Sergei Kolosov signs with Detroit

Well I’ll be damned.

Let’s run through this real quick to show you how little I know about the plans of the Detroit Red Wings sometimes.

Belarussian defenseman Siarhei Kolasau is drafted by Detroit 151st overall in 2004, a rare player taken straight out of the Belarussian Elite League. Detroit encourages him to play major junior hockey and he’s drafted by Prince George in the WHL. Visa problems kept him from joining his team, they dropped his rights, so he was stuck in Belarus another year. He played with Belarus in the WJCs so I got to see him play and all I remember is he was slow but probably had the hardest three hits of the tournament on his own.

Detroit again recommends he play major junior and this time he isn’t drafted. So he joins Cedar Rapids in the USHL, changes his name to Sergei Kolosov, and plays there for two years, recording 21 points in 101 games. Detroit recommends he finds an ECHL or IHL team to play with and instead, he returns to Belarus. So here I am thinking this guy has done nothing to please Detroit and is a long, long-shot for a contract.

Looking back at some of the things I’ve said about him is funny. This season you couldn’t even find his stats online until the end of the year. Kolosov makes his debut at WTF Holland at 28th out of 29 on the midseason prospect rankings. He then drops down one spots (due to the addition of one new prospect) and it was a last minute decision to put him at 29 for the end of season rankings. I had him at 30, behind the permanent knee injury that is Logan Koopmans. I then realized that was offensive. Never had anything against Kolosov, it just goes down as a black mark in my book when players disobey the wishes of Detroit (returning to Europe when Detroit wants them in the AHL or something). Kolosov had a couple black marks. In those rankings I said “the most exciting thing about Kolosov’s season is that I found his stats.”

So in April I write that Kolosov is making a last ditch effort for a contract because I read Detroit would scout him at the World Championships. He played six games with no points and a -4, so I didn’t think that was all too impressive. Then two weeks ago when he missed his signing deadline I just acknowledged him by saying he was a lost cause. Then I read Detroit’s still interested which I mentioned yesterday. And lo and behold, today Kolosov has a shiny two-year entry-level contract. To make matters worse he might have switched back to Siarhei Kolasau.

So, Kolasau, Kolosov, whatever you are. I apologize. I guess that goes to show you that I don’t do my research all the time. It’s hard to get excited about a guy posting average numbers in Belarus’ top league, which is not up to snuff with the rest of Europe. It’s hard to get excited about a guy who Detroit liked and couldn’t showcase his ability against a talent level Detroit was comfortable with. I said some negative things but they were mostly baseless (and to be fair there was nothing positive to say) on the condition they would never come back to haunt me. The nice thing about the blog is that all that stuff is stored so I can just click the name and see what I’ve thought.

But Siarhei Kolosov/Sergei Kolasau/Serj does offer something to be excited about. He’s just mean. He’s vicious, and plays physical all the time. He’s not offensive at all but he’s a good skater and has made strides as a puck mover. He’s an interesting package, one of a kind in the Detroit system. It makes sense too, because even if Detroit sends Ericsson down to Grand Rapids they still only have three prospects down there.

Where to put him? That remains to be seen. Can a guy who stumbled through two years of USHL hockey followed by a year of Belarussian hockey jump right into the AHL? Who knows? Detroit had one-year agreements with two IHL affiliates — Flint and Port Huron. Detroit had one spot to send a player and didn’t use either, not that they had anyone who really needed it. Kolokrow might be a good candidate for that spot if Detroit decides to renew the agreement with either team. But as I just mentioned, there’s room in Grand Rapids. He’ll be given every opportunity to secure a top-six spot. It’s not like Grand Rapids has a title to defend, they’ve got the room if he’s ready.

One thing’s for sure, he won’t be in the bottom two of the next edition of prospect rankings. I will make sure of that.

Pair of prospects compete for World Junior spots

Preliminary Camp Rosters for the World Junior Championships came out this week for the United States and Canada.

On each list you’ll find two Detroit prospects. Tom McCollum is one of five goaltenders in the running for Team USA and defenseman Brendan Smith is one of 16 defenseman for Team Canada. McCollum is a likely bet to get a spot on Team USA and compete with Plymouth Whalers Jeremy Smith for starting time. Smith has a good chance of making Canada, but is by no means a lock. Both players were at their countries’ camps last season and neither made it.

A notable absence from Canada’s list is Zack Torquato. Torquato didn’t have much of a shot to make the team but probably should have made the camp. He didn’t have a bad season but hopefully this will light a fire under him.

Other countries don’t generally release lists this early, but it’s a safe bet to say that Joakim Andersson will represent Sweden for a second straight season. Gustav Nyquist has got to have a decent chance of making the team.

And, just for something fun for me to do right now and look back on in a couple months, here’s how I’d pick Team USA. This is in alphabetical order mind you.

