From the Detroit Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins:
DETROIT ACQUIRES CONDITIONAL DRAFT PICK FROM ARIZONA FOR ROBBIE RUSSO
… Defenseman Skated in 19 Games for Detroit During 2016-17 Season …DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today acquired a conditional seventh-round draft pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for defenseman Robbie Russo.
Russo, 25, was originally signed as a free agent by the Red Wings on Aug. 16, 2015. In his three seasons with the organization, he appeared in 19 NHL games with the Red Wings and totaled 204 games for the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins, registering 103 points (21-82-103), a plus-61 rating and 160 penalty minutes. He led the AHL in plus-minus as a rookie in 2015-16 en route to capturing a spot on the All-Rookie Team and Second All-Star Team before going on to skate in the All-Star Game and help the Griffins win their second Calder Cup championship in five seasons during the 2016-17 campaign. Prior to turning professional, the Westmont, Ill., native logged 94 points (28-66-94), a plus-18 rating and 82 penalty minutes at the University of Notre Dame from 2011-15, winning a CCHA championship in 2013 and capping off his collegiate career as a Hockey East First-Team All-Star in 2015.
After selecting 10 players at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft at the American Airlines Center in Dallas this weekend, the Red Wings now hold up to 11 picks at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, owning their own selection in each round in addition to the NY Islanders’ second-round pick (via Vegas), Buffalo’s fifth-round pick, Columbus’ fifth-round pick and the conditional seventh-round choice from Arizona.
Robbie Russo, Defenseman
Born Feb 15 1993 — Westmont, IL
Height 6.00 — Weight 195 — Shoots RSelected by New York Islanders round 4 #95 overall 2011 NHL Entry Draft
— Regular Season — —- Playoffs —-
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
————————————————————————————–
2009-10 U.S. National Under-17 Team USHL 34 3 17 20 36 — — — — —
2010-11 U.S. National Under-18 Team USHL 24 0 6 6 11 — — — — —
2011-12 Notre Dame CCHA 40 4 11 15 14 — — — — —
2012-13 Notre Dame CCHA 41 5 18 23 40 — — — — —
2013-14 Notre Dame H-East 21 4 11 15 8 — — — — —
2014-15 Notre Dame H-East 40 15 26 41 20 — — — — —
2015-16 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 71 5 34 39 42 9 1 4 5 9
2016-17 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 58 7 25 32 37 19 0 7 7 22
2016-17 Detroit Red Wings NHL 19 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2017-18 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 75 9 23 32 81 5 0 1 1 0
————————————————————————————–
NHL Totals 19 0 0 0 2
So what is the point of this?
Wings must be going hard after a FA Dman. But this move makes very little sense.
Cleaning house to make spots in Grand Rapids. Cholowski and Saaijarvi will be full time Griffins this season.
Strange they could get a 7th for Russo, but not even a bag of pucks for X.
Think the Griffs will have a much younger team. The question will be in goal as I do not think either Coreau or Mcollum are going to resign.No future in Detroir.
Conditional pick: If defenseman Robbie Russo, traded to Arizona on Sunday, plays 30 NHL games next season, the Red Wings will receive the Coyotes’ seventh-round pick in 2019. Otherwise, they get nothing.
From Ansar
Well, the wing’s get nothing for a guy they spent nothing on. Push.
The positive side of this is there’s room for dmen in GR with a higher upside.
He has been one of the best Dmen in GR since he has been here and only played 19 games with the wings very sporadically. I think they got rid of him for nothing because they are going hot after a player either via trade or FA market. FA market conversations started yesterday and all these moves are happening today.
It seems to me that trading Russo makes no difference in that UFA scenario.
I would think it means someone is going to be stuck in GR if they bring in a UFA and with the logjam down there they had to move someone that was movable.
Flush.
“So what is the point of this?” – damndog.
I think the point is to say, “thank you,” to Russo.
Or, to phrase it differently; “Sorry that there isn’t a path to the NHl for you in Detroit, here’s your freedom(at the start of the summer when every team is still looking!). Best of luck in pursuing your dream.”
We asked around… a single team showed interest… we moved him.