Prospects · 2026–27
John Whipple
#— · Defense · shoots L · 6′1″, 192 lb · age 20 · Morristown, USA
Pipeline Rankings
25th of 34 Red Wings prospects, shown with the two ranked above him and the two below.
| Rank | Player | Pos | League | League strength | GP | G | A | P | Since Oct 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | Nikita Tyurin | D | VHL | 0.328 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – |
| 24 | Will Murphy | D | QMJHL · 2025–26 | 0.113 | — | — | — | — | – |
| 25 | John Whipple | D | NCAA | 0.194 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 26 | Grayden Robertson-Palmer | C/LW | QMJHL · 2025–26 | 0.113 | — | — | — | — | – |
| 27 | Fisher Scott | D | NCAA | 0.194 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ▲ 1 |
This season's line in each player's main league (the one with the most games). League strength is the Network NHLe coefficient from hockeystats.com. The ranking runs on last season's numbers until a player's current line reaches 10 games, then on this season's. Since Oct 6 counts the places moved from the start-of-season ranking. A league in grey with 2025–26 beside it means no games yet this season.
Where he projects
Four reads, every one measured against defensemen only, built on his 2025–26 season in the NCAA.
| Closest paths at age 19 | Draft | League then | NHLe / 82 | NHL outcome | NHL GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Borowiecki | 2008 · 139 | NCAA | 1.0 | above average · 62nd | 458 |
| Andreas Söderberg | 2014 · 148 | HockeyAllsvenskan | 0.7 | did not stick | 0 |
| Michael Karow | 2017 · 126 | NCAA | 0.8 | did not stick | 0 |
| Wiley Sherman | 2013 · 150 | NCAA | 1.3 | did not stick | 0 |
| Drew Olson | 2008 · 118 | NCAA | 0.9 | did not stick | 0 |
| Tyler Stahl | 2010 · 167 | WHL | 1.1 | did not stick | 0 |
| Tobias Geisser | 2017 · 120 | AHL | 0.7 | did not stick | 0 |
| Braden Birch | 2008 · 179 | NCAA | 1.0 | did not stick | 0 |
Draft pedigree. Picks 121-300 at the position, 380 of them since 2008: 15% became NHL regulars, 3% reached top-line production, expected peak 7. It carries weight 0.25 this season (draft+1); pedigree counts most in the draft year and nothing from draft+2.
Games behind the numbers. 36 in 2025–26, 30 same-year defensemen in the table, 50 comparable paths from a pool of 794.
League strength is the Network NHLe points coefficient from hockeystats.com (Patrick Bacon). Production is points per game among skaters of the same position and the same age in the same league and season (EliteProspects tables). Ceiling: the nearest 50 drafted skaters of the 2008–2019 classes at the same position and age, matched on NHLe and draft slot, and where each one's best NHL season landed as a points-per-game percentile among regulars at the position; a player who never had a half-season in the NHL counts as zero. Tiers follow the W-Value on the NHL pages: elite 88+, top-line 73+, above average 50+, below average 27+. NHL usage, for a skater with three or more NHL games this season: the nearest 50 rookie NHL seasons (5+ games, 2008–2019 classes, through 2022–23) at his position within a year of his age, matched on ice time per game and, at half weight, on points per game pulled toward the group average while his sample is small; their mean peak blends into the expected peak at weight games ÷ (games + 20). NHL games are never matched against minor-league seasons.
Where he played
Every line since his draft year, 2024, newest first. Counting stats only: no public expected-goals model covers the leagues below the NHL, so nothing here is presented as comparable across them.
| Season | League | Team | GP | G | A | P | +/− | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026–27 | NCAA | Univ. of Minnesota | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025–26 | NCAA | Univ. of Minnesota | 36 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 14 |
| 2024–25 | NCAA | Univ. of Minnesota | 29 | 0 | 3 | 3 | +4 | 6 |
A W-Value arrives once he has an NHL season large enough to rate; until then he is listed with the prospects.