Jake Paterson’s path has taken him from Red Wings prospect to the other side of the glass.
The Kitchener Rangers hired Paterson on Thursday as their goaltender and video coach, bringing in the 32-year-old after an eight-year pro career that stretched through the AHL, ECHL and Europe. Paterson never appeared in an NHL game, but his resume now shifts into coaching with the OHL club where he once played.
Rangers general manager Mike McKenzie praised the move in a statement, saying, “Jake will be a great addition to our organization and fits the mold of our last two goalie coaches who ended up being very successful and moving onto professional hockey,”
“He has experience playing in the league, playing pro and is also a Rangers alumus. He understands what it takes and the highs and lows of being a goaltender at this level. We are excited to welcome back Jake to the Rangers.”
Paterson also shared his own excitement about returning to Kitchener. “I’m very excited to return to the Kitchener Rangers as the director of goaltending,” he said in a statement.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to be part of such a great organization. I’m looking forward to helping our goalies develop both on and off the ice, and can’t wait to get started.”
Before the coaching move, Paterson had already spent five years building toward this step. He got his start in coaching with former Red Wings and Dallas Stars goalie coach Jim Bedard and New York Islanders goalie coach Piero Greco. A native of Mississauga, Ontario, he also launched Paterson Goaltending, where he handled on-ice instruction, game review, video coaching, preparation and performance coaching in Ontario.
His most recent work came over the last two years, when he served as goaltending coach with the Elmira Sugar Kings and the Listowel Cyclones of the Greater Ontario Hockey League.
Paterson’s playing career had some strong stops along the way. Drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the third round of the 2012 NHL Draft, he was once described by Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood as a “mixture of (two-time Stanley Cup champion) Jonathan Quick and (13-year NHL veteran) Cory Schneider.”
Osgood, who is a part owner of the Saginaw Spirit, watched Paterson go 82-65-13 in four years with Saginaw before he was traded to the Kitchener Rangers.
Paterson then spent three years with Detroit’s ECHL affiliate in Toledo while Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek were the Red Wings’ starters. In 2017, after going 34-13-1 in Toledo, he was loaned to ECHL teams in Norfolk, Quad City, Allen (Texas) and Brampton before ending his playing career in Slovakia.
In Other News...
Red Wings Depth Plan Suddenly Puts Evgenii Dadonov In Focus
Evgenii Dadonov has emerged as one of the more interesting names in the Wings depth picture, with reports tying him to KHL interest from Traktor Chelyabinsk, Shanghai and Ak Bars Kazan. For now, though, the veteran winger is said to want to stay in North America, which keeps Detroits situation relatively straightforward even as overseas clubs continue to circle.
The KHL has been busy reshuffling rights around other familiar names, including goaltender Daniil Tarasov, whose return to that league now looks more complicated after his rights were moved to SKA St. Petersburg. Elsewhere, Canadiens prospects Vinzenz Rohrer and Alexander Gordin are on the move in Europe too, but for the Red Wings the immediate focus remains whether Dadonov stays put and how much of a factor he can be in the clubs depth plans. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Search Could Signal A Very Different Front Office
The Red Wings are moving into the interview phase for a new director of hockey operations, and the search already hints at a front office that could look quite different from the one that just closed the book on the Steve Yzerman era last month. Detroit is aiming to deepen the role of analytics in hockey operations, which makes this more than a routine replacement search and gives the next hire real influence over how the organization is shaped.
One name that has surfaced is Jeff Greenberg, who is currently with the Tigers, though he is not being presented as a clear favorite. What makes the process especially interesting is that Detroit is also considering whether to split the job into two posts, potentially adding both a president of hockey operations and a general manager, a structure that would signal a more layered decision-making setup than the club has used before. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Hold A Rebuild Advantage Few Teams Can Match
The Red Wings enter the next stretch of their rebuild with a kind of flexibility that can be hard to find this time of year. Detroit has about $19.5 million in salary cap space, and that room gives the front office options beyond just adding players. It also creates a chance to shape the roster in a more deliberate way as the team looks to keep building its asset base.
What makes that flexibility so interesting is how it can be used as a trade tool, not just a spending one. Detroit could take on an unfavorable contract from another club in exchange for assets, or retain salary in deals that bring back draft picks, giving the organization more ammunition for the next few seasons. The cap picture could become even more fluid if captain Dylan Larkin is moved, leaving the Wings with a rebuilding advantage that plenty of teams would love to have. [Read more 🡒]