Prospect Info: Detroit Red Wings Prospect Rankings (#8)

[Anchor Town*]

I'll only believe this the very season it happens. I have a hunch that the Wings value Pulkkinen more than most posters here. Plus, I think Babcock will keep him in a Hudler-style role for a good while too. He'll play 3rd/4th line and get PP time for a season or two. I think there's room for him to do that. By then, the Wings depth picture should be radically different.

That's great and all but this list isn't about how the Wings' management values these guys, it's about how we value and project them

 

[Frk It]

His value goes down because he plays a redundant position/role. Part of how I (and a lot of people) rank these guys is how close they are to making an impact at the NHL level where they are projected. I don't see Pulkkinen being able to crack a top 6 winger spot anytime in the near or relatively distant future. There's Zetterberg, Franzen, Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, Mantha all in front of him, Mantha being the only debatable one.

Which forward remaining is closer to making an impact at the NHL level than a guy who is putting up .82 ppg in the AHL right now?

And redundant? Name me another forward in our system with a 100 mph slapshot that shoots right handed?

 

[Winger98]

Not too sure about that. The scouting staff has been saying AA will make the NHL on his speed alone since the day he was drafted. Always has been just a question of in what capacity it will be.

When you factor in the fact that he is now 6'2" and 200 lbs to go along with that speed, I think he's a pretty safe bet.

I see being a bottom6 guy as being his floor, though, and I value that a bit less than the mid-pairing/20 minute guy that I see Marchenko and Backman likely growing into. AA's got to come to GR and keep his offense for me to really start getting high on the guy.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

That's great and all but this list isn't about how the Wings' management values these guys, it's about how we value and project them

Right, but how management views the players affects how they're used. You're talking about how there isn't room for Pulkkinen, but if the Wings brass thinks there's room, there's room. They'll make room. End of story.

Besides, Pulkkinen deserves his spot based on what he's shown on the ice.

 

[Anchor Town*]

Which forward remaining is closer to making an impact at the NHL level than a guy who is putting up .82 ppg in the AHL right now?

Our current top six wingers: Zetterberg, Franzen, Nyquist, Tatar. Who is Pulkkinen going to replace? Franzen? Nope, Jurco is ahead of him in the pecking order. And it appears most people on this site feel Mantha will jump Pulkkinen in due time as well

 

[Anchor Town*]

Right, but how management views the players affects how they're used. You're talking about how there isn't room for Pulkkinen, but if the Wings brass thinks there's room, there's room. They'll make room. End of story.

Besides, Pulkkinen deserves his spot based on what he's shown on the ice.

Like how the brass made room for Nyquist and Tatar at the beginning of the season?

 

[Frk It]

Our current top six wingers: Zetterberg, Franzen, Nyquist, Tatar. Who is Pulkkinen going to replace? Franzen? Nope, Jurco is ahead of him in the pecking order. And it appears most people on this site feel Mantha will jump Pulkkinen in due time as well

What about the 3rd line? So everyone after Mantha is useless in these prospect rankings?

 

[Frk It]

I see being a bottom6 guy as being his floor, though, and I value that a bit less than the mid-pairing/20 minute guy that I see Marchenko and Backman likely growing into. AA's got to come to GR and keep his offense for me to really start getting high on the guy.

I mean the season AA is putting together in Juniors is nothing to scoff at. He's only 1 month older than Mantha.

With the offensive skillset he posseses, to go with along his size and speed, he absolutely could be more than a bottom 6er. Keep in mind this guy was viewed as a 1st round talent going into his draft year, before he got buried in the depth chart in London.

 

[Laser Rayzor]

And redundant? Name me another forward in our system with a 100 mph slapshot that shoots right handed?

You might be named after him

I don't think he's been a skills competition to have it measured but I'd say Frk's shot is up there in the entire prospect world in terms of speed.


I know Pulu is better now but I still think Frk challenges/defeats Pulu for that RH scoring winger with a bomb of shot niche and ends up being the better player when it's all said and done.

 

[Frk It]

You might be named after him

I don't think he's been a skills competition to have it measured but I'd say Frk's shot is up there in the entire prospect world in terms of speed.

You're right, and Frk does have a big shot. Only other forward that is a righty with a bomb. But Teemu is way closer to the NHL.

I know Pulu is better now but I still think Frk challenges/defeats Pulu for that RH scoring winger with a bomb of shot niche and ends up being the better player when it's all said and done.

Maybe, I know I used to think so. But I didn't think he'd struggle like he has.

I think Pulkkinen has always taken a lot of criticism on here, but all he has done is overcome and make progress as a prospect.

