Notes on the Red Wings prospects who played in the Big Ten Championship game, including goaltender Trey Augustine, forward Red Savage and forward Kienan Draper
Notes on the Red Wings prospects who played in the Big Ten Championship game, including goaltender Trey Augustine, forward Red Savage and forward Kienan Draper
Patrick Geary knew where to go.
Not on his game-winning shot in overtime — backup goalie Jon Mor told him where to go with that one. Nor was it his bench, where his Michigan State team celebrated a 5-4 win over archrival Michigan in the Big Ten Championship. No, Geary skated to goaltender Trey Augustine and led his teammates in a massive swarm on their stalwart netminder. After a 33-save performance by Augustine, the jubilation of pad taps, helmet slaps and good old-fashioned bear hugs could hardly capture how much he meant to the Spartans not only in this game, but in a historic Michigan State hockey season.
But Augustine wasn’t the only Detroit connection in this game. It’s fitting that for a game to decide the Big Ten as well as state bragging rights, both sides featured a hefty helping of Red Wings prospects and coaching ties.
Here’s what I saw from them:
G Trey Augustine (2ND 2023)
Introduction teaser aside, there’s really nowhere else to start this analysis than with the blue chip at the center of it all. Trey Augustine stopped 33 out of the 37 shots he faced. He wasn’t perfect, but this combined with a 37-save performance against Ohio State last week earned Augustine Most Outstanding Player honors for the Big Ten Tournament. Most of all, he played with poise.
Augustine’s calm demeanor is something that stands out so vividly to me every time I watch him. Nothing seems to faze him. Not when he let in a goal on the very first shot he faced. Not when he trailed 3-2 until the final 90 seconds of the second period and faced a 24-13 shot margin in that span. Not even when sudden-death overtime began and any mistake would cost him and his team the Big Ten Championship.
Through every high and low, Augustine stayed confident.
“I think it’s just about keeping things under control,” Augustine said after the win, donning a Big Ten Championship T-shirt with the tags still on it. “Obviously I thought we played really good in the third period and in overtime, so I have a lot of confidence. …”
Augustine had a right to be. He let in four goals in this game, but three of them were more so the results of defensive breakdowns in front of him than his own errors. The first goal came when Michigan forward Frank Nazar III (CHI) deflected a shot past him off the rush. The third came from a wide-open shot from Wolverines defenseman Marshall Warren. Even Nazar’s second goal, which knotted the score 4-4, was a flukey deflection off Nazar’s skate.
Perhaps you could expect Augustine to stop one or two of those chances, especially given the aura his previous form this season gives him. Some of these goals might be expected to wind up in his glove or turned away by his pads, but those elevated expectations speak more to the clout his usual brilliance has earned.
One of the goals Augustine faced did seem preventable, coming from Michigan forward Dylan Duke (TBL) on the power play. Duke made it 2-2 by burying a rebound that trickled behind Augustine after he got a piece of a hard one-timer by Winnipeg first-rounder Rutger McGroarty. Augustine should’ve absorbed the rebound, and the net-front aficionado Duke made him swiftly pay for it.
Augustine still has areas to work on. He let up some big rebounds, and his glove struggled to match shots aimed toward the middle of the net. Those are traits that working with a goalie coach and with the Red Wings’ development team over the summer can help fix. What coaching can’t so easily instill is the calm that Augustine played with all game long. As he continues to develop, that remains his most intriguing attribute.
F Red Savage (4TH 2021)
At this point, all the Spartans’ winning this season has to be a culture shock for forward Red Savage after his previous two seasons playing for NCHC bottomfeeder Miami. Savage played an integral part on Michigan State’s third line and penalty kill in this game, taking four of his team’s 35 shots. He also took the second-most faceoffs for the Spartans, but he won just seven of 19 (36.8%).
Savage’s impact mostly showed on the penalty kill. Against a Michigan power play that blitzed his team’s penalty kill at a 7-for-15 clip in four previous games, Savage helped kill two penalties in the first period. Against a Wolverine power play that ranks first in the nation at 35.3%, Savage skated into lanes and used his stick to disrupt the puck. The only power play goal Michigan scored came on his own hooking penalty when he couldn’t be on the ice. At even strength, Savage also notched three shot blocks to help out Augustine in net.
