Not every Red Wings prospect is trying to live out a family reunion on skates.
Kienan Draper is aiming to center Detroit the way his dad, Kris, once did for four Stanley Cup-winning teams. Sutter Muzzatti took a different route. He gave goaltending a shot, followed the path his father Jason had carved, and then quickly realized that wasn’t going to be his lane.
“I tried,” Muzzatti said of netminding. “One game. I didn’t like it too much, so my dad didn’t force me into it.
“So grateful for that.”
That one-game experiment was enough. Jason Muzzatti, a Michigan State goalie who went in the first round to the Calgary Flames in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, played 62 NHL games as a goaltender. He still works around the position now as the goaltending development coach for the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.
Sutter, though, found his home somewhere else entirely - right in front of the crease instead of inside it.
At 6-foot-6 and 241 pounds, the 23-year-old is built to make life miserable around the net, and that’s become a real part of his game. He’s not pretending to be a finesse player. He knows exactly what he is.
“I think it’s something that I’ve figured out I can do and have an impact with,” Muzzatti said. “So it’s definitely a big part of my game.”
Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson is already seeing how that size and style can translate at the AHL level. Watson likes the package: the reach, the board work, the special teams value, the ability to handle tough assignments.
“He moves well for his size,” Watson said. “He’s going to learn to protect pucks and make plays out of it, learn to hang on to pucks and spend some time offensively.
“But what I’ve seen already is he can play on the power play, he can be on the penalty kill, he can play against the other team’s top line.
“He’s very responsible, and he’s going to be very trustworthy already. So the size certainly helps. We’ve got to make sure that he uses it the right way.”
Muzzatti, who played college hockey at RPI and Notre Dame, says that physical role didn’t come naturally right away. As he grew into his body, the job description started to make sense, and he leaned into it.
“I think it was something that kind of had to get used to, and I kind of enjoyed being able to play the body and protect the puck for sure,” Muzzatti said. “Yeah, it’s definitely something I try to bring every night. Just finishing my hits, playing clean but playing hard.”
The Red Wings’ path to getting him was a little roundabout. Detroit made an offseason trade with the Nashville Predators for Muzzatti’s NHL rights, then signed him to an entry-level contract. The move caught him off guard, but he didn’t need much time to appreciate where it landed him.
“Definitely caught me by surprise,” Muzzatti said. “Nashville was a great organization. They treated me very well, but I’m definitely very happy to be a Red Wing.”
Now the focus shifts to making an impression in his first camp with the winged wheel. Muzzatti knows exactly what he needs to show: the physical edge, the puck skills, the versatility, all of it.
“Definitely just show them my game, show them why they traded for me, why they brought me here,” Muzzatti said. “Just to play that physical game, make plays, and just show them what I can do.
“I want to try and make a name for myself, show them what I can do. So it starts with this camp and then training camp.”
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The contract work appears to be part of that next step, with extensions for Simon Edvinsson and Alex DeBrincat sitting near the top of the agenda. Ilitch also said Yzerman will stay with the organization as long as he wants, while expressing confidence that Detroit can find a new general manager who fits the direction he wants the franchise to take. [Read more 🡒]