Red Wings Grades: The Young Defensemen

PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 29: Dennis Cholowski #21 of the Detroit Red Wings looks on after the game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on November 29, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Flyers defeated the Red Wings 6-1. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 29: Dennis Cholowski #21 of the Detroit Red Wings looks on after the game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on November 29, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Flyers defeated the Red Wings 6-1. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
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Gustav Lindstrom

2021 Statline

Games Played: 13

Goals: 0

Assists: 3

+-: 1

Preseason Projection

Borderline NHLer

2021 Season in a Nutshell

Like Cholowski, Gustav Lindstrom spent a good chunk of his season in Grand Rapids. Because of his defensive style, Lindstrom didn’t quite have the stats that Cholowski did with the Griffins, but he did show promise as a low-risk reliable player on the blue line.

After appearing on the main roster, Lindstrom essentially lived up to those expectations. While his possession metrics are a bit ugly (40.8 CF%), the eye test showed a player relatively comfortable as a low-pairing NHL defenseman. Lindstrom made clean tape-to-tape passes (The best of which being a slick slide to Jakub Vrana for his first goal of the season) and didn’t make too many defensive mistakes.

They Said It

"“I don’t want to downplay the word ‘simple’ … I would say he just tends to make the right play. The right play might be the simple play and the right play might be a cross-seam play. He just makes the right play that’s available and manages risk-reward real well.”"

-Jeff Blashill via the Detroit News

Final Grade