The Future in Detroit is starting to look bright.
Only a few days after his first trade, Detroit red wings general manager Alex Hurst made two new trades in as many days. Both trades were intended to help the long term outlook for the franchise. Both of the deals broke down like this:
To Detroit:
Alexander Nikulin
Liam Reddox
To New York Islanders:
2008 2nd Round Draft Pick (Pittsburgh)
2008 5th Round Draft Pick (Detroit)
And
To Detroit:
Simon Hjalmarsson
Patrick Thoresen
John Mitchell
Nate Thompson
Jim Fahey
2008 3rd Round Draft Pick (Tampa Bay)
2008 4th Round Draft Pick (Nashville)
To Toronto:
Chad Kilger
Jeff O'Neill
Mikael Tellqvist
When asked about the moves, Alex Hurst had this to say: “As a result of these two deals, we have added 5 good prospects to our system (Nikulin, Reddox, Hjalmarsson, Mitchell and Thompson), one depth guy (Fahey), a young player with solid potential (Thoresen) and two 2008 draft picks (3rd and 4th round picks). With this trade we lost Chad Kilger, Jeff O’Neill, Mikael Tellqvist and two solid draft picks. These loses will definitely hurt our current roster and have a negative short term impact, but the long term assets that we gained will help our team get back on the right track. We also felt that we had the assets to replace the guys that we moved and to compensate for the trades that we made.”
When asked about each of the prospects he acquired, Alex Hurst spoke highly of everybody: “First we got Alexander Nikulin, a highly skilled center out of Russia. He is a good passer and can play well in traffic. Another reason we were so interested in Nikulin was the fact that he is committed to playing in North America and eventually making it into the OTHL, instead of some of his Russian counterparts who choose to return home if they don’t make their OTHL teams right away and need to be conditioned in the minor leagues. In the AHL this season, Nikulin is 7th in rookie scoring with 33 points in 47 games, and is second on his team for points-per-game.”
“In the trade’s we accomplished, we also were able to acquire Liam Reddox, a feisty agitating winger who has a good nose for the net. He is extremely committed to the game and is constantly trying to get better and develop his playing ability; his former AHL coach had this to say about him (I’m not making this part up):
Coach Buchberger: "Night in and night out, he's been our Ryan Smyth. He goes to the net all the time. He's used in every situation. Last year in Stockton (ECHL) he didn't play a lot. He's a surprise. Now it looks like he has a chance to make it. He's our Ryan Smyth the way he works in practices and the games. I've been at the rink early and who walks in the door before eight, for a 10 o'clock practice? Liam-- so he can start working out. He competes, plus he's got skill, lots of skill. You know how Smytty drives to the net, burying that shoulder? Well, Liam does a lot of those little things, too. He's made big strides in one year. I use him on the point on the power play and when we're down five-on-three, he's the forward I send out."
Day in and day out Reddox draws comparisons to Ryan Smyth, which our organizations scouts can not disagree with. With his former AHL team, Liam Reddox has put up 25 points in 40 AHL games as a rookie.”
Liam Reddox
“In the second deal we made (with Toronto), we acquired Simon Hjalmarsson, Hjalmarsson was drafted in the first round of the 2007 OTHL draft and he looks like a solid prospect. Our scouts had this to say about him:
“A very all-round player. Hjalmarsson stands out with his speed, technical skills and his intensity. A good goal scorer with a quick release and above average playmaking ability that has so far produced at all levels. Although he has plenty of flash offensively, Hjalmarsson is also a hard worker with excellent attitude and penalty killing ability. Needs to bulk up and become stronger.”
We have a lot of faith in this kid and we believe he will be a big part of our future for many years. This season, with Frölunda J20 of the SuperElit league in Sweden, Hjalmarsson has racked up 28 points in 27 games.”
“We also got prospects John Mitchell and Nate Thompson who are both solid center prospects and should develop into good 3rd/4th line centers. Thompson is a good physical center who can throw plenty of hits (reminds me of Chris Neil) and help kill penalties. Mitchell has a solid 33 points in 51 games with his former AHL affiliate (much improved from his previous season) and Thompson has 20 points in 50 games, while he plays with a much more physical edge”
When asked how he would deal with the roster loses of Kilger, O’Neill and Tellqvist, Alex Hurst said: “We plan on bringing up Jason Jaffray and playing him at center (to offset the loss of O’Neill), and bring up Patrick Thoresen to play RW (offset the loss of Kilger) and calling up Hannu Toivonen (to replace Tellqvist)”
In conclusion, Alex Hurst said this: “We are very happy with the way things have transpired over the past couple of days. Our team is going in the right direction and we have added plenty of youth to help us reach our goal and become a competitive team again,”