Prospects Watch
Stolyarov 'has all the tools,' but 'needs consistency' ...

By Matthew Wuest - www.RedWingsCentral.com
March 5, 2007

If there’s anybody in the Detroit Red Wings’ system who classifies as an enigma, a strong case could be made for Gennady Stolyarov.

The 6-foot-4, 203-pound winger continues to tease the Red Wings with incredible upside and frustrate them with inconsistency, now in his third season since being drafted in the eighth round (257th overall) in 2004.

Stolyarov is the only Russian drafted by the Wings in the last five years.

“He’s 6-foot-4 with speed, hands and hockey sense,” said Red Wings director of European scouting Hakan Andersson. “We say it and scouts from other teams say it too, he’s the ultimate late pick because he has all the tools.”

The 20-year-old has five goals and three assists in 34 games this season as a rookie with Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Elite League.

Early in the season, Andersson scouted Stolyarov in Russia’s second division and witnessed several lackluster performances.

“We had a serious talk with him then and said, ‘If you ever want to go to North America, this is no good,’” Andersson said.

Stolyarov responded, initially. He scored all five of his goals and added two assists in his first 19 games, then registered just one assist in his next 15 games. It’s stretches like this one where Stolyarov’s work ethic wanes.

Still, the Red Wings love his upside.

“If he ever makes it (to the NHL), he’s a high-end player,” Andersson said. “But will he make it? Nobody knows right now.”

The good news is that until Russia signs a transfer agreement with the NHL, the Red Wings hold Stolyarov’s rights indefinitely.

“It’s year-by-year until the Russians sign the deal,” Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill said. “The clock’s ticking and it gives us more time. He’s got skill, he’s got size ... He just needs consistency.”

MATTHIAS TRADED: The Red Wings dealt prospect Shawn Matthias (Belleville, Ontario Hockey League) to the Florida Panthers for Todd Bertuzzi this week. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound forward had 33 goals and 28 assists for 61 points in 57 games at the time of the trade and was rated 13th in Red Wings Central’s mid-season ranking. He has 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points in his last 16 games and had a five-point night the day after the trade.

NOTES: Forward Cory Emmerton (Kingston, OHL) is on the mend after breaking his ankle in December. The high-scoring 18-year-old could be back before the playoffs, according to the Kingston Whig-Standard ... Goaltender Jimmy Howard (Grand Rapids, American Hockey League) was called up to Detroit this week after Dominik Hasek went down with a thigh injury.

HOT: Forward Darren Helm (Medicine Hat, Western Hockey League) is a plus-4 in his last four games and leads the WHL with a plus-32 rating ... Defenseman Derek Meech (Grand Rapids, AHL) continues to emerge on the farm. With three points in his last three games, the third-year pro now has four goals and nine assists for 13 points in his past 12 games ... Forward Jan Mursak (Saginaw, OHL) has three goals in his past two games, snapping a six-game scoring drought during which he recorded just one assist.

COLD: Defenseman Jakub Kindl (Kitchener, OHL) has picked up just one assist in his last five games ... Forward Nick Oslund (Tri-City, United States Hockey League) is mired in a difficult slump, having not recorded a single point in 13 games ... Defenseman Logan Pyett (Regina, WHL) has no goals and five assists in his last nine games, slightly behind his usual pace.

The following is this season’s statistical report to date:

NAME TEAM LEAGUE GP G A PTS PIM

A H L
Matt Ellis Grand Rapids AHL 52 21 21 42 38
Darryl Bootland Grand Rapids AHL 56 17 12 29 185
Derek Meech Grand Rapids AHL 56 6 19 25 38
Eric Himelfarb Grand Rapids AHL 51 12 12 24 36
Jonathan Ericsson Grand Rapids AHL 47 4 20 24 76
Ryan Oulahen Grand Rapids AHL 59 7 12 19 30
Kyle Quincey Grand Rapids AHL 49 3 13 16 102
Evan McGrath Grand Rapids AHL 43 5 3 8 29

E C H L
Evan McGrath Toledo ECHL 9 6 9 15 12

R U S S I A
Igor Grigorenko Togliatti RUS 46 14 12 26 69
Alexander Seluyanov Magnitogorsk RUS 51 4 12 16 98
Gennady Stolyarov Moscow Dyn. RUS 34 5 3 8 37
Evgeni Bumagin Togliatti RUS 24 1 3 4 8
Pavel Agarkov Klin RUS-2 20 10 10 20 20
Andrei Maximenko Klin RUS-2 49 13 2 15 26

F I N L A N D
Andreas Sundin Jukurit FIN-2 45 21 20 41 33
Juho Mielonen Ilves Tampere FIN-J20 8 2 5 7 22

S W E D E N
Miroslav Blatak Mora SWE 53 6 15 21 30
Mikael Johansson Farjestad SWE 55 7 9 16 42
Anton Axelsson Frolunda SWE 52 5 7 12 14
Johan Ryno Timra SWE 39 5 6 11 22
Christofer Lofberg Djurgarden SWE 34 0 4 4 6
Tomas Kollar Sodertalje SWE-2 32 12 13 25 90
Dick Axelsson Huddinge SWE-2 25 13 8 21 113
Johan Ryno AIK SWE-2 14 2 7 9 14
Mattias Ritola Leksands SWE-2 26 2 4 6 6
Christofer Lofberg Huddinge SWE-2 12 2 1 3 14
Mattias Ritola Leksands SWE-J20 12 5 7 12 16
Anton Axelsson Frolunda SWE-J20 2 4 2 6 4
Christofer Lofberg Djurgarden SWE-J20 5 2 1 3 2
Johan Ryno Frolunda SWE-J20 2 1 0 1 2
Mattias Ritola Borlange SWE-3 11 4 6 10 14
Stefan Blom Arlanda SWE-3 21 4 4 8 20
Stefan Blom Balsta SWE-4 13 10 6 16 12

C H L
Jan Mursak Saginaw OHL 56 24 47 71 46
Darren Helm Medicine Hat WHL 57 24 38 62 51
Cory Emmerton Kingston OHL 35 24 34 58 20
Logan Pyett Regina WHL 65 11 45 56 80
Jakub Kindl Kitchener OHL 50 8 40 48 119
Jeff May Prince Albert WHL 65 8 33 41 88
Bretton Stamler Seattle WHL 65 7 22 29 127

N C A A
Justin Abdelkader Michigan State NCAA 30 14 12 26 74
Nils Backstrom Alaska-Anch. NCAA 30 1 8 9 36

U S H L
Nick Oslund Tri-City USHL 40 4 11 15 13
Sergei Kolosov Cedar Rapids USHL 42 2 8 10 62

The following is this season's statistical report for goaltenders to date:

NAME TEAM LEAGUE GP W-L-O GAA SPCT
Stefan Liv Toledo ECHL 3 1-1-1 2.29 .936
Daniel Larsson Djurgardens SWE 24 -- 2.53 .910
Logan Koopmans Toledo ECHL 13 9-4-0 2.81 .913
Jimmy Howard Grand Rapids AHL 34 16-14-1 2.81 .905
Stefan Liv Grand Rapids AHL 27 13-12-1 2.96 .896

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; ECHL -- East Coast Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; RUS-2 -- Russian second level; FIN -- Finnish Elite League; FIN-J20 -- Finnish under-20 junior league; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-3 -- Swedish third level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 junior league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; NCAA -- National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1; USHL -- United States Hockey League.