Red Wings prospect Antti Tuomisto made a decision to bet on himself this past season, leaving the University of Denver for TPS Turku of the Finnish Liiga. He converted that pro season into an entry-level NHL deal with the Red Wings, as MLive’s Ansar Khan notes:
“I thought about it for a long time, for months, what’s the right decision for my future,” Tuomisto said. “I think I made a good choice.”
Four years after the Detroit Red Wings drafted him in the second round (35th overall), the 6-5, 205-pound right-shooting defenseman is poised to make his AHL debut with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
“Antti is a smart player, a cerebral player. He makes a good first pass,” Daniel Cleary, Red Wings assistant director of player development, said. “This is going to be a big test for him coming over for his first year of pro in North America. We got to be patient and see how he goes.”
Tuomisto and fellow Red Wings prospects Carter Mazur and Shai Buium were freshmen on the Pioneers’ NCAA title team. Tuomisto last season appeared in 60 games in his native Finland for TPS Turku of SM-liiga, picking up five goals and 15 assists.
“Get a bigger role maybe than I had in Denver and also play with older guys, a little bigger guys in Finland,” Tuomisto, 22, said. “There’s a lot of skating in Finland. Bigger sheet. Also, puck battles and stuff like that with bigger guys, it’s harder. That helped me a lot.”
