The Free Press’s Helene St. James answers a reader question in a mailbag feature today:
Evaluating when a prospect is ready for promotion is the topic of this Wings mailbag, as John R wonders if it will be different under the management of Steve Yzerman: “I wondered what strategy the new regime in Detroit will take with European players. For example Jonatan Berggren is tearing up the SHL currently. If he continues to perform and does not have a severe drought, is there a chance he comes ready to play in NHL without seasoning in AHL first? We all know that the longtime approach has been to let the kids develop and ripen in Grand Rapids prior to getting the call in Detroit, any chance this changes now that Stevie is running things?”
As with everything else since COVID-19 became a part of our daily vocabulary, this upcoming season is skewed by the pandemic. Many of the Wings’ top prospects, including Moritz Seider, Joe Veleno and Jared McIsaac, have been loaned to European teams, and as the starting date for the 2020-21 NHL season remains a moving target — and minor-league hockey remains uncertain — they’re better off there.
But even without the weight of the pandemic, Yzerman has shown he’s not going to rush prospects just because the Wings need an influx of good, young talent. Seider came into training camp last year having spent 2018-19 playing in the top men’s league in Germany, when he was 17-18 years old. Yzerman sent him to Grand Rapids to develop. Filip Zadina, a first-round pick from 2019, spent his first pro year in GR, and began his second one there, too. It took Zadina excelling in GR (he had 10 points in 10 games between Oct. 25-Nov. 15, 2019) and an injury to Anthony Mantha for Zadina to get a call to come to Detroit.