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RWC REPORT: Larsson positioned for success

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / May 19, 2008

Daniel Larsson is positioned for success in North America.

The 22-year-old goaltender signed a two-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings this week and plans to leave Sweden in the fall. If he does, he will have a legitimate chance to start for the American Hockey League's Grand Rapids Griffins.

With Dominik Hasek headed for retirement and top prospect Jimmy Howard poised to enter Detroit's goaltending rotation with Chris Osgood, the No. 1 job on the farm is up for grabs. That job appears to be Larsson's to lose.

Larsson had a 2.29 goals-against average, a .921 save percentage and five shutouts in 46 starts with Djurgarden of the Swedish Elite League this season. He was named rookie of the year and won the Honken Trophy as top goaltender.

The Red Wings will likely sign at least one more goaltender to accompany Larsson in Grand Rapids — either a veteran journeyman or former prospect Stefan Liv, who was named Swedish Elite League most valuable player this season.

Past goalie prospects of the Red Wings have entered into much more dire situations. Joey MacDonald and Howard ate into each other's time for years, while Drew MacIntyre was all but forgotten in the East Coast Hockey League.

Here's a look at the other newsmakers from last week.

— Defenseman Logan Pyett (Regina, Western Hockey League) surprised no one by signing a three-year contract with the Red Wings this week. The 2006 seventh-round draft pick is a Derek Meech type with more offensive flair, and will suit up for Grand Rapids as an AHL rookie next season.

— Forward Jan Mursak and his Belleville Bulls lost in Game 7 to the Kitchener Rangers in the Ontario Hockey League final last week, but still advanced to the Memorial Cup. There, they suffered a 5-4 overtime heartbreaker to the Spokane Chiefs. Mursak didn't have any points. The tournament runs all week.

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 21 9 15 24 10
Logan Pyett Regina WHL 6 1 3 4 0
Cory Emmerton Brampton OHL 5 0 2 2 2
M E M O R I A L    C U P
Jan Mursak Belleville CHL 1 0 0 0 0

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.

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The next wave

RWC's top 10 prospects (2009-10 preliminary)
01 F Tomas Tatar » Grand Rapids (AHL)
02 D Jakub Kindl » Grand Rapids (AHL)
03 D Brendan Smith » Wisconsin (NCAA)
04 G Thomas McCollum » Grand Rapids (AHL)
05 F Gustav Nyquist » Maine (NCAA)
06 F Landon Ferraro » Red Deer (WHL)
07 F Jan Mursak » Grand Rapids (AHL)
08 F Cory Emmerton » Grand Rapids (AHL)
09 F Joakim Andersson » Frolunda (SEL)
10 F Mattias Ritola » Grand Rapids (AHL)
» COMPLETE RANKING »