The Left Wing Lock

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Despite the fact that he’s been in the organization for over a year, this is Mitch Wheaton’s first training camp with the Red Wings. Last season he could only watch while he recovered from shoulder surgery. He also didn’t participate in the development camp earlier this summer while he recovered from surgery on the opposite shoulder.

“My first year after the draft I had shoulder surgery and couldn’t play at development camp or training camp,” Wheaton said. “Last year my other shoulder felt a little bit sore throughout the season and I ended up having another shoulder surgery. I missed development camp again, but I healed fast and now I am ready to get my first camp underway.”

The 6-foot-5, 215 pound defenseman played in just two of Detroit’s four NHL Prospect Tournament games finishing a plus-three with two shots on net. The Red Wings management staff opted to take a longer look at free agent tryout Joe Hicketts instead of playing Wheaton.

“Mitch hasn’t played lots of games here the last little bit,” Grand Rapids Griffins Head Coach, Jeff Blashill said. “He’s in a process where he’s further behind because of that. He’s a good player who was drafter for a reason, but he’s got to keep building his game up once he gets back to the Dub.”

When the main camp gets underway on Friday, Wheaton will get his first real taste of the NHL. The 19 year-old defenseman is slated to play on Team Lindsay along with NHLers Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson among others.

“I don’t think they have seen me up close in their camp yet,” Wheaton said. “I feel like that is why I need to come in here and play my game and give it all I can. I am working hard every day and doing whatever it takes to get to the next level.”

Despite missing 15 games due to the injuries last season, Wheaton played a top four role for Kelowna. The defensive defenseman was fourth in defensive scoring for the Rockets with 7 goals and 28 points in 57 games.

“I thought I had a really good year and our team had a very good year finishing first in the Western league,” he said. “I took a lot of strides forward in my game and I worked on a lot of things I needed to work on. I am feeling really good about next year especially now that I am completely healthy.”

Entering a contract year, Wheaton needs a breakout year to show the Red Wings he can play at the next level. Even then, the Red Wings have plenty of organizational depth on the blueline with Xavier Ouellet, Nick Jensen, Mattias Backman, Alexey Marchenko and Ryan Sproul all competing for future NHL jobs.

“No matter where you go there is always competition,” Wheaton said. “There are always guys who are as good if not better than you so you always have to improve. I don’t play a flashy game, but I pride myself on my defensive game and I like to play against the other teams top guys and shut them down. I think there is a need for that on any team.”