Detroit Red Wings: Jared McIsaac’s rough road to the NHL getting brighter

As the Detroit Red Wings continue on with their offseason, the team will start working to iron out which players will be working towards a shot at the NHL level. Prospect Jared McIsaac has had his fair share of adversity since being drafted, but things are looking up.

The Detroit Red Wings used the 36th overall selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft to select the Nova Scotia-born defenseman. McIsaac, still just 21 years old, has been working his way to get into the organization.

In 2020-21, he played his first-ever games for the Grand Rapids Griffins, logging ten games where he had just two points. But it was a step in the right direction. Injuries have been a real issue for McIsaac over the years.

McIsaac has had some trouble with shoulder injuries. A couple of surgeries and rehab have left him in a more fragile spot. But even through the adversity of injuries, McIsaac is still grinding his way to get to the NHL and don the winged wheel uniform.

Detroit Red Wings prospect Jared McIsaac’s road to the NHL is looking brighter.

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McIsaac only logged eleven total games after he was sent over to Finland to play in Liiga for HPK, but an injury put an end to that as quickly as he got there. He logged one game for HPK before the injury wiped that out.

As the pandemic carried on and some normalcy was restored, McIsaac was able to poke his way into Grand Rapids, as was mentioned above.

This was a huge step for him. While the on-ice product may not have been overly exciting, he was able to get his feet wet there in 2020-21.

While looking to make strides in his development, he will be looking to emerge as a developing prospect with the Griffins and possibly get his call when the 2021-22 season gets underway. That is a ways away, but McIsaac’s chances are looking better, and things are looking up.

For a guy whose luck has been down and has struggled through adversity, he has done a good job working through it and battling. It has certainly not been an easy route for the 36th overall selection in 2018; he’s still not to the NHL yet, but he’s making strides, and things are looking up.

If he is able to pan out and get things going, he could very well be another great defender who is tacked onto the already exciting roster of defensemen the team has. With plenty of names to be excited about, McIsaac is simply looking to work his way in and prove he can be the player the team drafted him to be.

It is good to see things looking up for McIsaac; hopefully, in 2021-22, he can turn some heads with the Griffins and get his call up to the NHL and strut his stuff for the Red Wings.