RWC REPORT: Hat Trick Dick cools off

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / February 25, 2008

Where have you gone, Dick Axelsson?

The Detroit Red Wings' top European prospect has hit a wall in the second half of the Swedish Elite League season. Axelsson, a left-winger for Djurgarden, scored his first goal since December this past week and has just a goal and two assists in his past 14 games after starting 17 points in his first 27 games.

Axelsson, who drew rave reviews from Red Wings director of European scouting Hakan Andersson earlier in the season, clearly has some work to do.

"It's all about getting stronger and playing every shift," Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill said. "He needs to gain strength. He's very weak."

Slump or not, Axelsson's season will be classed a success. He's one of the country's top rookie scorers at age 20, and Nill said the Red Wings "most likely" will sign him. But nobody's calling Axelsson a sure-fire NHLer just yet.

"He's made the first step, now it's being consistent in the elite league, finding time to work out in the summer and getting some weight and strength on," Nill said. "I don't want to knock him down, but it's doing it consistently every night, and what will he do next year? Take another step? Or stay the same?"

For comparison's sake, Henrik Zetterberg had 46 points in 47 games as a 20-year-old rookie in the Swedish Elite League. Mikael Samuelsson had six points and Johan Franzen didn't even skate in the league until he turned 22.

• Forward Darren Helm (Grand Rapids, American Hockey League) has a goal and six assists in his past 10 games and is starting to find his way offensively in his rookie year. There is a strong possibility Helm will be the next forward prospect to graduate full-time to Detroit, likely in 2009-10.
• Defensemen Jonathan Ericsson and Kyle Quincey and goaltender Jimmy Howard have all gotten significant ice time in Detroit thanks to a rash of injuries. All three have acquitted themselves well, particularly Howard and Ericsson.
• Newly acquired right-winger Francis Lemieux has three goals and an assist in six games with Grand Rapids since coming over in a trade from the Montreal Canadiens. He hadn't scored all year with Hamilton.

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	54	7	18	25	63
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	58	10	9	19	30
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	56	8	11	19	22
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	52	6	10	16	18
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	53	4	12	16	50
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	53	3	10	13	55
Randall Gelech	Grand Rapids	AHL	48	5	5	10	29
Francis Lemieux	Grand Rapids	AHL	39	3	7	10	29
Kyle Quincey	Grand Rapids	AHL	45	2	8	10	86
Johan Ryno	Grand Rapids	AHL	12	3	4	7	8
Igor Grigorenko	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	0	0	4
R U S S I A
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	54	2	11	13	34
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	24	4	5	9	22
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	33	2	2	4	18
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	41	9	11	20	30
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	49	8	8	16	8
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	24	2	6	8	16
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	8	1	0	1	2
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	33	6	17	23	26
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE-J20	1	2	0	2	0
C H L
Jan Mursak	Belleville	OHL	52	16	47	63	23
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	57	19	37	56	89
Cory Emmerton	Brampton	OHL	47	20	34	54	16
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	55	18	31	49	48
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	55	12	23	35	22
N C A A
Justin Abdelkader	Michigan State	CCHA	35	14	16	30	85
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	21	2	10	12	26
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	31	4	1	5	23
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	28	1	2	3	10
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	14	1	1	2	6

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	43	--	2.25	.922
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	39	17-19-2	2.61	.914

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; QMJHL -- Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; CCHA -- Central Collegiate Hockey Association; WCHA -- Western Collegiate Hockey Association; ECAC -- East Coast Athletic Conference.