Sandin Pellikka to stay with Skellefteå

Skellefteå, the reigning Swedish Hockey League (SHL) champions, have received a boost ahead of the 2024-25 season. It has just been confirmed that talented young defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka will be spending another year with the team.

The 19-year-old has come through the junior system at Skellefteå and was selected by the Detroit Red Wings with the 17th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Player draft.

Sandin Pellikka’s impressive performances last season, in both the SHL and for Sweden in the World Juniors, made many assume that he would be heading to North America for the new campaign, suiting up with Detroit’s AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins.

Instead, he will spend another season with Skellefteå, as reported by Helen St. James of Detroit Free Press.

Staying where he is comfortable

The report confirms that this was Sandin Pellikka’s decision and one that the Red Wings were happy to endorse. Their assistant director of player development, Dan Cleary, is quoted as saying, “we just don’t see the harm in it. No sense rushing him”.

The player admits that there is more to work on from a defensive standpoint in Swedish hockey. He will get the opportunity to do that in a coaching environment that he is comfortable with.

Sandin Pellikka’s 2023-23 season

Last season was Sandin Pellikka’s first full year at the senior level, having made 22 SHL appearances in 2022-23 alongside amassing 36 points in 31 games in the J20 Nationell.

He played in 39 of Skellefteå’s 52 regular season games, with his absences coming in one block when he played for Sweden in the World Juniors and then missed approximately one month afterwards having played through an upper-body injury during the tournament.

Stepping up in his captain’s absence

Skellefteå’s captain, Jonathan Pudas, has been the SHL points-leader among defensemen in each of the past three seasons. He played in 50 regular season games last season, but was only on the ice for four play-off games due to two separate injuries, the second of which resulted in him helping to lift the SHL trophy with one arm still in a sling.

Sandin Pellikka stepped up in his experienced teammate’s absence, particularly on the power-play unit. His average ice-time on the man-advantage increased in the play-offs by a whole minute compared to his regular-season mark.

Pudas delighted the Skellefteå fans at their trophy parade by announcing that he had signed a five-year contract extension with the team. Fitness permitting, he will resume his role as the defenseman on the top power-play unit, one that ranked 1st in the SHL last season on a 34% success rate (the team also had the best penalty-kill in the league at 88.46%).

More to do in 24-25

That should be of no concern to Red Wings fans, though. Sandin Pellikka will still get plenty of ice time on the man-advantage. More importantly, he’s already advanced with his power-play skills for his age. What matters most for his development in 2024-25 is logging 19 minutes or so of ice time, game-in, game-out, against some of the leading offensive talent in the SHL.

Skellefteå will be more than happy to give him the opportunity to do just that in the coming season. That’s great news for them and great news for the Red Wings too.