Ryan Sproul (Credit: Aaron Bell/OHL Images)
Last season, the Detroit Red Wings were paper thin in organizational defensive depth. Now, their blueline is quietly becoming a position of strength.
The savvy draft selections of Xavier Ouellet, Ryan Sproul and Mattias Backman, combined with the steady development of Nick Jensen, Adam Almqvist and Brian Lashoff, gives the Red Wings a half-dozen prospects with a shot at becoming NHL defensemen.
It’s those blueliners who are fighting to be the Red Wings’ top defense prospect with Brendan Smith on the verge of official graduation to the NHL.
Ouellet holds that title in Red Wings Central’s mid-season ranking, checking in at No. 10, while it’s Sproul who got the nod from The Hockey News, taking the No. 10 spot on that list. Both were second-rounders in last June’s draft — Ouellet at No. 48 and Sproul at No. 55 —both enjoyed tremendous campaigns, and both signed three-year entry-level contracts last week.
Ouellet is one of three finalists for the QMJHL’s Emile Bouchard Trophy as the league’s top defenseman after recording 21 goals and 39 assists for 60 points in 63 games, including 44 points in his final 35 games while captaining the surprising Blainville-Boisbriand Armada to the QMJHL’s third playoff seed.
Sproul scored an OHL-best 23 goals this season while finishing third with 54 points in 61 games with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. More importantly, he made strides in his defensive game, improving last season’s plus-minus by a whopping 31 slots to plus-16.
The 6-foot Ouellet is considered a slightly more polished two-way defenseman, while the 6-foot-3 Sproul is more of a raw, high-upside project with a cannon of a shot from the point.
The 6-foot-2 Backman, meanwhile, established himself as a Swedish Elite League regular at age 19 and ended up logging top-four minutes for Sweden en route to a gold medal at the IIHF world junior championship in January.
The wildcard of the group might be the 6-foot-1 Jensen, who doesn’t get the attention of prospects but had a tremendous NCAA sophomore season at St. Cloud State. He’s the best skater of the bunch by a country mile and had 32 points in 39 games, including 21 in his final 21 contests.
Almqvist, an undersized power-play quarterback, and Lashoff, a Brad Stuart defensive type, have been working hard to establish themselves at higher professional levels.
The Red Wings had several other strong seasons from defensemen, including Ben Marshall with the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Richard Nedomlel with the Swift Current Broncos. Meanwhile, Alexei Marchenko of CSKA Moscow is a favorite of the Red Wings scouts but barely played because of injuries.
NOTES: Forward Calle Jarnkrok (Brynas, SEL) is tied for sixth in playoff scoring with 10 points in 11 games to help his team qualify for the league final. He’s also second in the league with a plus-10 rating … Defenseman Adam Almqvist (Grand Rapids, AHL) joined the Griffins after finishing his Swedish Elite League season with HV-71. He’s played in two AHL games … Forward Riley Sheahan (Grand Rapids, AHL) has a goal and an assist in his first six professional games … Forward Francis Pare (Grand Rapids, AHL) was named was named the Griffins’ Man of the Year for his contributions to the community … Goaltender Petr Mrazek (Ottawa, OHL) helped his team get out of the first round of the playoffs with a .934 save percentage while facing close to 38 shots per game. Ouellet and winger Tomas Jurco (Saint John, QMJHL) are the only other junior players still alive in the chase for the Memorial Cup … The aforementioned Marshall is vying for an NCAA championship at the Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla., this weekend.
Following is this week’s statistical report.
