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Introducing Ville Leino
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This man could be a Red Wing for years to come.
While the Detroit Red Wings have looked awfully impressive during their latest three game winning streak, they have definitely been hampered by some injuries. The most notable of these injuries has to be the sports hernia that will sideline veteran forward for 3-5 weeks. Detroit will certainly miss the Swede's trademark play in front of the net, but the injury gives the Red Wings a chance to take a long look at some of the young prospects in the organization. Since Holmstrom has been placed on long term injured reserve, the Red Wings can take his salary into consideration when determining a replacement. Therefore, forwards Darren Helm and Ville Leino have been summoned from Grand Rapids to add some youth to the lineup.
Many Detroit fans are fully aware of the talents of Darren Helm. The young Canadian stepped in during last year's Stanley Cup championship run and was a key fourth line contributor during the post season. The Red Wing faithful,however, might not be aware of exactly how talented Finnish forward Ville Leino is. Leino, at 25 is slightly older than the typical first year NHL player, but he has significant professional experience, and came into this season as a bona-fide NHL caliber player. He comes from the small town of Savolinna, Finland and started his professional career in the SM-Liga. He played for IIves and HPK where he led the team in scoring and won the SM-Liga championship before moving to Jokerit in 2007. At Jokerit, Leino finished second in the league in scoring and won the Lasse Oksanen trophy for best player. Detroit won the bidding for his services during the 2008 post-season and Leino figured to be player that Red Wings fans could expect at some time in 2009. Leino, more so due to salary cap constraints than talent, was assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins affiliate team where he had 37 points in 44 games this season. Since getting his first call-up to Detroit on January 29th, the Finnish forward has been very impressive scoring 3 points in his first three games including a highlight reel goal that serves as his first career goal.
While it remains to be seen if Leino will be up with the big club for the duration of the season, he definitely has the talent to be a key contributor this season and beyond. I look at Leino as well as Darren Helm as two young players primed to replace Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper as key third and fourth line contributors. Maltby and Draper have carved out nice careers as longtime Red Wings and hopefully Detroit can keep young and talented players like Leino and Helm around for years to come.
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