wingsnut19

There has been a lot of hype surrounding this kid lately, most of it stemming from a THN article from a couple months ago. It has been reported in a number of Detroit sources that the Wings are right now the head runners to sign him to an NHL contract after his season in the SEL is done. If this is true, then that is great, because Detroit really doesn't have a lot of talent on the wing. It makes sense though that Detroit would be front runners given that they have so many good Swedish players and prospects coming up.

Now, Vancouver is probably the biggest competition right now. They can offer him better ice time, as he would probably play on the first line with the Sedin twins, where Detroit might even assign him to the AHL. We all know that Babcock doesn't hand out free minutes to young players. So, if ice time is a major consideration for the kid, then we could have a problem. Money wouldn't be an issue, because any team can offer him the rookie max and still be taking a minimal risk on signing him. Bonus' would be the only point of conflict.

Now, this really would have no impact on this season, as if he were to be signed and then called up by Detroit even after the SEL season was over, the kid would be subject to waivers and would definitely be picked up by a different team. But can he come over and finish a season with the Griffins? If that were possible, it would be great, just to get him some extra time to get used to the NA game.

Overall, I really hope Detroit gets this done. He seems like he would fit very well with our system, and even if he doesn't we don't have to make a huge commitment in order to find out.

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Sig. credit to rbenares11.

The Dutch rule all.

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Dark Reign

Never heard of him until last week.

We'll see if hes worth the hype.

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Canuck

There is tons of hype about this Swede and he is undrafted

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Wingtory

Yeah, I was surprised to see the Detroit Free Press making their annoucement this weekend. They practically congratulated Holland on getting the signing done. I don't think its that close, but I'm sure its a safe bet.

When Pavel Datsyuk was growing up, there was really 1 team that the Russians paid attention to for its proclivity towards skill players and its efforts to accomodate the earliest defections to the NHL by Soviet players: Detroit Red Wings.

Now, young swedes growing up are looking to Henrik Zetterberg as their favorite player. They know they can play anywhere, but with Lidstrom, Kronwall, Zetterberg, Franzen, Samuelsson, Lilja, Holmstrom, and the sleigh full of good prospects in the SEL (Ryno, Axelsson (PJ's brother), Axelsson (Hat Trick Dick), Larssen, and others, Detroit has got to be looked at as the best chance for Swedes. Detroit can offer a very stable development program, excellent coaching, and a winning tradition. They can also offer a Swedish community barnone.

I think Brunnstrom is coming to Detroit. I think this season he'll close with the Griffins (which I thought Ryno might have done last season), and he'll get the chance to earn a spot in training camp. If he doesn't make it, they'll show him the example of Val Filppula and explain he could be up as early as a month in.

Dark Reign

^ Excellent take.

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