Hicketts may be a Krug-like prospect for Red Wings

Defensemen Joe Hicketts continues to impress Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill.

Hicketts went undrafted before signing a three-year, entry-level contract with the Wings in 2014, after he attended their development camp and NHL prospects tournament in Traverse City.

Hicketts, who turned 19 on May 4, is coming off of a breakthrough season with the Victoria Royals in the Western Hockey League. He scored 12 goals and 52 assists for 64 points in 62 games, with 48 penalty minutes. He added five assists in 10 playoff games.

Hicketts, who shoots left-handed, is 5-feet-8 and 175 pounds.

"To me, Joe's a hockey player," Blashill said. "He does a ton of things well. His instincts are great, both offensively and defensively. He's not the fastest, he's not the biggest, but his impact on the game always seems to be real big."

Hicketts helped Canada win gold at the IIHF world junior championship in January.

"He was great, I thought, for the Canadian world junior team," Blashill said. "He was a big reason why they won the gold. And I'm real excited to have Joe.

"Like every player, he needs to get better at certain things. As his skating improves, as his shot becomes more of a weapon, those are two areas that are going to need to improve for him to become an NHL player. But I think he has the hockey sense and the confidence to be real successful. He'll go back for another year of junior, but I suspect, at the end of the year, he'll make an impact with Grand Rapids after his junior season is over."

When Blashill coached the Indiana Ice to a U.S. Hockey League championship in 2008-09, he put a lot of faith in Torey Krug (5-9, 180), who went on to be a captain at Michigan State and now plays for the Boston Bruins in the NHL.

Like Krug, Blashill said Hicketts has the confidence to make up for any lack of physical attributes.

"Torey, at the end of the night, regardless of his size, always made more positive plays than negative plays," Blashill said. "And he continues to do that as he's moved into the NHL. And that's what I think Joe does."

Note: The Red Wings today hired Mike Kadar as their strength and conditioning coach. He held the same role with the Pittsburgh Penguins since 2007-08.

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple.