Andrej Nestrasil (Credit: Sarah Lindenau)
The Detroit Red Wings are taking a wait-and-see approach with Andrej Nestrasil when it comes to getting him signed to a contract.
The soon-to-be 20-year-old Czech right-winger is the only junior player from the 2009 draft who the Red Wings haven’t gotten under contract. Second-rounder Landon Ferraro, third-rounder Gleason Fournier and sixth-rounder Mitchell Callahan all inked three-year entry-level deals earlier this season.
Nestrasil, selected in the third round (75th overall), has 13 goals and 27 assists for 40 points in 32 games with the sub-.500 Prince Edward Island Rocket of the QMJHL. He must sign by June 1 or re-enter the draft.
“We can watch him and see how he plays in tight competition and under pressure a little bit,” said Red Wings scout Mark Leach. “He’s put up good numbers, so we want to see how he progresses. We don’t have to jump at him today. He’ll be somebody we can keep an eye on in the second half.”
The six-foot-two 200-pounder is a prospect comparable to Tomas Kopecky. The Red Wings said they had him ranked as a first-rounder on draft day based on his impressive size, hands and puck-protection skills.
While he has exactly a point-per-game average in the regular season — 147 points in 147 games — he has just nine points in 20 playoff games.
Nestrasil represented the Czech Republic at the IIHF world junior championship earlier this month, recording a goal and two assists in six games.
NOTES: Forward Riley Sheahan (Notre Dame, NCAA) finally broke the goose-egg this week. The 2010 first-rounder scored his first goal of the season and added three assists in an 8-1 thumping of Northern Michigan on Jan. 7. He had just seven assists in 18 games prior to that … Defenseman Brendan Smith (Grand Rapids, AHL) will play in the AHL all-star game on Jan. 31 in Hershey, Pa. The rookie blueliner has 22 points, 65 penalty minutes and a plus-4 in 36 games … Forward Brooks Macek was involved in a WHL trade this week. He went from contending Tri-City to cellar-dwelling Calgary in a package for Hitmen captain Matt MacKenzie. Macek’s production has dropped off. He has just 24 points in 38 games … Tomas Tatar is back in Grand Rapids after a five-game NHL stint with the Red Wings during which he performed well and scored his first career goal. Upon his return to the AHL, Tatar still has the team lead in scoring with 29 points.
WJC WRAP-UP: Right-winger Mitchell Callahan (Kelowna, WHL) won bronze with the U.S. He had a goal and was a minus-1 in six games … Forward Calle Jarnkork (Brynas, Swedish Elite League) was tied for third on Sweden with two goals and three assists in six games. He fired 20 shots on goal … Right-winger Teemu Pulkkinen (Jokerit, Finnish SM-Liiga) had three goals and six assists, as well as 26 shots and a plus-2, in six games for Finland.
Following is this week’s statistical update for skaters and goaltenders:
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | P | PIM | +/- | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nestrasil, Andrej | P.E.I. | QMJHL | 32 | 13 | 27 | 40 | 14 | +1 | 101 |
| Fournier, Gleason | Rimouski | QMJHL | 38 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 36 | 0 | 56 |
| Aubry, Louis-Marc | Montreal | QMJHL | 22 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 18 | +10 | 70 |
| Parkes, Trevor | Montreal | QMJHL | 35 | 19 | 19 | 38 | 14 | +13 | 126 |
| Ferraro, Landon | Everett | WHL | 34 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 40 | -6 | – |
| Callahan, Mitchell | Kelowna | WHL | 36 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 62 | 0 | – |
| Macek, Brooks | Tri-City | WHL | 38 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 26 | -8 | – |
| Stolyarov, Gennady | Dynamo Msk | KHL | 17 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 11 | -3 | 26 |
| Pulkkinen, Teemu | Jokerit | FIN | 33 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 10 | +13 | – |
| Almqvist, Adam | HV-71 | SEL | 36 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 20 | +15 | – |
| Jarnkrok, Calle | Brynas | SEL | 31 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 4 | +1 | – |
| Axelsson, Dick | Farjestad | SEL | 33 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 79 | +5 | – |
| Axelsson, Anton | Timra | SEL | 28 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 4 | -2 | – |
| Samuelsson, Jesper | Vita Hasten | SWE-3 | 18 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 35 | – | – |
| Smith, Brendan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 36 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 65 | +4 | 62 |
| Mursak, Jan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 33 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 29 | +8 | 81 |
| Tatar, Tomas | Grand Rapids | AHL | 35 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 29 | +11 | 67 |
| Pare, Francis | Grand Rapids | AHL | 40 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 36 | -14 | 122 |
| Ehrhardt, Travis | Grand Rapids | AHL | 24 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 20 | +6 | 28 |
| Pyett, Logan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 34 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 24 | -14 | 61 |
| Andersson, Joakim | Grand Rapids | AHL | 39 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 16 | -1 | 58 |
| Emmerton, Cory | Grand Rapids | AHL | 28 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 16 | +9 | 47 |
| Coetzee, Willie | Grand Rapids | AHL | 20 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 34 |
| Kolosov, Sergei | Grand Rapids | AHL | 33 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 29 | -9 | 30 |
| Lashoff, Brian | Grand Rapids | AHL | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 11 | +1 | 11 |
| Owens, Jordan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 39 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 67 | -8 | 51 |
| Filppula, Ilari | Grand Rapids | AHL | 37 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 10 | -3 | 67 |
| Raedeke, Brent | Grand Rapids | AHL | 35 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 45 |
| Piche, Sebastien | Grand Rapids | AHL | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 11 |
| Piche, Sebastien | Toledo | ECHL | 20 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 17 | -9 | 75 |
| Coetzee, Willie | Toledo | ECHL | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | +2 | 15 |
| Lashoff, Brian | Toledo | ECHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 10 |
| Nyquist, Gustav | Maine | NCAA | 19 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 2 | -2 | 76 |
| Nicastro, Max | Boston U. | NCAA | 20 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 41 | -5 | 25 |
| Oslund, Nick | St. Cloud St. | NCAA | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 22 |
| Jensen, Nick | St. Cloud St. | NCAA | 22 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 10 | -5 | 32 |
| Sheahan, Riley | Notre Dame | NCAA | 20 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 10 | -2 | 51 |
| Rufenach, Bryan | Clarkson | NCAA | 19 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 54 |
| Cayer, Julien | Clarkson | NCAA | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 14 | +3 | 9 |
| Marshall, Ben | Omaha | USHL | 27 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 14 | +18 | 65 |
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | W | L | T | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mrazek, Petr | Ottawa | OHL | 33 | 22 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2.69 | .925 |
| Larsson, Daniel | HV-71 | SEL | 32 | – | – | – | 2 | 2.16 | .927 |
| McCollum, Thomas | Grand Rapids | AHL | 17 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3.11 | .884 |
| Pearce, Jordan | Toledo | ECHL | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4.13 | .883 |
| Pearce, Jordan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.52 | .883 |
| McCollum, Thomas | Toledo | ECHL | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.55 | .913 |
