Ryan Sproul (Credit: Aaron Bell/OHL Images)
When the puck is on his stick, there are few junior-aged defense prospects in the world with more upside than Ryan Sproul.
The just-turned 20-year-old has taken another step forward with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the Ontario Hockey League, scoring at a scintillating clip with 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points in just 29 games.
Despite missing six weeks with a broken arm, Sproul’s 1.24 points-per-game average ranks second only to Boston Bruins rookie Dougie Hamilton (1.28) among Canadian Hockey League blueliners and he is rapidly closing in on Cody Ceci for the OHL defense scoring lead.
“He’s a dominant go-to offensive power-play guy who I think is offensively as good as anyone in major junior hockey,” said Red Wings director of player development Jiri Fischer, prior to the end of the lockout.
Sproul, who is measured at 6-foot-3 and 186 pounds, is known for his cannon of a point shot but also has tremendous vision. He is a devastating presence on the power-play point, with eight goals and eight assists while his team has the advantage.
A late cut from Canada’s world junior team, Sproul is still growing into his frame and might not realize how good he can be yet. And as he heads to the pro level next season with a three-year contract already signed, Sproul — a second-round pick in 2011 — is going to have to step it up in his own zone to earn the trust of American Hockey League coaches.
“He still has a lot of work to do in the D-zone and all-around game and how to be a little harder to play against, against the best players in the league,” Fischer said.
NOTES: Forward Riley Sheahan (Grand Rapids, AHL) told MLive.com he is trying “to be a good person off the ice” after being arrested for drunken driving in October. On the ice, he has seven goals and three assists in his past 14 games as an AHL rookie … Forward Joakim Andersson (Grand Rapids, AHL) is battling with Tomas Tatar for the right to be the first forward recalled from Grand Rapids, and he had two goals and five assists in two games to win AHL player of the week honours … Goaltender Petr Mrazek (Grand Rapids, AHL) is being rewarded for his outstanding rookie season with a spot in the AHL all-star team on the Western Conference roster … Defenseman Brian Lashoff (Grand Rapids, AHL) has taken advantage of the injury-depleted blue line in Detroit. Although he has battled injuries and struggled to find his footing on the Griffins’ second and third pairings over the past few seasons, he’s earned the trust of Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock in two games since his call-up. “Actually, I thought he was better here than in the American League, maybe because the game’s more organized,” Babcock told MLive.com. “But he made good decisions. He’s a big man, he showed good hands, was great on the penalty kill — four-on-three penalty with him, Pav (Datsyuk) and (Henrik Zetterberg) on it, he did a heck of a job.” … Defenseman Xavier Ouellet represented Canada at the world junior championship earlier this month and had a goal, two assists, 18 shots and an even plus-minus rating in six games. Goaltender Jake Paterson served as the third-stringer and did not play. Right-winger Martin Frk played for the Czech Republic and had three goals, an assist, 18 shots and a minus-1 in six games … Forward Alan Quine was involved in an OHL trade earlier this month, dealt from Peterborough to Belleville for three second-round draft picks.
Following is this week’s statistical report.
