Detroit Red Wings: Ranking the top six prospects heading into training camp

Detroit Red Wings no. 5 prospect, Elmer Soderblom, 21, left-wing

Elmer Soderblom might be Detroit’s most intriguing prospect. Soderblom is a towering 6-foot-8 winger that isn’t just a bruising power forward, which his size suggests; he’s displayed a plethora of skill and hand-quickness around the net.

Check out Soderblom’s unbelievable goal in the 2021 IIHF World Junior Tournament.

https://twitter.com/hockeynight/status/1345506499007799298?s=20&t=9M9T2WdJq-7nfz7zUiLZfA

Soderblom’s size certainly translates to the NHL, but so do skillful plays like this. Once he arrives in Detroit, Soderblom has the makings of being a force around the net especially working with a man advantage on the power-play.

The Swedish force performed well alongside current Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond during their international tournament opportunities.

Soderblom got off to a slow start in 2020-21 with Frolunda HC in the Swedish Hockey League, scoring just three goals totaling five points in 28 games. Last season Soderblom blossomed, recording 21 goals totaling 33 points over 52 games. He’d also add three goals and six points in nine playoff games.

The 21-year-old is expected to begin the 2022-23 season with Grand Rapids. Don’t be shocked if we see the towering forward in Detroit at some point this season for a cup of coffee.

Detroit Red Wings no. 4 prospect, Marco Kasper, 18, center

This ranking may come as a bit of a surprise to some, considering Marco Kasper is the most recent first-round draft selection of the Detroit Red Wings. Some outlets will certainly have Kasper in Detroit’s top three, if not first in their prospect rankings, but the jury is still out on where Kasper’s full potential settles.

Being the fourth-best prospect isn’t an insult; look at this group of youthful prospects the Detroit Red Wings have accumulated over the last few years.

Kasper was selected eighth overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2022 NHLEntry Level Draft. Like when Yzerman and company chose Moritz Seider, this choice was a bit of a surprise.

The Red Wings have a clear need at the center position. Hence, the decision to pick a young center wasn’t a shock, and all signs pointed to Matthew Savoie, who went ninth overall to Buffalo, or Conor Geekie, who was selected 11th by Arizona.

Kasper is considered to be an all-around center that is very reliable in all three zones.

The 18-year-old is a gritty center and loves to get under your skin. He hangs his hat on being difficult to play against. He’s an extremely hard worker that is relentless in hounding the puck. He’s proven to be calm under pressure, and while he’s anything but flashy, he always seems to make the right play.

Kasper spent this past season in the Swedish Hockey League skating with Rogle BK Angelholm, where he’d record seven goals and 11 points over 46 games. He’d later add three goals and six points over 13 postseason contests.

Recently, Kasper had this to say about playing in the Swedish League;

“It’s a really structured league,” Kasper said. “Bigger ice, Olympic-sized ice, really good players in that league. It’s definitely hard to play there because of the structure and I’m really focusing on my defensive game.” “We play a fast-paced game, try to get out of our own zone fast, go and get the puck and work in the offensive zone as much as possible and create scoring chances from there,” Kasper said. “It’s been great playing there.”

The young forward is expected to remain overseas for the 2022-23 season as he’s also made schooling one of his top priorities.

It may be a year or two before we see the talented workhorse on the ice in North America, but another year playing in the highly competitive Swedish League isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Detroit Red Wings no. 3 prospect, Sebastian Cossa, 19, goalie

Sebastian Cossa stands 6-foot-6, a big netminder that excelled this past season in junior with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Cossa, a three-year starter for Edmonton, posted an incredible 33-9-3 record this past season, leading the Oil Kings to a Memorial Cup berth. Despite not winning the championship, Cossa performed exceptionally well.

Last season, Cossa posted a stellar 0.913% save percentage to go with a reliable 2.28 goals against average.

Josh Tessler of Smaht Scouting had this to say about Cossa’s speed and athleticism before Detroit drafted him.

Cossa loves to show off his athleticism but dropping to all fours on the breakaway. Usually, the attacker is too far down low for him to elevate the shot at that point. Cossa sprawls out and pushes the puck out of the crease. He has proven to be rather quick when it comes to shifting out of RVH to sprawling. While he enjoys sprawling out, it takes Cossa too long to get back up to his feet and that leads to vulnerable situations for Edmonton. But, the speed and quickness that Cossa embodies is what truly wows me about his athleticism. He is quite speedy when going from left to right when facing a two on two with one attacker coming down the right side (attacker’s right side) and a second attacker who found open ice at net front. Cossa deploys quality edge work to help push him from side to side. In addition, his reaction time is quite fast when closing up the five hole and when jumping back up to standing stance from the butterfly.

