In a subscriber-only article, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff argues that Red Wings prospect defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka will not end up making Detroit’s season-opening roster, and that ASP will end up in Grand Rapids due to several factors working against #44:

The Wings gave Sandin-Pellikka some penalty-kill ice time in the preseason. At six feet and 189 pounds, he’s not a beast of a defender. Positional play is important so that he’s not outmuscled physically while defending.

The numbers game also isn’t working in Sandin-Pellikka’s favor. He can go down to the minors without first clearing AHL waivers.

He was minus-20 last season. The young Swede faces the challenge that all defensemen who enter the NHL must adapt to if they want to survive. Sandin-Pellikka must play well without the puck.

“It’s a hard league as a young D,” [defenseman Justin] Faulk said. “We’ve all, as D, have been there. It takes time.”

Faulk also recognizes there are elements to Sandin-Pellikka’s game that few NHL defenders possess.

“He can’t pick up on all the tendencies and stuff right away,” Faulk said. “But when you have the base that he has of the skating and the ability and the vision and the playmaking and the shooting and whatnot, it allows him to get around the ice a little bit more and kind of get comfortable playing that style a little bit.”

Continued at length (paywall)