Detroit Red Wings prospect spotlight: Axel Sandin Pellikka looks like a future star
Skilled defensemen who shoot right are a coveted commodity in the NHL, which is why, mere months after the Detroit Red Wings decided to trade one away, they ameliorated the loss by drafting one.
Axel Sandin Pellikka projects to fill, if not exceed, the role performed by Filip Hronek, albeit with a gap of several years. The Wings drafted Sandin Pellikka at No. 17 in 2023, selecting the 5-foot-11 Swede with their second pick last summer. (The first, at No. 9, was used on forward Nate Danielson.)
Sandin Pellikka's appeal was multifold: An offensive defenseman with the ability to run a power play and a skillset to combine playmaking, vision, shooting and mobility into an all-around package. General manager Steve Yzerman indicated at his season-ending review in April that Sandin Pellikka, 19, will stay in Sweden for the 2024-25 season to continue his development with Skellefteå AIK, but the Wings do expect to get a closer look at him during development camp, which generally is the week after the draft, in early July.
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Sandin Pellikka already has had quite a 2024: He won the SHL championship with Skellefteå, and was named the recipient of the Salming Trophy, awarded to the best Swedish-born defenseman in the SHL. In May, he signed his entry-level contract with the Wings — but that won't go into effect while he's still in Sweden. Sandin Pellikka had 10 goals and eight assists in 39 games with Skellefteå, plus seven points in 14 playoff games, and had six points in seven games at the World Junior Championship, where he was an alternate captain.
"I had a chance to watch him at the World Juniors, and he played well," Yzerman said. "He's been good. I watch a little bit of mostly highlights in Skellefteå, and he's good. He moves the puck well, he skates well, he's got good skills. He's a fun a player to watch, and he just needs time like all young players to get a little stronger, more mature, and I think he's going to be a really good player for us. He's a different type of player, and he'll fit in nicely with our group of defensemen in a couple years."
For those wondering why Yzerman traded Hronek — a Wings draftee who shoots right and played with a physical edge — it was a matter of economics. Hronek, 26, had a year left on his contract when the Wings traded him at the 2023 deadline to the Vancouver Canucks in return for a first-round and second-round pick. (It was, in fact, that first round pick from the Canucks, which originally belonged to the New York Islanders, that was used to select Sandin Pellikka.)
Hronek had a contract with a $4.4 million salary cap hit, and, knowing Hronek would be expecting a significant raise on that in his next deal, Yzerman instead turned Hronek into future assets. The Wings already have two restricted free agents in Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond who are due lucrative new deals this summer, so that played a key role in unloading Hronek.
About four months after the trade, Sandin Pellikka was a Red Wing. He doesn't have the physicality that Yzerman brought in when he used first-round picks to draft Seider (No. 6, 2019) and Simon Edvinsson (No. 6, 2021), but Sandin Pellikka is highly skilled and has the puck-moving instincts of a star defenseman. The advantage in bringing him over this year and having him in Grand Rapids would be acclimating to the smaller ice sheet used in North American hockey, but the SHL is an elite league and will only benefit Sandin Pellikka's growth.
It would not be a surprise if, looking ahead to the fall of 2025, the Wings bring Sandin Pellikka to camp with the expectation he'll start the season in Grand Rapids, only for Sandin Pellikka to do what Raymond did in 2021 and instead play so well he stays in Detroit. Whenever Sandin Pellikka does arrive, he projects to significantly strengthen the Wings — and be really fun to watch.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
Feeling a draft
What: 2024 NHL draft.
When: June 28-29; Sphere, Las Vegas; ESPN.
The Wings’ top pick: No. 15, their lowest first pick since 2016 (No. 20, D Dennis Cholowski).
The top five: 1. San Jose, 2. Chicago, 3. Anaheim, 4. Montreal, 5. Columbus.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Axel Sandin Pellikka looks like future star for Detroit Red Wings
