RWC REPORT: The European prospect conundrum

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / April 28, 2008

There isn't much doubt that skilled Swedish sniper Dick Axelsson will sign a contract with the Detroit Red Wings in the next month or so. But where the 21-year-old winger plays next season is a topic worth more debate.

Axelsson, who had 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points in 47 games with Djurgarden of the Swedish Elite League as a rookie, told Expressen.se this week he needs to stay overseas next season to develop more.

Regulations allow the Red Wings to sign Axelsson — which is required if they wish to retain his rights — and return him to Djurgarden for another season. A year of his contract would elapse, but Djurgarden would pay his salary.

But if the Red Wings sign Axelsson they might prefer to have him play in the American Hockey League with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

The Red Wings have two players under contract playing in Europe — Johan Ryno and Igor Grigorenko — and aren't keen on having more. The NHL imposes a 50-contract limit, and the Red Wings need those to fill their minor-league affiliate. They also like to keep spots open for trade-deadline acquisitions.

At the same time, the Red Wings don't want to force a prospect to come to North America if he isn't ready, on or off the ice. As an example, they feel that if Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg came to North America at Axelsson's age, their development might not have been as smooth.

Axelsson is one of the best pure offensive talents in Detroit's system. He had a shot at playing on Sweden's national team, but an off-ice incident in early April destroyed his chances of playing at the IIHF world championship.

According to Aftonbladet, Axelsson spent a night in jail for "drunk and disorderly behaviour." He got into an argument with two police officers and told them he "hated cops," according to a police report, TheLocal.se said.

Here's a look at the prospect news from the past week.

• Jan Mursak is the only prospect still playing, excluding NHL call-ups. He and the Belleville Bulls are in the Ontario Hockey League final against the Kitchener Rangers, and have clinched a berth in the Memorial Cup later this month. Mursak has 19 points in 14 games, good for sixth in the OHL.

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	78	18	17	35	26
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	69	10	24	34	83
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	67	16	15	31	30
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	75	14	16	30	47
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	72	7	15	22	62
Kyle Quincey	Grand Rapids	AHL	66	5	15	20	149
Francis Lemieux	Grand Rapids	AHL	59	6	11	17	55
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	75	3	14	17	82
Randall Gelech	Grand Rapids	AHL	70	7	8	15	37
Johan Ryno	Grand Rapids	AHL	12	3	4	7	8
Zack Torquato	Grand Rapids	AHL	11	1	0	1	8
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	0	1	1	0
Igor Grigorenko	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	0	0	4
R U S S I A
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	57	2	12	14	34
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	27	4	6	10	24
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	37	3	2	5	22
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	47	12	13	25	44
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	54	10	10	20	10
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	30	2	7	9	18
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	9	1	0	1	2
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	33	6	17	23	26
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE-J20	6	8	2	10	30
B E L A R U S
Sergei Kolosov	Dinamo Minsk	BEL	47	4	6	10	73
C H L
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	66	25	42	67	112
Jan Mursak	Belleville	OHL	57	17	47	64	23
Cory Emmerton	Brampton	OHL	54	25	36	61	16
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	62	20	34	54	54
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	62	12	37	39	30
N C A A
Justin Abdelkader	Michigan State	CCHA	42	19	21	40	107
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	22	2	10	12	26
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	35	3	3	6	12
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	38	4	1	5	27
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	16	1	2	3	18

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	46	--	2.29	.921
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	54	21-28-2	2.83	.907

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
R U S S I A
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	8	1	0	1	2
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	13	1	0	1	10
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	4	0	1	1	0
S W E D E N
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	11	2	2	4	4
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	4	1	1	2	2
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	5	1	0	1	2
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	5	0	0	0	2
C H L
Jan Mursak	Belleville	OHL	14	8	11	19	6
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	6	1	3	4	0
Cory Emmerton	Brampton	OHL	5	0	2	2	2

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	5	--	2.64	.920

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.