It's hard to choose just one, of course. But Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper didn't really hesitate or vacillate when asked which of the team's Day 2 draft picks might take some people by surprise.
"I would probably say the one intriguing name for me is Sam Stange," Draper told 97.1 The Ticket on Thursday. "This kid is a phenomenal athlete."
No kidding. Before he was a fourth-round pick of the Wings, Stange was a two-time Player of the Year in Wisconsin -- not in different years, but in different sports. He won the award in hockey after putting up 67 points in 31 games as a senior, then won it that spring in baseball.
He capped off his career on the diamond by hitting the go-ahead homer that lifted Eau Claire North to the state title.
"I saw one of the home runs he hit," said Draper, "and that thing was gone. He’s a phenomenal athlete, and you love drafting athletes. There were some people who said that if he chose, he could have been drafted in baseball as well. So that’s something that’s obviously pretty exciting."
Despite pressure to ditch high school hockey for juniors, Stange followed the more traditional path to college -- with a stop in-between in the USHL, where last season he put up 45 points in 49 games. Now he's beginning his freshman season at Wisconsin under head coach Tony Granato.
Granato interrupted the Badgers' practice on Wednesday to hand Stange a phone. With his helmet on and his teammates smacking their sticks on the ice in applause, Stange couldn't hear much. But he did hear Draper's voice. The rest was noise.
"I talked to Tony Granato yesterday and he just raves about the character of Sam Stange," said Draper. "Obviously we’re real excited to bring everyone into the organization, but that would be the one name. He had a real big year last year. Can really skate, can really shoot the puck.
"And I know Tony is expecting big things from him at Wisconsin, so that’s an exciting name for us in the later round."
Likewise, the Red Wings are an exciting name for Stange.
"I think it's really cool to be picked by an Original Six team, a team with the history like that," Stange told the Wisconsin State Journal. "The fans are going to be awesome there. It definitely doesn't hurt also that I'll be staying in red and white."
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