Detroit Red Wings: Griffins will open season with loads of talent
By Bob Heyrman
While the Detroit Red Wings are not expected to be a Stanley Cup contender for quite some time amid a full roster overhaul, the Grand Rapids Griffins are set to field a championship-caliber team.
The Detroit Red Wings organization has decided to send down a host of tremendously talented players to the Grand Rapids Griffins. The five players that headline the group are the franchise’s last five first-round picks.
It will be exciting to see these young players progress and develop together in Grand Rapids before for some, once again gaining a taste of the NHL hoping they can stick. For the most recent sixth-round pick, defenseman Moritz Seider; it’s very encouraging he opted to stay in North America for this season rather than returning to play another season of professional hockey in Germany.
The American Hockey League is a very highly skilled league, certainly much better than the top league in Germany. No offense but I don’t see the German league as another KHL or anything. Seider will be playing against fringe NHLers and in many cases players that have spent significant time in the show.
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Seider will be able to fast track his way into the Detroit Red Wings system in Grand Rapids. He will immediately be taught what is expected of him, how the organization wants him to play, and where they’d like him to fit in as his career progresses.
It’s another year for Detroit’s 2018 sixth overall pick Filip Zadina to develop and hopefully turn himself into a primeur top-line scoring winger at the AHL level. I’m sure many fans are a bit disappointed that Zadina didn’t make the Detroit Red Wings out of camp but rest assured Grand Rapids is a perfect place for him to start the season.
It’s also a chance for Zadina to grow together with center Joseph Veleno who is making the jump from junior hockey to the professional level. The pair of young forwards along with Evgeny Svechnikov are a trio to keep tabs on right from the get-go in Grand Rapids.
Svechnikov, the elder statesman of the group, is trying to prove he’s fully healthy after missing all of last season due to knee surgery. He’s a player I expected the Red Wings to keep after a solid preseason in favor of a player like Christoffer Ehn. But when you think about it; he’s been out of hockey for a year and can go to the AHL without having to clear waivers. So why not allow him to get back into the swing of things there and return to Detroit if he starts hot?
Being part of a winning culture rather than struggling at the highest level means something. Also making a bid for a long playoff run will be very beneficial in the long term, and at the moment it appears Detroit isn’t prepared for that.
When you mix in this group of highly skilled young players with the likes of Matt Puempel, Chris Terry, Turner Elson, Matt Ford, Dominic Turgeon, Ryan Kuffner, Joe Hicketts, Oliwer Kaski, Dylan McIlrath, suddenly it doesn’t just help the youngsters gain confidence and develop. It puts the Griffins in great shape to make another title run.
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For a team that was bounced in the first round of the playoffs to the Chicago Wolves in five games last season, they will be looking for some revenge this year.