Detroit Red Wings prospect Brent Solomon was not your typical Minnesota kid while growing up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents and my older sister were all born in Wisconsin, and they moved to Minnesota for my mom\u2019s work,\u201d he explains. \u2018They thought it was just gonna be a short-term thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, instead of moving back to their native Milwaukee, the Solomons stayed in Brooklyn Park, a suburb of Minneapolis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the first player in my family to figure out how to skate,\u201d Solomon said. \u201cI didn\u2019t really grow up in a hockey household, so I didn\u2019t really have too many close relatives with the hockey experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he adapted quickly.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Stepping Right In<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look around in Minnesota, and everyone in our neighborhood plays hockey,\u201d Solomon said.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not gonna be left out. We\u2019re throwing skates on you, and I kind of figured it out and kind of just ran with it,\u201d<\/p>\n
He hasn\u2019t stopped. He made the jump from high school to the USHL at the end of last season and was drafted by the Red Wings in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL draft in June.<\/p>\n
Solomon is averaging nearly a point per game thus far in his first full season with the Sioux Falls Stampede, with 15 goals and 20 assists in 36 games. <\/p>\n
\u201cHis playmaking ability with and without the puck has increased,\u201d Sioux Falls coach Ryan Cruthers says. \u201cHis effort when he doesn\u2019t have the puck has increased a ton. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s definitely gotten stronger, and then his ability to make reads, when to shoot, and when to pass. He\u2019s obviously a shoot-first player. His defensive responsibility, I think, is where we\u2019ve seen the greatest growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solomon\u2019s offensive abilities helped put him on the radar last year. He scored 28 goals in 21 games in a Minnesota fall league for elite players, added 38 goals in 24 high school games, and four more in eight games with Sioux Falls at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s 70 goals over the winter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always had a knack for scoring,\u201d Solomon said. \u201dIt\u2019s the best thing to do in the game. I like scoring because scoring helps the team win. I like to be up front and cause chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n
Working On His Overall Game<\/p>\n
These days, though, Solomon works on his defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gotta focus more on the defensive side of the puck,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t just be a one-sided guy, and that\u2019s obviously something I\u2019m also learning this year, where just rounding out my game, making that 200-foot player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solomon was named to the USA team in the World Junior A Championships in Quebec<\/a> in December.<\/p>\n He scored four goals in the tournament and was named an alternate captain.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s also starting to see that when he puts the work in,\u201d Cruthers said, \u201cnot only just his hockey skills but his maturity and leadership, um, he reaps the benefits and he\u2019s definitely growing into a more well-rounded human being and hockey player.\u201d<\/p>\n