Calle Janrkok (Credit: Brynas IF)
Calle Jarnkork is Red Wings Central’s new No. 1 prospect.
The 21-year-old center for Brynas of the Swedish Elite League takes over top spot in the preliminary 2012-13 ranking, moving up after the unofficial graduation of prospects Nos. 1 and 2 — defenseman Brendan Smith and left-winger Gustav Nyquist.
Jarnkrok, the 51st overall selection in the 2010 NHL draft, continues to look like the second coming of Henrik Zetterberg, fifth in SEL scoring with 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points in 32 games.
His combination of high skill and a non-stop motor is unmatched in the Red Wings’ system.
“He’s probably the best prospect in our organization overall,” said Red Wings director of player development Jiri Fischer. “Whenever he makes the transition overseas, he’s going to be really exciting to watch at the NHL level.”
Although Smith and Nyquist are still playing for the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins due to the NHL lockout, they’re both expected to be regulars with the Red Wings whenever the labor dispute ends and are no longer on the RWC list.
Jarnkrok edged out goaltender Petr Mrazek, left-winger Tomas Tatar, center Riley Sheahan and right-winger Tomas Jurco in the top five.
Following is a detailed look at the preliminary 2012-13 ranking.
1. C Calle Jarnkrok (+2), Brynas (SEL), 32-10-18-28-6, -1, 89 SOG. See above.
2. G Petr Mrazek (+2), Grand Rapids (AHL), 7-2-0, 2.42 GAA, .912 SV%. Long a favorite of RWC, Mrazek — fresh out of junior — has been sensational as an AHL rookie. He looks like the potential No. 1 NHL goaltender the Red Wings hoped Thomas McCollum would be.
3. LW Tomas Tatar (+2), Grand Rapids (AHL), 22-11-10-21-19, +5, 63 SOG. Already in his fourth AHL season, Tatar is only 22. Showcasing his offensive ability and a maturing all-around game, he’s proving during the lockout he’s ready for an NHL job.
4. C Riley Sheahan (+2), Grand Rapids (AHL), 20-4-4-8-14, +7, 28 SOG. Sheahan is adjusting well to the AHL, but another off-ice incident — charged in November with driving with blood-alcohol content of .17 or higher — is a sign he needs to get his act together.
5. RW Tomas Jurco (+2), Grand Rapids (AHL), 22-4-3-7-10, -3, 31 SOG. Jurco won’t turn 20 until the end of December, so he’s an extremely young AHL rookie who is finding his bearings. With patience, he has the look of a high-scoring pro with top-six upside.
6. D Ryan Sproul (+2), Sault Ste. Marie (OHL), 16-5-16-21-23, even. A late cut from Canada’s world junior team, the 6-foot-3 Sproul has recovered from a broken arm and is one of the best offensive defensemen in the entire Canadian Hockey League.
7. D Xavier Ouellet (+3), Blainville-B’briand (QMJHL), 26-5-20-25-30, +9, 94 SOG. Ouellet continues to improve each season. An offensive force who will play for the Canadian world junior team, the Red Wings see him as a two-way top-four NHL defender.
8. C Landon Ferraro (+10), Grand Rapids (AHL), 22-8-9-17-23, +6, 51 SOG. RWC’s highest riser has developed into an excellent two-way pro after finishing his junior career with two awful seasons. He’s posting breakout numbers and is killing penalties with aplomb.
9. C Joakim Andersson (–), Grand Rapids (AHL), 21-6-7-13-45, -2, 49 SOG. The book has always been the same on Andersson. He’s going to play in the NHL, but is he a career fourth-liner or is there more upside? We won’t know until he gets there.
10. RW Martin Frk (NR), Halifax (QMJHL), 28-13-25-38-52, +9, 87 SOG. Everyone loves Frk’s intimidating slap shot and above-average skills. But he needs to work on skating and maturity, while his habit of taking dumb penalties might be getting worse rather than better.
11. G Jake Paterson (NR), Saginaw (OHL), 11-12-2-1, 1 SO, 3.49 GAA, .901 SV%. Although his statistics aren’t eye-popping, Paterson is playing excellent hockey on a below average team. He’s in the spotlight now that he’s made Canada’s world junior team.
12. LW Teemu Pulkkinen (-1), Jokerit (FIN), 31-6-6-12-41, even, 138 SOG. Pulkkinen’s offensive numbers have mysteriously vanished but he clearly has the ability to produce more. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt for now, but he’ll need to find his scoring touch.
