The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects dropped a 4-2 decision to the Minnesota Wild’s prospects on Friday night in Traverse City.
As a result, the Wings will focus on Saturday’s game against the Dallas Stars’ prospects (7 PM EDT on FSD GO and the Wings’ website) as a must-win affair.
All was not lost on Friday, despite the Wings going 1-for-8 on the power play and surrendering 35 shots to an opportunistic Wild team; as stated in the audio post, the Wings received strong performances from their stars, with Filip Zadina scoring a trademark one-timer goal, Dennis Cholowski and Joe Veleno registering 2 assists apiece, Jared McIsaac scoring and Patrik Rybar stopping 32 of 34 shots in his North American debut.
The Wings were not, however, playing with the kind of through-the-middle-of-the-ice drive that coach Ben Simon emphasized in drills during the morning skate, and the prospects’ NHL-team-like tendency to over-complicate their offensive opportunities was a little too familiar.
The Wings’ power play was perimeter-playing cute, the penalty-kill was solid, but got burned once, and that one goal, the Wild’s first, was enough to shift momentum toward Minnesota, and while the Wings stayed in the game until the Wild’s empty-net goal, losing Vili Saarijarvi for most of the third period (to an undisclosed injury) hurt the team’s cohesion.
To his credit, Jared McIsaac stepped into Saarijarvi’s spot alongside Dennis Cholowski and scored an impressive goal during one of the Wings’ few take-a-shot-first-and-hope opportunities, and again, the Wings’ top-of-the-roster players played strong individual and collective games, but the team needed more urgency and determination.
MLive’s Ansar Khan wrote a short recap which summarizes the game well…
Some of the Detroit Red Wings’ recent first-round picks contributed offensively in the NHL Prospects Tournament opener Friday, but the Minnesota Wild prevailed 4-2 at Centre I.C.E. in Traverse City.
Filip Zadina, the sixth overall pick this year, scored on the power play at 18:45 of the first period to tie it at 1-1.
Goals by Ivan Lodnia and Gerry Fitzgerald gave Minnesota a 3-1 lead.
Defenseman Jared McIsaac, whom the Red Wings selected 36th overall in the second round this year, scored at 5:28 of the third period to cut Minnesota’s lead to 3-2. But Damien Giroux scored into an empty net with second seconds remaining.
Zadina and McIsaac were teammates for Halifax in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Defenseman Dennis Cholowski, Detroit’s top pick in 2016 (20th overall) and center Joe Veleno, selected 30th this year, each contributed a pair of assists.
Patrik Rybar played the entire game in goal for Detroit, making 31 saves. The Red Wings converted only 1-of-8 power plays.
The box score is also available here, as are player stats, on Poinstreak.com, where you can follow the tournament statistically.
On a player-by-player basis, based upon the lineup with which the Wings played most of the game, here are my thoughts regarding the Wings’ individual performances:
Forwards:
48 Givani Smith–27 Michael Rasmussen “A”–11 Filip Zadina
48 Givani Smith: Smith was solid and feisty in his first game, declining an opportunity to fight once and generating scrums on multiple occasions. The 6’2,” 206-pound turning-pro winger could have been even more aggressive in going to the front of the net, but he generated chaos, played strongly in all three zones, and cycled well, and those are the kinds of plays that will earn him ice time in GR.
27 Michael Rasmussen: Rasmussen was honestly a little bit underwhelming at center, focusing on his defensive responsibilities a bit too much, and when the Wings were in serious need of offense in the third period, Rasmussen was moved to wing with Joe Veleno skating in the first-line center’s spot. That freed up Rasmussen, massive at 6’6″ and 221 pounds, to go to the front of the net and stay there. That’s where he’s most effective, and I get the feeling that wing is where Rasmussen’s future lies.
Anyway, despite being a little too willing to defer shots and a little too focused on his two-way responsibilities, Rasmussen did have a very good game, displaying the kind of strength and skating abilities that the Wings need to see in a player who not only wants to turn pro, but also battle for a roster spot.
I will say this: the kid sweats calm, poised and shown-through-actions leadership, so the fact that he’s wearing an “A” on his chest is no surprise at all.