SKATERS: REGULAR-SEASON REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEVEL | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | P | PIM | +/- | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferraro, Landon | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 39 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 29 | +4 | 87 |
| Andersson, Joakim | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 30 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 49 | 0 | 70 |
| Parkes, Trevor | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 25 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 26 | +4 | 23 |
| Lashoff, Brian | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 36 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 23 | +4 | 38 |
| Tatar, Tomas | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 39 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 44 | +9 | 133 |
| Almqvist, Adam | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 36 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 22 | +5 | 50 |
| Nicastro, Max | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | +3 | 7 |
| Raedeke, Brent | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 22 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 28 | -2 | 17 |
| Sheahan, Riley | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 37 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 21 | +13 | 59 |
| Aubry, Louis-Marc | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 36 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 33 | -1 | 49 |
| Callahan, Mitchell | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 34 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 61 | +1 | 48 |
| Jurco, Tomas | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 37 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 12 | -5 | 45 |
| Fournier, Gleason | Grand Rapids | AHL | PRO | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 21 | -4 | 5 |
| Coetzee, Willie | Toledo | ECHL | PRO | 39 | 16 | 19 | 35 | 8 | -2 | 165 |
| Nestrasil, Andrej | Toledo | ECHL | PRO | 31 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 20 | +15 | 87 |
| Fournier, Gleason | Toledo | ECHL | PRO | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +5 | 11 |
| Jensen, Nick | St. Cloud State | WCHA | NCAA | 24 | 3 | 16 | 19 | 10 | +9 | 35 |
| Marshall, Ben | Minnesota | WCHA | NCAA | 24 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 8 | +13 | 38 |
| McKee, Mike | Lincoln | USHL/JR-A | USHL | 24 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 206 | +3 | 37 |
| De Haas, James | Penticton | USHL/JR-A | BCHL | 39 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 17 | – | – |
| Frk, Martin | Halifax | CHL | QMJHL | 33 | 16 | 31 | 47 | 56 | +15 | 96 |
| Ouellet, Xavier | Blainville-Boisbriand | CHL | QMJHL | 32 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 32 | +15 | 108 |
| Hudon, Philippe | Victoriaville | CHL | QMJHL | 43 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 40 | +1 | 91 |
| Sproul, Ryan | Sault Ste. Marie | CHL | OHL | 29 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 31 | +4 | – |
| Athanasiou, Andreas | Barrie | CHL | OHL | 45 | 21 | 30 | 51 | 24 | +14 | – |
| Quine, Alan | Belleville | CHL | OHL | 30 | 11 | 23 | 34 | 14 | -9 | – |
| Tvrdon, Marek | Vancouver | CHL | WHL | 18 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 16 | +2 | – |
| Nedomlel, Richard | Swift Current | CHL | WHL | 48 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 77 | -12 | – |
| Jarnkrok, Calle | Brynas | EUR | SEL | 42 | 11 | 22 | 33 | 10 | -4 | 111 |
| Backman, Mattias | Linkoping | EUR | SEL | 40 | 1 | 19 | 20 | 22 | +11 | 45 |
| Pulkkinen, Teemu | Jokerit | EUR | FIN | 44 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 41 | +1 | 203 |
| Marchenko, Alexei | CSKA Moscow | EUR | KHL | 39 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 40 |
| Bodin, Rasmus | HV-71 | EUR-JR | SWE-J20 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | -1 | 11 |
GOALIES: REGULAR SEASON REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | W | L | O/S | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paterson, Jake | Saginaw | OHL | 33 | 15 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 3.45 | .901 |
| McCollum, Thomas | Grand Rapids | AHL | 17 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2.69 | .899 |
| Pearce, Jordan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.38 | .847 |
| Mrazek, Petr | Grand Rapids | AHL | 20 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 | .913 |
| Mrazek, Petr | Toledo | ECHL | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.02 | .944 |
| Pearce, Jordan | Toledo | ECHL | 20 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2.56 | .906 |
Hopefully the folks in Grand Rapids lock Ryan Sproul in their weight room next fall and dont let him out until he’s well over 200 lbs.
On the OHL website, Sproul is already listed at 200 lbs. And 6’4″.
First off thank you Wuest for giving us an update. I think a lot of people were getting upset here. As for Sproul I doubt Redwingscentral calls Ryan up and asks him about his weight. They are probably going off the beginning of the year stats. Plus I think some people try to make up different stats for every player. I’m also glad to hear a lot of competition is brewing with the prospects. Now if the Wings would just give them a chance to play that would be great. Sheahan has been a huge surprise to me this year. I can’t wait to see these kids in the NHL soon.
