Ben Marshall (Credit: Robert J. Meyer)
Ben Marshall looks ready for college hockey.
The 18-year-old defenseman recently wrapped up a successful season with the Omaha Lancers, making the United States Hockey League’s all-rookie team after asserting himself as one of the top offensive blueliners in the junior circuit.
Marshall, who will take his game to the NCAA level next season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, posted 11 goals and 22 assists for 33 points in 56 games, sixth among all defenders.
“He thinks the game very well with the puck and is extremely effective on the power play,” said Red Wings scout David Kolb. “Very good hands and instincts.”
The Red Wings drafted the 5-foot-9 170-pounder in the seventh round (201st overall) out of Mahtomedia High School in Minnesota, where he was a scoring sensation but didn’t need to take much care in the defensive zone.
In the USHL, he’s become less one-dimensional and finished tied for 10th in the league with a plus-20 rating.
“His size will always be an issue but I have more confidence in his ability to play a complete game after seeing the strides he made this season,” Kolb said. “His defensive game came a long way.”
As Kolb put it, Marshall will “never be mistaken for a defensive defensemen,” and that’s OK — the Red Wings drafted him for his dynamic offensive upside in the hopes he might turn into another John-Michael Liles.
There are openings on Minnesota’s blue line next season, so Marshall could get a chance for ice time right away with the Golden Gophers.
“I feel confident that Ben has the skill, creativity, swagger and drive to have a shot at playing pro hockey down the road despite his size, but like most kids his age he needs to add a lot of strength,” Kolb said. “Ben’s progress in the weight room over the next four years will likely go a long way in determining how far he is able to go as a hockey player.”
NOTES: Left-winger Dick Axelsson is making plenty of headlines in Sweden, mostly hemming and hawing over where he’ll play next season. If RWC’s betting, it won’t be in Detroit — his act just doesn’t seem like it would fly with Mike Babcock … The Red Wings don’t have any prospects still active. Several have chances at jobs at the IIHF world championship and others might get the call if injuries strike during the Red Wings’ playoff run … This is the last RWC Report of the 2010-11 season, but check back soon for our end-of-season ranking and draft coverage in June.
Following is this week’s statistical report.
SKATERS: REGULAR-SEASON REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | P | PIM | +/- | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nestrasil, Andrej | P.E.I. | QMJHL | 58 | 19 | 51 | 70 | 40 | +13 | 160 |
| Fournier, Gleason | Rimouski | QMJHL | 57 | 12 | 32 | 44 | 58 | -4 | 106 |
| Aubry, Louis-Marc | Montreal | QMJHL | 35 | 13 | 12 | 25 | 26 | +8 | 98 |
| Parkes, Trevor | Montreal | QMJHL | 60 | 33 | 29 | 62 | 32 | +26 | 210 |
| Ferraro, Landon | Everett | WHL | 41 | 10 | 17 | 27 | 51 | -1 | – |
| Callahan, Mitchell | Kelowna | WHL | 62 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 87 | +4 | – |
| Macek, Brooks | Tri-City | WHL | 63 | 13 | 28 | 41 | 36 | -13 | – |
| Stolyarov, Gennady | Dynamo Msk | KHL | 20 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 23 | -8 | 32 |
| Pulkkinen, Teemu | Jokerit | FIN | 55 | 18 | 36 | 54 | 32 | +23 | – |
| Almqvist, Adam | HV-71 | SEL | 52 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 32 | +20 | 62 |
| Jarnkrok, Calle | Brynas | SEL | 49 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 4 | -3 | 77 |
| Axelsson, Dick | Farjestad | SEL | 47 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 126 | +4 | 90 |
| Axelsson, Anton | Timra | SEL | 28 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 4 | -2 | 25 |
| Samuelsson, Jesper | Vita Hasten | SWE-3 | 31 | 10 | 23 | 33 | 41 | +25 | 99 |
| Smith, Brendan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 63 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 124 | +7 | 114 |
| Mursak, Jan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 54 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 35 | +17 | 129 |
| Tatar, Tomas | Grand Rapids | AHL | 70 | 24 | 33 | 57 | 45 | +14 | 163 |
| Pare, Francis | Grand Rapids | AHL | 80 | 24 | 30 | 54 | 49 | -18 | 225 |
| Ehrhardt, Travis | Grand Rapids | AHL | 52 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 36 | 0 | 56 |
| Pyett, Logan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 74 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 38 | -8 | 144 |
| Andersson, Joakim | Grand Rapids | AHL | 79 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 30 | 0 | 107 |