11 Filip Zadina: It’s hard to critique somebody who winds up into a slap shot and rips a one-timed goal past a giant Finnish wall named Kaapo Kahkonen (his real name), but the 6,’ 196-pound Zadina did look a little intimidated by his surroundings, and he was more than willing to defer shots and shooting opportunities unless absolutely and completely comfortable taking the initiative himself.
There’s no doubt that Zadina is quite possibly NHL-ready, there’s no doubt that his shot is the kind of shot that the offensively-starved Red Wings already need, and his skating, puckhandling, passing, vision, core strength, ability to handle the bump-and-grind and plain old charismatic chutzpah are all elite, but this is the tournament where the rubber meets the road, and if Rasmussen and Zadina want to make the Wings out of training camp, they need to play demonstrative, determined hockey at 100% of their potential. That’s hard to ask and that’s harder to do when it’s your first frickin’ pro game, but if the expectations are sky-high for the pair, they need to deliver.
Both were close on Friday, but they weren’t there yet.
49 Axel Holmstrom–90 Joe Veleno–58 David Pope
49 Axel Holmstrom: Wearing his white-trimmed Reebok skates, Holmstrom still looks like someone who’s trying to put major knee injuries behind him. Axel has excellent, professional-level polish and poise to his game, and he knows how to slither and slide the puck around the offensive zone to generate offense for his teammates by creating time and space, but the 6’1,” 219-pound second year pro has yet to put it all together to the point that he’s a difference-maker on his own. This is a big year for him, and Axel can begin the process of really establishing himself as a 2-way forward who’s reliable and possesses some offense if he keeps pushing himself.
90 Joe Veleno: Veleno had an excellent start, eventually earning his way up to the top line as the Wings pressed for offense, and the 6’1,” 191-pound center displayed more offensive “pop” to his game than he did during the summer development camp, all while battling bigger, stronger and meaner players in his first game that mattered in quite some time.
I’m still not sure whether Veleno is the next 3rd line center of note for the Wings, or whether there’s more offense available, but in terms of his two-way abilities, from passing and shooting to faceoffs and detail work, if not plain work ethic, Veleno has boatloads of potential as an 18-year-old.
58 David Pope: At the other end of the developmental spectrum, the 23-year-old Pope is trying to break into the Griffins’ lineup after four NCAA-playing seasons, and at least physically, the 6’3,” 198-pound Pope looks more than ready. Possessing a heavy shot and good pace to his game, Pope raced up and down the wing with authority and poise, looking like someone who will need very little finishing to get his game in order…
But Pope, like Rasmussen and Zadina, needs to impress at this tournament to really break into the Griffins’ lineup, and he, like Rasmussen and Zadina, got too cute at times.
53 Jordan Topping*–70 Christoffer Ehn–89 Pavel Gogolev**
53 Jordan Topping: The Griffins gave the 6’1,” 185-pound graduate of the Tri-City Americans an AHL deal, not an NHL one, but Topping was both safe and steady enough to work his way onto the third line and skilled enough to keep up with his centerman, Christoffer Ehn. I can’t say that Topping looks like a Joe Hicketts-style steal in the making, but he’s strong, he’s defensively reliable, and he was solid.
70 Christoffer Ehn: Ehn had some hiccups, which is to be expected as the 22-year-old was playing his first game that counted on North American ice. At 6’2″ and 193 pounds, Ehn has break-neck speed at his disposal, but his job on the Wings prospects’ team is to play strong defensive hockey, and he did that on Friday. Ehn does possess a Dominic Turgeon-like level of offensive prowess, too, but I don’t think that we’re going to see that at the tournament.
89 Pavel Gogolev: Gogolev was OK on Friday night. The 6,’ 168-pound Peterborough Petes free agent invite looked strong enough on the wing with Topping and Ehn, but when the bench got a little tight in the third period, Topping and Ehn were earning more ice time, and playing on the PK, while Gogolev was sitting.