Goaltenders: Thomas McCollum, Jeremy Smith

Defensemen: Jonathan Blum, Zach Bogosian, Ian Cole, Cade Fairchild, Ryan McDonagh, Nick Petrecki, Kevin Shattenkirk

Forwards: Drayson Bowman, Mike Hoeffel, Tyler Johnson, Danny Kristo, Colin Long, James O’Brien, Aaron Palushaj, Matt Rust, Jordan Schroeder, Eric Tangradi, James vanRiemsdyk, Mitch Wahl, Colin Wilson

Wings content to wait on Axelsson and Ryno

News is officially starting to get slow, so here comes a slew of prospects bits.

The NHL and NHLPA have made a ruling on what to do with the length of rights for prospects while there is no transfer agreement with the IIHF. As I mentioned earlier this affects two Detroit prospects, Anton Axelsson, and Sergei Kolosov. Both were supposed to be signed by June 1st but Detroit didn’t sign either of them. Because the of the lack of transfer agreement, Detroit didn’t lose exlusive rights to them. Well the NHLPA has ruled that Kolosov must be signed by July 1st, and has yet to weight in on Axelsson.

Kolosov is definitely a huge long shot but there’s no denying Detroit sees something in him. I wrote him off after he bolted back to Belarus instead of finding an ECHL or IHL team on Detroit management recommendation.

But according to RedWingsCentral, the Wings are crossing their fingers that they get a little more time than that with Axelsson. Detroit signed a big class of prospects already and Axelsson kind of got pushed out by the sheer volume of rookie forwards going into Grand Rapids. But he’s an established SEL player and a great checker for his team. Detroit still likes him and Hakan Andersson is praying they get more time to watch him.

Also in that article, the Red Wings say they approve of Ryno staying in Sweden. Again, I took his move as a big “no thanks” when he bolted out of Grand Rapids for Sweden. He played with Djurgarden in the SEL and then transferred to AIK in the Allsvenksa (second tier) in the offseason, saying he intends to stay there. A lot of Red Wings fans, including myself, wrote him off for this. But Hakan notes that he’ll get big minutes there. AIK approached Ryno and told him they would give him first line minutes and powerplay minutes, even though they know they have a strong team already. They expect to make a big push for promotion back into the SEL and it would be great for Ryno to be a big part of a successful team opposed to, let’s face it, what’s going to be a bumpy ride in Grand Rapids with so many young players. This is going to be Ryno’s second year of a three year deal. If he can take confidence out of this and give North America another try for his final year, there might still be hope for him yet.

Finally in prospects news, if you saw “Axelsson” in the title and thought Dick Axelsson, you won’t leave disappointed. That’s right, Dick Axelsson is still playing hockey. He’s with Team Sweden in the IIHF Inline World Championships. He’s doing well so far, leading Sweden and tied for second in the whole tournament in scoring with 3 goals and 7 points in 3 games. Coming from someone who plays roller hockey and has played with junior A/junior B level ice hockey players, the transition is not as easy as it sounds. Stopping and turning sharply take some time to get used to and any defensive game you think you have is useless, too many penalties. It’s all offensive instincts and stickhandling — it’s 4 on 4 so there’s plenty of room. If Dick can continue to produce it would be a nice compliment to his offensive ability, giving Wings fans hope that this great name will find himself in a Detroit uniform someday.

Detroit Draft Review 2008

It’s like Christmas!

And I’d say Santa Holland did well to deliver. The Wings diversified their current core of prospects, knocking out virtually every need for players that need to be replenished in the Detroit system. We got a goalie, we got tough guys, big guys, skilled guys, and guys that are mixes of all of those things.

Detroit really flexed it’s scouting muscle, picking two OHLers, one USHLer, one from the Swedish J20 league, one Quebec-born player playing prep hockey in New York, and one player from Division 1 (third-tier) Sweden. That translates to one goalie, one defenseman, and four forwards.

Education and persistence are key. Detroit selected three college-bound players who’s rights they hold on to for longer than major junior or European league players. They also selected three players that were eligible for last year’s draft. Safe to say Detroit had their eye on some of these guys for a long time.

1ST ROUND
Tom McCollum
Goaltender … 6′2″, 205 lbs … December 7, 1989 … Amherst, New York … Guelph Storm (OHL) … 51 GP 91.4% 2.50 GAA 4 SO
CSB: 1 NA G | ISS: 2G | McKeen’s: 25 | THN: 38 | TSN: 24 | RLR: 43

Detroit set up their goaltending for the future by acquiring a third potential starting netminder, Tom McCollum, ranked first or second by most publications for goaltenders, but not drawing as much first round interest as the likes of Jacob Markstrom, Jake Allen, and Chet Pickard. McCollum was one of the best goalies in the OHL last year and continued his strong pace this year. Jimmy Howard will get the chance to backup Chris Osgood, but McCollum is good insurance in case Howard or Swedish sensation Daniel Larsson hit a wall in development. Some say Detroit could have added a skilled forward here, but I ask you when Detroit has ever been a team who can’t find skilled forwards in the later rounds. We needed a goalie, and rather than waiting until the later rounds for “depth” Detroit went for the home run.

