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Yappin', scrappin' Callahan breaks the mold
By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / June 29, 2009It's been 11 years since the Detroit Red Wings drafted a kid with 188 penalty minutes, but they couldn't pass on Mitchell Callahan.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound right-winger, drafted in the sixth round (180th overall) on Saturday, is an agitator/scrapper who tied for second in the Western Hockey League in fighting majors as a rookie with the Kelowna Rockets.
The last guy the Red Wings drafted in that sin-bin stratosphere was winger Adam Deleeuw, who had 224 penalty minutes in 1997-98.
"He's a high-energy, high-impact player," said Jim Nill, the Red Wings' assistant general manager. "He finishes all of his checks, he's fearless and he'll take on anybody. You hope he's going to be one of those guys who gets in on the forecheck and who causes havoc on defensemen."
Most people in the hockey world had no idea who Callahan was last summer. That was before the Whittier, Calif., native walked on at Kelowna's training camp and literally fought his way onto the roster. Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton initially planned to send him back to a midget team in Los Angeles.
From there, Callahan had 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 70 games, playing mostly on the Rockets' third and fourth lines. He also provided energy in Kelowna's run to a WHL championship and the Memorial Cup final and didn't miss a beat when moved into an occasional scoring-line role.
Callahan is the kind of guy who stirs up trouble all over the ice and isn't afraid to back it up. He'll go toe-to-toe with anybody.
"Daniel Carcillo in Philly is the kind of guy this guy is," Hamilton said. "He's after you all the time, under everybody's skin, he's yappin' at you and he's doing all the things that bother everybody. He's an agitator."
Although Callahan wasn't ranked by Central Scouting, the Red Wings didn't go off the board to select him. Hamilton said he fielded calls from plenty of NHL teams who pegged Callahan as a fourth- or fifth-rounder.
The Red Wings occasionally draft players of Callahan's ilk, but haven't had very much luck. Darren McCarty is the last success story, coming in 1992. But the likes of Deleeuw, Ryan Barnes, Jimmie Svensson, Craig Stahl, Andreas Jamtin and Tomek Valtonen were never able to make the cut.
That might be because scrappers who aren't pylons are a rarity.
"It's hard to find those guys," Nill said. "They usually go in the first two rounds."
The question marks on Callahan are whether he has the size to survive with his style and the hands to be more than a minor-leaguer. Hamilton addressed those, saying Callahan is a "thick kid" who should fill out to 190 pounds and that Callahan could enjoy a spike in production in 2009-10.
For what it's worth, Carcillo was a 30-goal scorer the year after he was drafted.
"The biggest thing with Mitchell is, I think he's underestimated with his skill level," Hamilton said. "He's going to play on one of our top two lines next year and I think the Red Wings made a good pick with this guy."
This is part of a series of features on the Red Wings' 2009 draft choices. Check back all week for more on the other prospects selected.
» June 27: Triple threat: Ferraro, Tatar and Nestrasil
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The next wave
RWC's top 10 prospects (2009-10 preliminary)
| 01 | F | Tomas Tatar » | Grand Rapids (AHL) |
| 02 | D | Jakub Kindl » | Grand Rapids (AHL) |
| 03 | D | Brendan Smith » | Wisconsin (NCAA) |
| 04 | G | Thomas McCollum » | Grand Rapids (AHL) |
| 05 | F | Gustav Nyquist » | Maine (NCAA) |
| 06 | F | Landon Ferraro » | Red Deer (WHL) |
| 07 | F | Jan Mursak » | Grand Rapids (AHL) |
| 08 | F | Cory Emmerton » | Grand Rapids (AHL) |
| 09 | F | Joakim Andersson » | Frolunda (SEL) |
| 10 | F | Mattias Ritola » | Grand Rapids (AHL) |