1 week Ago
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — While the Red Wings play out the string in yet another lost season, Detroit’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids is gearing up for the playoffs. That means high-pressure situations are on the horizon for Sebastian Cossa, Nate Danielson, Amadeus Lombardi and other Red Wings prospects who have been with the Griffins all season.
It also means some new faces are joining the fold, as new players arrive in Grand Rapids after their seasons in junior hockey and Sweden. Advertisement That was the case for Emmitt Finnie and Anton Johansson, two prospects who, like potential late-round finds by the Red Wings, are now joining the Griffins. And soon, it is expected to be the case for Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, a pair of recent first-round picks whose season with SHL Skellefteå just ended.
Those arrivals only add more intrigue to the Griffins’ playoff push, and more names to monitor in those key games. After spending the weekend in Grand Rapids, watching the Griffins play two games against the Texas Stars — who could very well be Grand Rapids’ first-round opponent — here’s what stood out about Detroit’s prospects, plus some thoughts on what to expect from Sandin-Pellikka and Brandsegg-Nygård. 1 .
Finnie has been a standout at multiple Red Wings prospect events since being picked in the seventh round in 2023, and he had a breakout offensive season in the WHL, nearly doubling his goals total from 19 in 16 games a year ago to 37 in 55 this season. For those reasons, I was particularly curious to see how he would do jumping into the AHL, where there’s much less time and space than in junior hockey. We saw Danielson struggle a bit with that adjustment late last season when he joined the Griffins — granted, that was an even higher degree of difficulty, stepping into a playoff series.
And Finnie did get a few games last season, too, so he had a feel for what to expect. But in the two games I attended, I thought Finnie’s game translated well. He’s a hard worker with good instincts, so it wasn’t a surprise that I had him down for multiple takeaways in the Saturday night game.
“He just continues moving his feet,” Griffins coach Dan Watson said. “He’s always in there. Doesn’t seem like he gets tired.
” While I don’t think he’ll be a high-production type, there is offense in his game thanks to his smarts and his shot, and through seven games with the Griffins, he’s already up to four points (one goal, three assists). One of those assists came Saturday, when he made a confident, skilled play through the offensive zone to set up a Gabriel Seger goal at the goalmouth. Grand Rapids is using him on the second power-play unit.
Advertisement Finnie said he worked a lot on his shot this past offseason, which helped with the offensive surge this season, but he also likes to create off the rush with his skating and by using his smarts to find open ice. They key to producing at the pro level, though — especially in the playoffs — will probably be more about making plays in tight, working the give-and-go (he had a couple nice ones on Friday, once with Danielson and once with Ondrej Becher), and crashing the net to score off second chances. With his motor and smarts, I think that’s all well within Finnie’s capability.
I’d call it an encouraging start for him with the Griffins. 2 . The trait that pops with Johansson is his skating.
He’s highly mobile at 6-foot-4, with some offense in his game as well. He had two assists in the Friday night game, one on a rebound from his point shot and then a pretty one where he activated off the blue line, faked a point shot and then slid it back to Joe Snively for the goal. “His shot is a weapon, but I also think he can skate,” Watson said.
“He can join the rush a little bit more when he has those opportunities. But he is long, he’s got a good stick, he does have a little snarl to his game at times, which we need. So I think he’s going to be an all-around, 200-foot type defenseman that can provide offense, but also be great defensively, play against teams’ top lines at this level.
” Watson’s lineup matched that praise, putting Johansson on the team’s top defense pair next to William Wallinder, and on Friday night, Watson said he thought Johansson and Wallinder were his team’s best pairing. Johansson’s five points in nine games so far, too, are a good start for a player jumping into this new league late in the season. Johansson does show that willingness to jump into plays, but there is still some wild horse in his game, and the Saturday look wasn’t as clean largely for that reason.
There was one neutral-zone play where Johansson had a chance to work the puck up to Danielson at the offensive blue line, but didn’t make the play quick enough and had it picked off as a result. He also got beat pinching at the offensive blue line late in the game with his net empty, leading to the dagger goal for the Stars. I also thought Grand Rapids’ blue line as a whole struggled to break the puck out cleanly against a heavy Texas forecheck that put them under a ton of pressure.