67 Brady Gilmour–64 Zach Gallant–92 Maxim Golod**
67 Brady Gilmour: Gilmour is all of 5’10” and 170 pounds, pretty much developed into his body as a 19-year-old, and pesky despite his small stature. Gilmour and his centerman on the fourth line, Zach Gallant, were something of a dynamic checking duo out there, displaying perhaps the best defensive pop and chemistry of any of the Wings’ four lines on Friday night. That’s a credit to the speedy Gilmour, whose stature doesn’t take away from his ability to handle physical play.
64 Zach Gallant: Gallant also looked very good on the fourth line, and the 6’2,” 198-pound Peterborough Petes forward was fast, efficient and sometimes downright sneaky on the puck. Gilmour and Gallant aren’t going to be more than 4th-line type players, but they’re very good at being fourth-line type players.
92 Maxim Golod: Golod, a free agent invite from the Erie Otters, may have been buoyed by his linemates, playing strongly despite his 5’10,” 160-pound frame. I didn’t see a whole lot of him as both Golod and Gogolev were on the short end of some bench-shortening in the third period, but he was solid, and that’s a start.
Defense:
21 Dennis Cholowski “A”–29 Vili Saarijarvi “A”
21 Dennis Cholowski: Cholowski had 2 assists and led the Wings’ defense by a long shot, and yet Cholowski’s impression upon me was twofold: he played a tremendous offensive game, but still needs to avoid getting “walked around” defensively, because he can freeze while trying to stick-check or skate in the transition game, a lot like Xavier Ouellet used to get burned going from forward to backward skating as a rookie.
Cholowski is so much bigger and stronger at 6’1″ and 190 than he was as a raw summer development camper that it’s scary. Both Cholowski and Pope have grown into their bodies in a big way, and they’ve put a shit-ton of hard work into filling out; in Cholowski’s case, the result is a near-elite offensive defenseman prospect who has great vision, a superb stick for both checking, breaking up rushes and then breaking out his team on the offensive rush.
His mobility is pretty darn solid and his passing and shooting skills are excellent; while he’s not a physical player, he also checks well, and now that he’s a big body, he doesn’t get run into the boards. He just needs some finishing time in Grand Rapids, in my opinion, to really put the little growing pains he still displays from time to time behind him.
On the bench and off the ice, Cholowski knows that he’s one of the leaders of the group, so he wears the “A” seamlessly well.
29 Vili Saarijarvi: Saarijarvi had an excellent game before he got hurt, and for two periods, it was uncanny watching Saarijarvi be able to simply sidestep vicious hit attempts from Wild players, seemingly at the last millisecond. Vili is more than someone who knows how to get out of danger, too: he possesses strong offensive abilities, in terms of shooting, passing, head-manning the rush and using his vision and skating to make good breakout plays.
Saarijarvi looked in his element wearing an “A,” and the affable Finn looks ready to compete hard for a spot on the Griffins’ blueline.
63 Jared McIsaac–74 Cole Fraser
63 Jared McIsaac: McIsaac was all subtlety and simplicity during the summer development camp, and that resulted in a little under-appreciation from your humble blogger. Despite the fact that he’s still 18 and all of 6’1″ and 193 pounds, McIsaac showed zero intimidation factor as he made strong plays and seamless transitions from defense to offense. Mobile on his skates, able to pass, shoot and check well, McIsaac scored a big goal because he did what his teammates would not–just wind up and shoot when things were in doubt, keeping it simple and playing really headsy, mature hockey. One game in, I’m impressed about this “bonus first round pick.”
74 Cole Fraser: Fraser is coming into his contract year, and the 6’2,” 191-pound Peterborough Petes defenseman did the same thing that Givani Smith did, to his credit–deferring a fight for the chance to put his team on the power play instead.
There are times that Fraser drifts in and out of the play, but when the Wings lost Saarijarvi in the third period, Fraser really stepped up in a big way, anchoring the Wings’ second pair as McIsaac ended up playing with Cholowski. Fraser is a heavy-hitting defender, but he does have good puck skills and skates well forward, backward and laterally (I tend not to mention that as the top guys are tremendous at doing so). He’s a bit of a wild card in my book.
