Robbie Russo Set To Make His Red Wings Debut
By Nick Seguin
7 years ago
Robbie Russo is all set to make his debut in the Winged Wheel tonight in Toronto. Russo was called up after Ryan Sproul sprained his knee during the team’s 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers Saturday night. Russo joined the team in Toronto today for the morning skate.
So what should we expect from the 6’0, 195 lbs. right-handed defenseman?
Russo’s performance in Grand Rapids this season has been nothing short of stellar. He’s got 31 points, which is team leading among defensemen and top-20 among league defensemen. He’s by no means a goal scoring machine. Only 7 of those points are goals. Instead, Russo used his ability to move the puck up the ice to collect 24 assists this season, the second most on the team. His keen sense of awareness and high hockey IQ have helped him find up-and-comer Evgeny Svechnikov on his way to the net on more than one occasion.
Last season, Russo scored 5 goals and 39 points in 71 games. He’s actually on pace to score the exact same amount of points this season, so he’s nothing if not consistent. He added five points in nine playoff games. For a full breakdown of Russo’s game, check out our prospect preview from the offseason.
Finding highlights of Russo’s accomplishments in the AHL was tougher than I thought it would be. There is no dedicated highlight reel out there, so I made one from game highlights off the griffvision YouTube page:
Notice how calm he is with the puck and how easily he finds forwards around the net. If you want to get to know Russo off the ice, I also found this on the griffvision page:
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I’m looking forward to seeing what Russo brings to the lineup tonight. If you want to watch for him on the ice, he’ll be wearing number 18. Let us know how you think he did.
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