Red Wings prospect Libor Sulak is playing for the Czech Republic (alongside fellow defenseman Filip Hronek) at the World Championship, and Julie Robenhymer, writing for DetroitRedWings.com, penned a profile of Sulak:
“There is nothing better than to represent on your national team. It is the top, the best,” Sulak said. “But after my season ended in Finland, I went to North America and I was injured and only played two games. So, I was happy to get the call and have the chance to play some more and continue to get better.”
Sulak made his first appearance on the Czech national team at last year’s world championship, playing in two games and earning an assist. Soon after, he signed a two-year entry level contract with the Detroit Red Wings.
This season, he left his home country for the first time to play in Finland for the Lahti Pelicans of the Finnish Elite League where the 24-year-old earned nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points in 42 games – good enough for top two in the league in points per game by a defenseman and top five in the league in ice time, all while leading his team in plus-minus.
When his season was over in Finland, Sulak joined the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins for their playoff run to gain some experience on the smaller ice in North America.
Due to a groin injury and then a puck to the mouth that required 16 stitches to repair, he only played two games, but earned an assist in each.
Jiri Fischer, the Red Wings’ director of player evaluation, is also the general manager of the Czech national team at the world championship. He said Sulak has had a tough season but is growing through the challenges.
Should be given every opportunity to vie for a spot with the Wings this season but will be dispatched to GR because of the glut of older vets with untradeable deals.
Guys like Sulak should be coming in and getting a year of NHL experience next season. It may not make the D any better for 2018-19 but the experience gained would be invaluable.
Instead, they are just spinning their wheels with the old guard.
Sulak has hardly played against any real pro competition. Having him play in GR first is not the end of the world.
A full season in the Finnish elite league at, what 23-24 years age,
finishing in the top-two league wide in points by defencemen
and with a top plus-minus, is pretty good, not to mention the WC experience itself. This after playing the top Czech league.
He now needs to get used to smaller rinks and an even faster game.
But it’s crazy to think we can just wait and wait on these prospects – due to not only a clog of mediocrity in Detroit, but also Grand Rapids. As it is, there is simply not enough playing time to go around at even the AHL level for all of the prospect defensemen. One or two more veteran guys are going to have to be moved out.
It’s like having gridlocked traffic at two intersections, not just one. How are: Sulak, Hronek, Cholowski, and Saarijarvi going to get enough opportunity to show what they can do, with: Lashoff, McIlrath, Renouf, and Russo still there. And that even assumes Ouellet is moved out and Hicketts is promoted to Detroit full time.
What Lefty said!