94 Alec Regula–62 Trevor Hamilton*
94 Alec Regula: Regula looked a bit overwhelmed by his surroundings at times, and tremendously comfortable in his role during others. In other words, the 6’4,” 203-pound defender was inconsistent, and that’s OK. At 18, the London Knights blueliner has a massive wingspan and skates well, but he can get banged around because he’s so slight for his frame, and there were times that he was all but literally on the run in the defensive zone. He’ll be better.
62 Trevor Hamilton: I hope I can say the same for Trevor Hamilton, a Griffins-contracted defender who’s 23 and has played for Penn State in NCAA hockey. The 6,” 198-pound Hamilton was solid enough, but he looked a little overwhelmed by the quality of competition at times, and that took away from his compact-but-meaty frame’s ability to withstand the crashing and banging of playing on the third pairing against some top opposition.
Goaltender:
34 Patrik Rybar: Rybar, who’s 24 years of age and played two years for HC Mountfield Hradek Kralove of the Czech Extraliga (say that five times fast), was unable to play during the summer development camp due to ankle surgery, and the second goal Rybar gave up was a squeaker to the elbow side that may not have even been a shot opportunity on a 100-foot-wide rink.
The 6’3,” 190-pound Rybar made sure to seal up that hole, and despite surrendering 3 on the night, Rybar was excellent, holding the Wings in the game when the power plays ebbed and the Wild came racing back up the other way, playing the kind of shot-first-go-to-the-net-front-first game the Wings had hoped to employ. Rybar is a modern butterfly goaltender, which means that he goes down to his knees a lot, but he’s got very good posture when in the butterfly, and he boots rebounds out to lower-risk areas of the ice with his pads, blocker and stick. His glove hand is excellent and he tracks pucks well; if there is a weakness to Rybar’s game (and there should be few given his age and pro experience), it’s that he’s not a great stickhandler, but he has the sense to stay in the net and keep things simple. Rybar has a LONG way to go before he can unseat Harri Sateri as the Griffins’ starter, but he had a hell of a start.
Back-up goalie and scratches:
36 Kaden Fulcher (goaltender): Fulcher, listed at 6’3″ and 182 pounds but probably 6’4,” could learn from Rybar, because the likely Walleye-bound goaltender still has some holes over his catch glove and at chest-height when hunched over in the butterfly. That being said, Fulcher has a crapton of potential as a big, battling goaltender (i.e. a goalie whose fundamentals of play give way to outside-the-handbook saves), and he should have a great role model to work with in Walleye starter Pat Nagle.
46 Lane Zablocki (forward): Zablocki, a 6,’ 190-pound winger, was just the kind of fourth-line presence that the Wings needed, but he was injured and unable to play. Zablocki fits well on the Gilmour-Gallant line, and the hard-working winger with a mean streak will try to work his way back into the lineup.
50 Reilly Webb (defenseman): The 6’3,” 201-pound defender with a Regula-like wingspan was scratched, and he needs to get into the lineup for at least a game or two to show that he’s worth a contract after two up-and-down Major Junior campaigns. Webb’s a steady, stay-at-home type.
68 Justin Fazio (goaltender)**: Fazio’s essentially the back-up’s back-up, and the 6’1,” 188-pound Sarnia Sting graduate is going to work his ass off in practice and hope that one of the 200+ scouts in attendance sees enough to afford him a pro contract.
73 Marcus Crawford (defense)*: I was a little surprised that the 5’11,” 190-pound Saginaw Spirit grad didn’t get into the lineup, but the Griffins-bound defender may get his chance yet.
76 Nicolas Guay (forward)**: Guay, a 3rd/4th line forward from the Drummondville Voltigeurs, is not big at 5’11” and 174 pounds, but he’s shown pluck in practice.
81 Trevor Yates (forward)*: I would also expect Yates to step into the lineup on Saturday as the Wings have an older Griffins-bound prospect on their hands, and the 6’2,” 201-pound Cornell graduate is a steady 23-year-old hand.
* = Griffins contract, ** = try-out.
Update: Hey, hi, George here. I forgot to mention that I am still raising funds for the Traverse City trip, hoping to get another $800 so that I can fit the hotel bill for 2 weeks’ stay. If you are willing to lend a hand, https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport is the place to go. Thank you!
