The Detroit Red Wings have had a illustrious history in finding diamonds during the late-rounds of the NHL draft. The Russian Five were all drafted after the third round (with the exception of Slava Kozlav, drafted in the third). Pavel Datsyuk was taken in the sixth round in 1998, while future captain Henrik Zetterberg was taken in the seventh round of the 1999 draft. Emmitt Finnie is the latest late-round pick for Detroit to make some noise. Taken in the seventh round in 2023, he's shocked the Red Wings organization with impressive growth. In the past three years, Finnie went from an afterthought, to Detroit's first-line center. Let's dive into who he is, and what makes him so dynamic.
Oct 24, 2026; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Detroit Red Wings center Emmitt Finnie (58) against the Calgary Flames during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Director of Amateur Scouting, Kris Draper, attended a home-and-home between the WHL's Kamloops Blazers and Vancouver Giants. When Draper walked into the arena that night, he had no idea who Finnie was. However, an injury to one of the Blazers' players allowed Finnie to crack the lineup. He caught Draper's eye, and the Red Wings decided to pick up Finnie in the seventh round. While walking home from the gym on day two of the draft, he found out he was drafted. That summer, Finnie sprouted like a weed. When he was drafted, the sixteen-year-old was five-foot-nine. By the time the next season started, he was six-foot-one.
Finnie spent the next year with Kamloops, then got elevated to the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2024. In 2025, he made the Red Wings out of training camp. He's been a staple of the Red Wings' lineup ever since. With the recent Dylan Larkin trade drama , he has been thrust into being Detroit's first-line center. So, let's review; in three years, Finnie went from potentially not being drafted, to forcing his way onto an NHL team and becoming their first-line center. At age 21, Finnie has already made quite the name for himself. This year, he already has ten points in 14 games.
This shouldn't be happening. None of this should be happening. A seventh-round draft pick in the NHL is like a gas station scratcher, you're lucky if anything good happens. Finnie's career path to this moment would be staggering if he was a first-round pick. How did Finnie do it? Well, put simply, he's nails. Late-round picks in the NHL have a choice to make when they're drafted. The first path is to settle, pat themselves on the back for getting a look, and enjoy a career in the minors. Others, like Finnie, put in the work, climb the mountain, and defy the odds. It's fitting he was in the gym the moment he was drafted.
Oct 24, 2026; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Detroit Red Wings center Emmitt Finnie (58) skates with the puck against the Calgary Flames during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Underdog stories are nice and all. Finnie has the intangibles that show he has the right mentality. So, what are his tangibles? The short answer: speed.
Well, the reason I decided to write this article is because of a graphic that flashed for just a few seconds on an ESPN broadcast. The three players with the most 20+ MPH bursts (meaning, instances where a player skated 20+ MPH) are as follows: Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Emmitt Finnie. Regardless of the stat, if a player is in the same company as MacKinnon and McDavid, you're doing something right. Finnie is also in the 94th percentile for top speed (23.12 MPH) and overall distance skated (3.83 miles).
When a player has speed, everything else is just gravy. Long-time Red Wings fans (and Avs fans) will remember Darren Helm. He could absolutely fly down the ice, which made it so he could always be in the right spots. When you can straight-up outskate your opponents, there's plenty of open ice available. The problem with Helm, as well as a lot of other speed demons, is that they can't finish. It's an inside joke for Wings fans that Helm would always get on a breakaway, and never finish. It was basically routine. I don't mean to demean Helmer, he was a fantastic player in his own right, but he was missing that X-factor.
Finnie, on the other hand, has shown promise for his goal-scoring abilities. He already has six goals this year (as of November 2nd). Last season, he had 13 in 82 games. He's already half way to his goal total from his rookie year, and we're only 17% of the way through this year. Rookie seasons always have their ups and downs, so this season will be the true test. Regardless, the eye test has shown his improvement. Finnie's name is getting called more, he's active in the offensive end, and he's driving his line. In case you've forgotten, that's the first line.
Whatever the case, he is young and fast. He's shown he is capable of sheer dominance. Once the legs are under a player, the rest can be developed over time. Finnie's speed raises his basement, his ceiling is yet to be seen.
Oct 22, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Detroit Red Wings forward Emmitt Finnie (58) scores on Vancouver Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen (32) in the third period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Finnie is in a difficult spot as a player. In just his second season as an NHLer, the captain of his team has demanded a trade in the messiest way possible. Larkin's divorce with the Red Wings has created a lot of noise for the organization, but in terms of what happens on the ice, his shoes have to be filled. Finnie is the one, at the moment, filling them. I know I sound like a broken record, but he was a seventh-round draft pick who is now filling the shoes of an Original Six team's former captain.
On the outside, as I sit here writing on my laptop and as you read this, that seems terrifying. Those are big shoes to fill in front of a ravenous, playoff-starved fanbase. However, I have a feeling that a guy like Finnie loves it. He's been defying odds since 2023. The numbers, analytics and historical precedents say that Finnie shouldn't be here, but he is. Frankly, he wouldn't be here is he wasn't built for the pressure. Pressure makes diamonds, and that might just be what Detroit has found with the 201st overall pick in the 2023 draft.
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