Detroit Red Wings: Filip Zadina Invisible in Griffins Debut

Young Detroit Red Wings prospect Filip Zadina failed to record a shot on goal during his Grand Rapids Griffins debut.

The Grand Rapids Griffins took on the Texas Stars last night down south in their first contest of the season.  The Detroit Red Wings rookie phenom Filip Zadina was a minus-two on the night and failed to record a shot on goal.  The Griffins lost the game 3-1.

The lone Griffins goal was scored by captain Mathew Ford during a 5 on 3 power play opportunity.  Ford tipped a Matt Puempel shot home to prevent the Griffins from posting a goose egg. Chris Terry also recorded an assist on the goal.

Filip Zadina is getting the opportunities to succeed with the Griffins.  He isn’t buried down the lineup by any means.  He is skating on the top line, on the opposite wing of veteran Chris Terry.  Terry led the entire AHL last in points.

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Terry recorded 71 points in only 62 games played.  Terry buried 32 goals and delivered 39 helpers but was very one-dimensional.  Although leading the AHL in points, he was a very underwhelming minus 33.

Many of you may remember Terry playing with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League.  He was a complete stand out all three of his Whalers seasons.  In his final OHL season which of course, tends to be many young players best he recorded 101 points in 68 games played.  It still didn’t help his draft stock; Terry was a sixth-round pick by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2007.

Wade Megan is starting the season between the pair on the top line. Megan is a 28 year old forward who had a cup of coffee with the Chicago Blackhawks but hasn’t been able to propel himself as a bottom line forward anywhere in the NHL.

Megan scored 33 times and added 33 assists two seasons ago with the Chicago Wolves.  The trio gives the Grand Rapids Griffins a lot of opportunities to score and collect points.

The Detroit Red Wings seems to of made the correct decision by sending Zadina down to the Griffins.  We as fans may not like it, but he needs to find his way through the AHL before he becomes a staple in the NHL.

We need to remember he is indeed just a kid.  Yes, he is a professional hockey player, but a kid.  Some players need to gain confidence before they are fired into NHL lineups.  Evgeny Svechnikov is another example.  Svechnikov is taking a bit more time to develop than we expected, we hope Zadina progresses a bit faster.

I don’t want to type this, but I do NOT want to rush Filip Zadina into a Detroit Red Wings lineup risking an Alexandre Daigle type situation.  Daigle was tagged as the next big thing, chosen first overall in 1993 by the Ottawa Senators.  He has a solid first season with the Sens and then flamed out.  He would go down being remembered as one of the biggest “busts” of all time.

Moral of the story, as fans lets, be patient like the Detroit Red Wings are with the young sniper. We should handle the situation with kid gloves and not be disappointed quite yet.  Let’s have a look after he’s played a month and reevaluate him.

The Griffins are in San Antonio tonight as they open the season with back to back southern road games.  Zadina will look to bounce back.