Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino, Jason Bukala and Emily Sadler have produced a list of “The top 23 NHL prospects under 23,” and one and only one Red Wings prospect cracks their list…
Though they state that their rules of picking only players who haven’t played in a single NHL game yet have ruled out both Anaheim’s Cutter Gauthier and Detroit’s Marco Kasper.
So it’s a tough nut to crack, and Axel Sandin Pellikka cracked their list:
20. Axel Sandin Pellikka, right defense, Detroit Red Wings
19 | 5-foot-11, 185 pounds | Drafted 17th overall in 2023
Death, taxes, and teams coveting right-shot defencemen. Life has its inevitabilities. Lucky for the Red Wings, they’ve got themselves a future keeper in Sandin-Pellikka, whose elite skating makes him just as reliable under pressure as he is dangerous in transition. While his mobility is his biggest strength, speed and skill factoring in as key elements of his game — think puck-moving, power-play quarterback — he could stand to put on more muscle to withstand the heavy demands in the trenches.
Continued; Sandin Pellikka definitely needs to work on his upper-body strength so that he can battle better for the puck in corners, and continue to work on his lower-body strength so that he’s able to better handle his own battles for puck possession while skating up and down the ice…
But the 5’11,” 185-pound Sandin Pellikka is only 19, and he’s going to continue to develop physically (and otherwise).
