What to Watch For: Red Wings Prospects at the World Junior
With four Detroit prospects set to compete at the World Junior Championship in Ottawa, here are some storylines to keep an eye on
With the World Juniors set to begin on Boxing Day (in keeping with tournament tradition), here are some stories to keep an eye on with respect to the four Detroit Red Wings prospects competing in Ottawa. Max Plante and Trey Augustine will represent Team USA, Axel Sandin-Pellikka will represent Sweden, and Jesse Kiiskinen will represent Finland.
The two American enter the tournament from different places. Plante was a late addition to Team USA's select camp roster, while Augustine is looking to collect his third WJC medal. As US general manager John Vanbiesbrouck said last week of Plante, "Max was a late add just based on his hand and wrist. He was just too good to leave out of our group, and so we watched him the last four weeks. When somebody's wearing a splint, it's kinda hard, but he's just playing too good. You gotta give him that shot, and he deserves to be here."
Meanwhile, US coach David Carle (who, like Augustine was part of the gold-winning American side in Sweden a year ago) gushed about Augustine's growth, saying, "Each time you can see he's out of his shell a little bit more. I heard, even last weekend, I heard he was kinda showing up the crowd a little bit against Minnesota. People were surprised by that, but excited about that. There's nothing wrong with that. We saw a little bit of that in Sweden actually. When you watch the game back, you see some of the replays where he gets pretty fired up. You'd never question his intensity or compete or desire to win, but he's probably getting a little more external or forward facing."
Kiiskinen meanwhile is a player whose versatility helps him stand out. As coach Lauri Mikkola told The Hockey News at the World Junior Summer Showcase, "He can do lots of different things. He can be a penalty killer, he can (play the) power play, and we’re gonna use his many skills.” That versatile skillset will be part of the Finns' bid for an upset run in Ottawa.
Finally, Sandin-Pellikka will be out for revenge after falling one win short with Sweden on home ice at last year's tournament. Given his history at the event (six points in seven games a year ago), dominance is a decent standard to hold the 2023 first round pick to at the '25 edition of the tournament.
In the featured video above, I discussed the four Red Wing prospects and their potential roles come showtime in Ottawa on Dec. 26.