Red Wings Central
DICK AXELSSON
Dick Axelsson
Position: Left wing
Shoots: Left
Vitals: 6'2'' / 176 lbs.
Birthdate: April 25, 1987
Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden
Acquired: Detroit's third choice (62nd overall) in the 2006 draft
CSS Ranking: Not ranked
Contract: 2011
RWC Says: Scoring Forward

STORIES

AWARDS
  • None listed

HISTORY
2004-05:
  • Did little in his NHL draft year (31-12-4-16) with Huddinge in Sweden's top under-20 league.
  • Went unranked by Central Scouting and was passed over at 2005 entry draft in Ottawa.
2005-06:
  • Lit up Sweden's under-20 level with Huddinge (28-19-15-34, plus-14, 157 PIMs).
  • Scored at incredible clip with Huddinge in Sweden's third-tier men's league (36-24-8-32).
  • Strong play helped Huddinge's men's team qualify to play at Sweden's second level in 2006-07.
  • Unranked by most major scouting publications entering 2006 draft in Vancouver.
  • Selected in the second round (62nd overall) by Detroit at the draft.
2006-07:
  • Tried out for Swedish Elite League's Djurgardens and made the team.
  • Already had a contract with second-level Huddinge, who wouldn't release him to Djurgardens.
  • Missed season's first two months because of contract dispute between Huddinge and Djurgardens.
  • Ended up with Huddinge and lit up second level (25-13-8-21).
  • Also had 113 PIMs, 63 shots and a minus-1 on last-place team (7-29-9).
2007-08:
  • Cracked Swedish Elite League for first time with Djurgarden.
  • Started rookie season strong (12-5-4-9) before trailing off (going 14-1-2-3 in January and December).
  • Finished sixth in scoring on Djurgarden, finishing with 65 shots, six power-play goals, and a minus-3.
  • Made career debut on Swedish national team early in season.
  • Held to just a goal in five playoff games in first-round loss to Linkoping.
  • Spent night in jail for "drunk and disorderly conduct" in April after argument with police.
  • Left off Swedish team for world championship because of off-ice conduct.
  • Signed three-year contract with Red Wings at season's end.

SCOUT COMMENTS
"He's got high-end European skill and the size to go with it. He can skate, he's got good hands, and he competes hard. With his skill, he's got to learn to play every shift. Some games, when he was going, he was unstoppable. Then we'd see shifts when he wouldn't do much. A lot of that's just maturity." — Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill (June 2006) ... "He's a natural scorer. He has a great feel inside the blue line. Put him with a good center, he can be a real finisher." — Red Wings director of European scouting Hakan Andersson (January 2007) ... "It's all about getting stronger and playing every shift. He needs to gain strength. He's very weak." — Nill (January 2008).

STRENGTHS
Offers sought after combination of size, skating and skill ... Fast skater with great agility ... Soft hands and a great scoring touch ... Drives to the net ... Intelligent offensive player with good hockey sense ... Good one-on-one ability ... Hard shot ... Good playmaker ... Occasionally delivers a big hit.

WEAKNESSES
Inconsistent ... Great one shift invisible the next ... Not defensively-conscious ... Undisciplined, piling up penalties with roughing infractions and misconducts ... Still thin and needs to add strength ... Needs to ensure off-ice incident in 2008 was isolated.

PROJECTION
Axelsson, a classic late-bloomer, is one of the best pure offensive players in Detroit's system. He has a big fan in Hakan Andersson and could play in the AHL with Grand Rapids in 2008-09, but is more likely to return to Djurgarden for another season in the Swedish Elite League.

STATISTICS
  REGULAR SEASON PLAYOFFS
SEASON TEAM LEAGUE GP G A PTS PIM GP G A PTS PIM
2003-04 Huddinge Swe-J18 13 3 1 4 38 -- -- -- -- --
2004-05 Huddinge Swe-J18 1 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --
    Swe-J20 31 12 4 16 34 3 1 0 1 0
2005-06 Huddinge Swe-J20 28 19 15 34 157 -- -- -- -- --
    Swe-3 23 17 2 19 10 13 7 6 13 10
2006-07 Huddinge Swe-2 25 13 8 21 113 -- -- -- -- --
2007-08 Djurgarden Swe 47 12 13 25 44 5 1 0 1 2

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The next wave

RWC's top 10 prospects (end-of-season)
01 D Jonathan Ericsson » Grand Rapids (AHL)
02 F Darren Helm » Grand Rapids (AHL)
03 G Jimmy Howard » Grand Rapids (AHL)
04 D Jakub Kindl » Grand Rapids (AHL)
05 F Justin Abdelkader » Michigan St. (NCAA)
06 D Brendan Smith » Wisconsin (NCAA)
07 F Jan Mursak » Belleville (OHL)
08 F Cory Emmerton » Brampton (OHL)
09 F Dick Axelsson » Djurgardens (SWE)
10 D Kyle Quincey » Grand Rapids (AHL)
» COMPLETE RANKING »