Detroit Red Wings: Top 10 prospects entering 2019

Goaltenders

I like to separate the goaltenders from the skaters. It’s very difficult to evaluate goalies. In fact, it’s far more difficult, at least for me, to evaluate them than skaters. The Red Wings have nice organizational depth in goal. Goalies are lottery tickets, and Detroit has a bunch of them.

1. Filip Larsson

Acquired: 2016 sixth-round pick

Age: 20

Stats: 22 games, 1.95 GAA, .932% save percentage (University of Denver, NCAA)

Want proof you don’t need to burn a first-round pick to get a good goalie? Here’s Exhibit A. Ever since he was drafted in 2016, all Filip Larsson has done is stop pucks. You could chalk up his outstanding collegiate season to having a terrific team in front of him, but Larsson was also terrific in the USHL in 2017-18 and overseas in 2016-17.

At 6’2″, he’s got an ideal size for a goaltender. His athleticism is impressive as well. Larsson’s slumps during international play are a bit of a concern, but I wouldn’t worry too much. He signed his ELC this year, so expect him to head to Grand Rapids or the ECHL. If you’re interested, he’d be right around the middle of my top 10 list if I included him with the skaters.

2. Jesper Eliasson

Acquired: 2018 third-round pick

Age: 19

Stats: 33 games, 2.43 GAA, .919% save percentage; 2 postseason games, .933% save percentage (Växjö Lakers HC J20, SuperElit)

The Red Wings got weird and selected two goalies in the 2018 NHL Draft. Jesper Eliasson gets the nod at number two because of his potential. He’s more of a project than Victor Brattström (more on him later), but I like what I’ve seen from him. Eliasson has to fix a few glaring weaknesses in his game (most notably moving to his blocker side), but he has plenty of time to fix his warts.

3. Kaden Fulcher

Acquired: Undrafted

Age: 20 (turns 21 in September)

Stats: 28 games, 3.00 GAA, .899% save percentage (Toledo Walleyes, ECHL); 1 game, 4.44 GAA, .848% save percentage (Detroit Red Wings, NHL)

Not many 20-year-old goaltenders can say they’re professional hockey players. But Kaden Fulcher is one of them.

4. Victor Brattström

Acquired: 2018 sixth-round pick

Age: 22

Stats: 23 games, 2.81 GAA, .898% save percentage (Timrå IK, SHL)

For those counting at home, that’s three Swedish goaltenders in the Red Wings organization (Larsson, Eliasson, and Brattström). Brattström is likely an organizational depth goaltender, though he cleaned up his game enough last season to make me think something might be there.

5. Keith Petruzzeli

Acquired: 2017 third-round pick

Age: 20

Stats: 14 games, 2.42 GAA, .904% save percentage (Quinnipiac University, NCAA)

Keith Petruzzeli is huge (6’5″). That’s about it. To be fair, he hasn’t really been given much of a chance at Quinnipiac thanks to Andrew Shortridge. Since Shortridge signed with the San Jose Sharks, the net appears to be open for Petruzzeli in 2019-20.