Emmitt Finnie has gone from winger to center and, in five games, settled into the Detroit Red Wings’ second line. That is the kind of early-season move that can be easy to miss on a busy schedule, but it has already changed the look of the lineup and given the Red Wings a player they can trust in the middle.
The timing matters because the Red Wings are only 6% done with an 84 game schedule and already trying to sort out roles after a 1-3-1 start. They have three points, have been shut out twice, and are still looking for a steadier path through the middle of the ice. In that setting, Finnie’s move is not just a patch. It is becoming one of the team’s first real answers to an early problem.
Finnie has also made Alex DeBrincat and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard look better than they did before the switch, which is a big reason the shift has stuck. He has done it while seeing more ice time and taking on duties on the second unit power play, and he has been one of the Red Wings’ better penalty-killers as well. Todd McLellan hinted after Marco Kasper’s injury that the team saw Finnie as a long-term solution at center, and that view is clearer now that he is producing in a limited sample while keeping pace with top-six responsibility.
There is still a catch. Finnie has been a highlight, but he and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard need to score more often if they are going to stay together in those spots. The Red Wings have already shown they can drive play, averaging over 32 shots per game, but they have also given up goals too easily with a 6.1% shooting rate against them so far. That leaves Finnie in an unusual place for a young player: central to the plan, useful in more than one role, and still being judged on whether the finish can catch up to the work.
For now, the safest read is that Finnie is holding the second-line center job because he has earned it, not because the Red Wings have run out of alternatives. What happens next will depend on whether his line keeps creating enough to survive the scoring test that comes with it.
