Detroit Hockey Now’s Max Smith believes that Axel Sandin Pelllikka will play most of next season in Grand Rapids, and Smith suggests that ASP and fellow Swede Anton Johansson should be the powerhouses of the Griffins’ defensive corps:
There are certainly a couple of things about the two Swedish defenseman that helps to set them apart, starting with the broad strokes of the fact that Johansson, 6’4″ towers above Sandin-Pellikka, who is generously listed at 6’0″ by the NHL. The two also have disparate playstyles, with Sandin-Pellikka known more for his ability with the puck on his stick than Johansson is.
That sort of offensive creativity and ability to keep the puck away from opponents once he got possession of it was what got the then 20 year old rookie on the Red Wings opening night roster over a more experienced veteran in Erik Gustafsson. In 68 games with Detroit’s main club, Sandin-Pellikka had 21 points while adjusting to the smaller North American ice for the first time before seemingly diminishing returns saw him assigned to Grand Rapids.
However, that doesn’t mean Johansson is a deer in the headlights when he gets the puck. In his final season for Leksands IF in the SHL, Johansson had 17 points in 42 games and tacked another six points on in eight AHL regular season games after his season in Europe finished. He had another goal during the Griffins eight game playoff run and lead the team with 19 shots through the first six games.
Johansson is definitely more known for the presence he brings on the defensive end, though. He’s known for big hits, and getting on opponents nerves, as another Red Wings prospect can well attest to. The big bodied blueliner had nearly 100 penalty minutes in the last two years in the SHL.
Continued; the Griffins have signed a fair number of good AHL defenders, so I don’t think that it’s a fait accompli that ASP and Johansson will be the Griffins’ first and second-pair superstars.
