Detroit — The Red Wings have decided to keep forwards Elmer Soderblom and Joe Veleno.
The two young players appeared to be facing somewhat long odds at the start of training camp, but both had impressive performances during the exhibition season which forced management’s and the coaching staff’s thinking.
The Red Wings assigned forwards Givani Smith (who cleared waivers), Kyle Criscuolo, Taro Hirose and goaltender Jussi Olkinuora to the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
The Wings also placed forward Robby Fabbri (knee) on injured reserve and designated defensemen Seth Barton, Mark Pysyk and Jake Walman as injured non-roster.
Walman (offseason shoulder surgery) skated in a non-contact jersey during Monday’s practice and was hopeful he could return by early November.
Additionally, the Red Wings released defenseman Jeremie Biakabutuka from his amateur tryout.
Soderblom, a unique 6-foot-8, 249-pound power forward, showed a subtle goal-scoring ability and playmaking skills during the prospects camp and exhibition games.
There was a thought Soderblom could be a placeholder for forward Oskar Sundqvist, who missed the entire exhibition season but returned to practice Monday. Whether Sundqvist will be ready for Friday’s season opener remains to be seen.
“The four days (between games) here is going to allow us to see if Sunny is available and where he’s at,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “A couple of bodies could slide in (to the lineup spot).”
But Lalonde indicated Soderblom, 21, did enough to make the roster, regardless of who was healthy or hurt.
“Elmer has done some good things and he’s put himself, maybe on the good side of that evaluation,” Lalonde said.
Soderblom, Lalonde said, began to eliminate turnovers as camp progressed, and displayed parts of the game the Wings lack among other forwards.
“Puck possession, even him managing his game throughout camp, he had some turnovers,” Lalonde said. “I believe somewhere in there he had a two-on-one that he turned into a turnover because he went between his legs and behind him. (But) as camp progressed, he started having a little of that risk taken out of his game.
“He played a below-the-goal line type game. He’s still growing in the defensive zone. Even today (in practice), he got lost a few times in our (defensive) coverage, which is understandable, and we want to work with him on that.
“I just think having that big body is something that’s a little different than a lot of forwards we have.”
It’ll be important to develop Soderblom and Veleno both on the power play, and in Veleno’s case the penalty kill, to increase their minutes and continue their individual development.
“If they’re not going to get significant minutes here, we can consider Grand Rapids as their best option,” Lalonde said.
“If we can’t find power-play time for Elmer, we’ll probably consider what Grand Rapids will look like for him as far as opportunity and minutes.”
Interestingly, Veleno and Filip Zadina were used as the extra forwards during Monday’s practice.
“That’ll probably change even (Tuesday), so still some evaluating,” Lalonde said.
Lalonde wants to see Zadina “managing his game” better, which would elevate Zadina in the lineup.
“I’ll have that conversation with him today,” Lalonde said. “There literally could have been five or six guys that were in that 13 or 14 spot for practice today. Most guys, and he reflects everyone in camp, most guys had good camps but there’s holes and that’s a message for him, but for fix or six of our guys throughout this week.”
The Red Wings’ roster breaks down this way:
▶ Forwards (14): Tyler Bertuzzi, Andrew Copp, Adam Erne, Dominik Kubalik, Dylan Larkin, David Perron, Michael Rasmussen, Lucas Raymond, Soderblom, Sundqvist, Pius Suter, Veleno, Jakub Vrana, Zadina.
▶ Defensemen (seven): Ben Chiarot, Robert Hagg, Filip Hronek, Gustav Lindstrom, Olli Maatta, Jordan Oesterle, Moritz Seider.
▶ Goaltenders (two): Ville Husso, Alex Nedeljkovic.
Opportunity and minutes
Prospects defenseman Simon Edvinsson and forward Jonatan Berggren were assigned Sunday to Grand Rapids, after positive camps.
But with a full Wings roster, there simply wasn’t going to be the minutes available for the two young Swedes that will be possible with the Griffins.
Berggren impressed in Grand Rapids last season, and did well while skating on a line with Larkin and Raymond early in the exhibition games with Bertuzzi injured and unavailable. But with injured Wings forwards returning to health, there simply wasn’t the room for Berggren to play and develop at the NHL level.
The same was with Edvinsson, a Wings 2021 first-round draft pick.
“It goes back to opportunity and minutes,” Lalonde said. “We could have foreseen Simon staying with us on day one (Friday) but what would have day one looked like Friday here, compared to what he’s going to get in GR?” Lalonde said. “More minutes, more opportunity (in GR), he’ll play all three situations five-on-five, power play and penalty kill.”
Lalonde wants to see “consistency in his game” from Edvinsson.
“You guys saw that where there were moments you could see he could have been ready for day one here in the NHL, and there were other games he had that step back,” Lalonde said. “It’s just more consistency. It’s hard to do it every night and he showed that in the preseason, where he had some ups and downs in his game. “But, again, a very god camp from him. We’re excited for where he can be.”
Ode to Holmstrom
Walman feels he’s ahead of schedule and is hopeful he can even beat an early November return to the lineup.
“We’re ahead of schedule,” said Walman, crediting his training staff in his offseason home in Toronto and the Wings’ staff. “We’re on a good path. Contact is not too far away. It’s good. I feel 100% already.
“That (November return) was a rough timeline. But I’m a competitor and I want to play right now if I could. I feel like I can play whenever I’m good to go.”
Walman is wearing the number 96, formerly worn by popular Wings’ former player, Tomas Holmstrom.
Walman said he chose 96 simply because it’s Walman’s birth year.
“It’s a cool look and hopefully it can bring me some swag, the guys like it,” Walman said. “I searched who wore it before and it slipped my mind for a second (that Holmstrom wore the number). I asked around and made sure I can wear it. I didn’t want anyone to get angry. I hope I can represent it well.”
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan