Red Wings Pick Heading to Czechia

The Detroit Red Wings thought so highly of Jared McIsaac that they made the defenseman the 36th player chosen in the 2018 NHL entry draft.

Monday, McIsaac was signing a contract to play for HC Litvinov of the Czech Extraliga without ever seeing action in an NHL game.

Signing Alert 📰

Jared McIsaac has inked a deal with HC Litvínov over in the Tipsport Extraliga 🇨🇿.

The pride of Truro, Nova Scotia, played a combined 21 games in the AHL last season between Grand Rapids and Providence, collecting 5 points (1G,4A).#LGRW #NovaScotia… pic.twitter.com/ENcEWRlcLw

— Maritime Hockey (@HockeyMaritime) August 5, 2024

“Jared is a young defender who has great potential and quite a lot of experience for his age,” Litvinov CEO Pavel Hynek said on the team’s website.

As a junior, McIsaac was named the top rookie defenseman in QMJHL in 2016-17. He won gold medals at the 2018 Hlinka-Gretzky U18 Tournament and 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship.

However, injuries, including a pair of shoulder surgeries, began to curtail McIsaac’s projections. In four pro seasons with the Red Wings organization, the 6-foot-1, 192-pound defender would play 156 AHL games for the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Last season, the Red Wings sent out McIsaac, 24, on loan twice. He went to both Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss League and Providence of the AHL. The club wasn’t tendering him a qualifying offer on July 1 and McIsaac became a UFA.

UPDATE: The #RedWings have extended qualifying offers to Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider, Jonatan Berggren and Joe Veleno.

The #RedWings did not extend a qualifying offer to Jared McIsaac.

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 30, 2024

“We have references for him from the Detroit organization,” Litvinov sports manager Tomas Vrabel said. “Jared is a defender with great potential for power plays as well.”

McIsaac is already in Czechia training with his new club for the upcoming season.

McIsaac Latest Red Wings Pick To Fizzle

McIsaac’s official departure is adding another name to the list of second- and third-round picks made by the Red Wings who’ve never made the NHL grade.

Left-winger Robert Mastrosimone (54th overall, 2019) was never tendered a contract offer. He’s now playing in the farm system of the Toronto Maple Leafs. They also let go forward Albin Grewe (66th, 2019) without making him a contract offer. He skates in the lower divisions in his native Sweden.

Detroit also wasn’t tendering a contract offer to another Swede, right-winger Theodor Niederbach (54th overall, 2020). He’s playing for MoDo in the SHL.

Second-round picks forward Jonatan Berggren (33rd, 2018) and defenseman Albert Johansson (60th, 2019) both figure to be playing for the Red Wings this season. Two other defensemen who were second-round selections – William Wallinder (32nd, 2020) and Antti Tuomisto (35th, 2019) – will be skating their second seasons with the AHL Griffins.