Age: 20, turns 21 in June.

Contract Status: Signed through the 2027-28 season on an ELC, will become an RFA.

Last season’s contributions: 13 goals as a rookie, spent much of his time on the top line wing with Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin; top ten on the team with 30 total points in 82 games.

Grade: A-

Past

Emmitt Finnie, as has been stated countless times over the past season, was the surprise of the Red Wings rookie camp, winning a spot in the lineup as a seventh round pick from 2023. Finnie came from the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, with a brief stint in Grand Rapids for their playoff run last year.

Drafted in 2023 as a developmental, two-way forward who was sitting behind several older, more tenured players on the Kamloops roster, Finnie was projected as a borderline to middle six contributor in the NHL in his draft year. However, Finnie exploded offensively in an increased role in the 2024-25 season.

The then 19-year-old had 37 goals and 37 assists in 55 regular season games and served as the captain for the Blazers in his final season in the Western League. With the Griffins, Finnie had five points in three games in the Calder Cup Playoffs, with a goal and four assists in AHL action.

“You used the word energy, and when he’s bringing that, which is 99 percent of the time for a first-year player, he’s a big factor, a big influence on our team,” Said head coach Todd McLellan, “The pace he plays with, how he closes on players with and without the puck, and his ability to drive pucks to the net.”

Present

Finnie made the main Red Wings roster out of camp, surprising many in the media and perhaps in scouting booths. Drafted as a center, Finnie played this last year primarily on Detroit’s top line as a winger. Though late in the season as the team found itself dealing with injuries and in need of some lineup shakeup, he did find some time as a center for the Wings’ third line.

The Alberta native tallied 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 total points. That put him at 8th overall for goals scored on the roster, and 9th in assists and overall points. As a rookie, those are impressive numbers, even if the Red Wings’ goal share chart is largely lopsided in the second line’s favor.

However, Finnie, as a rookie, was also prone to his fair share of mistakes, and had a -10 rating while averaging 15 and a half minutes a night. The rest of Detroit’s top six (aside from Patrick Kane, who was dealing with multiple injuries throughout the year) had positive +/- shares and more time on ice.

Still, for someone picked outside of the top 200 in the draft (201st, before you google it), Finnie landing inside the top 20 in scoring for his first season in the NHL is impressive. That, however, did come with caveat that he had a two month span without a goal, and only four in the back half of the season, with his last two goals separated out by a month.

Future

The Red Wings have a lot of young forwards jockeying for a spot in the lineup right now, and Finnie jumping the line and getting on the main roster certainly puts the pressure on for him to keep his spot in Detroit.

Finnie did well in his first year to make his presence known on-ice not just to the Red Wings, but the league. With his positional flexibility, the Red Wings could keep him in the top six or move him down into the middle six for center depth. Finding his position, and consistency at that position, will be paramount.

Last year’s “surprise rookie”, Marco Kasper, regressed significantly in his sophomore year, spending parts of the back half of this season in the bottom six and only scoring nine goals. Kasper was a drafted center who played much of his rookie season on the top line wing. His first round pedigree made expectations different, but Finnie will be shouldering much of the same burden and certainly feeling the pressure from the fanbase to find the back of net more often next year.

Finnie proved that he is an NHL quality player this year. Next year will be about exactly what role he will play in The Show.

Current contract: $888,334 per season AAV for the next two seasons. Will become an RFA in 2028.

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