Red Wings breakout prospect Emmitt Finnie breaks down off-season plans, future goals and growing up with fellow prospect Nate Danielson in an exclusive interview with The Hockey News.
The Detroit Red Wings have several big name prospects that the fan base is aware of and are excited to see how they turn out as NHL talent. One name that many aren’t aware of is 20-year-old Emmitt Finnie, who Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson called a player to look out for this upcoming season.
The Red Wings’ 2023 seventh round pick has seen his stock continue to rise over the years as he’s continued to impress coaching staffs with his work ethic and solid offensive numbers. Last season in the WHL, Finnie posted an impressive 37 goals and 47 assists for 84 points in just 55 games.
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His production surpassed that of several notable prospects, including 2023 14th overall pick Brayden Yager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who recorded 82 points. To be outdoing the top prospect in another franchise is certainly impressive let alone Finnie also outpaced two 2025 first-round selections in Braeden Cootes, drafted 15th overall by the Vancouver Canucks with 63 points, and Lynden Lakovic, selected 27th overall by the Washington Capitals with 58 points.
Griffins coach Dan Watson noted that Finnie’s work ethic is what separates himself from other prospects and had high praise for the young winger during a recent exclusive interview with The Hockey News.
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“I think Emmitt Finnie is a guy, he’s a seventh round pick, but every time I see him, he continually gets better and better, he gets bigger, he gets stronger,” Watson explained “[Finnie] had a great Western Hockey League career, stepped in two years ago with us and played three games and wasn’t expected to play any games but did quite well during his playing time.”
The Hockey News recently got to speak with Finnie in an exclusive interview and asked him how the transition to pro hockey went last season and how he feels entering his first full season with the Griffins.
“With the Griffins, I’m hoping to have a pretty big role with them, I want to establish myself pretty early on as a key player on the team,” Finnie said ”The biggest thing I noticed was the speed and physicality of the players, coming to the AHL, you’re the youngest guy, so everyone’s just more developed, everyone’s in better positions, defensively and offensively.”
The Lethbridge native did quite well through his first taste of pro hockey last season with a goal and four assists through ten AHL games. When asked what NHLer he models his game after, Finnie noted that he likes to watch a lot of a certain LA Kings winger.
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“I would consider myself a 200 foot player, I like comparing myself to Adrian Kempe,” Finnie noted “The way he plays, he’s a big center, he’s a 200 foot player, he works really hard, he’s not afraid to go to some dirty areas, so he’s a player I like watching and kind of try to model my game after.”
Finnie and Kempe are a good comparison as they are just an inch apart in height but are nearly the same weight and play with the same style of game as a gritty, hard-nosed winger that battles for pucks and isn’t afraid to dig the puck out of dirty areas.
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It helps Finnie’s development that during the off-season, he gets to train alongside other notable prospects in the Red Wings organization like Nate Danielson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård as the four all live in the same house in Michigan during the later portion of the off-season as the prospects come back to Detroit to start early training.
Finnie noted he and Danielson have close ties as Alberta natives that played against each other as kids and have grown into good friends along the way.
“I grew up playing hockey against Nate, so I knew him from that, and my brother played with him a little bit, so it was good to have a connection with him,” Finnie clarified “We always kind of talked here and there about playing against each other when we were younger, so I guess it’s pretty cool to look back on stuff like that but he’s a good buddy of mine, he’s a great hockey player and a good guy too, so it’s easy when you have someone like him here.”
During the summer, Finnie travels to Langley, BC to visit and spend quality time with his family. He enjoys both playing and watching sports with them, especially pickleball, basketball, and golf. He mentioned that his siblings and other family members are involved mostly in basketball, so it’s a sport he ends up playing quite a bit while he’s there.
As the season approaches, Finnie is eager to get going once again and is focused on continuing his rise within the organization with a top-line left wing spot with the Red Wings on his mind.
“We’re going to see here in training camp, who separates themselves, but looking forward to having a competitive training camp and trying to work my way up in the organization’s ranks, and hopefully see myself there in the future,” Finnie said.
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