The Detroit Red Wings brass is saying all the right things when the conversation is about the chances of Axel Sandin Pellikka beginning next season skating in The Show.

“I guess I’ll wait and see,” GM Steve Yzerman said of Sandin Pellikka’s chances of making the team out of training camp. “I’m not going to rule out any player coming in and being so good in camp that we’re going to keep him and see how he does in the NHL.”

Then again, if you listen closely, the team’s braintrust is also giving off every indication that ASP making the squad will be the exception and not the rule.

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“Axe is going to have to get stronger,” Red Wings development coach Dan Cleary said. “He’s got to spend a lot of time in the gym, working on skating, learning.”

The jump from Europe to North America is a difficult step. It takes a very special player to do it in one leap. Lucas Raymond accomplished the feat in 2021, so it’s not out of the question that it can be done. However, with a defenseman, it’s a lot to ask. Even Moritz Seider was given time in the AHL before being asked to suit up for the big club.

AHL Experience Eye Opener For Sandin Pellikka

Sandin Pellikka, chosen 17th overall in the 2023 NHL entry draft, managed to get into two regular-season AHL games and three Calder Cup playoff games for the Grand Rapids Griffins. He dished out one assist and was minus-two. Having witnessed two of those games, he wasn’t performing with a level of dominance that he’ll need to make it as an NHLer this fall.

“It was very valuable for him to see the pace and the gap control that he needs to have,” Cleary said. “With the smaller ice, it probably had a huge adjustment.”

Yzerman was seeing the same growing pains in Sandin Pellikka’s game last spring.

“I think it was enlightening for him,” Yzerman said. “Maybe eye-opening a little bit.

“It’s a little smaller ice, faster game. Albeit it’s only the American League, not the NHL, which is even faster in that it’s a different game than in Europe. And he’s got some work to do.”

Red Wings Preseason Games Will Be ASP’s Litmus Test

Ultimately, how Sandin Pellikka performs in NHL preseason games will go a long way in determining his ultimate landing spot. But even at that, it isn’t an exact science.

“The preseason games are tricky,” Yzerman said. “It’s not the intensity and the pace of a regular-season game. And sometimes, depending on who’s in the lineup, you’re not necessarily playing against NHL players.

“So it can be misleading, both good and bad.”

GR Seems Like ASP’s Logical Location

Reading between the lines, all roads seem to be leading to Grand Rapids for Sandin Pellikka.

“I forecast him coming and playing a regular role, being really good on the power play,” Cleary said. “And then we’re going to work on his skating and his strength and his just ability to move around the ice. Especially in the neutral zone, and then in the defensive zone.

“We’ll see how it goes in terms of moving along, but it’s hard. He’s a young defenseman. It’s hard to play over here.

“So there might be some growing pains with that.”

1, 2, 3 for ASP! 🎩

Axel Sandin-Pellikka nets a hat trick in his first game of the 2025 #WorldJuniors! pic.twitter.com/vGoETMFJeT

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 26, 2024

The Red Wings are also extremely confident that ASP will get it sorted out sooner rather than later.

“It’s tough, but he’s got an A brain,” Cleary said. “He’ll eventually figure out how he’s got to set himself to the neutral zone.

“He’s not a very big guy, but he’s a very smart guy. So, the smaller ones need to use their brain much more and positionally be in the right spot and especially when defending.”

Yzerman admits Sandin Pellikka will be facing an uphill battle this fall.

“He’s really going to have to just force his way into the lineup,” Yzerman said. “Do I rule it out? No.

“So we’ll wait and answer that one in September.”