The Red Wings have been bad longer than many of us would like. But that has created one of the league's deepest and strongest prospect pools.
With the team off to such a rough start this season, there have been calls to get rid of the vets and fans asking questions like: "Why don't the Red Wings just get rid of the vets and let the kids play?" or "Where are these prospects I keep hearing about?" Well, the answer to those questions is simple: developing.
What a lot of the "Where are the young guys" crowd forget is that most of our prospects projected to make the NHL are 2 or less years out of their draft class and a lot of them come from overseas where the game and Ice Is completely different. Can't just thrust them into the NHL.
— The Mexinadian (Petry Truther) (@The_Mexinadian) November 21, 2024
There is a lot more that goes into rebuilding an NHL team and developing drafted prospects than in any other league on the planet. You need to be careful what you do with your prospects because every choice you make has the potential to help or hurt them.
Prospect development needs to be priority #1 for the Red Wings
When drafting in the NHL, It's important to remember that it's different than drafting in most other leagues. Take the NFL draft, for example; you're drafting guys already in their early 20s who have played in a league where you're already meant to be in NFL shape. In the NHL Draft, you're drafting guys who are 17-19 year-olds, a majority of which have only played against players their age in leagues like the CHL (WHL, OHL, QMJHL), USHL, and college. Some come from the Russian Pro League (KHL) and the Swedish Pro League (SHL), but then you run into the problem of Ice size and league style.
With the NHL getting faster and more skilled every year, it becomes harder and harder for prospects to break into the league, and unless you're a top-three draft pick, the odds of you're likely not going to be in the league for another year or two depending on where you were playing in your draft year, and forcing them to play in the NHL before they're fully developed physically and mentally could be a real detriment on their development.
Take Red Wings prospect Nate Danielson; before the 2023-24 season, Danielson looked ready to make the jump. He was outperforming many of his fellow prospects in training camp and preseason. Due to the roster depth at the time, he had to go back to the WHL. Then you look at the 2024-25 training camp and preseason; while he did look good at training camp, during preseason, you could tell that he wasn't 100% ready for the jump. He was losing puck battles, getting knocked down too easily, and being outmuscled most of the time. While he is starting to look good with the Grand Rapids Griffins, It woud be a bad idea to bring him up to the NHL on a full-time basis with his minimal pro experience.
As it stands, this is the case for most of the Red Wings prospects. Sure, you have Nate Danielson and Carter Mazur, who'll likely make the jump next season. But that's about it, barring an unexpected jump. Guys like Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, and Dmitri Buchelnikov may have pro-level experience. Still, it's all in Europe, where the playstyles and ice sizes differ from North American styles and ice sizes. So they'll probably need an extra year in the AHL, at least, to get used to the North American game style.
Skellefteå wins 5-2
— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) November 21, 2024
Axel Sandin Pellikka(1st round’23)
2 Assists 6 SOG +2 21:32 TOI
Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (1st round’24)
1 Assist 3 SOG +2 1 Hit 14:09 TOI
Great physical game by both. I thought ASP pinned a lot forwards to stop cycles. MBN had multiple reverse hits. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/PFu6CtHJU9
Then you have prospects like Emmitt Finnie and Red Savage. They are both good prospects who are used to playing the North American style and on North American ice but have been playing guys their age in the junior and college leagues. And this isn't the same as college football, where all you're players who are getting drafted are already in their 20s. This is where you're playing other 17 to 19-year-olds with the occasional 20-year-old sprinkled in. So, drafting out of college in hockey is about the same as drafting out of the junior leagues.
The point I'm getting at here is that yes, we are all getting tired of the same story every year and being told to "wait for the kids." but in the end, it's true. The prospect pool the Red Wings have created is one of the best in the league at all positions. But that doesn't mean that we should throw our unprepared prospects into the best league in the world. It has the potential to stifle their development and ruin a prospect or two who are necessary for the Red Wing's future success. In my opinion, it's far better for the Red Wings to remain patient with their prospects and bring them up when they feel they're ready.