DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji spoke with Red Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff regarding the progress made by the Red Wings’ prospects who participated in the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth last week:
Joe Veleno, the Wings’ first-round pick, 30th overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, had remained in metro Detroit after development camp to train with some of the other prospects, so he did not have far to go.
Veleno, 19, played for Team Canada, recording two goals and an assist in just two games.
“Joe played great,” Horcoff said. “I think he only played two games. He played the first one, sat out the next two, played in the last one, scored in both games. He played a little bit of center, a little bit of wing in both, which I like. I like his versatility, he’s starting to be able to learn to do that. We’d love for him to learn all those positions and turn into a guy that you could play anywhere in the lineup, up and down, both center and both wings, even though we view him as a center. It never hurts to learn to play every position.
“He looked good. He came into Detroit, stayed after development camp, knows that there’s some work to be done there in terms of physical conditioning and strength and explosiveness but he’s putting the work in and we’re looking forward to see how he looks in prospect tournament.”
Ooh shocking that Horcoff is raving about all of our prospects, although Eliasson was “just OK” after his .828 SV%. Why bother interviewing these guys. Better off asking an unbiased source what they thought. For example, Veleno looked good but it’s disappointing he was moved to the wing. We need a 2C, not another guy converted to the wing. It was a short sample but we need him to succeed at center. Which is why Rasmussen should have been sent back down to the CHL. Hi piled up most of those goals as a winger. Should have gone back down to dominate at center.