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Axel Holmstrom skates against Manitoba in his AHL debut Tuesday.

(Jonathan Kozub | Manitoba Moose)

GRAND RAPIDS - Everyone wanted to know about the condition of Axel Holmstrom's left knee until he played two games for the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Now the question is if he's for real.

The Swedish prospect, limited to 17 regular season games in the Swedish League, made an impressive entrance earlier this week with the Griffins. He played back-to-back games at Manitoba with the game-winning overtime goal along with an assist in a 2-1 win Wednesday. In his debut, he launched a nice pass to Martin Frk on a breakaway attempt.

"His vision is exceptional and he showed he has good offensive instincts," said coach Todd Nelson who used the center on the second line and power play. "As the first game wore on he got better and better, and then the last game you could see the skills starting to come out.

"So, based on the two games I saw, there's a lot of untapped potential."

The Griffins, who host Cleveland tonight at Van Andel Arena, are a jumbled, banged up bunch right now. Four players are up with the Red Wings - defenseman Robbie Russo and forwards Matt Lorito, Ben Street and Tomas Nosek - and two others are likely still sidelined in Eric Tangradi and Tyler Bertuzzi. The Griffins, in turn, have lost four of five.

So any input from Holmstrom is welcomed by the Griffins. And, according to Nelson, he will play a role the rest of the way.

"I'm on a day-by-day thing right now but he's a guy that we will probably depend on for the playoffs," he said as the Griffins have one week remaining in the regular season. "We'll revisit it once we get our players back on where he'll slot in."

The health of his knee is the biggest question mark. Holmstrom tore his ACL late last season and then tweaked it in November in his second game with Skelleftea AIK of the Swedish Hockey League.

That limited him to him to 17 regular season games (one goal, one assist) before a strong playoff with three goals and four assists in seven games.

Holmstrom's take? The knee is fine with no restrictions.

"It's been a pretty difficult year, a lot of comebacks and stuff, but there's no problem with the knee," he said. "The second (injury) wasn't the same as the first one, really - there was nothing damaged. It was a little bit weak and we took it carefully for safety and now I feel I'm 100 percent all the time and it's a great feeling."

The Red Wings selected Holmstrom, 20, in the seventh round of the 2014 entry draft (196th overall). He was pegged to start the season in Grand Rapids before the initial injury.

Holmstrom set a Swedish League record for playoff points by a junior player in 2015 with seven goals and 11 assists in 15 games. He was Sweden's junior player of the year in 2014-15 and has twice played in the World Junior Championships.

Holmstrom is taking the strong early returns in stride.

"You know, I'm just trying to get things going," he said. "Trying to help the guys and team and do my best out there."