Dominic Turgeon will try to skate his way onto the opening night roster for the Detroit Red Wings. The son of Pierre played some for the Red Wings last season. Detroit was in need of a 4th line center, and Turgeon got the call.
Turgeon is 22 years old and was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the 3rd round, 63rd overall in the 2014 Entry Level Draft. Turgeon plays a similar game to Luke Glendening. A fourth line center and a penalty-killing forward.
I don’t particularly see any scoring upside with Turgeon. He’s a much different player than his father. Pierre was the 1st overall pick in the 1987 draft. Pierre ended his stellar career with 1327 points in 1294 games played. Pierre was a top 6 forward his entire career. In 1992-93 Turgeon recorded 132 points in 83 games as a member of the New York Islanders.
Pierre’s stops along his glorious career included Buffalo, NY Islanders, Blues, Stars and ended with Colorado. Pierre is currently an assistant coach for the LA Kings. It doesn’t quite make any sense; you see the career numbers, Pierre is not yet a member of the hockey hall of fame.
Dominic played in 5 games last season for the Red Wings and impressed with his work ethic and effort on the ice as the 4th center. If Detroit decided to shed some salary by moving a bottom 6 forward, Turgeon could be a cheap replacement.
If Detroit decided Luke Glendening is expendable, Turgeon would be a player to look towards to fill that role. It has been mentioned Glendening could start the season as Detroit’s third center with the absence of captain Henrik Zetterberg.
That would be such a Ken Holland, Jeff Blashill type move. I have nothing against Turgeon or Glendening, but I feel you can only have so many of those type players on your club. Detroit already has committed to Frans Nielsen as their second line center. Andreas Athanasiou, I would rather see skate as the 2, but Blashill and Holland often prefer safe moves.
I can’t see Detroit skating AA on the wing and moving Glendening up to the 3, but I wouldn’t put any “safe” move past the Detroit Red Wings management.
Dominic Turgeon played 69 games for the Griffins last season, tallying 14 goals and 18 assists. Turgeon was a plus 13. He will be ready if Detroit needs a 4th center at any time this season.