I always liked Frk because he was bigger than Pulkks, and played more like a power forward than Teemu does. So that adds a dimension to his game, which would give him more value. But Frk needs a ton of work. He's a real boom or bust guy.

Last summer I would have said Frk is a better option of the two for the long-term. Now I am not so sure how that will play out. Pulkkinen did much better than I would have guessed (near ppg), and Frk did way worse than I would have imagined.

Pulkkinen really is a talent offensively. Very good playmaking, vision, and overall offensive instincts. Plus he has that bomb.

 

[Frk It]

How many guys have we drafted in late rounds that were considered 1st round talents (or close to it) leading up to their draft years?


This is from memory.... but
Weren't all of Athanasiou, Pulkkinen, Jurco, Frk, and Tvrdon considered 1st round talents, or very close, at the start of their draft years?

 

[DatsyukToZetterberg]

Pulkkinen, add Jensen.

 

[Fowler524]

Pulkinnen again. Add Frk.

 

[odin1981]

Went with marchenko for #7 so it would be in my eyes pulkkinen now. Granted pulk and sproul might need 1-2 years in the ahl but I figure pulk will be up sooner.

 

[Frk It]

Pulkkinen, add Jensen.

Totally forget that Jensen is even in the system.

He was always my favorite under-the-radar type prospect, and I haven't really been able to see him at all this year.

Really wish he would have been able to start the year in GR and get a shot to see what he could do....oh well.

Still love the idea of a RH d-man that can absolutely fly.

 

[Anchor Town*]

Still love the idea of a RH d-man that can absolutely fly.

Like Sproul?

 

[Anchor Town*]

So everyone after Mantha is useless in these prospect rankings?

I don't think anyone said that on here

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

How many guys have we drafted in late rounds that were considered 1st round talents (or close to it) leading up to their draft years?


This is from memory.... but
Weren't all of Athanasiou, Pulkkinen, Jurco, Frk, and Tvrdon considered 1st round talents, or very close, at the start of their draft years?

You hear that a lot, Tvrdon started strong and had a big frame before his injury but he would have had to play himself into it. Frk and Jurco were supposed to be mid to late, if I remember right Frk was a little higher thought of. Athanasiou likewise had the low first but tag of he could be more, those three kind of came in with they could play themselves up substantially or out of the round entirely they were always kind of looked at as movers based on their seasons. There were questions in their game and skills that most thought teams might bite on anyway.

Pulkkinen on the other hand entered draft year with a huge draft status. Think it was the Hockey News that had him in their way to early draft rankings (you know the one that takes place right after the draft) as #3, behind Taylor Hall and Erik Gudbranson entering their draft years. Be kind of like if on top of Nylander's shaky start people started hating his skating motion and then he got hurt. Nylander is falling now as is in a lot of draft places, but just as a point of reference Pulkkinen did have a ton of hype and has always had a rather large skill set. He was more celebrated entering his draft year than fellow Europeans Granlund and Burmistrov, Nino was already in the CHL. My opinion is Hakan's tendency to not over watch players probably benefited here. He didn't have a great start then he went down and almost everyone immediately attacked his knee locked skating and he tumbled swiftly.

Emmerton was the #10 player in his draft year and Ferraro was high as well. The Wings don't seem to get scared off by the draft year, I think they have a narrower board than most teams if they absolutely fall in love with a guy he can get on it but a lot of how we have drafted lately seems to point to the fact they take a lot more into account than just that year and I think that is a big reason for their success.

 

[Frk It]

I don't think anyone said that on here

You painted a picture that since the top 6 is set Pulkkinen has no value since there's no room there. But you completely disregarded the fact that there's a top 9 and every good Wings team ever has had 3 deep scoring lines.

And if there's no room for Pulkkinen in the top 6 and that hurts Pulkkinens value... Then you could say the same thing for every prospect after Mantha bc he has that 6th spot in your eyes. So by that logic there's no room for Jarnkrok or Jurco either and we shouldn't vote for them either.

I think Pulkkinen has a future as a 2nd/3rd line tweener in the NHL. Now that might not be on the Wings with our prospect logjam, I agree there. But that should not affect his rating as a prospect IMO. His potential and his likeliness to reach it is the most important thing. What team he ends up on is irrelevant, and impossible to guess at this point.

Edit: I totally understand your outlook on the future of the team, and your concern of where Pulkkinen would fit in, or if he would at all. I just don't think we should use that against him in the ranking our prospects in the present moment.

 

[mindfly]

The greek dude