| Emmerton, Cory | Grand Rapids | AHL | 65 | 12 | 26 | 38 | 26 | -1 | 127 |
| Coetzee, Willie | Grand Rapids | AHL | 25 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 8 | -7 | 42 |
| Kolosov, Sergei | Grand Rapids | AHL | 56 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 48 | -19 | 51 |
| Lashoff, Brian | Grand Rapids | AHL | 37 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 25 | -5 | 27 |
| Owens, Jordan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 60 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 101 | -12 | 95 |
| Filppula, Ilari | Grand Rapids | AHL | 76 | 20 | 44 | 64 | 24 | 0 | 133 |
| Raedeke, Brent | Grand Rapids | AHL | 67 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 17 | -3 | 74 |
| Piche, Sebastien | Grand Rapids | AHL | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 13 | -4 | 15 |
| Nyquist, Gustav | Grand Rapids | AHL | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | +1 | 14 |
| Piche, Sebastien | Toledo | ECHL | 48 | 12 | 21 | 33 | 52 | -4 | 169 |
| Coetzee, Willie | Toledo | ECHL | 36 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 4 | -2 | 129 |
| Rufenach, Bryan | Toledo | ECHL | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | +8 | 11 |
| Lashoff, Brian | Toledo | ECHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 10 |
| Nyquist, Gustav | Maine | NCAA | 36 | 18 | 33 | 51 | 20 | 0 | 140 |
| Nicastro, Max | Boston U. | NCAA | 38 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 59 | -9 | 44 |
| Oslund, Nick | St. Cloud St. | NCAA | 30 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | -2 | 50 |
| Jensen, Nick | St. Cloud St. | NCAA | 38 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 18 | -5 | 58 |
| Sheahan, Riley | Notre Dame | NCAA | 40 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 28 | -6 | 103 |
| Rufenach, Bryan | Clarkson | NCAA | 33 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 14 | -1 | 94 |
| Cayer, Julien | Clarkson | NCAA | 25 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 22 | +3 | 28 |
| Marshall, Ben | Omaha | USHL | 56 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 34 | +20 | 142 |
SKATERS: PLAYOFF REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | P | PIM | +/- | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axelsson, Dick | Farjestad | SEL | 14 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 24 | +2 | 30 |
| Jarnkrok, Calle | Brynas | SEL | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 7 |
| Almqvist, Adam | HV-71 | SEL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 3 |
| Nestrasil, Andrej | P.E.I. | QMJHL | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | +3 | 18 |
| Fournier, Gleason | Rimouski | QMJHL | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | -1 | 10 |
| Aubry, Louis-Marc | Montreal | QMJHL | 10 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | -3 | 35 |
| Parkes, Trevor | Montreal | QMJHL | 10 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 12 | +1 | 50 |
| Callahan, Mitchell | Kelowna | WHL | 10 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 17 | +2 | – |
| Ferraro, Landon | Everett | WHL | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 13 | -2 | – |
| Pulkkinen, Teemu | Jokerit | FIN | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Marshall, Ben | Omaha | USHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -3 | 10 |
GOALIES: REGULAR-SEASON REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | W | L | T | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mrazek, Petr | Ottawa | OHL | 52 | 33 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 2.84 | .920 |
| Larsson, Daniel | HV-71 | SEL | 46 | – | – | – | 2 | 2.51 | .917 |
| McCollum, Thomas | Grand Rapids | AHL | 22 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3.33 | .879 |
| Pearce, Jordan | Toledo | ECHL | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4.13 | .883 |
| Pearce, Jordan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 44 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 2.89 | .908 |
| McCollum, Thomas | Toledo | ECHL | 23 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 2.76 | .909 |
GOALIES: PLAYOFF REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | W | L | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larsson, Daniel | HV-71 | SEL | 2 | – | – | 0 | 2.58 | .894 |
| Mrazek, Petr | Ottawa | OHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.96 | .852 |
Thank you for so many great RWC reports in the 2010-2011 season. You’re the best, Matthew Wuest.
And Go Ben Marshall! – You’ll do great in college.
Tks RWC for the weekly prospect story and stats….enjoy very much….
best site on the web for a red wings fan. you guys are great, keep the prospects coming!