TRAVERSE CITY - Keith Petruzzelli has been getting asked the same thing for years.

"Do you play basketball?"

It's an obvious question given Petruzzelli is 18 years old, stands almost 6-foot-6 and is a stereotypical string bean at 185 pounds. He looks like a basketball player.

He isn't, of course, after being selected by the Detroit Red Wings in last month's NHL draft. But has basketball ever been a part of his past?

"No," Petruzzelli said with a laugh last week during the Red Wings development camp at Centre Ice Arena. "I could never put the basketball in."

But the Massachusetts native has shown a real knack for keeping pucks out of the net and that led the Red Wings to select him in the third round (88th overall) of this year's NHL draft.

Petruzzelli, who spent last season with the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks, was the second-best North American goalie available in the draft according to NHL Central Scouting, which had him ranked No. 1 at midseason.

Many observers praised the pick given where the Red Wings got Petruzzelli, who was the 33rd best player in the draft according to Red Line Report.

The scouting service said Petruzzelli's "overall package of massive size, athleticism and fundamentals made him a consistent riser all season. Has one of the highest NHL ceilings of any goalie in this class. Huge and cat-quick, giving shooters very little to look at.

"Has really improved his technique work and gotten a lot quieter in net. Finally started allowing his enormous size and physical gifts to take over and do the work, instead of scrambling and over-committing as he used to. Plays a lot on his knees, spreading out long legs to take away the bottom half, but is tall enough to still cover the top corners.

"Has a very sharp glove hand. Alert and aware of what's going on around his crease. Doesn't give up many goals on the first shot and recovers well, but needs to improve rebound control. Could do a better job using his height to pick up shots through traffic. Developmental trajectory headed straight up."

With all that said, it's Petruzzelli's size that really sticks out on the ice and it's among the reasons he played well enough to win the 2017 Dave Peterson Award, given annually by USA Hockey to the goalie it deems to be the best that season.

Exactly how does that size help him?

"Reach further, you take up more of the net, if you can't see pucks they're more likely to hit you just because you're bigger," Petruzzelli said. "It definitely helps me a lot.

"I'm not growing anymore. I hope not. I don't know. I'm 6-5 and a little bit. Maybe another inch (of growth is coming) but probably not. I've always just been really tall. I was 6 feet tall in seventh grade. I've always been big."

But Petruzzelli doesn't rely strictly on size.

He likes to think he has good agility as well.

"I think it's both," he said. "Obviously I can rely on my size more than other guys. I think I still play athletically and I try to make that a focus of my training and my footwork and stuff like that."

With Muskegon last season, Petruzzelli compiled a 22-10-1 record, 2.40 goals-against average and .918 save percentage with two shutouts in 35 games. He wasn't as good in two playoff games, going 0-1 with a 2.61 GAA and .885 save percentage in two appearances.

At the Red Wings development camp, Petruzzelli didn't allow a goal during the lone scrimmage.

That was the first time Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill got a good look at the team's newest goalie prospect, who will play for Quinnipiac University next season.

"I heard good things from John Vanbiesbrouck and Rand Pecknold, who was with him at the world championships and is going to be his college coach," said Blashill, a former goaltender himself.

"He has a real chance to be special. I hear his mental makeup is real good, which ultimately is going to be the biggest ... divider whether guys make it for goaltending.

"I thought he looked real good. He's big, made lots of saves, he seems to cover the net well, he plays efficient and he has the athleticism to make big saves when he has to and he showed that in the shootout as well. I thought he played real good."

Red Wings goalie coach Jeff Salajko seconded Blashill's assessment.

"I think he's been as good as advertised," Salajko said.

Because he'll be playing in college this season, the development camp marked the only time this year the Red Wings and their instructors got a chance to work with Petruzzelli on the ice.

Petruzzelli tried to soak in all of the lessons the Red Wings were teaching - both on and off the ice - but was disappointed he won't be able to attend the main training camp or play in the prospects tournament since it would make him ineligible to play in college.

Still, he enjoyed his time with the other prospects at Centre Ice Arena.

"It's awesome," he said. "They talk a lot about development, I think it's awesome that they aren't really focusing on the evaluation aspect of it. They're here to make it better and there's a lot of knowledge out on the ice. It's just an incredible experience.

"It's been awesome to be able to work with these guys. They know so much. They like my size, obviously, and my athleticism. I need to still work on my footwork and my glove hand a little bit. It's been a great camp and it's been a lot of fun."