At least two prospects have made their cases to open the season with the Detroit Red Wings.

As they seek to rebuild, the Wings want to integrate young players into their lineup, in significant roles. That made for an interesting preseason, as prospects were given significant looks to see where they might fit.

Michael Rasmussen and Dennis Cholowski showed they belong with Detroit, playing with poise and effectiveness. Others showed they’re better off starting the season in the minors.

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The Wings open the season Thursday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets at Little Caesars Arena. The 23-man roster has to be submitted by 5 p.m. Tuesday, and the Wings might need till then to make decisions on defense. Of the regulars — Niklas Kronwall, Danny DeKeyser, Mike Green, Trevor Daley, Jonathan Ericsson and Nick Jensen — Green will miss the start of the season and Daley and Ericsson are questionable. If Daley and/or Ericsson are out, the Wings would need a defensive prospect who can kill penalties.

Decisions up front could come sooner, as the Wings need two prospects to join regulars Dylan Larkin, Frans Nielsen, Anthony Mantha, Thomas Vanek, Gustav Nyquist, Justin Abdelkader, Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi, Darren Helm and Luke Glendening. Luke Witkowski can serve as either a reserve defenseman or forward, but the Wings could also put him on waivers to create another opening.

Here's a look at the prospects who have the best chance to make the opening-night roster:

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D Dennis Cholowski

Cholowski, 20, is the most well-rounded of the defensive prospects. He can move the puck, make tape-to-tape passes, get shots through and create scoring chances. He’s a smooth skater who sees the ice well and makes smart decisions with the puck. He’s good at finding people in the neutral zone when breaking the puck out, and knows when to join rushes. He brings advantages the Wings sorely need on the back end. He had two goals and four assists through six preseason games, along with a plus-5 rating.

By the time Cholowski’s junior season ended last spring and he joined Grand Rapids, the Griffins were in the playoffs, so he has little pro experience (one playoff game last season, one game in 2016-17) but he’s poised enough toplay this season in the NHL.

Projection: Detroit.

F Christoffer Ehn

He has put himself in the mix because of his excellent skating and his penalty-killing. His past doesn’t show much offensively (17 points in 50 games last season with Frolunda in Sweden’s top league) but Ehn is a safe defensive player — if he is on a line with Glendening, for example, they have the ability to kill a shift and do no harm.

Projection: Grand Rapids, but Detroit is an option if the Wings need a defensive forward.

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F Martin Frk

An injury forced him to sit out the first week of preseason, but Frk’s body of work makes up for the lack of appearances. Frk shoots right and shoots with incredible force, albeit also inaccuracy. Frk scored 11 goals last season, but only three after New Year's Day. If he wants to maintain a regular spot, he needs to make himself invaluable on the power play.

In Frk’s favor, he makes just $1.05 million, and it’s hard to find players who can contribute 10-12 goals at such a small cap hit. Another factor in his favor is his contract status —he’d have to be exposed on waivers to be sent down, and then he’d likely be lost to another team.

Projection: Detroit.

D Joe Hicketts

Hicketts, 22, is full of energy. Generously listed at 5-foot-8, he doesn’t back down no matter how much an opponent towers over him. Hicketts can bring the puck up the ice, but he does need to be more careful — he had some awful turnovers last season during his five-game stint with the Wings. He’s a force on penalty kills, which will give him an advantage depending on which regulars are available on opening night.

Projection: If Ericsson and/or Daley are out, look for Hicketts to start in Detroit because of his penalty-killing ability.

D Filip Hronek

Hronek, 20, stands out among the defensive prospects because he shoots right and plays the right side. He had a great first year of pro hockey last season in Grand Rapids, contributing 11 goals and 28 assists in 67 games. He ran one of the Griffins' power-play units, which is impressive. He’s another smooth skater who can move the puck.

Projection: Grand Rapids, unless the Wings need another option to run a power play other than Cholowski and Kronwall.

F Michael Rasmussen

He’s another guy who brings dimensions the Wings need: Rasmussen is 6-foot-6 with an enormous reach, making him especially dangerous in front of the net. He had two goals and two assists in five preseason games. Rasmussen, 19, plays with poise, and doesn’t take retaliatory penalties when opponents try to take him down. He also has the versatility to fit on any line and he’ll get good minutes thanks to his power-play skills.

Rasmussen, 19, has a year left of juniors eligibility so he either has to make Detroit’s roster, or go back to Tri-City in Washington state. The guy has nothing left to prove at the junior level — he crammed 14 goals and 16 assists into 14 Western Hockey League playoff games after finishing the regular season with 28 points in 25 games.

Projection: Detroit.

F Evgeny Svechnikov

Svechnikov worked hard over the summer to become a little faster. He’s a smart player and he battles hard in the corners and the crease. He seems to have emerged from a tough second season of pro hockey with renewed determination. It didn’t help his case that in the Wings' exhibition victory over the Blackhawks on Sept. 25, as the Wings players racked up eight goals and 11 assists, Svechnikov had no points and was a minus-3. He’s likely best off starting in Grand Rapids and making his case by dominating at that level, like Anthony Mantha did two years ago.

Projection: Grand Rapids.

D Libor Sulak

He put himself in the mix for a spot with the way he can skate — he’ll battle for pucks down low in the defensive zone and then race into the offensive zone in what seems like just three strides. At 6-foot-2 and just over 200 pounds, he brings size. He can help on the penalty kill. He struggled when the Wings used him on the right side in preseason, though. He also gave the puck away at times while not under pressure. Then there’s the fact he’s been playing in Europe and is unused to the North American ice sheet. He’s definitely an intriguing prospect and I think he’ll be in the top-four mix at some point, but he might be best served by an adjustment period in the minors.

Projection: Grand Rapids, unless injuries require a defensive prospect who can kill penalties.

F Filip Zadina

The preseason was a harsh demonstration of how much faster and how much less room there is at the NHL level compared to the junior level, where Zadina dominated last season (44 goals, 38 assists in 57 games for Halifax in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League). Zadina, 18, had one overtime and one power-play goal and three points overall through six preseason games. Zadina needs to be in the top nine, if not top six, for there to be any sense in having him in the Wings’ lineup.

There’s no question he’s incredibly talented, and that he will figure out how to make adjustments at the pro level. It’s good for the Wings (and Zadina) that he is NHL eligible because he was on loan to his junior club from his Czech club — otherwise he’d either have to be in the NHL or sent back to juniors. Instead, he can be sent to Grand Rapids to ease his initiation to the pro game.If he dominates there, he’s just a two-hour drive from Detroit.

Projection: Grand Rapids.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.