STRENGTHS: McCollum plays a butterfly style and excels at making his already big body look even bigger, cutting down angles and smothering rebounds. TSN’s Bob McKenzie said that McCollum probably has the quickest glove hand of the draft. He’s quick and could perhaps get even quicker if he sheds a little weight like Jimmy Howard did, as the two are nearly identical in size during their draft years. He moves quickly in his crease and minimizes his movements, conserving energy. He is a pretty consistent goalie when he gets going, and is great coming out of the crease to challenge shooters when he’s confident. Very calm, very humble, and very personable.

WEAKNESSES: Some say he’s inconsistent because he had a bad start to the season, but I think that has to do more with him not playing on a very strong team that wasn’t playing very well. He generally is the same goalie from night to night. If there are any substantiated knocks on him, it’s that he’s not all that great of a puckhandler and he has trouble finding loose pucks at his feet in scrums. He can get pretty unorthodox in those situations, despite being almost as technical as they come, which makes sense since he grew up a Sabres fan and saw a lot of Dominik Hasek. I’m putting this in the weakness section for a reason.

FUTURE: McCollum is headed back to the OHL for a third season, at the very least. He’s already being talked about as a candidate to be traded at the deadline should Guelph ice a bad team again, since he carries the team on his back with almost no help. He should be a lock for Team USA’s U-20 team this December but sometimes the selection committee doesn’t take too kindly to American players who play junior hockey in Canada and not with the USA National Development team. After that, it’s very flexible. McCollum is a late-birthday, meaning although this was his first year eligible, he was born after the September 15 cutoff date so most players of his birth year were taken last season. This means that McCollum can turn pro after one more year in the OHL or Detroit can leave him one season after that without needing to sign him. Ideally, in two years Osgood will retire and Howard and Larsson will run the show in Detroit. McCollum will develop for three seasons in Grand Rapids and take over for whichever Detroit goalie isn’t performing, or, be a valuable, tradeable asset for Detroit.

3RD ROUND
Max Nicastro
Defenseman … 6′2″, 189 lbs … March 2, 1990 … Thousand Oaks, California … Chicago Steel (USHL) … 58 GP 6-14–20 78 PM
CSB: 90 NA

Max Nicastro wasn’t on the map from a lot of scouting services, but I actually had Detroit taking him in a mock draft I did. Not much reason behind it behind Nicastro being a physical defenseman. Now that he’s been taken and I’ve read more about him I like the pick much better. I believe Nicastro is the first California-born player taken by Detroit and I know he’s the first player born in the 90s. Scary thought. His favorite player is Nick Lidstrom and he says Scotty Bowman is one of the people he’d most like to have dinner with.. which is something he got to do with the rest of the Detroit picks just today.

STRENGTHS: Nicastro is a rarity in the Detroit system. He’s a big, physical defenseman. He’s more in the mold of a defensive defenseman but skates extremely well. He’s a hard-worker and excels on the penalty kill. He possesses a big, hard shot, making him a candidate for the powerplay. Defensively he is as sound as they come, combining his mobility with his physicality to eliminate forwards a variety of ways. An option as a puck-rusher if he’s confident enough. Plays against opponent’s top lines and for the most part came out as an elite shutdown defender

WEAKNESSES: The reason I bring up confidence is because Nicastro is not that great of a puckmover. He’s criticized for making poor decisions and could be a better passer. He still rushes the puck and I think if he’s confident enough he can do it at other levels because of his speed. He plays on the powerplay right now but will need to become a better passer to do it in college and in the pros.

FUTURE: Nicastro’s got an enticing future ahead of him. With college players, you hold their rights until they graduate, so, four years. Nicastro is actually going to stay in the USHL for one more season so that means Detroit will hold his rights for 5 years, until 2013. Nicastro is raw but he shouldn’t be by that time. He’ll play again for the Chicago Steel, hopefully getting stronger and better offensively. For whatever reason, he considers himself finesse and says he patterns his game after Lidstrom, so hopefully he can get in touch with his offensive soul. He will join Boston University in 2009. Welcome to the team kid, you’ll be on the prospect rankings for a long time.

4TH ROUND
Gustav Nyquist
Left Wing … 5′10″, 169 lbs … September 1, 1989 … Halmstad, Sweden … Malmö J20 (SWE-JR) … 24 GP 11-20–31 20 PM
Unranked

Gustav Nyquist is the off-the-board Swede we’ve come so accustomed to. He was eligible for last year’s draft but passed over, and unranked in this one although I had heard of him and most Swedes expected him to be selected. Nyquist is the skilled forward I said Detroit could find in the later rounds, making up for taking a goalie in the first round.