Advertisement But again, it’s early in his AHL tenure, and those things are all part of the learning curve. “He moves the puck really well, he’s hard in the right areas,” Watson said. “Now (it’s) just the speed again, just making those reads, those decisions as you defend line rushes and defend in your own zone — things probably happen a little bit quicker than how they did for him (on larger ice).
So he’s still learning that aspect of it, but he’s come in and done a really good job for us.” One thing of note: Johansson told me it’s still possible he could be back in the SHL next year. He said it’s something they’ll talk about after the season.
3 . One of the biggest success stories this year in Grand Rapids has been Amadeus Lombardi, who missed considerable time with injury but is comfortably the Griffins’ leading scorer on a per-game basis with 18 goals and 37 points in 41 games. He had a highlight-reel assist Friday night, beating one defender inside to create a mini two-on-one, then drawing in the remaining defender and making a pretty feed to Sheldon Dries for the goal.
His production rate is virtually identical to where Jonatan Berggren’s was at the same age in the AHL, and while Lombardi is skinnier than Berggren, I like his skating and motor more, and think he can earn more trust from coaches as a result. The key will be making sure he can hold his own defensively in the NHL, but I could see him challenging for NHL playing time next season. 4 .
I’m still waiting for the offense to pop for Danielson. He had a six-point weekend against Rockford a week earlier but was held to just an empty-net goal Friday in the two games I was at. That said, there were other chances — he made a seam pass to Johansson on Friday that was probably the most NHL-type pass I saw on the weekend — and he’s still fourth on the team in scoring for the season, all while playing huge minutes, killing penalties and being disruptive on the backcheck.
But for a player with Danielson’s tools, you do want to see a more consistent offensive threat. Danielson’s production is ahead of where Marco Kasper’s was in Grand Rapids last season, so that’s encouraging. But Kasper plays at a higher pace and his physical edge is a different element to his game as well.
So while both are two-way centers, it’s not a given Danielson will translate in quite the same way Kasper did — or if he’ll be ready right from the jump next season like Kasper was. And some of that will come down to Danielson’s offseason work. Advertisement But last season’s AHL playoffs were arguably the start of Kasper’s roster push, where he was one of the Griffins’ most effective, noticeable players — responding well to the hard brand of hockey the postseason (and NHL) demands.
Danielson doesn’t have to do it the same way as Kasper did, but making a similar impact would go a long way for him. 5 . Cossa stopped 34 of the 36 shots he faced on Saturday with a couple of highlight saves, but he’s had a rocky recent stretch since mid-March.
His season save percentage is now down to .910, which isn’t bad, but it’s down slightly from .913 last season.
More importantly, he hasn’t yet reached the level of looking too good for the league. He makes the spectacular save at times, for sure, but perhaps not controlling the game as consistently as you’d hope. Again, though, a big playoff performance would go a long way for him.
Acquiring Petr Mrázek meant the Red Wings don’t need to force Cossa onto the NHL roster to begin next season, and may indeed block him. But they won’t be blocking him if he’s not ready for the next level, and any case that he makes to force their hand would have to start with a good postseason. 6 .
Lastly, just a quick thought on what to expect from Sandin-Pellikka and Bransegg-Nygård once they enter the picture. Both should have an advantage coming from a pro league, rather than junior hockey, which is reflected in how Grand Rapids has put Johansson in a big role so quickly. I’ll be curious to see how Sandin-Pellikka handles the speed and physicality of the AHL right away, but he’s such a smart, poised player that I think he’ll navigate the changes rather quickly.
He’s a competitor, too. I would think he’ll quickly earn a major role on the power play and should help spark some transition offense. He’s a real candidate to make the Red Wings’ roster this fall, and a good showing in Grand Rapids would only help that case.
Advertisement As for Brandsegg-Nygård, the way he thrived in the SHL playoffs compared to the regular season feels like a tell as to how the switch will go for him. After having just five goals and 11 points in 42 regular-season games for Skellefteå, he had four goals and six points in 11 playoff games. His physical style will certainly suit him in the AHL, and his high-end shot should play up on the smaller ice, given how quick the action is and being a bit closer to the net.
Looking back, I think Brandsegg-Nygård would probably have been better off playing in Grand Rapids all year. But it looks like he’ll be there soon, and we’ll see how it looks once he is. (Top photo of Nate Danielson: Nicolas Carillo / Grand Rapids Griffins).
