NHL Prospect Watch: Detroit Red Wings
Ahead of the 2024-25 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for each of the NHL’s 32 teams. Throughout the series, we’ll highlight WHLers who have been signed to an NHL contract, were recently drafted, or are included in the NHL’s definition of a rookie.
Today, we’ll see where up-and-coming WHLers fit into the Yzerplan in Detroit.
Gage Alexander
The newest member of the Detroit Red Wings prospect pool, goaltender Gage Alexander was acquired in a trade with Anaheim on July 3. The 22-year-old spent his second professional season with the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers, where he posted a 5-8-1-1 record with a 3.76 goals-against average, a .887 save percentage and one shutout in 19 outings. Alexander earned his first shutout as an Oiler on March 10 with a 27-save clean sheet against the Allen Americans in a 6-0 victory. Originally selected by Anaheim 148th overall in the fifth round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, the 6-foot-6, 205-pound netminder split the 2022-23 season between the AHL and ECHL. Alexander played parts of five WHL seasons with the Kootenay/Winnipeg ICE and Swift Current Broncos, going 33-16-6 in regular season play with a 2.81 goals-against average, a .902 save percentage and three shutouts.
Gage Alexander earned his first shut out as a Tulsa Oiler today!
LET’S. GO.
pic.twitter.com/FoiIJyjVTL
— Tulsa Oilers (@tulsa_oilers) March 10, 2024
Ondrej Becher
Prince George’s skilled playmaker Ondrej Becher heard his name called 80th overall in the third round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft after a sensational sophomore season in the WHL. The 19-year-old potted 32 goals (including a team-leading four shorthanded markers) and 64 assists for 96 points and a +38 rating in 58 regular-season matches. He registered three or more points on 13 occasions, highlighted by a four-goal, one-assist outburst against Victoria on March 16. The 6-foot-1, 187-pound forward hit a new level in the postseason, tying for the team lead with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) and finishing second in helpers in 15 games. Becher scored a goal and had two assists- including a primary assist on the game-winning goal- against Portland to stave off elimination and force a Game 6 in the Western Conference Championship. Internationally, Becher earned a bronze medal at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship with Team Czechia, netting a hat trick and two assists in the Bronze Medal match against Finland.
ONDREJ BECHER – HIGHLIGHT REEL
Ondrej Czechs all the boxes!@PGCougars | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/Hc4Xx1LLkN
— The WHL (@TheWHL) June 28, 2024
Sebastian Cossa
Sophomore slump? 2022 WHL Champion and World Juniors gold medalist Sebastian Cossa hasn’t heard of it. The netminder set franchise records for the Grand Rapids Griffins in his second pro season and first prolonged stretch in the American Hockey League. The former Edmonton Oil Kings star went 22-9-9 with a 2.41 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage and two shutouts in 40 appearances. Cossa set a franchise record with a 19-game point streak from January 19-April 5 while tying the mark for longest home point streak (13 games) and longest road point streak (10 games). The 21-year-old ranked third among rookies in goals-against average (sixth among all qualified netminders) and tied for fifth in rookie save percentage. In the postseason, the Fort McMurray, Alta. product went 5-4 with a 2.72 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage, becoming the first Griffins rookie to win a playoff series in over a decade. The towering 6-foot-6, 209-pound goalie compiled a 71-16-7 record over three WHL seasons with the Edmonton Oil Kings with a 2.12 goals-against average, a .921 save percentage, 14 shutouts, and a dominant Ed Chynoweth Cup win in his final season. Cossa became one of only five netminders to be drafted in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft in the past decade when Detroit chose him with the 15th overall pick in 2021.
Can't stop watching this AMAZING save by the one and only Sebastian Cossa
#GoGRG pic.twitter.com/4bP7U8Y3Gm
— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) February 22, 2024
Nate Danielson
The former Brandon Wheat Kings Captain was dealt to the Portland Winterhawks in a splashy WHL Trade Deadline move that saw immediate dividends for the powerhouse Hawks. Danielson would finish the season with 24 goals, 43 assists, 67 points and a +26 rating in 54 matches (12 of those goals and 29 assists came in 28 games with Portland). The 6-foot-2, 188-pound forward was dominant in his second-ever trip to the WHL Playoffs, registering a team-leading 24 points (seven goals, 17 assists) in 18 games en route to a trip to the WHL Championship Series. Danielson, a Red Deer, Alta. product, played a pivotal role in defeating the Prince George Cougars after putting up a goal and nine assists in three games in the Western Conference showdown. The 19-year-old made his professional debut with Grand Rapids in the Calder Cup Playoffs, where he appeared in two games. On the international stage, Danielson snagged a goal and a pair of apples in five games for Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. Detroit snapped up Danielson with the ninth overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and signed him to an entry-level contract later that summer.
BAR-DOWN-SKI!#LGRW prospect Nate Danielson adds to a @pdxwinterhawks lead!@DetroitRedWings | #WHLPlayoffs | #FeedingtheFuture pic.twitter.com/uUNyMpouTo
— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 14, 2024
Emmitt Finnie
Despite going through a rebuilding season, Blazers alternate captain Emmitt Finnie enjoyed a breakout year that saw him nearly double his points production with Kamloops. The 6-foot-1, 183-pound centreman buried 19 goals and 40 assists for 59 points in 62 matches. Finnie led the squad in points, assists and points per game after the departure of Fraser Minten while tying for second in goals. Four of his goals came on the penalty kill while another pair would stand as game-winners. The Lethbridge, Alta. product’s run included a 12-game point streak from mid-January to February that saw him claim Tempo WHL Player of the Week honours. Finnie lit the lamp 11 times and tacked on 13 assists, including a career-best four-goal, one-assist showstopper against Kelowna on February 10. Finnie was a seventh-round pick (201st overall) of the Red Wings in 2023 and earned his entry-level contract at the end of the 2023-24 season. He got a taste of AHL action with three contests with the Griffins upon the conclusion of the Blazers’ regular season.
2023/2024 Blazers Awards
Top Scorer: Emmitt Finnie pic.twitter.com/Z4MTuhTilx
— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) March 23, 2024
Cross Hanas
Left Winger Cross Hanas built up his foundation in his second season in the AHL. The Dallas, Texas product tallied eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in 58 games while tying his single-game high with two assists against the Cleveland Monsters on March 27. Hanas, who turned 22 in January, is coming off a prolific WHL career that saw him put up 58 goals and 103 assists for 161 points and a +56 rating in 196 games over four seasons with the Portland Winterhawks. Hanas wore the ‘A’ for the perennially dangerous Hawks and was named a U.S. Division First-Team All-Star in 2022. He scored nine times and dished eight assists for 17 points in 30 games in his rookie AHL season after being drafted in the second round, 55th overall, of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
Nice little Cross Hanas snipe.
2-0! #DRWPT pic.twitter.com/5ZxHhCpjPa
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 17, 2023
Loading ...