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Sadowy move an interesting gamble by Red Wings |
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Wednesday’s Dylan Sadowy move is definitely an experiment, a roll of the dice by the Detroit Red Wings, but it looks to be a move worth making.
On a team which has struggled to get to the net, one that coach Jeff Blashill has frankly admitted possesses too many similar parts at forward, the 6-1, 195-pound Sadowy, author of 87 goals the last two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Saginaw Spirit and Barrie Colts, could prove to a square peg successfully jamming its way into the round hole.
“He’s an ultra-competitive, a gritty player,” Detroit assistant GM Ryan Martin said. “He’s had back-to-back 40-plus goal seasons in the OHL.”
The Wings gave up a 2017 third-round draft pick for the NHL rights to left-winger Sadowy, who scored 45 goals last season, playing with both the Spirit and Barrie Colts. Sadowy was selected 81st overall by the Sharks in 2014 and agreed to terms with the Wings Friday on a three-year entry-level deal.
The Wings see much potential in Sadowy.
“He’s a top-nine forward, can kill penalties, block shots, and go to the hard areas,” Martin said. “I know there’s some analytics studies out there that he gets a lot of his goals in the hard areas in front of the net where you have to go in the NHL to score them.
“We like his combination of grit and competitiveness and scoring touch. He’s got to continue to work on his foot speed and his body strength but we really like his upside.”
Nosek Extended
The Red Wings got a brief glimpse of center Tomas Nosek in the NHL last season, and what they saw was impressive enough that Friday the club announced it had agreed to terms with the 23-year-old from the Czech Republic on a two-year contract extension.
The first year of deal would pay Nosek $575,000 in the NHL and $150,000 in the minor leagues, while the second year of the pact is a one-way deal worth $650,000.
The Wings envision Nosek, who has spent most of the past two seasons with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins after signing with the Red Wings as an unrestricted free agent on June 14, 2014, evolving into a capable two-way center. In 70 games with the Griffins this season, Nosek logged 15-15-30 totals, a plus-13 rating and tied for the team lead with two shorthanded goals.
The 6-2, 210-pound forward also made his NHL debut with Detroit on Dec. 26 at Nashville and went on to appear in six games, registering two penalty minutes, six hits and three takeaways in 10:08 average ice time.
“His stat line isn’t dazzling but the coaching staff has confidence in his ability to play defense and be on the right side of the puck,” Martin said. “And he’s a good penalty killer.
“He’s a guy we expect to compete for a job in training camp. He has to continue to work on his strength.”
Nosek is waiver exempt for one more season and would be a restricted free agent when his contract expires after the 2017-18 season.
World Cup
It’s been a bad week to be Nyquist.
While illness forced Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist to withdraw from the Belmont Stakes, the man that the horse was named after was also left out in the cold.
Detroit right-winger Gustav Nyquist was not included in the Swedish team when the final roster for this fall’s World Cup of Hockey was announced Friday.
Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg and defenseman Niklas Kronwall were among the original 12 selections to the Swedish team.
Red Wings defenseman Alexey Marchenko, who played for Russia in the world championship, joined teammate Pavel Datsyuk on the Russian roster.
Goalie Petr Mrazek was previously named to the Czech Republic roster. Left-winger Justin Abdelkader was originally named to Team USA. Forward Tomas Tatar was an earlier selection to the Team Europe lineup. Likewise, center Dylan Larkin was already part of Team North America’s roster.
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