In my opinion, Sheahan, Almqvist and Jurco are all having good rookie seasons in the AHL, being young players entering the pro game. It will be really interesting to see what the next crop of AHL rookies can do; Frk, Ouellet, Sproul, Järnkrok, Pulkkinen – a pretty good power play unit.
Joe says:
Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at 2:49 pm
On the OHL website, Sproul is already listed at 200 lbs. And 6’4″.
It’s hard to know what is accurate. In an interview Ken Kal held with Jiri Fischer concerning Ryan Sproul (made available through the team’s website about a month ago), Ken stated that Ryan was 6’4″ 210 lbs, and Jiri just nodded. Team Canada, prior to the WJCs, listed him on their invite roster page as 6’4″ 193 lbs. Who knows which outlet is correct?
I have been impressed with Lashoff, He really does remind me of Brad Stuart as some have posted in the past. Also I think having Blashill down in the minors after one year in the NHL with the Wings is a bonus to prepare the guys this year.
Looking forward to seeing more development, I think they were smart to sign Huskins and let Almquist and Nicastro develop this year.
HockeyDB.com and the OHL network both have Sproul at 6’4 and 200. Here is a link to an article on the OHL network that was posted today regarding Alan Quine.
http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/article/quine-bullish-on-new-opportunity/136908
First off, a HUGE thanks to Matt Wuest for this and every update. Whatever kept you away from the site, sir, I hope all is well in your life. Your work brings me a lot of pleasure.
Joakim, I agree with every word you said. I’m also impressed with Ferraro’s second year showing… A lot of people counted him out after last year.
Burr, I agree that they made the right decision by bringing in a player like Huskin; Almquist’s potential is too high to rush him along.
It’s really early in the season to know where the Wings will end up. If the Wings don’t make the playoffs this year, they likely will get a really top prospect. It is a banner year for the draft.
Sproul may or may not be over 200, but whatever his weight is he needs to pack the muscle on. He’s the definition of lanky
He will put weight on once he turns pro. Look at Helm, he was in the 170′s when he started in GR now he is in the 190′s. Our prospect pipeline is looking very good for the future. This year and next year even will be transition years but after that we will be seeing a lot of these guys in the line up, baring Holland doesn’t get trigger happy with sign old vets. The wings will need guys like Nyquist, Tatar, Jarnkrok and Pulkkinen even Jurco to become big time scorers because Pav and Hank can still get it done but how long will Pavel be here and Z won’t be hitting the 80 or even 70 point mark every year.
How about Sheahan going on a tear in GR. Is this guy the second coming of Probie? Naw there never will be another Bob Probert. Nonetheless, pretty interesting development there!
Thanks for the post. Always love an update. Glad to see Ferraro return to relevance. Backman and Jarnkrok seem to be doing well in the SEL. I wish Holland would have drafted some defensemen a year or two earlier. Having some NHL ready options this season would have been nice. At least we’ll have some ready in a couple years.
@Nhlrick….maybe Kenny thought Lidstrom was going to play forever, and we all knew Stuart was leaving. So let’s go back and analyse Holland’s draft record for d-men since 2002 excluding Ouellet and Sproul who we all expect to make it big time.
2010: 7th round- Ben Marshall
2009: 3rd rd-Gleason Fournier; 5th rd-Nick Jensen; 7th rd- Adam Alquist
2008: 3rd rd-Max Nicastro
2007: 1st rd-Brendan Smith; 7th rd-Bryan Rufenach
2006: 7th rd-Logan Pyett
2005: 1st rd-Jacob Kindl; 5th rd-Jeff May; 6th rd-Juho Mielonen; 7th rd- Bretton Stamler
2004: 5th rd-Sergi Kolosov; 9th rd-Nils Backstrom
2003: 4th rd-Kyle Quincey; 6th rd-Stefan Bloom
2002: 4th rd-Johan Berggren; 7th rd-Derek Meech; 9th rd-Pierre Beaulieu; 9th-Johathan Ericsson
So you can see Holland drafted 20 d-men and what does he have to show for it?—Smith for sure; a average player in big E, and Quincey, Kindl, and Meech are marginal at best.