STRENGTHS: Nyquist is all offense. He’s got big league speed and an exceptional all-around skater. He has a quick wristshot and he’s a good passer, making him more of an all-around offensive player. He’s creative and fans love watching him play every night. He’s got good hockey sense, which seems to be the common denominator in which Detroit picks do the best.

WEAKNESSES: I can’t really find anything about his defensive game or play away from the puck. He’ll need to add some weight to his frame but not too much. He also spent some time this season injured, so hopefully nothing will bother him this season. Getting bigger will help him out, as it seems the injury was a back injury and a stronger back would do him well.

FUTURE: Nyquist, who is Swedish, is actually headed to the University of Maine next season it seems. He debated between playing with his club in the Allsvenskan or heading out to play college hockey. Should he become a Black Bear, Detroit will hold his rights for four years and will certainly find a time to fit him in.

5TH ROUND
Julien Cayer
Center … 6′4″, 186 lbs … July 6, 1989 … Longueuil, Quebec … Northwood School (NY-HS) … 38 GP 24-32–56
CSB: 123

Just when I thought they couldn’t go any further off the board after Nyquist, I met Julien Cayer. After going undrafted last year, he was actually ranked by the CSB but I’d never heard of him, meaning that yet again I failed to meet my goal of knowing every player Detroit takes before they take them. Cayer was born in Quebec and opted not to go to the QMJHL. He played junior A in Quebec last season before coming this season to New York to play high school prep hockey. His school is very exclusive and prestigious, putting out such NHLers as Mike Richter and Tony Granato. They play the top prep teams on the east coast and a few games against teams in the EJHL, a junior league based mostly in the New England area.

STRENGTHS: Cayer actually attended the draft and was interviewed on the NHL Network shortly after being picked. He said Detroit told him they liked his speed and skill and he’s said to have an oustanding shot — fast and accurate. He only recently grew into his frame so he’s got little man skills in a big man’s body. Going for a big home run with this pick. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders and took a smart path to the NHL. During his interview he just kept saying all the right things about doing whatever it takes to go to the NHL and he will turn pro whenever Detroit wants him to.

WEAKNESSES: Obviously I don’t know much else about Cayer. Detroit sees him as a power forward so he’ll need to get stronger and heavier, although he will have plenty of time to do so.

FUTURE: Another college-bound forward. He’ll be attending Clarkson with 2007 7th round pick Bryan Rufenach. Cayer’s older brother just graduated from Clarkson and he was a fan favorite. Clarkson fans seem very excited to be getting Julien and think he could be a great offensive player for the team.

6TH ROUND
Stephen Johnston
Center … 6′1″, 175 lbs … February 24, 1990 … Guelph, Ontario … Belleville Bulls (OHL) … 56 GP 2-5–9 12 PM
CSB: 101

I might be more excited about any pick in the draft. To the untrained eye, Johnston is an average sized center who only scored two goals this year. But look a little deeper. Johnston played on one of the deepest teams in the league, Belleville, of which it was an accomplishment enough to see regular playing time. He reminds a lot of scouts of Shawn Matthias and rose onto the rankings late in the season, fittingly, when he replaced an injured Shawn Matthias on the top scoring line. I’m not saying Johnston will replace the loss of Matthias, but he’s certainly in a very similar situation.

STRENGTHS: This season Johnston played a physical, energy game. He only scored two goals in the regular season but five in the playoffs when called upon for injuries. Scouts noticed and think he has the offensive ability to produce in the OHL next season as his team is losing a lot of veterans. Johnston’s also pretty big. He’s 6′1″ and lanky, and could probably reach about 6′2″ when he fills out. Big, hard-working, physical, two-way player. Sounds a bit like Matthias to me.

WEAKNESSES: No guarantee he breaks out next season, leaving a very puzzling pick here. Like Matthias, his offense might not translate well to the NHL. At best he could be a two-way second liner. But he seems almost a pretty safe bet for the third or fourth line if he scores next season like he did in the playoffs this season.

FUTURE: Most certainly headed back to Belleville for this season and next. Not to keep bringing up Matthias, but he’s in a very similar situation where he didn’t come on until the end of the season. The difference is Belleville was much worse in Matthias’ draft year, so he got more playing time and was forced into his role. Johnston just had no were else to play besides the fourth line. He’ll get that playing time next season and plays the hard-working style that so many Detroit prospects have. I think it’ll be a short time before he’s recognized as a steal.

7TH ROUND
Jesper Samuelsson
Center … 5′11, 179 … June 13, 1988 … Stockholm, Sweden … Vita Hästen (SWE-3) … 40 GP 20-42–62 73 PM
Unranked

Samuelsson was taken, unranked, being passed over in two different drafts, 2006 and 2007. One pick away from being passed over in a third. The similarities to two Red Wing home runs are remarkable. In 2000, Detroit took a 5′11 forward playing for Timra 210th overall — Henrik Zetterberg. In 2008, Detroit took a 5′11 forward who just signed with Timra 211th overall — Jesper Samuelsson. In 2002, with the last pick of the draft, Detroit selected a forward from Vita Hästen of the Swedish Division-1 — Jonathan Ericsson. In 2008, with the last pick of the draft, Detroit selected a forward from Vita Hästen of the Swedish Division-1 — Jesper Samuelsson. But let’s not get carried away just yet.

