Trevor Parkes (Credit: Sarah Lindenau)
The Detroit Red Wings are feeling pretty good about getting Trevor Parkes signed to an entry-level contract when they had the opportunity.
Parkes, who the Red Wings inked as a free agent after inviting him to training camp in September, is scoring at a torrid pace in the QMJHL with the Canadian Hockey League’s fifth-ranked team, the Montreal Juniors.
Not only does the 19-year-old right-winger lead the Juniors in scoring with 22 goals and 20 assists for 42 points in 38 games, he’s been sizzling hot of late, scoring at close to a 50-goal pro-rated clip over the past 27 games. During the hot streak, he’s produced 19 goals and 16 assists for 35 points.
The Red Wings, who had a brief window to sign Parkes or let him return to junior and re-enter the draft in 2011, liken him to a young Patrick Eaves.
“He’s pretty gritty, he goes into the hard areas, he competes, and he has a knack — the puck kind of follows him around a little bit,” said Red Wings scout Mark Leach. “He’s in the right place at the right time, the puck comes to him, he gets it off, and he puts it in. We’re very pleased with his performance.”
It’s hard not to root for Parkes, a 6-foot-1, 181-pounder from Fort Erie, Ontario, who was ignored in two Ontario Hockey League drafts and only ended up in Montreal after clearing OHL waivers without so much as a sniff. When he was passed over in the NHL draft last June, the Red Wings made sure to contact him right away to invite him to Traverse City for a look as a tryout.
He played through a nagging back injury at camp and still earned a contract.
“Nothing was ever given to this kid — he works his rear-end off,” Leach said. “He got an opportunity to come to our camp, worked for a contract and got one, which is kudos to him. We look at him as a solid two-way player who will hopefully be able to chip in and help us out a little bit offensively.”
The Juniors are a Memorial Cup contender, with a 31-7-7 record and 69 points, four points behind the QMJHL-leading Saint John Sea Dogs.
NOTES: Welcome back, Landon Ferraro. The 19-year-old forward has exploded for four goals and five assists in a six-game stretch to breath new life into his WHL season with Everett … More injuries in Detroit resulted in the NHL call-ups of Tomas Tatar and Thomas McCollum. While McCollum’s stay was brief, it could be a good confidence-boost for the young stopper.
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 | 35 | 15 | 28 | 43 | 16 | 0 | 107 |
| 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 | 38 | 22 | 20 | 42 | 16 | +16 | 136 |
| Ferraro, Landon | Everett | WHL | 37 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 42 | 0 | – |
| Callahan, Mitchell | Kelowna | WHL | 38 | 17 | 21 | 38 | 64 | 0 | – |
| Macek, Brooks | Tri-City | WHL | 41 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 28 | -9 | – |
| Stolyarov, Gennady | Dynamo Msk | KHL | 19 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 23 | -6 | 32 |
| Pulkkinen, Teemu | Jokerit | FIN | 36 | 12 | 22 | 34 | 10 | +13 | – |
| Almqvist, Adam | HV-71 | SEL | 37 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 22 | +14 | – |
| Jarnkrok, Calle | Brynas | SEL | 33 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 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 | 39 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 69 | +4 | 68 |
| Mursak, Jan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 33 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 29 | +8 | 81 |
| Tatar, Tomas | Grand Rapids | AHL | 36 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 29 | +11 | 71 |
| Pare, Francis | Grand Rapids | AHL | 43 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 36 | -12 | 130 |
| Ehrhardt, Travis | Grand Rapids | AHL | 27 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 20 | +7 | 32 |
| Pyett, Logan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 37 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 30 | -13 | 63 |
| Andersson, Joakim | Grand Rapids | AHL | 42 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 60 |
| Emmerton, Cory | Grand Rapids | AHL | 31 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 18 | +10 | 55 |
| Coetzee, Willie | Grand Rapids | AHL | 21 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 38 |
| Kolosov, Sergei | Grand Rapids | AHL | 36 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 33 | -9 | 31 |
| Lashoff, Brian | Grand Rapids | AHL | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 11 | +1 | 11 |
| Owens, Jordan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 42 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 82 | -7 | 59 |
| Filppula, Ilari | Grand Rapids | AHL | 40 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 10 | -3 | 71 |
| Raedeke, Brent | Grand Rapids | AHL | 38 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | +1 | 47 |
| Piche, Sebastien | Grand Rapids | AHL | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | -1 | 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 | 21 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 2 | +1 | 83 |
| 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 | 22 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 12 | -5 | 55 |
| 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 | 28 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 14 | +17 | 65 |
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | W | L | T | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mrazek, Petr | Ottawa | OHL | 36 | 22 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 2.96 | .918 |
| Larsson, Daniel | HV-71 | SEL | 33 | – | – | – | 2 | 2.15 | .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 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.02 | .900 |
| McCollum, Thomas | Toledo | ECHL | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.55 | .913 |
