November was an interesting month to say the least. Turkey day came along for both sides of the border, Matt Duchene escaped Hell, and apparently David Booth is a first liner. Outside of the NHL, some prospects in the Wings system had a November to remember, and some not so much.

Successes

1. Filip Hronek

After settling into his new team, Hronek has started to make in impact for the Grand Rapids Griffins. Coming into November, Hronek had only 1 point in 5 games, but managed to put up 6 points in 11 games in November. He’s being trusted now in a bigger role, and has started to show more consistency then he did back in October. Unfortunately the AHL does not track TOI, but he is getting good looks at even strength and on the powerplay. He also blasted a puck to the back of the net from center ice:

Watch @hronek_filip score from center ice tonight against the admirals pic.twitter.com/BGIOxUfl37 — GrandRapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) November 6, 2017

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2. Dennis Cholowski

Well would you look at that, the two main pieces acquired in the Pavel Datsyuk trade (sorry to all those who are still salty about Chychrun) both make it as successes this month! Making the successes list for the second month in a row, Cholowski in the month of November recorded 8 points in 11 games and is currently on a four game point streak. His game continues to grow as he’s controlling a game more and more. The Prince George Cougars have liked him so much that they named him the 23rd captain in franchise history, despite playing in less than 25 games for the club.

Cholowski is currently 10th in scoring for defensemen in the WHL.

3. Brady Gilmour

Now there’s a name you don’t hear too often when talking about Red Wings prospects. Gilmour quietly had an outstanding month, scoring 10 points in 11 games. As a 7th round pick in the 2017 Draft, Gilmour hasn’t been getting a whole lot of attention, but that hasn’t stopped him from lighting up the score sheet. It’s worth noting he hasn’t excelled at 5v5, registering only 6 points in 22 games, as it is the powerplay where he has been finding success with 6 points coming on the man advantage.

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3 Struggles

1. Evegeny Svechnikov

Not a good look for one of the Wings best prospects to make the struggles list back-to-back months. Somehow, Svechnikov only scored 3 points in 10 games this month. Ever since suffering a neck injury he hasn’t been the same, but having been back in the lineup for over a month, this leaves reason for great concern. He’s found himself as a healthy scratch on numerous occasions, not necessarily because of his lackluster play, but to help him clear his head. I believe this slump, is due to him overthinking the game, and for it to end, he needs to the let the game come to him, and don’t let the pressure get to his head.

2. Keith Petruzzeli

Petruzzeli also finds his way back to the struggles list for the second straight month. Playing in only 3 games in November, his stats continued to go way down, as he now sits with an .860 save percentage and a GAA of 4.00. I still believe he will make Team USA’s World Junior Championship roster as the third goaltender, but he’s going to have to pick up his play for that to stay a possibility. The only silver lining I can think of is that, hey, he’s already had 2 bad months, and a negative times a negative is a positive, so he should be good, right?

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3. Vili Saarijarvi

Saarijarvi making the struggles list isn’t necessarily his fault. Vili was sent down to the ECHL so that he could get more ice time. Nevertheless, this still isn’t an ideal situation to be in, which is big reason why he finds himself here. Although his performance in the AHL wasn’t that impressive either. Keep in mind he wasn’t getting a whole lot of minutes, however he’s only scored 1 point in 4 games, a secondary assist. On a positive note, he is getting some rubber on net, averaging 1.75 SH/GP, which isn’t bad for the playing time he has been getting.

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Other Notes