Earlier this month, each of the Free Press’s Helene St. James, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan and Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff have discussed the development of top Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka as he prepares to make the jump from European hockey to North American ice this upcoming season.
Nobody’s quite certain whether Sandin Pellikka will compete for a spot on the Red Wings’ roster, perhaps as a seventh defenseman, or whether he’s going to munch minutes on the Grand Rapids Griffins’ blueline, though I would highly suspect the latter situation taking place.
On this slow Sunday afternoon, the Hockey News’s Jake Tye brings up the subject once again:
He’ll be involved in a very tight position battle for a right defence spot as the Red Wings have the top spot locked up with Moritz Seider followed by Albert Johansson and newcomer Jacob Benard-Docker in the second and third pairings. Defencemen Justin Holl and Ian Mitchell are also on the verge of making a spot but will likely operate as healthy scratch options in case of injuries.
Sandin-Pellikka will be going against these defencemen that have already played and made an impact at the NHL level, which may make things challenging to break through. It’ll likely take a chance from management for him to break through as many of the defenceman ahead of him have lengthy experience but are far from game-breaking players.
If they can put a 20-year-old in Sandin-Pellikka in a position to succeed with meaningful minutes, he could learn how to play at the next level and hopefully transition his game.
He could also take a slower approach like his fellow countryman did in Detroit with Simon Edvinsson. At 20 years old, he came to North America and played 106 AHL games across two seasons to adjust to the style of play, while also working into NHL games along the way.
Edvinsson would finally get a full look last season, where he played in 78 games with the Red Wings and recorded 31 points and a +12 rating. He is now fully developed and is poised to take a run at making the Red Wings top pairing with Moritz Seider.
Continued at length; unless Sandin Pellikka can cement a spot as the Wings’ 5th or 6th defenseman, I just don’t see the 5’11,” 185-pound Skelleftea AIK veteran jumping into the NHL pool immediately.
ASP is far more likely to start the season in Grand Rapids, and to play at least half-a-season in the American Hockey League so that he can adjust to the 85-foot-wide North American rink and the more physical style of game in a league where players are paid to try and take young defensemen’s heads off with some vicious checking.
Now Sandin Pellikka can change the equation with surprisingly NHL-ready training camp and preseason performances, but he’s going to have to “steal a job” from a more established NHL performer to cement a spot on the Red Wings’ roster, and that’s just unlikely at this point.
The Red Wings as a team tend to slow-roll the North American debuts of their top European prospects, affording even Moritz Seider time to adjust to the different game here, and there is no reason to surmise anything different in terms of the ways in which Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman and assistant GM/Grand Rapids Griffins GM Shawn Horcoff will approach Sandin Pellikka’s transition season.