SKATERS: REGULAR-SEASON REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEVEL | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | P | PIM | +/- | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coetzee, Willie | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 54 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 23 | -5 | 125 |
| Ferraro, Landon | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 56 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 47 | -6 | 87 |
| Nyquist, Gustav | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 56 | 22 | 36 | 58 | 18 | +7 | 152 |
| Tatar, Tomas | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 69 | 19 | 30 | 49 | 39 | +2 | 199 |
| Andersson, Joakim | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 66 | 18 | 26 | 44 | 28 | +4 | 130 |
| Aubry, Louis-Marc | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 55 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 32 | -6 | 85 |
| Callahan, Mitchell | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 48 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 103 | -3 | 58 |
| Ehrhardt, Travis | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 34 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 19 | +8 | 37 |
| Lashoff, Brian | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 69 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 37 | -9 | 96 |
| Pare, Francis | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 68 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 14 | -6 | 157 |
| Parkes, Trevor | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 44 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 23 | 0 | 66 |
| Raedeke, Brent | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 57 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 28 | 0 | 94 |
| Smith, Brendan | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 50 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 78 | +5 | 101 |
| Pyett, Logan | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 66 | 2 | 21 | 23 | 48 | -4 | 149 |
| Nestrasil, Andrej | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 18 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -4 | 20 |
| Fournier, Gleason | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 4 |
| Sheahan, Riley | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -2 | 5 |
| Almqvist, Adam | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| Fournier, Gleason | Toledo | PRO | ECHL | 55 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 32 | -9 | 101 |
| Nestrasil, Andrej | Toledo | PRO | ECHL | 51 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 20 | -10 | 88 |
| Parkes, Trevor | Toledo | PRO | ECHL | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +1 | 17 |
| Ouellet, Xavier | B.-Boisbriand | JR | QMJHL | 63 | 21 | 39 | 60 | 67 | +16 | 202 |
| Macek, Brooks | Calgary | JR | WHL | 54 | 14 | 24 | 38 | 19 | +8 | N/A |
| Nedomlel, Richard | Swift Current | JR | WHL | 72 | 10 | 36 | 46 | 83 | -35 | N/A |
| Tvrdon, Marek | Vancouver | JR | WHL | 60 | 31 | 43 | 74 | 62 | +1 | N/A |
| Sproul, Ryan | Sault Ste. Marie | JR | OHL | 61 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 53 | +16 | N/A |
| Quine, Alan | Peterborough | JR | OHL | 65 | 30 | 40 | 70 | 21 | -19 | N/A |
| Jurco, Tomas | Saint John | JR | QMJHL | 48 | 30 | 38 | 68 | 37 | +46 | 186 |
| Hudon, Philippe | Victoriaville | JR | QMJHL | 34 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 29 | -3 | 65 |
| Jensen, Nick | St. Cloud State | COL | NCAA | 39 | 6 | 26 | 32 | 4 | +14 | 68 |
| Nicastro, Max | Boston U. | COL | NCAA | 27 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 32 | -2 | 41 |
| Cayer, Julien | Clarkson | COL | NCAA | 30 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 30 | -4 | 50 |
| Marshall, Ben | Minnesota | COL | NCAA | 40 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 31 | +14 | 76 |
| Sheahan, Riley | Notre Dame | COL | NCAA | 37 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 24 | 0 | 118 |
| Pulkkinen, Teemu | Jokerit | EUR | FIN | 56 | 16 | 21 | 37 | 41 | 0 | 235 |
| Almqvist, Adam | HV-71 | EUR | SEL | 42 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 26 | +16 | 66 |
| Axelsson, Dick | MoDo | EUR | SEL | 36 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 59 | -7 | 79 |
| Jarnkrok, Calle | Brynas | EUR | SEL | 50 | 16 | 23 | 39 | 22 | -3 | 109 |
| Backman, Mattias | Linkoping | EUR | SEL | 42 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 14 | +7 | 60 |
| Marchenko, Alexei | CSKA Moscow | EUR | KHL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 3 |
| Marchenko, Alexei | CSKA Moscow | EUR-JR | MHL | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +2 | 7 |
GOALIES: REGULAR SEASON REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | W | L | O/S | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mrazek, Petr | Ottawa | OHL | 50 | 30 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 2.84 | .917 |