Upon leaving the organization, goaltending depth is another area former Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland left depleted.

Steve Yzerman was forced to transition from Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Bernier with bleak up-and-coming options to Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic, with Cossa coming in a few years.

Generally, it takes a netminder a bit longer than a skater to find their sea legs at the NHL level. Cossa is 19 years old, and it wouldn’t be out of the question if we don’t see him in Detroit as a staple until he’s 23 or 24.

It is uncertain where Cossa will play this upcoming season. In addition to adding Husso to the NHL roster, Yzerman bolstered the Griffins roster by adding a veteran netminder in Jussi Olkinuora, 31, to help mention 25-year-old Victor Brattström.

Cossa will need to impress Detroit’s brass during training camp and the upcoming prospects tournament if he hopes to unseat one of the current Griffins for a regular spot in Grand Rapids this year.

Detroit Red Wings no. 2 prospect, Jonatan Berggren, 22, winger

We are starting to get into the nitty-gritty of Detroit’s top prospects. The Detroit Red Wings selected Jonatan Berggren with the 33rd pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Level Draft.

Berggren is a tremendous athlete with an elite skill set. In 2020-21 Berggren performed exceptionally well in the Swedish Hockey League for Skelleftea AIK, recording 12 goals and 45 points over 49 games. This performance led to the Detroit Red Wings keeping him in North America for the 2021-22 season.

Last season, in his first full year in North America, Berggren led the Griffins in points and set a Grand Rapids rookie record, notching 64 points over 70 games. The skillful winger scored 21 goals and added 43 assists for the Griffins.

This clip was from last season’s prospect tournament in Traverse City. Check out Berggren’s playmaking ability setting up star forward Lucas Raymond for a one-timer that would find the back of the net.

There is no doubt that the Detroit Red Wings could have promoted Berggren at some point last season but instead elected to remain patient and allowed him to blossom at the AHL level.

At this point, Berggren is clearly Detroit’s top forward prospect. That Swedish-well has been oh-so-good to the Detroit Red Wings over the years. If you consider Raymond, this trio, which includes Soderblom and Berggren, has the makings of becoming a real force for the Detroit Red Wings in the coming years.

Detroit Red Wings’ top prospect, Simon Edvinsson, 19, defense

Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman was tasked with replenishing the organization’s prospect pool upon taking over from Ken Holland. The cupboards were bare, especially regarding the defense corps and goaltending pipeline.

Since taking over, things have quickly changed. Although we have yet to see Yzerman’s full effect on the ice, players like Simon Edvinsson, who was drafted by Detroit at no. 6 overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Level Draft, along with Jonatan Berggren, who Yzerman inherited, are not that far away. Sebastian Cossa, listed earlier, another Yzerman selection, is a top goaltending prospect that projects to make an impact at the NHL level in a few years.

The Red Wings have recently reaped the benefit of Yzerman’s draft brilliance seeing Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider both emerge as stars last season. Both rookies finished as finalists for the Calder Trophy awarded to the league’s top rookie, with Seider coming away with the hardware.

Recently, Yzerman mentioned that he doesn’t set aside roster spots for rookies; they, like veterans, need to earn their roles.

“I don’t sit here and plan on saying I’m gonna give Prospect A or Prospect B a spot on the roster,” Yzerman said. “I’m not going to do that.” In other words, no prospect is guaranteed a job next season, although Yzerman and the Red Wings are clearly excited about Simon Edvinsson’s potential to join the lineup. “He’s strong. He can skate really well. He does have a chance — I want to say a real good chance to play in the NHL next year,” Yzerman said. “It’s a bit of an educated guess based on okay, this is what Moritz Seider did in the Swedish League last year. Kind of compares him to that. Can he have a similar impact? He’s a different player than Moritz, really. Both are very good, young prospects, but there’s a little bit of a difference in the two of them, and we’ll see how he does. I’m optimistic.”

Yzerman may have drafted Seider’s future defense partner in 2021. Simon Edvinsson is a 6-foot-4 left-handed defender that excelled last season with Frolunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League.

Edvinsson totaled 19 points, including two goals, over 44 games. This production will prompt the Red Wings organization to keep its top prospect in North America for the upcoming season.

Before Yzerman overhauled Detroit’s roster in free agency, Edvinsson appeared to have a path to make the Red Wings’ opening night roster. Still, with the additions of  Ben Chiarot and Olli Maatta, in particular, Edvinsson seems destined to begin the year in Grand Rapids.

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This isn’t the worst choice; ask Moritz Seider, who dangled his toe in the water with the Griffins for a season before anchoring Detroit’s backend as a rookie last season.