STRENGTHS: Pretty much everything on his EliteProspects page is all that’s available. “A player that has, a bit in the dark, put up excellent numbers in the Swedish third tier league. Samuelsson is a good skater with decent puckhandling. He has very good hockey sense and is good at delivering the puck. Looks confident with the puck and is valuable with the man advantage.” He’s also 20 and pretty filled out already, though he could get bigger.

WEAKNESSES: Samuelsson played at a low level of hockey this year. Actually, he played for his club in Swedish Division-1 (third-tier) for four straight seasons. Raw wouldn’t even begin to describe him. He didn’t get the proper development of most other Swedish prospects did in junior league systems with sproadic time on senior league teams. Also, I must mention, his last name is Samuelsson. This is a weakness.

FUTURE: Samuelsson has finally been discovered. After four years in Division-1, Samuelsson has signed a two-year deal with Timra in the SEL starting next season. He can hopefully be an impact player right away for them but that’s a big jump. Essentially from a very good beer league to the best league in Sweden. He could get loaned out to an Allsvenskan team for more playing time. But if he sticks with Timra, there’s no doubt that he’s a player.

—————

So there they are, the six newest Red Wings. Six players which hopefully in the future, can make NHL fans everywhere wonder how such a good player slipped to Detroit a la Franzen and Filppula this season, likely Jonathan Ericsson next season, and so many Wings in the past. But you’ve read this, so you know. I am very happy with this draft. We got a couple home run picks lined up and most of them are going to college, so Detroit will have them around for a while.

The Wings addressed some major needs and did so without further overcrowding their system. I’ll definitely dig around for more on some of these guys and put it up on here if it’s of interest.

Bring on 2009. Possibly the best draft in 15-20 years. This is one you will not want to miss.

Meet Tom McCollum

Imagine how I felt after watching the top 20 and the only players that the only players scratched off the list of guys I wanted Detroit to draft were Joe Colborne, Jake Gardiner, Erik Karlsson, and Luca Sbisa, of which only Colborne was in my top 10. Things were looking good.

But then, in the span of seven picks, six guys that I had on my list were mowed down. Mattias Tedenby, Greg Nemisz, Anton Gustafsson, all in my top 5, then Jordan Eberle, Tyler Ennis, John Carlson. I was getting nervous. The guys at TSN kept mentioning that Phoenix has three 2nd round picks and might trade two or a first. Detroit actually did that in 2006 with Phoenix, trading their 29th overall pick for two of the top ten picks in the 2nd round. I wanted to trade down a little because we were getting near the bottom of the list of guys I wanted. Then Anaheim jumped in and traded the 28th to Phoenix for 34 and 39, in what seems to be a draft day trend of other general managers practically giving good assets away to Brian Burke.

I was worried. Aaron Ness, Nicolas Deschamps, and Corey Trivino were really the only guys left that I truly wanted, besides the goalies. I didn’t think Detroit would take a goalie. But then, bam, Thomas McCollum. A guy I’ve watched in the OHL for two years is now a Red Wing. Strange feeling.

And I really like this pick. I think I specified Jake Allen and Jacob Markstrom as the goalies I wanted but that was because McCollum wasn’t really talked about much this season. Most services didn’t have him that high, besides the CSB which had him first for North American goalies.

I first saw McCollum last season, where he started with the Guelph Storm. Guelph plays in the same conference as the Plymouth Whalers so I saw McCollum a lot last season (Guelph played Plymouth in the playoffs last year too) and a fair bit this season. The very first game I saw him I thought he was going to be the best goalie to come out of the ‘07 draft class. That’s because I knew he was an 89 but I didn’t know he was born in December — making him 2008-eligible.

He’s very sound. Butterfly goalie, big, quick, no real weaknesses. Everything I’m reading says “consistency” but I can assure you that’s no problem. Guelph sucks, and they were worse at the beginning of the season. McCollum was fine. Then they got better, and McCollum got better. He had a bad half statistically, but it’s not like he’s a different goalie on two different nights.

I think goaltending is a need. We’re deep up front. We’re overcrowded on the blueline. At both those positions, if someone busts, we have another in the system. At goaltending, we have two potential starting goalies. But if one of them busts, if one of them so much as stagnates as just a backup.. we have nothing. Unless you include Logan Koopmans, who averaged 16 games played a season since signing with Detroit two years ago, and Stefan Liv, an RFA who we lose rights to July 1st.

