{"id":620782,"date":"2026-07-12T08:39:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T08:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/620782\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T08:39:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T08:39:12","slug":"red-wings-player-already-pondering-return-to-sweden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/620782\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Wings Player Already Pondering Return to Sweden"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, Detroit<\/a> Red Wings defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka<\/a> admits, he does dream of the day he\u2019ll once again be back playing in his native Sweden.<\/p>\n

Relax, Red Wings fans. This dream is one built around a far-off future.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully in 15 years, it will of course be tempting to come home, and Skellefte\u00e5 AIK would be the best option,\u201d Sandin-Pellikka told Swedish website Norran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sandin-Pellikka watched from afar as his old SHL club won its second title in three seasons. He was part of Skellefte\u00e5\u2019s 2024 win and admitted to a sense of envy watching some of his old teammates again lift a championship trophy this spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was sitting in a hotel room during the AHL playoffs in Grand Rapids and watched,\u201d Sandin-Pellikka said. \u201cThere were big dimples and many congratulations that I sent away.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got a little \u2018fomo\u2019 (fear of missing out). But it was fun to watch too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so fun to win, and I\u2019ve been in a winning team before. I know how hard it is. It\u2019s a very fun ride when you can go all the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red Wings ASP Finished Season With Griffins<\/p>\n

Spending the first 68 games of his initial North American pro season with the Red Wings, Sandin-Pellikka<\/a> found himself shuffling off to the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins<\/a> late in the season. His ice time basically evaporated at the NHL level when the Red Wings were adding veteran rearguard Justin Faulk at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old Sandin-Pellikka displayed an anticipated knack for offense. He was good for seven goals and 21 points. However, the defensive shortcomings in his game were also on display. He was often physically overmatched. ASP was saddled with a team-worst minus-20 rating when he was sent to the Griffins. <\/p>\n

He took the demotion in stride. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust developing as a player,\u201d Sandin-Pellikka said. \u201cIt never hurts to get more games over here and just work on defense, work on offense. Play to the best of my abilities and just get better as a hockey player.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the offseason addition of Jacob Bryson from the Buffalo Sabres, coupled with the fact that William Wallinder must clear NHL waivers to return to the minor leagues, Detroit is basically going to go to training camp with nine NHL defensemen under contract. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not out of the realm of possibility that Sandin-Pellikka, who doesn\u2019t have to clear waivers to go down, might find himself beginning the 2026-27 season back with the Griffins. <\/p>\n

If that\u2019s the case, he already is drawing up a game plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just play with intensity,\u201d Sandin-Pellikka said. \u201cYeah. Offense, defense, everywhere. Really just go out there, play my game, get better, get more experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for his homeland, sure, he\u2019d like to play there again.<\/p>\n

Someday. But not someday soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yes, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka admits, he does dream of the day he\u2019ll once again be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5101],"tags":[599,1511,93,5137,5,4,3358,5138],"class_list":["post-620782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-red-wings","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-hockey-now","tag-detroit-red-wings","tag-detroitredwings","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-red-wings","tag-redwings"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116906109380360188","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}