GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Tomas Jurco has another two-plus months to be a teenager, which is a gift and a curse for him and the Grand Rapids Griffins entering the season.

The gift? Jurco is a top prospect – he was Detroit’s first pick in the 2011 draft (35th overall) and has shown he can dominate in juniors.

But he is entering his first pro season after signing a three-year entry level contract in August and, with his age and potential, coach Jeff Blashill will move cautiously with the right winger.

“We’ll give him opportunity to use his skills as much as we can, and he’s certainly got to get the job done when he gets his opportunities,” Blashill said. “But I want to put him in a position to succeed as much as possible.”

Jurco won’t play on the Griffins’ first line, but in preseason games Saturday and Sunday against Lake Erie he was paired at times with Gustav Nyquist and Joakim Andersson from last year’s top line. He didn’t score, but Blashill was impressed with his play.

The Griffins, who open the season with 7 p.m. home games Friday against Milwaukee and Saturday against Hamilton, have more experience than expected because of the NHL lockout. That means other seasoned and touted prospects like Nyquist and Brendan Smith will be with the team again rather than get a shot in Detroit.

That could take pressure off the 6-foot-2, 193-pound Jurco, who's from Kosice, Slovakia.

“I’m still learning,” he said. “Every day is something new. I’m starting now to get a little more calm here than when I got here. I’m trying to get used to everything as soon as possible. Right now, I’m excited to get started.”

Just based on a week of practice, he also knows there will be an adjustment period.

“There are little things on where I have to go,” he said. “Different style of game tactics – I was used to the right winger forechecking and now it’s the left winger forechecking. Things like that I have to learn.”

Jurco has received considerable attention since drafted by Detroit in the second round. Last season in juniors, he had 68 points (30 goals) in 48 games to help Saint John win the QMJHL’s President’s Cup. He also played 2010-11 and part of 2009-10 with Saint John. In 172 regular-season games, he had 175 points (87 goals) and a plus-126 rating.

In 56 playoff games he had 64 points (26 goals).

It’s the tighter quarters of the pro game that Blashill said will play a big role in Jurco’s early success.

“His growth process will be learning to play when the space gets a little tighter and learning how to create his own space,” Blashill said. “The more puck battles you win, the more you have the puck on your stick, and a guy like Tomas has a lot of offensive skills to go from there. He’s certainly shown a high-end skill set already when he does have the space.”

That message is clear to Jurco.

“I want to win more battles for the puck. That would be my biggest goal right away,” he said.

Meantime, the spotlight will be on whenever Jurco’s on the ice. That’s nothing new since he’s been a coveted prospect since his early teens. It’s not his favorite part of the sport, but he also hopes for more of it in his future.

“I think I just have to go with it and not worry about that part,” he said. “I just go hard each night and prove my prospect position and play my game.”

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