The Athletic’s Custance talks about the Griffins’ crowded blueline, reports a Svechnikov call-up is in order if Nielsen is out

The Red Wings’ inability to trade Mike Green, Xavier Ouellet and (apparently) Nick Jensen has negatively affected the team’s log-jam of prospects in Grand Rapids, as The Athletic’s Craig Custance notes:

Griffins coach Todd Nelson has been playing seven defensemen, similar to Jon Cooper in Tampa, which may be a good way to win games. It’s not a great way to develop young defensemen.

“Last game we played six, which is nice for the D,” [Joe] Hicketts said. “You also don’t want to see guys getting sat. But it allows you to get in a groove and you’re playing with the same guy consistently. You’re not getting shortchanged on special-teams stuff. Obviously, six D is a lot better.”

And, because Nelson is trying to get in the playoffs, when he’s sitting a player, it’s likely going to be a younger player who is still adapting to the league. In this case, it was 20-year-old Vili Saarijarvi taking a seat.

Again, not ideal for player development. Saarijarvi is the Red Wings’ third-best defensive prospect. He needs to be playing.

Custance continues at length (paywall), and he suggests that the Red Wings will have to use their 3rd of 4 post-trade deadline call-ups on Evgeny Svechnikov, assuming that Frans Nielsen is injured.

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, when MLive hired me to work their SlapShots blog, and I joined Kukla's Korner in 2011 as The Malik Report. I'm starting The Malik Report as a stand-alone site, hoping that having my readers fund the website is indeed the way to go to build a better community and create better content.

5 thoughts on “The Athletic’s Custance talks about the Griffins’ crowded blueline, reports a Svechnikov call-up is in order if Nielsen is out”

  1. This is what I’ve been saying. Lashoff, Russo, Renouf, McIlrath are hindering the development of guys like Hronek, Saarijarvi…the guys who actually have NHL potential. Keep 1 or 2 vets on the blueline and clear out the rest of them. If it means the Griffins lose more games next season then so be it.

  2. If Saarijarvi needs ice time, I wouldn’t mind seeing him in Toledo :)He’s a joy to watch….and yes I know it makes no sense for him to be with the Walleye.

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