From The Silky Mitten State: On the value of an AHL playoff run to a number of Detroit's top prospects
From The Silky Mitten State: On the value of an AHL playoff run to a number of Detroit's top prospects
Last night in Grand Rapids, the Griffins' Calder Cup playoff campaign suffered a setback. Veteran forward Austin Czarnik scored the game's first goal, only for the visiting Rockford Ice Hogs to score the next five. After the setback, the best-of-five series is split at one game a piece, with Game Three set for Friday night at Van Andel Arena.
Of course, there is intrinsic significance to any postseason with a trophy on the line, but there is another reason for Detroit fans to keep an eye on the Griffins' run through the Calder Cup playoffs.
At his end-of-year press conference, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman mentioned in relation to goaltender Sebastian Cossa, "the coach will decide who plays in the [AHL] playoffs, but he's progressed, and we're really hoping for a whole host of reasons that he obviously has a successful, long playoff run, and he continues to go and play well. And if he does get the net and run with it, that puts him closer to the NHL."
In other words, a strong AHL postseason can help spring some of the Red Wings top prospects into prime position for an NHL roster spot come training camp. On the most recent episode of The Silky Mitten State, my co-host Connor Earegood and I discussed this dynamic, especially with respect to Jonatan Berggren, Albert Johansson, and Carter Mazur.
You can check out a sample of that clip in the video above. For the full episode, go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify:
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Playoff FOMO, More Leafs Mess, and What's Next in Tampa?: The Silky Mitten State Episode 24
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