RWC REPORT: McGrath 'back on the map'

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / February 16, 2009

Evan McGrath is finally putting it together in the pros.

The 23-year-old former junior scoring star has recovered from an underwhelming start and emerged as one of the Grand Rapids Griffins' most consistently productive players in his third American Hockey League season.

After being a healthy scratch early in the year, McGrath is now fourth in Griffins scoring with 12 goals and 23 assists for 35 points in 47 games.

"Evan's put himself back on the map as far as being a prospect," said Griffins general manager Bob McNamara. "His attitude was great when he sat out, and sitting out has helped him in terms of not wanting to sit out again."

Dating back to last season, McGrath has 24 goals and 33 assists for 57 points in 77 games - solid numbers for any prospect, and closer to what was expected from a guy who scored 114 points in his final year of junior.

The 6-foot, 195-pound center has played on a line with two players on minor-league contracts, Francis Pare and Francis Lemieux, and the trio has developed good chemistry. That's helped McGrath's resurgence, but the biggest difference has been learning what to do when he doesn't have the puck.

"He's doing all the little things, all the things he didn't do before in terms of his own end, being responsible defensively, and getting into the corners first to get pucks," McNamara said. "His all-around game has been very good."

If nothing else, McGrath has easily earned himself another contract with the Red Wings, something that seemed unlikely in October. He still has plenty of work to do if he wants to play in the NHL, including developing a quicker first step. But McGrath is within striking distance once again.

"It remains to be seen (if he'll play in the NHL), but he's certainly opened some eyes," McNamara said. "It's up to Evan and how hard he works."

* Grand Rapids is 31-13-11, fourth in the AHL.

* Forwards Darren Helm and Ville Leino are getting an extended look in Detroit, and things are going well. Permanent graduation isn't far off.

Leino has three goals and two assists in eight games, while the energetic Helm has been his usual self with an assist in 10 games.

"I don't call them Grand Rapids kids," Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock told the Detroit Free Press. "They look like Red Wings to me."

Babcock added that "both those guys made the team in training camp."

* Top defensive prospects Jonathan Ericsson and Brendan Smith remain on the sidelines indefinitely with nasty wrist injuries.

* Forward Jesper Samuelsson (Sundsvall, Swedish Allsvenskan) had four assists in three games, his productive week of the season. The 20-year-old struggled in the Swedish Elite League, with three points in 39 games with Timra, so a step back to a lower level appears to be a better fit at this stage.

* Forward Stephen Johnston (Belleville, Ontario Hockey League) hasn't recorded a point in six games and has just a goal and assist in 12 games. He has come a long way this season, but more production is expected.

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Justin Abdelkader	Grand Rapids	AHL	51	18	19	37	63
Ville Leino	Grand Rapids	AHL	44	11	26	37	14
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	44	11	26	37	14
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	50	15	18	33	28
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	37	11	20	31	16
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	55	5	24	29	60
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	48	3	23	26	18
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	55	14	7	21	27
Jamie Tardif	Grand Rapids	AHL	46	9	9	18	39
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	37	2	12	14	42
Logan Pyett	Grand Rapids	AHL	44	2	10	12	6
Sergei Kolosov	Grand Rapids	AHL	47	4	6	10	24
Jan Mursak	Grand Rapids	AHL	34	1	5	6	17
K H L
Gennady Stolyarov	Astana Barys	KHL	38	11	8	19	26
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	KHL	49	4	10	14	14
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Farjestad	SEL	34	11	17	28	16
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SEL	46	5	6	11	0
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SEL	44	4	6	10	22
Jesper Samuelsson	Timra	SEL	39	2	1	3	10
Johan Ryno	AIK	SWE-2	17	5	6	11	12
Jesper Samuelsson	Sundsvall	SWE-2	10	1	4	5	38
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	4	2	2	4	2
Jesper Samuelsson	Timra	SWE-J20	4	2	0	2	2
C H L
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	54	23	24	47	68
Brent Raedeke	Edmonton	WHL	60	17	30	47	68
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	51	16	28	44	22
Stephen Johnston	Belleville	OHL	50	13	21	34	30
Brian Lashoff	Kingston	OHL	47	2	19	21	37
N C A A
Gustav Nyquist	Maine	HE	29	10	12	22	22
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	21	7	11	18	40
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	28	7	5	12	32
Julien Cayer	Clarkson	WCHA	23	3	6	9	26
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	30	4	3	7	26
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	26	3	3	6	36
U S H L
Max Nicastro	Chicago	USHL	40	9	17	26	62

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Thomas McCollum	Brampton	OHL	43	26-13-4	2.16	.927
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	32	14-13-4	2.52	.914
Daniel Larsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	28	17-6-1	2.74	.911

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL — American Hockey League; KHL — Kontinental Hockey League; SEL — Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 — Swedish Allsvenskan (second level); OHL — Ontario Hockey League; WHL — Western Hockey League; QMJHL — Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; WCHA — Western Collegiate Hockey Association; ECAC — East Coast Athletic Conference; HE — Hockey East; USHL — United States Hockey League.