We needed a goalie anyway. Now we have another bluechipper. We were good in goal before — now we’re set. It doesn’t really help us out that much to take a longshot in the 6th round. We’ll have the “depth” but it’s a big roll of the dice if he ever turns pro. McCollum is safe.

Best case scenario. Osgood has two years left. Howard will likely back him up both of those years. If he’s ready, he’ll get the reigns in 2010/2011. Larsson will have played two years in the AHL and will hopefully be ready to backup Howard. McCollum will need a contract and will go to the AHL in two years. Hopefully he does well, Larsson and Howard battle it out to start in Detroit while McCollum hones his game in the AHL. Eventually, we might have three great young goalies, a nice “problem” to have.

One of them will have to emerge as Detroit’s goalie for the next decade. And, worst case scenario, another will become a decent backup.

That’s how I feel. I love Aaron Ness, and admit I would have prefered him. I even had Jacob Markstrom as the top ranked goalie but I have not seen him play much. I am perfectly fine “settling” on McCollum. I can’t genuinely argue for Markstrom since I’ve seen McCollum so much. There has never been a doubt in my mind he will be a starting goalie someday, somewhere, in the NHL.

McCollum is back to Guelph next season, and a candidate to be traded to a contender if Guelph doesn’t get it going again. He’ll likely spend two more years in the OHL but can play in the AHL after one. I don’t see Detroit hurrying him along to sit on the bench behind Larsson. McCollum also has a good chance at making the USA World Junior team next December. I thought he’d be there this year but Plymouth Whalers’ Jeremy Smith made the team and surprisingly was the starter. I was so pumped for him — what a dilemma I’ll face this year if McCollum and Smith are the goalies. Who would I want to see start?

The fun starts back up in 8 hours. Bring on the sleepers and Swedes!

Mike Stothers sacked as Griffins coach

A rare failed Detroit experiment? Read on.

Last offseason it was a big deal that Detroit said they would be investing more time into the proper development of the Griffins. They were given the ability to sign their own coach to run the Griffins.

They promptly hired Mike Stothers. This is a guy who coached the Owen Sound Attack in the OHL to two consecutive first round defeats, followed by a resurgence of the organization that led to a 2nd place division finish, and a second round defeat. The team was supposed to contend the next season but underacheived the whole way, to the third barely-.500 season in Stothers’ tenure. They lost in the second round. Stothers was then signed by Detroit to coach the Griffins.

They liked him. It was a good idea, in theory. He was a lot like Mike Babcock. Straight shooter, same basic philosophies. That’s important. The players don’t experience such a shock when they’re coming into the NHL, and you’re grooming another potential coach for Detroit if and when they ever need a new one.

So today Detroit decided to give control of the Griffins’ managment back to the Griffins and they responded by firing Stothers within hours.

The team was a disaster this season. They could have been one of the best in the league — and they at LEAST should have made the playoffs. Coming off a few of the best years in franchise history, the team was stocked with well-establshed AHL, borderline-NHL players. Brad Ference, Carl Corazzini, Mark Cullen, Mark Hartigan, Randall Gelech, Garrett Stafford, Adam Berkhoel, etc. Then there was a group of Detroit prospects expected to be coming into their own with the team, Ryan Oulahen, Evan McGrath, Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard, Kyle Quincey. And a few of Detroit’s top prospects coming in as rookies, Darren Helm, Jakub Kindl, Johan Ryno, Mattias Ritola.

And you can’t say that any one of those guys had a good season. The “veterans” all had awful years, with the exception of Hartigan who played well enough to stick in the NHL. No one could score, and Berkhoel was an awful backup goalie. The Detroit prospects that were supposed to become veterans didn’t accomplish much until the end of the year. I think Oulahen, McGrath, Helm, and Ritola all scored at least 15 (of their 30-40 something points) in the last 20 games of the season. Helm didn’t even play that well for what he was expected to do there, but obviously had the talent. Kindl was one of the worst +/- years in all of the AHL, relegated to just the second powerplay. Ryno bolted back to Sweden, for family reasons, but who knows, coaching could have been part of it.

Just not a good fit. I will definitely update as soon as this situation is sorted out. I liked the idea of Stothers, but he was just not a good coach. I guess I’d like to see someone who can win first and foremost. Babcock isn’t a good coach because he’s Babcock, he’s a good coach because he wins. Grand Rapids is going to be very young next season, it’ll take a pretty good coach to get them to the playoffs. But it’s huge if they do, because that’ll mean the youth of Detroit is really coming along.

And just to preview, here’s what we have in Grand Rapids already.

Jan Mursak – Evan McGrath – Mattias Ritola
Justin Abdelkader – Cory Emmerton – Jamie Tardif
Randall Gelech – Francis Pare

with a couple questions in Dick Axelsson (likely Sweden), Johan Ryno (might be done with NA), Ryan Oulahen (qualified by Detroit but needs to clear waivers for GR), Ville Leino (might be Europe-bound if he doesn’t make NHL), and then Mark O’Leary, Chris Mueller, Josef Fojtik and Mike Walsh who were all on Grand Rapids contracts and will probably be brought back in that order. So Detroit probably will sign 2-3 guys for the AHL, hopefully some top line talent since there’s not a lot of experience there.