So bitter yvr… It’s frightening how much you can infuse your posts with anger. And thanks for pointing out the obvious in an attempt to appear smarter than others. We all know we could use another D man or two. Thanks for cracking that mystery
hey joe….just pointing out to you pom-pom wavers and cool aid fans that KH is not the GM he is portrayed to be….he was handed a loaded team, so please tell me his greatest draft picks since he took over the job, if you can…I guess that would be Helm and Fils…just sayin’ and keep reading.
Yvr
You can’t remove some of the apparently best players from the list of whom the wings have drafted under his watch. And you also can’t make it out like he’s the only one with input into Detroit’s drafting.
Definitely liking forward to Sproul replacing Quincey.
These updates after the best. Looking forward to some more info about some of the guys who have not been talked about recently.
The prospects at Grand Rapids and Toledo are making progress. I listen to a lot of games online and I think Jeff Blashill deserves a lot of credit. They seem much better prepared in GR this year and are much more consistent. Jurco and Callahan started off really slowly but are starting to make plays and showing improvement. They send guys to Toledo who are struggling or not playing a lot for extra ice time to work on their offensive game.
We must remember its a big step from junior or college to the American League. You are now playing against grown men in their late20′s and early 30′s, lots of vet players with NHL experience. Young players adjust at different speeds which the wings understand. You really get the feeling that as long as a young player is working hard, showing progress that the wings stick with them.
YVR, thanks for showing that the Wings draft really well. Try doing the same thing you just did there with other teams; you’ll see that more Wings draft picks end up playing than most other teams. It’s good too that you pointed out that they drafted several really great D to replace the greats of old. Kindl, Smith, Lashoff, Almquist, Sproul, Ouellet, Marchenko, Backman, etc. — three of which are currently on the roster.
Rick, you mean like Smith and Lashoff?
Tom, nice post. Thanks. I’m also happy to see Nestrasil doing well down in Toledo. I hope he gets another shot in GR. So many great stories with the prospects this year.
YVR just needs a hug.
And I would guess that 20-some teams would kill to have Kenny Holland’s track record for drafting defensemen.
@Shawn….you, I would have thought, would know that Lashoff was not drafted by the Wings but signed as a FA…oh well, can’t get them all right all the time…no hugs required Ryan….just sayin’
Anyone know why Xavier Ouellet has been absent from the Armada’s lineup the past couple games?
@YVR… Three full-time NHL defenseman, two on the bubble, and two (Almqvuist, Jensen) could still become players. I believe I heard a higher up say once that if a team gets 1-2 NHL caliber players per draft (average 7 picks, theyre doing good. Sounds like Kenny is doing just fine, especially considering only two of those picks are before the 3rd round.
Voline I would like to know that too. I did a search but couldn’t find anything. Hopefully it isn’t something serious.
YVR, yeah. Thanks for the reminder… it actually didn’t cross my mind because I read his comment as meaning Holland didn’t acquire prospects to replace our outgoing D.
I believe the Wings have done just fine in TRYING to replace one of the greatest players (not just d-man) ever. If anyone expects them to nab someone of The Perfect Human’s caliber, they are going to be sorely disappointed, probably for the rest of their lives.
I think Lashoff has done a great job at stepping in and replacing Stuart. Lash is not flashy, and was probably lucky to score during his first game, but has been solid considering he is a 23 year-old kid and (at times) has been paired with Kronwall against the leagues best lines.
While I do read a lot of comments speaking of Ouellet and Sproul, no one seems to mention the fact that Kenny could be reserving much needed cap space for when those guys demand the big money they will probably deserve (not to mention Smith, though I guess I just mentioned him). The cap is already going down $6 mil next season so Kenny COULD BE (I am obviously in no position to actually determine what is plans are) keeping his eye on the future, which many people claim that he isn’t doing.
