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.