Axel Sandin-Pellikka arrives at Red Wings camp with real NHL tools, but no guaranteed path to an opening-night job.
Detroit’s No. 2 prospect has already shown the kind of offensive instincts that made him a first-round pick at No. 17 in 2023. At 6-1, 210 pounds, and now 21 years old, Sandin-Pellikka has the profile of a right-shot defenseman who can help on the power play and chip in real scoring. TSN draft analyst Craig Button even compared him to a young Sergei Zubov when the Wings selected him, pointing to the possibility of the 50-plus point seasons Zubov produced during his NHL career.
That comparison still hangs over his development, and for good reason. Sandin-Pellikka’s rookie year showed why the upside is there.
He handled the puck with confidence, moved it under pressure, and showed enough touch to get pucks through traffic and toward the net. The next hurdle is the tougher one: proving he can hold up defensively well enough to earn the minutes that would let his offense matter.
Last season, Detroit’s decision to send him to Grand Rapids after he played 63 games in the NHL wasn’t really a sign of disappointment. The Red Wings expected some growing pains, and the move came after Justin Faulk arrived in a trade and slid into the top four. That changed Sandin-Pellikka’s role, and the team felt he’d be better off playing more in Grand Rapids than sitting through shrinking minutes in Detroit.
“I don’t think Axe is short on confidence,” Todd McLellan said after he was sent down. “He believes in himself, and I don’t think that wavered.
His minutes were diminishing here. He needed to play more.
His time spent (in Grand Rapids), big situations. That part helped his game.
I don’t think he’s driving home in his car with his confidence wavering. He’s a pretty strong individual when it comes to that.”
There’s still plenty to like about his game. He protects the puck well, stays calm when pressure closes in, and seems to process the ice a step ahead of others.
He also has a real feel for getting his shots through, which showed up in the numbers: seven goals on 68 shots in 68 games, while averaging 16 minutes per night. That 10.3% shooting rate stands out.
Moritz Seider scored seven goals as a rookie and five in his second season, though he was logging 23 minutes a game and piling up far more shots.
What could slow Sandin-Pellikka is the other side of the puck. His minus-21 plus-minus matched the way he looked at times defensively in his first NHL season.
He competed, but he was often overmatched, and McLellan didn’t always trust him late when Detroit was trying to protect a lead. Sandin-Pellikka said the Red Wings want him to bring more intensity, and he’ll also need to get stronger.
For now, he’s coming into camp battling for one of eight spots on the blue line. The Red Wings could use his offense, especially if the defensive game comes along.
But the setup works against him. This is the first year of an 84-game regular season, camp will be short, and Detroit has only four preseason games.
He won’t get a lot of runway.
The roster math matters, too. The Red Wings have too many defensemen, and Sandin-Pellikka is waiver-exempt, which makes it easy to send him to Grand Rapids without risking losing him. Detroit has eight other defensemen who would have to clear waivers, including William Wallinder.
That makes a return to Grand Rapids a very real outcome, with the possibility of being among the first call-ups if injuries hit. And if he’s only the eighth defenseman, keeping him in Detroit doesn’t make much sense. He’d probably benefit more from playing 23 or 24 minutes a night in Grand Rapids than from bouncing in and out of the NHL lineup.
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