14. D Mattias Backman (+3), Frolunda (SEL), 31-0-14-14-20, +3, 35 SOG. A smooth two-way defender, Backman is only 20 years old and is constantly improving. Already a top-four blueliner in the Swedish Elite League, he still has room to grow.
15. D Nick Jensen (-3), St. Cloud State (NCAA), 16-1-11-12-8, +3, 26 SOG. The swift-skating defenseman is having another good year, although he has untapped offensive upside. His true breakout season might not come until he is a senior in 2013-14.
16. LW Marek Tvrdon (-3), Vancouver (WHL), 18-8-14-22-16, +2. A blood clot has ended Tvrdon’s season, but the Red Wings have already signed the big, skilled Slovak. He has tremendous upside but needs to pick up his work ethic and consistency.
17. LW Andreas Athanasiou (NR), Barrie (OHL), 30-15-18-33-18, +9. The Red Wings are convinced the blazing fast Athanasiou will play in the NHL, and he’s certainly showing the right this stuff. He has broken out since a much-needed trade from London.
19. C Alan Quine (–), Peterborough (OHL), 18-8-11-19-10, -12. Quine has returned from mononucleosis and hasn’t missed a beat. That’s great to see, and if he can build off his strong start, he should have a line on a contract before his June 1 signing deadline.
20. D Alexei Marchenko (–), CSKA Moscow (KHL), 31-4-3-7-4, +1, 27 SOG. Marchenko is a darkhorse prospect with tremendous upside. He’s a KHL regular now and it might not be long before he’s moving quickly up this chart now that he’s finally healthy.
BTW, the Wings and the Bruins have the most prospects on Team Canada 2013 with 3 each. I note this writer has Sproul rated higher than Ouelett probably because his size better suits him for the pros, while Ouelett was picked to TC because of the bigger ice and his puck moving skills are better. Ferrar is rated way too high at 8th, IMHO.
*Ferraro
I stand corrected; the Wings have only 2 on TC13.
Great to see Landon Ferraro really respond early on this season. Doubts about him were mounting and all he’s done is snuff those out with continued hard work and results. Showed some leadership taking a beating from Kyle Beach in order to protect Adam Almqvist last week.
Martin Frk skyrocketing ahead of Almqvist and Mattias Backman seems a surprise. Can’t wait to see him during the WJCs.
Sheahan overrated again. Guys done pretty much zilch since being drafted and continues with the off ice incidents. I hated that pick when we drafted him and I hate it more and more every year. Only argument I could understand is that he may be closest to seeing “nhl action”. Though I’d rather see Andersson get the call if its between the two. I’d love to see Tatar get an extended stay with the big club this/next season, I think he’s ready to get a look. Still plenty young too.
Great read by the way. I check back regularly and I’m always happy with every new entry.
Ouelett did not make the Canadian team and Patterson will most likely be the 3rd goalie. Therefore, we don’t have any regulars on team Canada.
I stand corrected, Ouelett made the team, but may be replaced by the start of the tournament if his ankle isn’t good enough for him to play.
Ouellet and Paterson both made the team….what part of that do you not understand Stevie?
NHLRick, obviously you fail to do any good analysis on Sheahan. The kid played in a very defensive system on Notre Dame, which helped him develop some very good defensive qualities. He was a true freshman at 17 and his size is tremendous. We never drafted him to become the next Mike Richards, nevertheless a David Bolland is probably more probable, with maybe less offensive flair. The kid is finally getting his offensive game together this year and you bash him? Yea the kid has office issues, you can fix that. Obviously your just a basher.
KMS less offensive flair than David Bolland you say? Well then sign me up… I won’t apologize for not liking the pick. And I won’t apologize for not giving you an analysis. And I’m well aware of Notre Dames defense first system. I also don’t care how big he is, or at what age he was a true freshman. Not looking to argue, just wanted to share my opinion, didn’t mean to offend you.
Hopefully Ouelett plays in the WJC, but, as of right now, he is not even skating. He will be replaced, maybe by Sproul, if he can’t play by Christmas. He has 11 days to get back on the ice.
