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Axel Sandin Pellikka is now signed to his Entry Level Contract. For yours truly, this is a nice move for Detroit. Nate Danielson has been going strong, and will get a write up, but Sandin-Pellikka was a bit of a question mark for this reason only. One of my best sources, as of a few months ago, had very solid info that Detroit was leaning toward another season overseas and not necessarily a rush to sign the player.
This wouldn’t normally be a concern, until some write ups came out of Vancouver about the front office. They noticed ASP who seems to have increased his perceived value with his play this year. Another prospect to hoist a championship (along with Buium in college) Axel reminds me a little bit of Rafalski back in the day. not the biggest guy, but his skating is very good and may well be able to supply that straight hard shot that can be tipped at net front. He’s also one to jump into the play and can get quickly back.
According to the link above, the players could be assigned to Grand Rapids. That is a plus in terms of adjusting to ice size without full size NHLers looking to rock a smaller rookie d man. Making sure he has a left side partner who can step in and bring size and stability may be a high priority.
After season’s end with an indication that multiple free agents are going to test the market, it may be that one or two prospects are moved to Grand Rapids ahead of schedule. Augustine’s opportunity at the World’s has me wondering if some conversations may have moved forward in that area as well. attorney this point there is nothing to suggest that they have.
As Grand Rapids progresses I tend to look at Mazur and Kasper to see if there are steps being made made to put their hats in the ring as a potential replacement for some of the departing forwards. I’ve been watching Tuomisto as well, and there just seems to be at least a gaffe or two in each game that could really burn the defender. Last night’s win over Rockford saw a drop pass behind the Grand Rapids net without realizing an opposing forward was right behind him. That could easily have turned into a wrap around or pass to the slot. There are good tools there, but foot speed and decision making still seem to be an issue.
Let me know your thoughts on ASP and the pipeline in general. It seems all but certain that Edvinsson will be on the main roster, but do you see Mazur or Kasper coming in to work as depth players? Is Cossa getting closer with a question mark on Husso’s health? So much will depend on the dollar amounts for the 2 extensions and I had an interesting note on that last night.
Yzerman mentioned it briefly, but a coach I know that works in a different league that has interacted with a lot of NHL brass had a similar take. There seems to be a lot of stirring about offering 4 year deals with a genuine hope that the cap will receive a significant boost in that time. Seeing Tampa Bay, Vegas and Toronto all exit in the first round is seeing the top 3 spending teams (post cap lift) where you had around 10m above the cap added to the roster. All three have to make decisions about how to move forward with a tight margin to work with. Injury announcements signal that there may be some LTIR usage to get the season rolling but that can only go so far. Only 8 of 32 teams are still playing, and I expect that the other 75% are working hard to set up for the draft and free agency (though the draft work, especially the first round, will be much more concrete after the lottery)
This summer, in the time being with Hockeybuzz when I started in 2019, is going to be a fascinating watch. A fantastic wild card has entered the picture in Utah and there are teams who this year and/or next who need draft picks and for certain need cap space. The internal number crunching and decision making may well take the steam out of free agency and the draft as the main caveat for changes.
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