Defense is a little cloudy.

Jakub Kindl – Logan Pyett

Jonathan Ericsson might end up back there. Grand Rapids has one defenseman already under contract in Tom Galvin. Other than that, Jon Insana, Cleve Kinley, and Jason Jozsa were under contract last season and could be brought back. But they were all kinda awful. I’d hope that Detroit would fill this out the most, with at least three free agents.

In goal it looks like it’s Larsson. Hopefully a more veteran backup to help him along in his first season. Berkhoel could not be relied on and Howard was probably played too frequently in the second half of year.

Looks like a step in the right direction though, for sure. Average age of that team right now has to be like 21.5.

Is Holland rolling the dice on Filppula?

In my Offseason Gameplan post, step 3 consisted of signing Valtteri Filppula before July 1st. People finally know who he is. He’d be a guy a team could sacrifice a few picks for.

And a comment by Kenny Holland has me concerned. He spoke to the media about his plans for the team’s unsigned players. He says the top priority is re-signing Brad Stuart. He says Chris Chelios’ comment about him being a signature away from a new contract is premature and they need to further talk about his role. The team will carry 8 defensemen and Chelios will be #7 or #8. To me, that says, “we don’t really need you anymore, take a hint!” but whatever. At least he isn’t a regular.

But I digress. Holland’s goes on to say he’s waiting on a retirement decision from Dallas Drake by July 1st. He’s appears to have offered something to Lilja and says Lilja needs to make a decision on whether he’ll take less to stay on a winning club or try his luck elsewhere. I’m leaning towards him not coming back. He’s making an offer to Darren McCarty, and says he will talk to Aaron Downey and Mark Hartigan to see if they’re right for Detroit next season.

He doesn’t appear to be in the market for trading a defenseman right now. If Lilja, Chelios, and Stuart all come back the team has 10 NHL defensemen. Holland says that’s a good thing, and it will “work itself out.” Everyone will compete at camp and a moves will be made accordingly. Hopefully that bodes well for Jonathan Ericsson, who I hope will make the team if he’s good enough.

And lastly, he mentions he made a qualifying offer to the team’s restricted free agents: Valtteri Filppula, Jimmy Howard, Jonathan Ericsson, Kyle Quincey, and Ryan Oulahen. At the very least, this means all of these players will be restricted free agents.. no surprising young UFAs. Quincey also told a Grand Rapids radio station that if he does not make the team he would like to be traded.. something that Holland would likely try to do anyway.

But then Holland made a comment concerning Filppula.

“Fil is very happy here. We’ve done a good job developing Fil,” Holland said. “Offer sheets don’t concern me. (We’ve) got tons of (salary cap) space. We’re in a position to match any offer sheet he receives.”

I’m probably making something out of nothing but I really don’t like that comment. Why risk someone throwing too much at Filppula? It seems like he should be higher up on the priority list. Obviously, if someone gives him something ridiculous we get a couple draft picks, but still. Not a great gamble to take, especially since Filppula’s still just 23. We have the cap room to match an offer but come next season, when Zetterberg and Franzen have new contract, Detroit’s gonna need every dollar to stay under that cap. The RFA market is just going to be so unpredictable. Most GMs acknowledge that the “code” of not going after RFAs is now broken, and many GMs would love to take a run at Kevin Lowe for breaking that code last offseason, inflating salaries on Thomas Vanek, and poaching Dustin Penner from Anaheim. Still, others yet (think small markets with a lot of cap space) probably love that the code is broken and might be a little trigger happy on making a big splash on an RFA like Filppula.

I’m confident Filppula will be a Red Wing next season, and this is probably only bothering me because there’s nothing else to talk about, but still. Don’t think I didn’t say it before it went down. I’m pretty sure we’ll see at least a couple offer sheets tendered this July, and I’d rather have to weigh whether I’d want Filppula or a couple first round draft picks and $5 million in cap room. Not pretty.

Igor Larionov to the Hall

I’ve blogged quite a bit today already, but I can’t sleep so here’s more hockey news!

This year’s Hall of Fame class was announced today. Igor Larionov, Glenn Anderson, Ed Chynoweth, and Ray Scapinello are in.

It was a makeup year this season, as there were no first ballot players. The reason for this is because of the lockout in 2004/05, no player officially retired. Last year was one of the most stacked ever and Scott Stevens, Ron Francis, Mark Messier, and Al MacInnis. Larionov was eligible, and I believe he should have been there, but he was snubbed.