NHLrick, I’ve been skeptical of Sheahan, as well. But I’ve watched a couple Griffins games lately and I’m less so now. Since his arrest he’s been playing with a lot of fire and skill: throwing checks, diving for pucks and racking up points. Maybe he saw his career flash before his eyes. Maybe Jimmy Devellano sat him down and told him a few stories of Bob Probert and what could have been … Whatever it was I hope the lesson stays with him.
I’ve been a big fan of Landon Ferraro since I attended a game between his Everett Silvertips and the Portland Winterhawks last year. Portland crushed Everett 7-2 but Ferraro, who was Captain, was not a minus player. He didn’t score, but I was very impressed with his speed, skill and grit. He seemed a step ahead of everyone else on the ice: including Hawks like Sven Bärtschi and Ty Rattie. Coach Craig Hartsburg played him in all situations and what seemed like half the game. He’s got a bit of a hot head and he took roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that I thought were poorly timed and unnecessary. Given that he’s not exactly big, it’s probably good that he’s got a mean streak. Ferraro has got a good shot and his skating is in a class with Darren Helm’s. I think he’ll be an NHLer, barring injury.
I got to #8 before I started scrolling down to see where Marchenko had landed. A little disappointed to see him so low, but it’s understandable. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him in the A in a year fighting for that first call-up spot.
As far as Oullet not skating, they said before the Red/White game that he skated in the morning workout and he was almost back to 100%. He didn’t play the scrimmages because it’s a high ankle sprain, and there’s no point in risking him reaggrivating it when he was a lock to make the team. Of course, I readily accept otherwise if something more concrete has come out since then.
Anyways, thanks for doing these RWC, always nice to have a chart to reference.
Stevie, just what is a “regular” in hockey? Someone who plays 18 minutes or someone who plays his role and 5-6 minutes? Hockey is the ultimate team sport and whether one is on the 4th line or the super star, a team will not win without all 23 guys pulling together.
As for Paterson’s play, Tugnet (goaltender coach) said his play was best (steadiest) among the 3 goalies with Subban the weakest, and no one has been selected yet to be #1, #2, or #3.
Gotta agree with you Nick and YVR. Ouellet wouldn’t have made the team if they didn’t strongly belief he’d been ready for the tourney. He had been participating in practices but what would have been the point to have him play in the scrimmages and risk aggravating it before its fully healed? The coaching staff has had a long look at the players and the camp seemed to be only for the guys fighting for the bottom line spots with the top 5 forwards and top 4 defencemen seemingly decided months ago, hence their exclusion from the last two scrimmages. Same goes with the goaltending. The camp is too short to base goaltending choices and Subban and Binnington have been the two best goalies since August/September. Patterson likely got the nod over Boissent as he was the only 18yr old of the group and it will give him experience for what the tourney is like. I think his selection is a pretty strong indicator that he’ll be the starting goaltender next year if he keeps his play up.
To clarify: there are two goalies in the OHL with the same name but spelled differently—–Jake Paterson (Wings prospect) and Jake Patterson of London Knights.
good catch, not even sure why I said Patterson
So glad to finally see an update! Plus I always enjoy reading people’s posts here. Kind of missed that. I hope Jarnkrok is the real deal here. I know he is a bit on the smaller side so hopefully he can get a bit bigger and work some Zetterbergish type of play when he comes across the pond. I also kind of wonder what the reasoning is behind ranking Sproul ahead of Ouellet. It seems to me that Ouellet made the Canadian squad over Sproul. I’ve seen some of what Xavier can do on youtube and I think he stands out more than Sproul in my opinion.
@ScottD….IMO Sproul is rated higher because he has the size the pros like; just look at Sheehan who could barely score in college but doing much better in the AHL. But I do think both Ouellet and Sproul will be top 4 for the Wings in a few years. I have seen both play on tv a number of times and both have great upside—-Ouellet plays a very smooth, effortless game while Sproul is more physical.
This article is good timming with TSN article on top prospects abroad.
http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=9601
Kind of sucks to see the Goalie Tampa drafted with the wings pick this year (Trade for Quincey)make thie list. Bitter sweet because Mrazek and Paterson are also exciting. Quincey is odd story cause when he wasnt with the wings he did excel in Colorado and LA as a top 2 D… I think he turns it around next year if there is a season!
Last I heard on Ouellet, Bob Mckenzie of TSN reported he’ll be good to go for the coming games. He was saying that he’ll likely be paired with Harrington as a shut down pair. Judging by his play at camp, Paterson will get his chance as well. Don’t be surprised if he solidifies his place as the starter with a few games in.
