NHL.com’s Dave Hogg posted a profile of Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka this morning, discussing the Red Wings’ decision to leave ASP with Skelleftea AIK of the SHL this upcoming season:
“He’s going to play quite a bit on a good team,” Detroit assistant director of player development Dan Cleary said. “He’s going to run the power play and he’s going to play a lot with the puck. He could come over and play in Grand Rapids, no problem, but Skelleftea is a real good developmental place in a good league and a good city.”
Sandin-Pellikka will also get experience playing with a teammate he hopes he is skating with for years to come: forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, who was selected by the Red Wings with the No. 15 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
“It will be nice to be home another year, and we’re going to be going for the gold,” Sandin-Pellikka said. “I know the coaches, I know my teammates and we have a good team, so I’ll stay and develop another year.”
Sandin-Pellikka has already shown the offensive skills that led to Detroit choosing him, but he said he needs work on the other end of the ice.
“I’m mostly trying to be better with my defensive game,” he said. “After practice, the coaches back home always make me defend some forwards in the corners. That’s what I’m working on.”
That’s just what the Red Wings want.
“Axel is a very smart player and he moves well, but it is hard for a defenseman to play a lot in Grand Rapids,” Cleary said. “We don’t see the harm of keeping him home. There’s no sense rushing him.”
Continued; ASP would have a hard time earning ice time in Grand Rapids for a couple of reasons.
Despite the fact that he’s a tremendous talent, the AHL’s learning curve isn’t easy, and if the 5’11,” 176-pound Sandin Pellikka got bumped around, he’d have to play some “protected minutes”…
But the main concern would be the fact that the Griffins have both the Red Wings’ top prospects and some AHL veterans battling for 6 regular defensemen’s spots on the roster, and that Detroit’s current roster crunch on the blueline might make it more difficult for ASP to vie for time against players like Antti Tuomisto, William Wallinder, Shai Buium and Eemil Viro, as well as veterans Tory Dello, Josiah Didier and Brogan Rafferty.
Those seven players are all likely to battle for spots on the Griffins’ blueline, and with that kind of roster jam, the Red Wings have no need to hurry Sandin Pellikka over to North America when he’s going to be running Skelleftea AIK’s power play and essentially playing as their #1 defenseman.
Sometimes “baby steps” are the way to go when one has to trust the developmental process.