| Pearce, Jordan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 17 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3.53 | .874 |
| McCollum, Thomas | Grand Rapids | AHL | 22 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3.48 | .893 |
| McCollum, Thomas | Toledo | ECHL | 15 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2.62 | .909 |
| Pearce, Jordan | Toledo | ECHL | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.05 | .879 |
SKATERS: PLAYOFF REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEVEL | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | P | PIM | +/- | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marchenko, Alexei | CSKA Moscow | EUR | KHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1 | 8 |
| Axelsson, Dick | MoDo | EUR | SEL | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 18 | -1 | 13 |
| Jarnkrok, Calle | Brynas | EUR | SEL | 11 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 10 | +10 | 29 |
| Almqvist, Adam | HV-71 | EUR | SEL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | +3 | 2 |
| Ouellet, Xavier | Blainville-Boisbriand | JR | QMJHL | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | +6 | 13 |
| Jurco, Tomas | Saint John | JR | QMJHL | 4 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 2 | +6 | 11 |
| Hudon, Philippe | Victoriaville | JR | QMJHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 4 |
| Macek, Brooks | Calgary | JR | WHL | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Tvrdon, Marek | Vancouver | JR | WHL | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | -4 | N/A |
GOALIES: PLAYOFF REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | W | L | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mrazek, Petr | Ottawa | OHL | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2.43 | .934 |
great article looking forward to the next one
Great article as always. This group of prospects is simple phenomenal, 10-20 young quality hockey players, well-rounded with both depth and high-end skill.
Calle Järnkrok is having a tremendous postseason in Sweden. He’s one of the most valuable forwards in the SEL, and all the rage among Sweden’s hockey-writers. If he continues to develop, he could well be the league MVP next season.
Holy crap. Jurco is averaging like 3 points per game in the playoffs for Saint John. I’ve been following them all season, so I know they’re setting all kinds of scoring records this post-season (i.e. its’ not just Jurco), but still pretty damn impressive. That team is STACKED offensively (Jurco, Huberdeau, Coyle, Phillips).
Same goes for Jarnkrok. About a point per game in the SEL, and he improved his regular season numbers on top of it. Now if he could just keep bulking up. Too bad Jokerit didn’t make the playoffs in Finland; I wanted to see what Pulkkinen could do in the post-season.
Ouellet and Sproul are a couple of guys to get excited about as well.
Lastly, someone posted in the forum that Sproul, Quine, and Nedomlel all joined the Griffins along with Almqvist. None of these guys are 20, so don’t they have to go back to their respective CHL teams after the season is over? Or do they have the same late birthday situation as Jurco?
Hey Mike,
Quine and Nedomlel will have to go back to their CHL teams, but Almqvist can stay since he was playing overseas. Will be nice to see how he does with some quality playing time.
Jokerit also made the playoffs and start into their second round today. Pulkkinen didn’t play at all in the first series, but I thought I saw him playing in the minors which I don’t really understand. Can anyone shed some light on that?
Thanks,
Beast
Thanks for the new RWC!
Beast,
Thanks for the update. I just assumed Jokerit didn’t make it since I didn’t see any playoff stats for Pulkkinen on any of the stats sites. I hope he isn’t hurt or got demoted for some strange reason. I know his scoring was down from last season, but from what I hear the whole team struggled this year.
Yea I figured Almqvist would stay since he was playing in Europe which is good. I was just curious because since the other guys can’t play, are they sort of like the Griffins’ black aces or something? I can’t remember the Wings having guys go to GR like that before, though we haven’t had this good of a farm system in a while either.
Pulkkinen apparently has some sort of leg injury, I guess he was sent to juniors to see if he could play through it but he wasn’t able to. Not sure when he’ll be back.
Just wanted to show you guys a clip of Järnkroks niffty move from Brynäs last game against färjestad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc9j3pDZgYU watch from 1:48
I’m convinced that Järnkrok will become a great NHL-player one of these days!
Anyone notice how mike Babcock really goes out of his way to talk about the teams lack of size? Rift b/n him and Holland?
I would like to know the rules other than contract when a player can leave t
he ohl,qmjmlor whl.also part of the reason I’m to big on signing Parise is because of his size Red Wings don’t need another 5’11″ forward to get pushed around.