Spott announced today that Paterson will serve at the third goaltender. He’ll most likely be the starter next year, as long as his play doesn’t diminish, since he was the only 18yr old goaltender invited to camp.
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2012/12/15/world-junior-goaltender-jake-paterson-has-bright-future
Jake Paterson is the frontrunner to be Canada’s starting goaltender at the world junior hockey championship.
Next year.
After Saturday’s practice in Calgary, Team Canada head coach Steve Spott told reporters that Paterson will serve as the third-string netminder for the upcoming tournament in Ufa, Russia.
While Paterson will only be pressed into action if Malcolm Subban or Jordan Binnington is injured, the 18-year-old will be eligible for one more trip to the world juniors and should benefit from his inclusion as the emergency backup this time.
Here is the entire Jake Paterson article from the Calgary Sun.
http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/12/15/world-junior-goaltender-jake-paterson-has-bright-future
So Stevie, does that make Paterson a “regular” ?…..yea, yea, yea, I’m just
pulling your chain for your earlier “regular” comment….lol
Article on Tsn as well on Paterson status
http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/story/?id=411718
Boy, with Paterson, Pulkkinen, Almquist, Backman, Tvrdon, and Marchenko not even breaking the top ten of this list… we’re doing pretty well! AND Nyquist and Smith have already “graduated”. We have a hell of a group of young players.
SOOOOooooo glad to see an article from Mr. Wuest here… THANK YOU!
I have listened to some Grififns games online and I would say Sheahan is making progress, but nowhere ready for the NHl. He is a couple of years away. But he is doing better which is good to see.
Another great article. I wish i had a chance to see Jarnkrok play live. Based on everything you read he deserves to be #1 by far. I can’t argue with #2 Mrazek, saw him play plenty enough with the 67′s. Something about him just says “all star” … seems like his AHL play backs that up too. Number 3, Tatar really should be in the NHL centering the fourth line.
However, based on what I have seen (mostly on TV mind you) #3 is Xavier Ouellett and #4 is Ryan Sproul. Jurco has talent but he is basically a guy that plays one end of the rink only right now. As for Riley Sheahan. I can’t understand the love or ranking. He has no more offensive upside than a guy like Joakim Andersson, and Andersson is likely ahead of him in ‘NHL readiness.’ Both of these guys are at best bottom six grinders.
I love this site. Its great to have in-depth knowledge of the up-and-coming Red Wings! I am stoked to see how this group pans out. I think with our aging roster, Detroit’s brass will ease some of this talent into the Starting Roster. I am MOST excited about Jurco. I know his stats are far from earth-shattering, but give this kid some time. He’s a stud, and has all the talent to score 30-35 goals at the NHL Level one day. He’s definitely our top sniper coming up.
Have to agree with most guys here… even in my most fanciful dreams, Sheahan isn’t Keith Primeau, let alone the next Keith Tkachuk. I like the guy and I hope he makes it, but everyone is right; he’s likely a 3rd liner with Andersson well ahead in the depth charts. I would like to see him turn into a Marty Lapointe or a higher-skilled Drew Miller. Maybe I’m wrong, but until youtube views equal NHL success, that’s about where my expectations will remain; I haven’t seen anything else that puts him above that level yet.
Shame to see Mitch Callahan fall off the list. I have watched Grand Rapids play about 8 times in past year. Every game he is actually one of the best players on the ice in terms of defense, energy, and opportunistic play. Trouble is; he isnt putting up points with the ice time he has. I agree with posters who say Riley Sheehan is overated. He is not a good akater at that level, he is not a great passer. I am not sure what he is allegedly great at ? Tatar is skating with more authority this season and looks pretty good. No one seems to notice Nyquist has trouble receiving difficult passes. Watch for it. He is losing scoring chances because of it. Ferraro looking much improved. I think Jurco is overmatched at the moment. The AHL has diminished his offensive prowess so far. Hopefully Jarkrok is the real deal.
Where is Brian Lashoff on this list? And he is actually at training camp right now with the Wings.
If all this praise for these players comes true, the Wings are well on their way to a team similar to the great Oiler or Islanders teams.
Thanks for all of the good scouting first time to hear about the kids on there way up without all of the politics
I ve been in Fresno ca 12 years now and there is very little in the way of hockey
To bad more wings and wings related sites don’t have this callaber of information
Thanks to all