After another productive season with the AHL's Kamloops Blazers, Emmitt Finnie is joining the Grand Rapids Griffins. Selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the seventh round of the 2023 Draft, Finnie was hardly a highly touted prospect—at least not at the time he was drafted—but he's discovered a newfound offensive touch in the two seasons since. Now, as expected, Finnie is set to become a full-time pro with the Griffins. Not many seventh rounders forge an NHL career, but Finnie's trajectory suggests that he may be the sort of rare 'late bloomer' to buck that trend.
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In his draft year, Finnie scored 35 points in 59 games. After being selected by the Red Wings, Finnie's production soared: 59 points in 62 games in 2023-24, then 84 in 55 this year.
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Finnie signed his entry-level contract with the Red Wings last March, and he actually played three games for the Griffins at the end of that March and then early April. Officially, Grand Rapids loaned Finnie back to the Blazers for the season. Now he's set to rejoin the Griffins.
Here is a brief note on Finnie from last summer's Red Wings Development Camp:
"Finnie was one of the clear standouts from the three-on-three sessions. He kept driving quality chances, and he kept scoring. To [assistant director of player development Dan] Cleary, it was consistent with the season Finnie just had with the WHL's Kamloops Blazers: 'I feel like he grew each time I would meet him. Started getting bigger then me, his chest fills out...He's quiet, but he moves well...He's smart. He's gonna have a nice season in Kamloops and then we'll see.'
"The 2023 seventh rounder isn't the biggest player out there or the most skilled, but his speed and work rate are exemplary, and he has a shot not to be trifled with. At this point, for me, the biggest question, if he is indeed to become an NHLer, is whether he can earn his way into deploying those skills in a top six role or will have to change his game a bit to make a go of it in a depth role. It's a transition lots of high-scoring junior players have to make to earn an NHL roster spot, and I'll be curious to see how Finnie goes about it."
Finnie had the nice season Cleary alluded to in Kamloops. Now we'll see how he fares as a full time pro.
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