Both Expressen’s Mikael Ljungberg and Aftonbladet’s Benjamin Hanafi report that Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka set a SHL record for the most goals scored by an under-20 defenseman as he scored his 12th goal of the season in Skelleftea AIK’s 2-1 win over Brynas IF.
As you might expect, Red Wings Prospects on Twitter has a clip of the goal…
Axel Sandin Pellikka(1st round’23)
— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) March 8, 2025
GOAL🚨! He now has the record for:
•Most Goals for a U20 Defenseman in a season
• All time goal leader for a U20 Defenseman in a junior career#LGRW #skeaik pic.twitter.com/2h3SFpe5Bv
And the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton has more:
After the win, Sandin-Pellikka will be gearing up for a deep SHL playoff run, but for Red Wings fans, it’s impossible not to look forward to his North American future. As noted by Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman in his post-trade deadline remarks, it’s possible Sandin-Pellikka could come to the United States for the end of the season once his SHL campaign wraps up.
More than likely, that would mean joining the Grand Rapids Griffins for the end of their season, though, depending on how the Red Wings playoff push progresses, perhaps he could also make an NHL cameo.
The more significant question is probably where Sandin-Pellikka will begin his ’25-26 campaign, and once again, the likeliest answer to that question is Grand Rapids. Sure, Sandin-Pellikka could play his way into a role with the Red Wings out of camp, but Yzerman has tended to exercise patience with his drafted prospects (especially so with defensemen), preferring to see them thrive with the Griffins before advancing to an NHL role.
From what Yzerman said yesterday, it sounded like ASP would get the “Henrik Zetterberg treatment”–meaning that the Wings might bring Sandin Pellikka to Detroit down the stretch to see the NHL team make a playoff push instead of simply assigning him to Grand Rapids, just as Henrik Zetterberg was brought over from Timra IK in the spring of 2002 to watch the Red Wings’ Stanley Cup run.
There are still some concerns about ASP’s size and strength as he’s 5’11” and 185 pounds, as well as his ability to defend (stop me if you’ve Simon Edvinsson heard this before), so I wouldn’t be surprised if he spends the next season in Grand Rapids, but anything can happen if he surprises over the course of training camp or the AHL’s regular season. The Wings won’t hesitate to afford him the opportunity to “steal a spot” on the NHL roster and supplant an NHL veteran.
