Whether it was at the 2025 NHL Prospect Games in Frisco, Texas, the start of the Red Wings’ Training Camp in Traverse City, Mich., or their eight-game NHL preseason slate, Finnie worked hard to soak in as much as he could from his more experienced teammates and members of the organization’s player development as well as coaching staffs.
But Finnie didn’t blend in during that early-fall stretch leading up to the League-wide 5 p.m. ET deadline on Oct. 6, when clubs had to submit their first active rosters of the campaign — the former seventh-round pick (No. 201 overall) in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft proved he belonged.
Detroit head coach Todd McLellan acknowledged that Finnie’s impact so far this season has obviously been greater than he expected it to be.
“Our thoughts were fairly realistic,” McLellan said after Saturday night’s 6-4 win over the St. Louis Blues at Little Caesars Arena. “We were going to play him, let’s see what ends up happening. We obviously believed in him. We certainly did, but he continues to just push the envelope. We can talk about his points, goals and all that stuff. The blocked shots [in Saturday’s game], the checking skills and abilities that he plays with – there’s nothing better that a player can have than to be trusted by the coaches and teammates. He has that right now.”
Also going into Sunday’s NHL slate, Finnie was averaging 16:15 of ice time, trailing only Beckett Sennecke of the Anaheim Ducks (17:23) for the most among all rookie forwards. What’s more, his 25 hits were the third-most among all NHL first-year skaters, trailing only Chicago Blackhawks forward Colton Dach (37) and fellow Red Wings rookie Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (28).