Unlike in the NFL, the NHL draft generally produces just a handful of players or fewer that are able to go right into the top league.
Most players require more time to develop.
Some of those players play in Europe, others play junior hockey and others opt for college hockey careers.
Defenseman Patrick Holway fell into the latter category, choosing to attend the University of Maine.
Holway, who turns 22 in October, just finished his second year with the Black Bears.
He has good size at 6-foot-4 and 214 pounds and is working on continuing to develop his defensive game to go along with his already strong offensive instincts.
6 -- From Dec. 2 to Jan. 6, Holway had a six-game point streak. He had three goals and seven assists in that span. Holway also had six shots in a game on Jan. 12 at Northeastern. Also, Holway had six goals for the Black Bears, two more than he had in his freshman season in 2016-17. Six is also the round that the Red Wings chose Holway.
13 -- In addition to the six goals, Holway chipped in 13 assists, which equals his point total from the previous season.
19 - Holway's 19 total points were second among Maine's defensemen and eighth overall on the team. Defenseman Brady Keeper had 22 points to lead Maine's blueliners. Forward Mitchell Fossier led the team with 34 points.
33 -- The sophomore defenseman played in 33 games, matching his total games from the year before.
3 -- Holway had three points in back-to-back games, registering a goal and two assists on Dec. 2 at home against Vermont and Dec. 8 at Quinnipiac.
54 -- Holway had 54 blocked shots, which was second on the team. Only defenseman Keith Muehlbauer had more with 55.5 - Five of those 54 blocked shots came in one game, on Dec. 8 at Quinnipiac.
170 -- The Red Wings selected Holway with the 170th overall pick in the sixth round in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
2 -- Like a few of the Wings' prospects, Holway has a teammate at Maine that is also a Detroit prospect. Forward Chase Pearson was also picked in the 2015 Draft, one round earlier.
Quotable: "Patrick was much improved over his freshman year, which is quite obvious. He's a big body and physical when it's warranted. Pat has outstanding offensive skill, great poise with the puck, a good shot from the point. He was a very good power play player for us from the back end. So, he has an awful lot of tools, he's a big guy at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds. He has the body of a big NHL defenseman and he has the skill set to bloom. A very good two-way player." -- Dennis "Red" Gendron, University of Maine head coach