Savage earned a couple of good cracks at the net, including a shorthanded breakaway that he helped create with a poke check. Linemate Tiernan Shoudy sprung Savage with a pass, but he ended up missing the net despite ample time and space to make a play. His hands held him back on that play, as well as some neutral zone plays that he bobbled.
At this point in his career, Savage projects to be more of a depth piece than any significant part of the Red Wings’ roster down the line. However, his success on the penalty kill might carve out a niche as a fourth-line roleplayer. He shows a lot of determination in his play, even if some of the results might not always be there. Savage also had a career year in goals (10), assists (16), points (26) and plus-minus (11), with a career low in penalty minutes (10). This season’s success probably has something to do with a lot better teammates, but his success this year shows a lot of growth in his game that was lacking at Miami.
F Kienan Draper (7TH 2020)
I wrote about Draper’s second-half surge back in early February. Though his production dried up substantially after his eight-game point streak with just one goal since, his defensive fingerprints were all over this game alongside his prominence on the forecheck. Much like his dad, Kris Draper, he isn’t afraid of some contact, and while one-to-one comparisons are a little unfair to the younger Draper, there’s a little genetic similarity that surfaces on the ice.
One such instance was a forechecking battle that directly led to Warren’s 3-2 goal. Draper pinned Michigan State defenseman Nash Nienhuis along the boards and chipped the puck past forward Nicolas Muller. With a cross-crease pass by linemate Philippe Lapointe (son of former Red Wings forward Martin Lapointe), Warren got the puck at the goal line and sniped a goal past Augustine.
Besides being a workhorse on the forecheck, Draper also chipped in on the penalty kill with an active stick that clogged lanes. In a huge vote of confidence in his play, Draper continued to play center in overtime when the benches shortened significantly and shuffled in between a variety of wingers. On one play, Draper ripped a long shot from the point a few minutes into overtime, looking for a deflection but instead finding Augustine’s glove.
Draper seems to be in a similar spot to Savage at this point. It’s hard to project any professional role for him right now, but his development this season is a marked improvement from where he was a year ago. He also had a career year thus far in goals (4), assists (8), points (12) and plus-minus (6). Continuing to build on that success, and continuing to forecheck with the tenacity he showed in Saturday’s game, becomes his next goal.
Adam Nightingale and Brandon Naurato
This article wouldn’t be complete without mentioning these teams’ coaches, both of whom have deep ties to Metro Detroit hockey. Nightingale was once a Red Wings video coach from 2017 to 2019, as well as an assistant coach in 2019-20. Naurato, meanwhile, was a skills consultant from 2018 to 2020.
Both took major strides in their second years at the helm of the state’s two most prestigious hockey programs. Nightingale won the Spartans’ first Big Ten regular season and tournament championships in school history. It was also the first conference tournament championship since Michigan State won the CCHA in 2006, the year after Nightingale graduated from the program. In just two short years, he has taken the Spartans’ program out of the basement and into the penthouse.
“You go back, whatever, a year and a half ago in November, I think we swept Wisconsin and Ohio State at home and there was probably like 1,500, 2,000 people here at Munn,” Nightingale said. “And we didn’t want to fudge it, and our marketing department does a great job, but we had to put a product out there. I think we’ve sold out 20-some in a row now and standing room only, and there were people here at 4 a.m. lined up to go in.”
Naurato had almost the opposite inheritance. When he took over Michigan last season as an interim, it was a program that had won a Big Ten Championship the year before and made the Frozen Four. He matched both feats in his first year, though this year was a much rougher go of it in a deeper Big Ten. Saturday’s loss is a bit of a letdown for a program that has found so much success as of late, but his team was also one goal away from a three-peat as the conference crown.
“You lose, you lose, or if you win, you win,” Naurato said. “Neither team played a perfect game, but you feel better when the game is over and you won a game.”
The game didn’t end with such a feeling this time for the Wolverines, but they’ll get a chance at redemption in the NCAA Tournament this week. So will the Spartans, who made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.
Also from THN Detroit
Red Wings Lose 1-0 in Defensive Battle against Nashville
Combining Reliability and Dynamism, Edvinsson Earns Immediate Trust in Latest Red Wings Call-Up
On Upcoming Road Trip, Red Wings’ Starts Matter Even More
‘They Know he’s Gonna Battle’: James Reimer Helps Red Wings Earn Crucial Win over Islanders
Defense Turns to Offense as Red Wings Beat Islanders in Larkin's Return