TRAVERSE CITY - Things are moving fast these days for Detroit Red Wings draft pick Vili Saarijarvi.



In the last week, he was selected in the third round (73rd overall) by the Red Wings in the NHL draft, got picked by the OHL's Flint Firebirds in Tuesday's CHL import draft, reported to the Red Wings' annual development camp Thursday night and topped it off Friday by agreeing to an entry-level contract.

Yes, it's been a crazy seven days for the 18-year-old defenseman from Finland.

"Unbelievable," he said Friday after the first workout of the development camp at Center I.C.E. Arena. "Everything came so fast. I'm really happy and kind of like - what's a good word for it? - excited.

"I didn't think about it so much but obviously I feel very good. I can go and play for Flint next year."

The details have to be worked out but it appears as if that's where he'll be suiting up next season.

Saarijarvi has a contract to play for Karpat in Finland's top men's league next season but wants to play for the Firebirds and that's also where the Red Wings want him.

So all signs point to him joining the Firebirds after spending last season with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL.

"That's where it's going," said Jiri Fischer, the Red Wings director of player development. "Everything obviously can change at any time but him signing the contract, now we can be a little bit more hands on in his development.

"He's got a contract with Karpat and essentially, it's going to be his decision where he's going to play this year. Now there's another option being a very high CHL import pick in Flint."

If it's up to Saarijarvi, he'll play for the Firebirds, who relocated to Flint from Plymouth after last season.

"I want to go there," he said. "More ice time and I want to learn the North American hockey style. Flint should be a good place for that. I can play my own style. Power play, offensive game and of course, defense. I like the offensive game.

We're going to talk soon and find out what's going to happen next."

Both Saarijarvi and the Red Wings like the fact that they'll only be about an hour apart if the deal to play for the Firebirds can be worked out.

"I can come watch some (Red Wings) games and they can come watch me," Saarijarvi said. "We can keep in touch. It's very nice."

Top-draft pick Svechnikov impresses

Saarijarvi was among 45 players who took part in a pair of workouts - one on the ice and one off of it - during the first day of the development camp.

All of the Red Wings 2015 draft picks were on hand, a group that's headlined by forward Evgeny Svechnikov, who was selected in the first round (19th overall) after playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last season.

Also on hand were goalie Joren Van Pottelberghe (110th overall), forward Chase Pearson (140th), defenseman Patrick Holway (170th), and forward Adam Marsh (200th).

Grand Rapids Griffins coach Todd Nelson, who is conducting the camp, said it was a bit too early to get an idea of what the draft picks are capable of doing. And that's not really the goal of the camp anyway. It's more about education.

"I'll get a better indication as we go along during the week," said Nelson, who finished last season as the Edmonton Oilers interim coach. "Everybody is new to me. A few guys stood out. Obviously Geno (Svechnikov).

"He has a good skill set. You can see he has good size, he skates well. The other draft picks I'm still getting to know but he stood out in my mind."

Lidstrom, Lidstrom, Lidstrom

The two biggest names on hand weren't the Red Wings two previous No. 1 picks - Anthony Mantha (2013) and Dylan Larkin (2014) - but instead it was a pair of camp invites. They were the guys who had "LIDSTROM" on the back of their practice jerseys.

Forward Adam Lidstrom and defenseman Kevin Lidstrom - the sons of former Red Wings great Nicklas Lidstrom - are taking part in the camp for the first time.

"I just saw the one playing forward," Nelson said. "For some reason I didn't catch the other one. I'm not playing favorites by any stretch of the imagination. But when you're running a practice, you're trying to get the flow of the practice.

"I saw a few sequences. (Adam) moves up and down the ice pretty well and makes some pretty smart plays."

Nick Lidstrom, who was elected to the Hall of Fame Monday, is in Traverse City to watch his sons.

Korean connection

The two most intriguing players at the camp could very well be Won-Jun Kim and Jin-Hui Ahn. Both are Koreans who were referred to the Red Wings by Jim Paek, director of the Korean Ice Hockey Association who is a former Griffins assistant coach.

They were put on separate teams for the camp and Nelson said they didn't look out of place.

"I liked them," Nelson said. "I liked the way they conducted themselves. I thought they moved the puck well. They have a pretty good skill set. I think everybody was pretty interested to see what they're able to do. They blended in nicely."

Kim said the biggest difference between playing in Asia and North America was the speed and size of the players as well as the physical aspect of the game.

Holmstrom wearing No. 96

Axel Holmstrom, a 2014 draft pick, is wearing No. 96. That's the same number four-time Stanley Cup winner Tomas Holmstrom wore when he played for the Red Wings.

Red Wings equipment manager Paul Boyer wouldn't confirm whether Alex Holmstrom - who is no relation to Tomas - requested the number or if it was a coincidence that it was assigned to him.

"The jersey was made and the name plate for the locker," Boyer said with a laugh. "We're on a budget here. It just fits."

Perks for being No. 1

Svechnikov and Larkin, the Red Wings most recent first-round picks, are sitting next to each other in one of the locker rooms.

The official story is that it's only a coincidence because their equipment bags were delivered at the same time and ended up in front of those stalls.

But the more likely reason is they were awarded those spots because there's a little more room between their stalls because of the vacant space between their seats.

Perks come with being in a No. 1 pick and that's one of them.

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