The Detroit Red Wings have plans for a top prospect. And they will begin sometime after the NHL trade deadline.

General manager Ken Holland told the Free Press the Wings will call up Filip Zadina “and give him an opportunity to play some games.”

Holland wouldn’t disclose when Zadina will be called up, but after Monday's trade deadline, teams can carry more than 23 players, though salary cap compliance is still in effect. There could be an opening anyway if the Wings opt to send rookie Michael Rasmussen back to his junior club, Tri-City in Washington state, because doing so is the only way to make Rasmussen eligible for the AHL playoffs. A decision on Rasmusen has to be made by the trade deadline.

The Wings drafted Zadina at sixth overall last June, after a dominating junior season when he produced 44 goals and 38 assists in 57 games with Halifax. Zadina, who turned 19 in November, struggled to create space and time for himself during exhibition season, and was sent to the Grand Rapids Griffins. He has 15 goals and 14 assists in 43 games.

“He’s showing more confidence, he’s winning more puck battles, he looks like he’s adjusted more to the pro game,” Holland said. “Points are result of doing things right.”

Zadina took a five-game point streak (four goals, three assists) into the Griffins’ Wednesday game against Rockford.

“My understanding on Zadina is he’s played better,” Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “I think him and Marty Frk, their first game back together, they were excellent. The next night the team wasn’t very good at all until the very end and they had a huge comeback. That was the night Zadina scored the game winner. It was a real shot. Good for him on that. I think having Marty there, now you have a chance to play with a guy that’s an elite American-league player — he’s not a center, but he’s an elite American-league player. Hopefully they can have great chemistry and Zadina can continue to build his offensive game.

“When I’ve watched him, he’s been pretty good defensively. He’s got a pretty mature game for a young kid. He just needs to continue to work on being dangerous. I’d love to see him be ultra dangerous down there.”

More:Inside the rebuild: A check on Detroit Red Wings' top-5 prospects

When he is called up to Detroit — and it might not be until the Wings are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs — Zadina will play a maximum of nine games. If he goes beyond that, it triggers his entry-level contract. It doesn’t make sense to burn a year of that, especially with an expansion draft looming in 2021, when Seattle will debut its NHL team. The rules are the same as the 2017 Vegas expansion draft, meaning first- and second-year professionals are exempt from selection (so the Wings would not have to protect Zadina if he plays all of 2019-20 and 2020-21 with them).

More:Detroit Red Wings' Dylan Larkin is 'going to be a superstar'

After the Wings traded Tomas Tatar at the 2018 deadline, then-prospect Tyler Bertuzzi used the opening to work his way onto the top line to play with Dylan Larkin. Zadina isn’t considered as NHL-ready as Bertuzzi was (Bertuzzi was 22 at the time, and already had played 28 games with the season in 2017-18), but Zadina’s skill set — elite playmaker with a great shot — lends itself to a spot on the wing of one of the top two lines. There’ll be an opening if the Wings trade Gustav Nyquist, but even if that doesn’t happen, the Wings might give Zadina some looks with Larkin because of his ability to drive offense.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.