So it’s nice to see he gets in this year, and not become one of those guys that’s on the brink every year. What he did for Russian hockey, and Europeans in the NHL cannot be put into words. He came into the NHL at 29, just in his prime, and still put up great numbers into his twilight years. I watched a couple classic Wings games recently and Larionov is easily the most under-appreciated guy this team has ever had. I can’t believe we had a guy like that who every year was just a lock to be the “4th line center.” He saw the game on the level that very few can. But because of the age he came in, his numbers weren’t really up there with the guys who were all eligible last year. It’s important to remember that it’s the Hockey Hall of Fame and not the NHL Hall of Fame. What last year’s class accomplished was impressive but in my opinion, Larionov is one of the most important figures in European hockey history, so it’s nice to see him get his due. There are plenty of legendary Russian players left out every year. The Hockey News ran a good article on candidates for this “make-up” year, brought up a lot of guys I couldn’t believe aren’t in the Hall yet.. which I can’t find, but found this instead.

Glenn Anderson, 8th time around, gets in. About time.

Ed Chynoweth was one of the founders of the Canadian Hockey League (which consists of the OHL, WHL, and QMJHL) and a former President of the WHL. He did a lot for that league and the CHL in general. He died in April, so this is definitely a great way to honor him.

And Ray Scapinello, probably the most famous linesman ever.

Good class.

Dick Axelsson to spend 08/09 in Sweden

Dick Axelsson is apparently planning on staying home, announcing that he will be loaned back to Djurgårdens IF for the upcoming season. A true disappointment to me, since that was the #1 prospect I was looking forward to seeing in Grand Rapids next season.

There’s still a glimmer of hope. Detroit’s Swedish prospects traditionally aren’t the most reliable when it comes to commitments. Last season, Mattias Ritola was supposed to be loaned back to his club but ended up staying in Grand Rapids; while Johan Ryno expressed every interest in staying in Grand Rapids if he didn’t make Detroit but bolted after a month. Even this season, Daniel Larsson said a couple months ago he would play one more season in the SEL but recently said he’ll play in North America. But I’m hearing that since it’s on the official team site it’s a little more of a guarantee.

The move makes sense though, Axelsson’s made great leaps up the competition chart the past few seasons. His draft year, in 05/06, he played back and forth with Huddinge, a Division-1 (and remember that mean’s third tier) team and their J-20 team. Then last season after contract negotiations went poorly for him to get in the SEL, he jumped up to the Allsvenskan (second tier, and it’s leaps and bounds ahead of Division-1). And this season, obviously, to the SEL. That’s a big jump. The SEL is a better league than the AHL, but it’s an entirely different animal on the smaller ice surface. That’s a lot of change in just a couple years. One more season in the SEL should have him completely ready for North America. And hopefully he’ll bulk up a little, as he’s still listed at 176 pounds.

More information can be found at the newest link on the left hand side of this page, Hockey in Swenglish. His blog is about Swedish hockey news (so basically, it’s a Wings blog!) but everything he posts is in English. He’s my #1 source for Swedish hockey news translations, so definitely check him out.

Rangers sign ex-Wing prospect

Slow news season has begun. Therefore this is now news-worthy despite it happening a few days ago.

Detroit’s 5th round pick in 2001 has finally made it — without the help of Detroit.

Andreas Jamtin has signed a two-year deal with the New York Rangers. Jamtin was always very close to a contract with Detroit but it never happened. Detroit had until 2005/06 to sign him due to the creation of a hard deadline to sign European players. Jamtin was impressive in his time in the SEL, but that season, decided to move to Finland. After a rocky start there, he transferred back to Sweden to finish the year. All in all, it wasn’t a great season for Jamtin. He success in the past was almost enough to earn him a contract but Detroit opted against him.

Two career years later, Jamtin is headed to the NHL his own way. He put up 98 points and 660 PMs in 232 SEL games.

Jamtin developed a reputation for being an agitator, more in the mold of a Sean Avery. He’ll do anything to get under an opponent’s skin and will drop the gloves when he’s required to. He’s got some offensive touch too, putting up 17 goals and 30 points this season with HV-71, SEL champions.

Which begs a little discussion. For as soft as people say Detroit is, they sure do have an eye for this kind of player. Kirk Maltby, Kris Draper, Darren McCarty, and Dallas Drake all fall into the category of guys that regularly get in your face. Lest it be forgotten that Detroit was actually the team to find Sean Avery, as he was signed as an undrafted free agent tryout at training camp years ago. There’s Jamtin, now making his way to the NHL — and also Per Ledin, who signed with the Colorado Avalanche last week. Two years ago Detroit was rumored to be interested in Ledin and for a time it was reported they signed him, but obviously, that didn’t happen. Ledin might be a little mouthier on the ice than Jamtin, though.

So it’s not exactly relevent to Detroit right now, but it’s Detroit prospects anyway. Chalk another one up for Hakan Andersson I guess, as Detroit drafted Jamtin after a season that only saw him play 13 games for his main club team.