Prospects Watch
Signing deadline approaches for 10 prospects ...

By Matthew Wuest - www.RedWingsCentral.com
April 2, 2007

It’s nearing sign or release time for the Detroit Red Wings.

The Red Wings have until June 1 to make decisions on 10 prospects who, if not signed, are eligible to either re-enter the draft or become free agents.

Headlining that group is 6-foot-5, 209-pound forward Johan Ryno, who had five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 44 games as a rookie with Timra and Frolunda of the Swedish Elite League this season. The Red Wings like the package he offers and will likely sign him.

Also in that group is forward Mattias Ritola, a Swede who signed this week with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Barring injuries, he’s unlikely to play in the AHL this season, but the Red Wings like his skills and are keen on keeping him in the system.

The Red Wings have already signed defenseman Jakub Kindl (Kitchener, Ontario Hockey League) and forward Darren Helm (Medicine Hat, Western Hockey League).

The No. 1 priority for the Red Wings is to get a deal done with forward Igor Grigorenko, who doesn’t have an official signing deadline because Russia has yet to sign a player-transfer agreement with the NHL.

Of the remaining prospects, defenseman Jeff May has the best shot at signing, but might end up a victim of a numbers game. Blueliners Bretton Stamler and Juho Mielonen and forwards Christofer Lofberg, Andreas Sundin, Stefan Blom, Tomas Kollar and Mikael Johansson will likely move on.

HOT: Forward Nick Oslund (Tri-City, United States Hockey League) had a goal and three assists in three games this week, and has 20 points in 51 games overall. Tri-City sits third in its division at 32-17-6 ... Defenseman Logan Pyett (Regina, WHL) had three goals and three assists as his team eliminated Swift Current in six games in the best-of-seven first round.

COLD: Forward Jan Mursak (Saginaw, OHL) struggled in the playoffs, producing just a goal and two assists in a six-game series loss to Sault Ste. Marie ... Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson (Grand Rapids, AHL) has just one assist in his last nine games and four assists in 15 games ... Stamler (Seattle, WHL) went pointless in a six-game first-round series win over Tri-City.

NOTES: Forward Justin Abdelkader (Michigan State, NCAA) will play Maine on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET in the national semifinals in St. Louis, Mo. ... May (Prince Albert, WHL) and Cory Emmerton (Kingston, OHL) saw their junior teams eliminated from the playoffs this week ... Defenseman Kyle Quincey (Grand Rapids, AHL) was recalled to Detroit to replace Niklas Kronwall.

The following are this season’s playoff statistics (grey background indicates prospect whose team has been eliminated from post-season):

NAME TEAM LEAGUE GP G A PTS PIM

R U S S I A
Alexander Seluyanov Magnitogorsk RUS 8 1 4 5 18
Igor Grigorenko Togliatti RUS 2 2 1 3 2
Gennady Stolyarov Moscow Dyn. RUS 2 0 0 0 0

F I N L A N D
Andreas Sundin Jukurit FIN-2 10 2 2 4 4
Juho Mielonen Ilves Tampere FIN-J20 5 0 0 0 20

S W E D E N
Mikael Johansson Farjestad SWE 8 2 3 5 4
Miroslav Blatak Mora SWE 4 1 1 2 6
Johan Ryno Timra SWE 5 0 1 1 0
Tomas Kollar Sodertalje SWE-2 10 3 5 8 8
Stefan Blom Balsta SWE-4 6 1 2 3 2

C H L
Cory Emmerton Kingston OHL 5 5 2 7 2
Darren Helm Medicine Hat WHL 6 3 3 6 2
Logan Pyett Regina WHL 6 3 3 6 2
Jan Mursak Saginaw OHL 6 1 2 3 10
Jeff May Prince Albert WHL 5 0 3 3 2
Jakub Kindl Kitchener OHL 4 1 1 2 4
Bretton Stamler Seattle WHL 6 0 0 0 10

The following are this season’s regular-season statistics (grey background indicates prospect whose team has completed its schedule):

NAME TEAM LEAGUE GP G A PTS PIM

A H L
Matt Ellis Grand Rapids AHL 58 23 22 45 42
Darryl Bootland Grand Rapids AHL 62 18 13 31 199
Derek Meech Grand Rapids AHL 60 6 22 28 38
Jonathan Ericsson Grand Rapids AHL 60 4 23 27 86
Eric Himelfarb Grand Rapids AHL 62 14 13 27 48
Ryan Oulahen Grand Rapids AHL 72 9 15 24 40
Kyle Quincey Grand Rapids AHL 61 3 17 20 122
Evan McGrath Grand Rapids AHL 54 5 6 11 37

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

R U S S I A
Igor Grigorenko Togliatti RUS 49 14 13 27 71
Alexander Seluyanov Magnitogorsk RUS 54 5 12 17 102
Gennady Stolyarov Moscow Dyn. RUS 37 6 3 9 39
Evgeni Bumagin Togliatti RUS 24 1 3 4 8
Pavel Agarkov Klin RUS-2 21 10 10 20 20
Andrei Maximenko Klin RUS-2 50 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
Anton Axelsson Kungalvs SWE-3 1 1 3 4 0
Stefan Blom Balsta SWE-4 14 10 7 17 14

C H L
Jan Mursak Saginaw OHL 62 27 53 80 50
Cory Emmerton Kingston OHL 40 29 37 66 22
Darren Helm Medicine Hat WHL 59 25 39 64 53
Logan Pyett Regina WHL 71 14 48 62 84
Jakub Kindl Kitchener OHL 54 11 44 55 142
Jeff May Prince Albert WHL 72 10 34 44 96
Bretton Stamler Seattle WHL 72 8 24 32 135

N C A A
Justin Abdelkader Michigan State NCAA 36 14 16 30 87
Nils Backstrom Alaska-Anch. NCAA 33 1 9 10 44

U S H L
Nick Oslund Tri-City USHL 51 6 14 20 22
Sergei Kolosov Cedar Rapids USHL 50 1 10 11 79

The following are this season's regular-season goaltending statistics (grey background indicates prospect whose team has completed its schedule):

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
Jimmy Howard Grand Rapids AHL 43 19-17-3 2.73 .910
Logan Koopmans Toledo ECHL 24 15-7-1 2.99 .909
Stefan Liv Grand Rapids AHL 33 15-14-2 2.95 .897

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.