Two prospect items of note from The Athletic

Here are two Red Wings prospect-related items from The Athletic:

1. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman answered a Red Wings-related question in his prospect mailbag this morning, and I think this one is accurate:

How many prospects, and which ones specifically, do you think will make the Red Wings full-time this season? — Chris C.

Simon Edvinsson I think is 50-50 to make it. Jonatan Berggren has an outside chance but is probably more of a call-up. I think most of their prospects have a better chance of being injury- or performance-issue call-ups rather than stealing a veteran’s job in camp. I could see defensemen like Donovan Sebrango, Albert Johansson or Jared McIsaac getting games if guys go down for example.

Continued (paywall); training camp, injuries and the Wings’ defensive depth = it’s going to be hard for Edvinsson to make the team out of camp, though it could be done.

I agree that Berggren will probably start out later this season as an injury replacement, and we’ll see at least one of the Wings’ Grand Rapids goalies at some point, though I’m not certain whether one views Victor Brattstrom or Jussi Olkinuora as prospects at this point…

2. And The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler posted an article in which he discusses prospects who his assessments misjudged, saying this about the still-developing Joe Veleno:

C Joe Veleno (Detroit Red Wings — No. 30, 2018)
My final draft ranking: No. 13

Ahead of the 2018 draft, you could often find me arguing that Veleno had been doomed by his exceptional status, that the talent around him to that point in Saint John was never going to allow his numbers to pop, and that he was closer to the player who’d produced 21 goals and 59 points in 43 games after the trade to Drummondville than the one who’d posted a still-respectable 31 in 31 to start the year in Saint John.

I loved his skating. I loved the way he pushed pace and played through the middle. I loved his commitment to the defensive zone and the detail that was layered throughout his game. And while I wrote that he didn’t have first-line upside, I felt he had a real good chance to become a second-line centre. But there was also always a chance that his softer skills never got the level they’d need to get to for him to reach a top-six ceiling, and his bottom-six reality today was always a legitimate outcome.

So where he’s landed isn’t one of the surprises of this list to me. I should have adjusted his ranking accordingly, given the likelihood that his skills inside the offensive zone didn’t take off. He was also a January 2000, which placed him on the older side of the draft, so maybe I should have been more cognizant of the fact that he was closer to what he’d been in his time in Saint John rather than being poised for a breakout after what he’d shown in Drummondville. I also think I overemphasized his two-way game. While his work rate is still a part of his game, I’m not sure he’s actually a plus-level player defensively per se.

Continued; ouch. Proclaiming a 22-year-old with one real NHL season to his name a bust is pretty harsh.