Red Wings: Who Will be Called Up After the Trade Deadline?

With the trade deadline quickly approaching, rumors of possible moves for the Red Wings have been swirling around the league.  With a majority of those rumored to be moved beings members of the starting lines, there will certainly be a multitude of gaps to fill on Detroit’s depth chart.

Evgeny Svechnikov

The most obvious candidate to be slotted up to a position on the main roster is Svechnikov. The organization has already shown that Svech is one of the younger players they think is the most pro-ready. Since the start of the AHL season, he’s been the only Griffin that has repeatedly been called up to Detroit (Givani Smith and Taro Hirose have both stayed with the Griffins since their stint on the main roster). Svech has shown he can play at the NHL level – with limited minutes in six games, he managed to notch 4 points. Also to note, he’s currently 24 years old – and Detroit doesn’t really know what kind of player they have with him. The organization will probably want a larger sample size to decide if he belongs in the future of the organization. When space is freed up in the roster post-deadline, Svechnikov will likely be the first to land on the roster.

Taro Hirose

Hirose also remains one of the Griffins most likely to find himself in Detroit after the deadline. Before the start of the AHL season, Hirose was on the active roster of Detroit, playing in six games. Although he only put up two assists in his stint with the Wings, he remained one of the better playmakers on the power play. After being reassigned to the Griffins, Hirose has remained a good playmaker, leading the team in assists with eigh. If Detroit trades away a player that excels on special teams (Adam Erne), it would make since to bring up Hirose to make up for the loss.

Givani Smith

At the deadline, Jeff Blashill might lose some of his favorite type of players: those fourth line grinders who can grind out a line, win the small battles, and keep the offense defensively sound. With Giviani Smith, Blashill has a replacement that can do all that, plus some secondary scoring as well. Like Hirose, Smith was a member of Detroit’s roster while the Griffins were still inactive. With the Red Wings, he averaged half a point per game, with one goal and three assists (notably, one of the goals and one of the assists came in his Gordie Howe hat trick against Florida). After reassignment to the minors, Smith’s production remains similar, as his six points (3 goals 3 assists) have given him .6 points per game. If Detroit makes as many moves as is currently rumored, Smith is another player that is all but a lock to make it back to Detroit.

Other Red Wings Prospects

After Smith, Hirose, and Svech, the number of prospects ready to be called up shrinks significantly. With Moritz Seider, Jonatan Berggren, Albert Johansson, Joe Veleno, and Lucas Raymond all in the Swedish Hockey League, it’s almost certain none of the players will see ice time with the Wings this season (Even if Seider is ready for the pros).

In terms of players in Grand Rapids, the only other player Detroit has shown interest in bringing up in the 20-21 season has been Gustav Lindstrom. Although he hasn’t played a game with the Wings yet this season, he’s been on the team’s taxi squad on a few occasions. But with Cholowski called up, the defensive roster is getting a bit crowded, and it’s unlikely Lindstrom gets a shot this season. The same goes for Donovan Sebrango.

Although he’s shown plenty of promise, there’s still a lot of room to grow. The organization will keep him in Grand Rapids the rest of the season, and probably most of next season. Most of the rest of the Griffin’s roster will only find themselves in Detroit if there are a large amount of injuries following the deadline.