RED WINGS

Wings send Mantha to minors, Wild claim Pulkkinen

Ted Kulfan
The Detroit News

Detroit – Andreas Athanasiou’s body of work last season gave him the edge over Anthony Mantha, and the final spot on the Red Wings’ roster.

Defensemen Xavier Ouellet and Ryan Sproul, as expected, earned roster spots, while defenseman Niklas Kronwall will begin the season on the short-term injured list.

The Red Wings also lost forward Teemu Pulkkinen on waivers to the Minnesota Wild.

But the main interest for most fans centered on Athanasiou and Mantha, two of the prized prospects in the organization, who were essentially battling for one vacant position.

Athanasiou, 23, scored nine goals in 37 games in the NHL last season, and that familiarity and experience proved to be the edge over Mantha.

“The job he did last year, he put himself in a spot coming into camp he was more established as a player,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “They had even camps. They played the same.

“The biggest thing is the body of work he did last year gave him the edge going into camp. They had even camps, so the edge goes to Double-A.”

Mantha, 22, played 10 games with the Red Wings last season, with 2 goals and 1 assist  (he had 21 goals and 24 assists in Grand Rapids).

Athanasiou and Mantha, teammates in Grand Rapids the last couple seasons, golf together over the weekend while still in Detroit.

“It’s a tough situation, you never want to see one of your buddies go,” Athanasiou said. “He had a real strong camp and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s back up here soon.

“He’s happy for me. Obviously I was a little disappointed for him. We’re really good buddies, we tell each other pretty much everything, we can talk about it and put the game aside and talk friend to friend. We’ll keep in touch and like I said, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s back here soon.”

An interesting point now is how much will Athanasiou play, given he’s basically the 13th forward.

The Red Wings aren’t likely to keep a young player such as Athanasiou, or Mantha for that matter, around at the NHL level if he’s not playing regularly.

“That’s something Ken (general manager Ken Holland) will monitor,” Blashill said. “I’ll make decisions to win every night. If we go stretches where Double-A is not playing, then I’m sure we’ll get im down to the minors and playing.

“I still think there’s competition going on. Whether it’s Anthony Mantha, or Double-A, or we had a great preseason out of the (Luke) Glendening line, can they keep it up? If they keep it up, they’ll be playing but if they falter, someone else goes into those spots.

“I told our guys we’ll be merit based on playing time.”

Blashill wants Mantha to go to Grand Rapids as use Gustav Nyquist’s experience from several years ago.

Nyquist was sent down to start the season because of a roster crunch, and had 21 points in 15 games in the AHL before being promoted and scoring 28 goals with the Red Wings.

“I told Anthony he had a great summer and he put himself in a way better spot,” Blashill said. “He’s come a long way, he’s continued to improve, and he’s made these decisions more difficult.”

Sproul makes it

Sproul and Ouellet both were waiver exempt after several years of near-misses of making the Red Wings out of the exhibition season.

But Ouellet has had numerous regular season call-ups, while Sproul did not.

Being on the opening roster Tuesday was special.

“It’s been a long time coming, it feels like,” Sproul said. “I’m very happy to finally make a spot on this team.

“I just have to keep working. There’s going to be a lot of practicing and working on stuff if you’re not in the lineup. They know I can play, I know I can play, so if I get my chance I’ll have to take advantage of it.”

At least one, for sure, will play opening weekend as Kronwall (knee), said Blashill, will not be ready to play Thursday in Tampa Bay.

Kronwall practiced Tuesday and might be pointing toward a return Monday for the Joe Louis Arena opener against Ottawa.

Pulkkinen lost

The Red Wings were hoping Pulkkinen would go through waivers, but Minnesota claimed the hard-shooting winger.

Shoulder injuries limited Pulkkinen last season and into training camp, sharply reducing his chances of making the Red Wings this season.

Pulkkinen joins winger Martin Frk, who was claimed on waivers Sunday by Carolina.

“We’ve lost two wingers, obviously we didn’t have in our top 13 (forwards) today or otherwise they’d still be here,” Blashill said. “Every organization has different needs.

“Teemu has done an unreal job of working for me over the course of four years. He’s done nothing but work hard, whatever I’ve asked of  him to do. I wish him the best of luck.”

Ice chips

Henrik Zetterberg (knee) was kept off the ice Tuesday as a maintence day – Zetterberg will skate Wednesday - while Brendan Smith (undisclosed) didn’t practice but Blashill is not concerned about his availability for Thursday.

“Smith will be fine,” Blashill said. “It’s from a precautionary standpoint. As of right this moment, I expect him to play.”

..With no Kronwall or Smith, the defensive pairings Tuesday were Danny DeKeyser-Alexey Marchenko, Ouellet-Mike Green, and Jonathan Ericsson-Sproul.

CURRENT RED WINGS ROSTER 

FORWARDS

8 Justin Abdelkader, LW

14 Gustav Nyquist, RW

15 Riley Sheahan, C

20 Drew Miller, LW

21 Tomas Tatar, LW

29 Steve Ott, C

40 Henrik Zetterberg, C

41 Luke Glendening, C

43 Darren Helm, C

51 Frans Nielsen, C

62 Thomas Vanek, LW

71 Dylan Larkin, C

72 Andreas Athanasiou, C

DEFENSEMEN

2 Brendan Smith

25 Mike Green

48 Ryan Sproul

52 Jonathan Ericsson

53 Alexey Marchenko

61 Xavier Ouellet

65 Danny DeKeyser

GOALIES

34 Petr Mrazek

35 Jimmy Howard

50 Edward Pasquale

INJURED RESERVE

26 Tomas Jurco, RW

28 Vili Saarijarvi, D

55 Niklas Kronwall, D

77 Dan Renouf, D

83 Tomas Nosek, C