We hear all the time about the poor professional scouting that takes place for the Red Wings, but it’s possible their prospect management is worse.
The Detroit Red Wings have made many choices over their rebuild. Most are justifiable, or at the very least understandable.
Disappointing trades and poor roster management are part of the process. But there's a much more alarming pattern at stake.
The right veteran players are vital to any team’s success. When their feelings and lackluster play supersede the development of young prospects, it becomes a problem.
Defensive deployment reminiscent of the past
First, there was the decision to rob Albert Johansson. Call it what anyone wants, Johansson was robbed of invaluable NHL experience at the hands of pushing for an unachievable playoff spot a few years back. A playoff spot, mind you, that the Wings had no business chasing and were in no closer spot to performing well in than other bottom feeder teams in the league.
One could argue that Johansson looks good in the NHL now and has grown significantly in his tenure in the league. It’s still frustrating to think that, had he played in a handful of games in the 2023-24 season, the Red Wings may have been better off in the long run.
Johansson would sit weeks at a time on the bench while a handful of veterans underwhelmed. When he'd finally get a chance to play, a single mistake would banish him to the bench yet again. Why should younger players have to perform with such unreasonable expectations?
Most importantly, what does Johansson's deployment two season ago have to do with now?
Well, the Red Wings have repeated history.
The mishandling of Axel Sandin-Pellikka
Quite the opposite to start, the Red Wings gave Axel Sandin-Pellikka every second of ice time that he could handle until he bent too far. Was a break needed in March? Most likely. Did it need to be an excess of two weeks? Absolutely not.
Head coach of the Red Wings, Todd McLellan didn’t even try to work Sandin-Pellikka back into games. Just gave him “supposedly” (using the air quotes my aunt uses) valuable practice time.
Sandin-Pellikka is a wicked smart player that needs to play to improve. Watching for a game or two can help him reset, but it’s not going to help him process the live action decision-making and positioning he needs to improve in real games. Even practice can’t emulate those aspects and that (along with getting bigger) are the aspects he needs to improve.
If they were focusing on him improving his strength, that’s one thing. The middle of an NHL or AHL season is not an appropriate time. He has plenty of summer to work on his body for next fall. What he can’t improve over the summer are factors he can only improve with more playing time.
At this point, Sandin-Pellikka is too good for the AHL level. A step or two slower than the NHL, Sandin-Pellikka gets a bit more time and space to make plays, decisions, and position himself. Realistically, NHL timing is required to improve the gaps in his game. If his goal is to bulk up midseason, though, maybe some longer time in Grand Rapids would be a better solution.
Down the stretch, when the Red Wings needed offense or a momentum swing, they could have used Sandin-Pellikka’s offensive flair as often as they could have used Jacob Bernard-Docker’s physicality and defensive play.
Optimisim on the horizon for prospects
Thankfully, Griffins head coach Dan Watson is a confidence builder with any player in Grand Rapids. Not quite sure how he does it so well. Watson makes every player believe in not only their team, but just as importantly, he makes them believe in themselves.
From the Jonatan Berggrens getting reassigned when there literally isn’t a roster spot for them, to the Sandin-Pellikkas who are just trying to find constant ice time, in a decent role, Watson brings out the best in every player.
Last but not least, why the heck was Michael Brandsegg-Nygård anywhere but stapled into the top-six for a consistent period of time?
It’s ironic, anytime Brandsegg-Nygård was interviewed he seemed a bit awkward and lacking a bit of confidence. Those traits translated to the ice.
The moment he returned to Grand Rapids, his whole demeanor changed.
Maybe there's something to that.
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