Story by
Red Wings Add Three Developmental Pieces Including Former Standout Defenseman
- Story by
- Red Wings Add Three Developmental Pieces Including Former Standout Defenseman
On Wednesday, the Detroit Red Wings quietly added three players, rounding out the bottom of their organizational depth chart with a trio of signings that span the spectrum from legitimate NHL depth piece to AHL development project.
Defenceman Jacob Bryson , winger Cameron Butler and forward Wilmer Skoog all inked deals with Detroit , each arriving at a different stage of their professional careers and each likely serving a very different role within the organization.
Advertisement
Bryson, the 28-year-old London, Ontario native was originally selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the fourth round of the 2017 NHL Draft and has carved out a professional career through intelligence, skating ability and a puck-moving game that belies his draft positioning.
Bryson is not a player who will anchor a top pairing or quarterback a power play unit, but he is a reliable, quick-transitioning defenceman who fits cleanly at the bottom of an NHL lineup and has consistently posted respectable plus/minus numbers even while skating on some of the worst Sabres teams of the rebuild era.
He has shown he can log roughly ten points in a given season and keep the puck moving efficiently out of his own end, making him a credible option for Detroit as a seventh defenceman who can step in when injuries strike without the team missing a beat. His time with the Jets gave him a taste of a winning environment, and he brings that familiarity with a contending culture to a Red Wings team looking to climb back into the playoff picture.
Advertisement
Butler represents a longer-term developmental bet. The 24-year-old undrafted winger out of Ottawa has spent his entire professional career in the minor leagues, bouncing between the AHL and ECHL without yet finding a consistent foothold at the higher level.
Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news , game-day coverage, and player features .
His most productive stretch came this past season in the ECHL, where he posted 20 points in 30 games and showed flashes of the offensive game that could make him a factor higher up the organizational ladder. The AHL numbers told a more modest story, with Butler recording just one point in 16 games with the Iowa Wild, leaving plenty of questions about what kind of player he is when facing that level of competition on a nightly basis.
The move to Grand Rapids puts him in one of the premier development environments in the entire American Hockey League, and the Griffins' track record of player development gives Butler as good a chance as any depth signing of this kind to find his game and push for more opportunity.
Advertisement
Skoog is perhaps the most intriguing of the three as the 26-year-old Swedish forward spent the bulk of this past season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers, where he was one of the team's more consistent offensive contributors, finishing with 37 points in 61 games for a club that was among the better organizations at that level.
What may have caught Detroit 's attention, however, was the brief window Skoog got with the Florida Panthers , appearing in three NHL games and recording two assists, a modest sample but one that came on one of the league's elite franchises and suggests that Red Wings management may have identified him as a potential diamond in the rough.
A player who can put up 37 points in the AHL and chip in offensively when called upon at the NHL level is exactly the kind of depth forward capable of emerging as an organizational surprise, and Grand Rapids gives him a platform to do just that.
Advertisement
Taken together, the three signings reflect the quiet but important work of building out an organization from top to bottom. Bryson gives Detroit a credible NHL depth option on the back end. Butler gives the Griffins a hungry, motivated winger with something to prove. And Skoog gives the organization a legitimate AHL contributor with a real argument that he belongs at the next level.
None of the three will headline a roster move this summer, but the best organizations in hockey know that the margins at the bottom of the depth chart matter, and Detroit appears to be paying attention to those details heading into what could be a critical season for the franchise.
Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites!
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free . Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here . And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
