Red Wings Prospect Report: Kiiskinen Out With Serious Injury

Axel Sandin Pellikka (17th overall, 2023 NHL entry draft) isn’t the only Detroit Red Wings prospect putting on a snipe show in Europe. Jesse Kiiskinen is on fire in Finland. Unfortunately, extinguishing that fire for the time being is a serious injury.

Dmitri Buchelnikov is also posting impressive numbers in the KHL, while Liam Dower Nilsson is finding his game in the Allsvenskan, Sweden’s second division.

In North America, both Emmitt Finnie and Dylan James are also displaying their offensive prowess.

Sooooo Emmitt Finnie is pretty darn good eh?👀

19 points in 12 games so far this season for the Detroit Red Wings 7th round draft pick in 2023#LGRW https://t.co/EY5OU9fkX3

— Hockeytown West Podcast (@HockeytownWpod) November 2, 2024

While Sandin Pellikka’s charge to the top of the scoring lead among SHL defensemen has been well documented, Kiiskinen is leading HPK Hameenlinna of Finland’s SM-liiga in scoring with 7-9-16 numbers through 18 games.

Acquired in a trade that was moving fellow NHL prospect Andrew Gibson to the Nashville Predators, the only alarming part of Kiiskinen’s stat line is that he’s minus-5. At least that was until news came on the weekend that Kiiskinen would be missing for the next four weeks due to an undisclosed injury. The timeline of the injury could potentially jeopardize Kiiskinen’s participation for Finland in the IIF World Junior Championship.

Buchelnikov’s showing with Vityaz of the KHL is also worthy of mention. He’s currently sitting tied for 21st in the league in scoring with 6-12-18 totals from 21 games.

Buchelnikov (52nd, 2022) has as many points as former NHL star Evgeny Kuznetsov of SKA St. Petersburg is one point behind 2024 NHL first-round draft pick Ivan Demidov, also of SKA. He’s only four points behind the league leaders.

Finnie Flying In Kamloops

Meanwhile, Finnie (201st, 2023) is also tied for 21st in scoring in the WHL. His accumulation of offense is showing 19 points from just 12 games. That’s a points per game average of 1.583.

Liam Dower Nilsson (134th, 2021) is playing for Bjorkloven in the second tier of Swedish hockey. He’s been good for 5-8-13 numbers from 14 games. His younger brother Noah (73rd, 2023) is with Frolunda of the SHL. He’s collected 2-3-5 totals in 14 games.

Another Red Wings pick who appears to finally be discovering his offensive touch is left-winger James (40th, 2022). In college hockey, he’s leading North Dakota with four goals in seven games.

Memory Of Red Wings Draftee Sullied

At one time, Stefan Liv was a top goaltending prospect in the Red Wings system. He even spent a season in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Tragically, after returning to play pro in Europe, Liv was among those killed when the plane carrying the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL team crashed in 2011.

Sadly, some fans of Swedish club Linkoping were opting to taunt their opponents from HV71 by waving placards with images of Liv behind the team’s bench. Live is an iconic hero for HV71 fans. He played a decade with the team.

After identifying the fane, Linkoping officials were issuing them a two-year ban from attending SHL games.

Liv’s son Herman is an up-and-coming Swedish goaltending prospect with Orebo. He reacted to the use of his father’s image to mock his old club.

“They also have to understand that it’s not just a dead hockey player they’re mocking, but a human being who is still mourned and missed every day by his family,” Liv explained to Swedish website Aftonbladet. “I don’t think they would have thought it was so funny if you showed around and mocked cards of their deceased relatives.”