A week of news in Detroit has the Red Wings signing their top defensive prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka, Nate Danielson showing out in the playoffs for the Portland Winterhawks, Trey Augustine at the Worlds, and the Evolving Hockey contract projections for Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond!
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Prospects to Watch:
– Carter Mazur
– Marco Kasper
– William Wallinder
– Simon Edvinsson
– Amadeus Lombardi
– Cross Hanas
– Sebastian Cossa
– Albert Johansson
– Elmer Soderblom
– Alex Doucet
Red Wings’ Off-Season Acquisitions:
– Alex DeBrincat
– J.T. Compher
– Christian Fischer
– Klim Kostin
– Daniel Sprong
– Shayne Gostisbehere
– Justin Holl
– James Reimer
– Alex Lyon
– Jeff Petry
4 Comments
I've 100% been on the Nate hype train since day one. And I can't wait to see him in Detroit next year
TLTR – Axel Sandin Pellikka joined Skellefteå AIK's junior operations in the 2019/20 season from Malmbergets AIF. Malmberget is located in the northern part of Sweden and is 180 miles from Tomas Holmström's home district, Piteå. What is there to do in (Gällivare)? You will find fantastic nature and darkness and cold and sports and mining. Certainly something more of value, but not something I attach value to as I'm from Gothenburg (Raz's hometown).
In January 2023, ASP signs a contract with Skellefteå AIK. The contract with ASP extends from now until the end of the 2024/25 season.
The plan (The Y-plan) has always been for ASP to remain in the SHL for an extra year. A week ago he then signed an ELC contract with RW and S.Y has already stated that ASP will remain in the SHL until 24/25.
ASP is invited to be present during this year's RW camp. This offer gives RW & ASP the opportunity to introduce him to the RW organization in depth and us fans to see where he stands against his peers.
ASP will go back to Sweden and finish his contract with Skellefteå. There is of course a small possibility that he will take a place in RW, however, that possibility is minimal, I give him 5-10%.
It is a bigger possibility "on paper" that ASP will come over to e.i AHL if Skellefteå does not make it particularly far in the playoffs season 24/25. It is very unlikely that Skellefteå will be eliminated in the first round as the team is very good. As a fan of Frolunda, I certainly hope they do so and btw – Congrats on the championship though.
It is true that the SHL starts before the NHL, but it is no obstacle for ASP to go over to the camp this year. The other advantage is also that the NHL and AHL start later if Skellefteå does not manage to advance :P, so here is the opening and it is very clear that S.Y has planned to use parts on ASP ELC to be able to plan what the next step is for him.
By the fact that RW has an ELC with ASP, it means that all three parties agree on the content over the coming year, since ASP has a double contract. RW has a very well-developed collaboration with most SHL teams, Skellefteå AIK is no exception here.
Staying in Skellefteå is nothing negative, but only positive. As he is 19 years old and still needs to develop. In a very short time, he has gone from being an U18 player to being in the SHL permanently.
He has had competition for his place in the year 23/24, however, it has already been decided that player will leave Skellefteå for the NHL. Which then means that ASP will take his place at 99%. Many people do not knew that ASP has actually played a whole year on the wrong side (left). Next season will thus be his first in Skellefteå where he will be in his natural place, namely the right side. As we in Sweden have a larger ice surface than the NHL/AHL, the "sides" do not play such a big role here. But It is also very positive that ASP has spent a whole year on the wrong side, as he develops his body in a completely different way as certain movements can be perceived as unnatural for a player on D.
As his future colleague, he gets the team's best defender and veteran by far and that player has all the experience that will transfer to ASP in close cooperation with RW of course. This is where RW's current staff comes into place in Sweden and it gives them the best opportunity to be continuously present on site around ASP. Media and Fans should not underestimate what a few months on an ELC can give RW as an organization for advantages in their own planning.
So RW Camp this year will be a toll to convey what he needs to focus on in the next 12 months. At the moment I give ASP a 5-10% chance of taking a seat in RW in the next 12 months. Most likely he will do a year in the GR (AHL) once he's over. And if it turns out like this. We shouldn't see it as negative, but completely in line with what RW as an organization usually does, namely give time for young people to mature and ern the spot in the rosters. We use the same idea in Sweden when it comes to young people at this age.
My two cents about Burger is as usual. His window of opportunity was last year's edition of RW. His big challenges are twofold, being too good for the AHL and his lack of two-way play. I usually state that RW has actually abused his career by letting him go up and down. If I were Burger, I would have chosen to find a new home in the NHL and that is what I have mentally prepared myself for.
No one questions his technique or having a nose for getting into dirty blue surfaces. Can he replace Perron today! Absolutely not as Perron is still ELIT at the things he does so very well, along the board.
There is a vacancy as Sprong does not have a contract. Here, Burgren's weaknesses actually speak to a slight improvement as Sprong is extremely puck-watching. However any other team gets more points out of Sprong as he has consistently done that, Burger has not done that yet in NHL. Burger's future contract may be similar to Sprong's, which I personally always considered to be on the low side for the plus points that Sprong actually does annually with very little ice time.
However, I think it is possible to teach Burger to play a better two-way game than what 27-year-old Sprong has learned throughout his career.
For me who loves Sprong, I have always been extremely surprised that He, who is Dutch and moved to Canada at a very young age, did not learn the most fundamentals of defensive play. So the question for me is who to blame! Is it the person Sprong or a mix of person and the system that RW and other teams use that is the real problem?
When using +/- as a stat, it's really important to take the context of the rest of his team in account. A -12 on a bad team, is probably not that bad of a stat, if the rest of his team is way lower than that.