6A — Thursday, February 7, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Despite being undrafted, Slaker seeks out NHL path in future
The path from college to the
National Hockey League can
take many forms.
Some
skaters
are
highly-
touted prospects from their
teenage years, become early-
round draft picks and see success
at the collegiate and professional
levels. Those transitions from
one level to the next are seamless
—
think
former
Michigan
forward Dylan Larkin.
Other
players
face
more
obstacles navigating the path
towards living out their dreams.
For the past two summers,
junior forward Jake Slaker has
attended the Las Vegas Golden
Knights’
development
camp.
NHL teams host development
camps every summer as a means
of evaluating young talent.
Slaker is tied for second on
the Wolverines with 10 goals,
tied for third with 10 assists
and is third with 20 points. The
alternate captain is currently
undrafted, but like many players
on the Michigan hockey team, he
has NHL aspirations.
“(It’s) really since I picked
up a hockey stick,” Slaker said.
“You know you want to get to
the highest level you can, and I
didn’t start playing on the ice
until I was eight years old. So, I
think right when I changed to
ice, it was a goal of mine that I
wanted to fulfill. So right around
that age when I switched to ice
hockey from roller hockey.”
Slaker has the potential to one
day play in the NHL. In his three
seasons with the Wolverines, he
has tallied at least 20 points each
year, including leading the team
with 21 points as a freshman.
This season, he continues to be
one of the main contributors on
the offensive attack.
Having
success
at
the
collegiate
level
is
not
an
automatic
guarantee
that
a
player will experience similar
success
at
the
next
level.
Conversely, putting up less than
prodigious numbers in college
does not mean a player cannot
have a fruitful NHL career.
Michigan coach Mel Pearson
knows
this
firsthand.
The
Wolverines have had their fair
share of highly-touted draft
picks don the maize and blue
threads, like Max
Pacioretty,
Kyle
Connor and Zach
Werenski.
Being
undrafted
may
have
its
perks,
though,
according
to
Pearson.
“When you’re
drafted
usually
there’s just one
team looking at you, but when
you’re a free agent, you’ve got 31
teams which I think is better,”
Pearson said. “… And we’ve got
a lot of good players and pro
scouts here all the time. And
that’s what happened to Johnny
Madden. New Jersey came to
watch
Brendan
Morrison
because he was
a second-round
draft pick and
they kept asking,
‘Who’s this guy?
Who’s this guy?
Who’s this guy?’
and then ended
up signing him
after.”
Madden was a
part of the 1996 team that won
the NCAA Tournament when
Pearson was an assistant coach.
He went on to play on three
Stanley
Cup
Championship
teams after a two-year stint in
the American Hockey League.
Pearson
can
see
some
similarities between Madden
and Slaker.
“Johnny Madden was maybe
one of the best (undrafted
players),” Pearson said. “He
wasn’t a big scorer when he was
here and then obviously when
he got to the NHL, he was put in
more of a defensive penalty kill
role. And that’s something like
what Slaker could become at the
next level. He might not be the
big scorer but he’s someone that
can kill penalties and add some
offense.”
Slaker still has ways to go
before making an NHL roster.
And even further success at
this level will not guarantee a
prosperous professional career.
“I’ll give you a good example,”
Pearson
said.
“Tony Calderone
was a pretty darn
good
college
hockey player. He
had 25 goals last
year and Dallas
signed him. He
played a little bit
in their American
League team and
then
gets
sent
down to the East
Coast League. There’s a guy
who put up 25 here and did (find
success). And Cooper Marody —
Cooper Marody lead our league
(in scoring). He got a few games
in the NHL but he’s down in the
American Hockey League.”
Marody and Calderone were a
pair of forwards
that
Pearson
referred to as
“usually the best
players
every
night.”
And
though Pearson
has
confidence
in
his
players
— especially a
player of Slaker’s
caliber — it is
clear
that
the
junior must continue to develop.
“You’ve got to be a hard
worker to play on that level at a
consistent basis,” Pearson said.
“And one of the things he’s got
to continue to work on is his
consistency and his play without
the puck … I’m not saying he’s
not going to but to me — come
back and be an All-American,
come back and dominate at this
level.”
Slaker still has another year
left of eligibility. But at the end
of the day, he is an NHL free
agent.
“It’s just a waiting process for
(making it to the NHL) because
I am a free agent,” Slaker
said. “Teams will follow you
throughout your college career
and kind of give you calls or see
you after a game and kind of
just let you know their interest
and talk to you at development
camps. And when they think
you’re ready to make the jump
to the pros they’ll start to be
serious about conversation and
maybe offer you a contract and
stuff like that. So, I think it’s just
a waiting game and seeing what
their interest level is.”
As Slaker and the rest of
Michigan have their sights set on
making an NCAA Tournament
appearance
for
the
second
consecutive season, there is
likely another thing that looms
in the back of the minds many
Wolverine skaters: their path to
the NHL.
JORGE CAZARES
Daily Sports Writer
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior forward Jake Slaker is currently tied for second on the team in goals with 10, tied for third in assists with 10 and third in points with 20 so far this season.
You know you
want to get
to the highest
level you can.
It’s just a
waiting process
for (making it
to the NHL)...