Detroit Red Wings: Top prospects Veleno and Zadina struggle in WJC

Detroit Red Wings prospect Filip Zadina returns to the Grand Rapids Griffins after struggling in the World Junior Championship Tournament. The Czech Republic was knocked out of the tourney in the quarterfinals by the United States.

USA beat the Czech’s in the quarterfinals by a score of 3-1. It was a disappointment for the Czech’s, but they shouldn’t feel too bad about losing to USA. The American team was stacked with talent throughout. Detroit Red Wings prospect Filip Zadina struggled all tournament, he was expected to thrive but struggled mightily.

To give you an example of how deep USA was, Jack Hughes, who is expected to be first overall selection this summer in the NHL Entry Level Draft played on the third and fourth. If you remember back to last years’ tournament, USA beat up the Czech’s to the tune of 9-3 in the bronze medal game.

Per Peter J Wallner of Mlive.com;

"“You know, we had great offensive guys like Zadina, and Filip didn’t score, so it’s not normal for him,” Czech Repubic forward Martin Kaut said via IIHF.com. “Today we had about 20 shots and U.S. had 40. It’s not normal for us.”"

Last year Zadina was spectacular recording 7 goals and added 1 assist in 7 games. This year, a year older and rather than playing in the Quebec Major Junior League, he’s playing in the American Hockey League. The expectation was Zadina could dominate this tournament, yet he only recorded a single point, an assist through five games.

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I was shocked by his lack of production, but I wonder if he is entirely healthy? Just prior to leaving the Grand Rapid Griffins for this competition he had to leave a game with an injury that was noted as not being too serious, just a stinger.

I can’t help but wonder if maybe that played a factor in his lack of production. I’m not making up an excuse just can’t help but wonder, or maybe he was merely just slumping. He had started slowly for the Griffins this year but had played considerable better as the year trecked on. The Detroit Red Wings top prospect is a minus -13 and has 8 goals, 9 assists totaling 17 points in 27 games this season with the Griffins.

Joeseph Veleno didn’t fare much better for Team Canada in this tournament either. He was only able to record 2 assists in 5 total games. Veleno was granted “exceptional” status as a youngster meaning he was granted the ability to start his junior hockey career as a 15-year-old rather than waiting until he was 16.

Veleno was expected to be a top 15 pick in last years NHL draft. The Detroit Red Wings were lucky enough to see him slide to their second pick in the first round. They took Veleno with the 30th pick in the draft, one of the three picks Ken Holland received in the Tomas Tatar deal with the Vegas Golden Knights.

He’s been on a tear all season long with his QMJHL team the Drummondville Voltigeurs. He’s played 30 games and has 23 goals to go along with his 35 helpers totaling 58 points on the season. He is also a plus 37. Last season he totaled 48 points in 33 games.

Veleno had an excellent showing for the Detroit Red Wings this summer in his first taste of big league hockey. He had a strong training camp and solid preseason. I expect Veleno to really push next summer for a roster spot with the Wings.

I’d just like to mention something; We all want to see Filip Zadina this year, but it may be in the Wings best interest to limit him to 9 games in the NHL this season. If Zadina plays 10 with the Wings he will need to be protected in the NHL Seattle expansion draft. By preserving him the Wings could be in a situation were Zadina, Veleno and Jonatan Berggren would all not need to be protected in the draft.

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All three prospects are expected to be a part of the Detroit Red Wings in the coming years. The latter two players will not need to be protected, and with the Wings not expected to be a playoff team, why burn a year of Zadina’s entry-level contract this season when the club could push it back a year and protect someone else.

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