Jesse Kiiskinen hasn’t taken long to make his presence felt for the Grand Rapids Griffins.
The Detroit Red Wings prospect keeps ending up in the same place for a reason: the front of the net. That’s where the scoring chances live, and that’s where Kiiskinen wants to be.
“It comes naturally - I like to score goals and if you want to score goals, you’ve got to go there,” Kiiskinen said, adding that he likes net-front battles.
That mentality has already shown up early in his AHL run. Grand Rapids is only two games into the season, but Kiiskinen, 21, has two goals and an assist for three points on six shots on goal. If you include the three games he played for the Griffins last spring, he now has three goals and five points in his first five AHL games.
Kiiskinen arrived in Detroit after Nashville, which originally selected him in the third round, dealt him and a second-round pick to the Red Wings for defenseman Andrew Gibson. He comes in with a track record of finishing, too, after back-to-back seasons in Finland’s SM-Liiga with HPK Hameenlinna that totaled 31 goals.
Elsewhere in the prospect pipeline, right wing Eddie Genborg is trying to get something going in a rough spot at Timra. The Swedish Hockey League team has opened 0-5-1 through six games, and the scoring has been hard to come by. Genborg, who put up 25 points in 43 games last season, has only one assist so far.
That kind of team-wide drought can make life difficult for a young forward, and Timra’s slow start is already putting pressure on Genborg’s production.
Forward Max Plante has had a much cleaner opening at Minnesota-Duluth, which began the year ranked No. 5 in the country. In his junior season, Plante started with two assists in a 7-4 win over Long Islander University. The son of former NHLer Derek Plante was last year’s Hobey Baker winner and was an early roster selection for the U.S. team at the Spengler Cup in Switzerland, where Detroit prospect Larry Keenan played for the U.S. squad last year.
On the blue line, defenseman Myles Brosnan has also come out strong for Moncton in the QMJHL. After a good showing at the NHL Prospects Tournament at Little Caesars, the Massachusetts native has three goals and four points in six games for coach Gardiner MacDougall.
In Other News...
Red Wings Contract Trouble Now Points Back To Yzerman
The Red Wings contract headaches have been simmering for a while, and Elliotte Friedmans latest comments on the 32 Thoughts Podcast point the finger back toward the way the club handled negotiations under former general manager Steve Yzerman. His method with young players was a hard one, built around the idea that big money for players still establishing themselves was arriving too soon, and that approach left a lasting imprint on the organizations recent talks.
Simon Edvinsson is now part of that conversation after Friedman linked his preference to be traded to the same hardline posture, while Dylan Larkins earlier trade request showed how tense things could get when those deals dragged on. Add in the Red Wings delay in naming a permanent general manager after Yzermans departure, and it is easy to see why the situation has lingered instead of being cleaned up quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings' Early Edge Is Already Turning Into A Costly Problem
The home opener started with a jolt for Detroit, but it ended with the same problem that has already followed the Red Wings into the new season: special teams volatility. In a 3-2 regulation loss to Winnipeg, the Red Wings dropped to 0-2, and the game quickly turned into a showcase for the Jets power play while Detroit managed one of its own chances with the man advantage.
Keegan Kolesars fight with Jets rookie Tyrel Bauer brought a fighting major and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and that sequence helped open the door for Winnipegs first power-play goal. From there, all three Jets goals came with the extra skater, leaving Detroit in the unusual spot of still not having allowed an even-strength goal this season, even as the early margin for error keeps shrinking. [Read more 🡒]
DeBrincat Just Put Detroit's Biggest Contract Decision Into Focus
Alex DeBrincats situation has quickly become one of the most important early-season storylines for Detroit. Hes producing the kind of impact the Red Wings wanted when they brought him in, and now the focus has shifted to what comes next, with the winger in the final year of his current deal and eligible to sign an extension now.
The delicate part is the cost. Reports have DeBrincat looking for a major raise on his next contract, a range that would push Detroit into a decision it cannot really delay for long if it wants to keep its scoring core intact. For a team trying to build something sustainable, this is the sort of negotiation that can shape not just one roster spot, but the broader direction of the lineup. [Read more 🡒]