The sentiment around the league now a days (aside from a few blockbuster trades) is that it is much more reliable to draft well and develop your own prospects rather than look to other teams for YOUR missing pieces. While I’m sure some extremely talent players have been picked after some of the Wings draft choices, I can guarantee that some surprisingly terrible ones have been made before them in each of their draft classes.
Sorry for the novel of a post, while I do read this site frequently, I don’t typically voice my opinion. Whatever it is everyone may believe on here, I consistently find it entertaining. Keep it up.
Actually Adam I think what you posted gives a great explanation as to what the Wings Management is trying to do. I think a lot of the people here fall into two categories. One is that they want the Wings to give the kids a chance to play and see what they can do and hopefully they work out well. Early returns on Lashoff so far are very good. Smith seems to be getting better as well. The other category is people want to win now and think that packaging some of our prospects in a deal to bring in someone of proven talent will be a better approach. Me personally I would like to see a rotation system in place. Give kids like Tatar, Nyquist, Andersson, and Sheahan as well a game here and there. Maybe it would be good to on occasion rest guys like Franzen, Cleary, even Bertuzzi so they stay fresh. That makes a lot of sense to me but maybe this year it would be a little difficult to do given the situation the season is in.
Yes Adam, it is differing opinions that make the-world-go-round. Nothing is either right or wrong, it is how you perceive it to be. Can you imagine how boring life would be if all Wing fans thought Kenny has done a great job? I maintain that if KH had just acquired ONE top six forward per year since the SC loss to Pitt four yrs ago the Wings would still be front runners instead of fighting for the 6th to 8th playoff spot.
I’m not saying it can’t be done YVR, but if you can start with the Pens in 09 and name top 6 forwards they have accumulated since then, and then do the same for every other SCC, I would be impressed. I personally think we have some great talent, just some unwillingness, from somewhere in the organization, to play them.
You know, one guy that I think is really being undervalued as a prospect is Nick Jensen. I haven’t actually ever seen him play nor did I give him much thought prior to last year, but it is two years running now that US College Hockey sites and publications mention him as a ‘top ten’ defenseman in US College Hockey. I have found some clips here and there of his play and its hard to make a judgement, but he could be one of those sleepers Kemmy Holland is famous for.
The best part is that they could possibly have one guy that is a top ten defensemen prospect in the OHL, QMJHL, NCAA and SEL not to mention a pretty talented guy in the AHL with Almquist.
Don’t forget Marchenko in the KHL.
For all you subban lovers out there he was just resigned by the habs
With all these Young Guns proving their worth, in what ways are Nyquist and Tatar expendable? Will they be dealt in an effort to shore up our depleted Blueline?
I am most excited to see how Martin Frk rocks the AHL next Season. To me, he has all the offensive explosiveness of Jiri Hudler, but with more gusto.
If either one of the two players you mentioned Lukas, I would have to say that Tatar would be the one to go based on size. That being said, I don’t believe either one is going anywhere because I think Red Wings management sees a lot of talent on the back end within our prospects, we just have to time it right to bring them along. With Lash showing exceptional play this season don’t be surprised to see him up next season. Finally, tonight might be the chance that Kindl has a chance to show what he’s got. From what I saw when they played him against the Wild, I thought Kindl played very well, used his size, finished checks and didn’t stand out as a weakness. I would have to assume that we are still AT LEAST 3 years away from seeing Almquist, Ouellet or Sproul in a Winged Wheel so it might just be a matter of gutting it out util those young legs get the blueline looking sharp.
Indeed with Sheahan, Callahan and Ferraro taking big steps this season and with Jurco having a year under his belt, the addition of guys like Frk and maybe guys like Athanasiou, Jarnkrok and Pullkinen will add considerable talent to the Griffins.
Athanasiou still has another year of juniors, IIRC.
you guys keep referring to Kenny drafting,but Jim Nill makes the picks.