Emmitt Finnie

Last Season

Thirteen goals and 17 assists in all 82 games — 30 points, minus-10, at 15:30 a night with six penalty minutes. His first NHL season, at 20.

The Finesse Game

The shot chart is the best on the club. Fifty-six per cent of his unblocked attempts came from inside twenty feet, median 18, with only eight per cent from beyond forty — better ice than Raymond, DeBrincat or Larkin found.

Twelve goals came from it, which is a fair rookie return and understates how well he was positioned. Seventeen assists says the passing is real too.

The Physical Game

Six foot one, 195, and he goes to the net without being heavy. Six penalty minutes in 82 games is a startlingly clean season for a player who spends that much time in the paint.

The strength will need to come. He is moved off pucks by grown defencemen.

The Intangibles

Forty-nine point two per cent of the expected goals, 46th percentile — essentially the club average, from a twenty-year-old playing on the top line for a full season.

Six points in his last ten. He was the two hundred and first pick in 2023, which is the seventh round, and he played 82 NHL games at 20 while first-rounders on this same roster played sixty.

That is the most encouraging page in the Detroit section, and the shot chart is the reason to believe it.