With the big club in a bit of a lull when it comes to high end talent, all eyes are on the young guns to see how they perform this year. Some have some pretty hefty expectations sitting on their shoulders and others have a lot to prove. In our WingsNation staff Slack group, we got to talking about who has the most to prove this coming season. Here are the thoughts from some of our writers:

Who has more to prove than 2015 1st round pick Evgeny Svechnikov? The hype around Evgeny has all but moved on to his brother Andrei, who was drafted 2nd overall this year by the Carolina Hurricanes. Both brothers were drafted for their shots. In his draft year, Svechnikov scored 32 goals in 55 games for Cape Breton. In the next season, he scored another 32 goals for Cape Breton but in 5-less games; slightly increasing his goals per game.

When Svech turned 20, he turned pro and with his first season in Grand Rapids he scored 20 goals in 74 games. So far, he’s proved he can score at any level.

However, he only scored 7 goals in 57 games at the AHL last year and only 2 goals in 14 games for the Red Wings; much less production than we’ve anticipated for the former 1st round pick.

Tyler Bertuzzi has earned a contract and a roster position with Detroit which will force Svechnikov to start the season in Grand Rapids. He needs to prove to the Red Wings and the fans that we didn’t waste a high selection or time on him. Svechnikov is talented but needs to get past the slump.

The now 34 year-old Jimmy Howard isn’t getting any younger. The Wings opted to sign Jonathan Bernier to a three year deal, but the long-term solution in the crease is all but a mystery at this point. Which is why Filip Larsson’s development will be crucial, as he has shown to be Detroit’s best hope to become the future starter.

Larsson spent this past season utterly dominating the USHL, posting a .941 save percentage en route to being named USHL goaltender of the year. As a 19-year-old, his success was expected but not to that extent. Nevertheless, the top net-minders in past USHL years have rarely gone on to be stars, which is why his performance should be taken with a grain of salt.

This upcoming season he’ll have much to prove, heading to the University of Denver where he’ll play against much tougher competition. He’ll have the opportunity to prove his stint in the USHL was no fluke. It won’t be an easy task, as he’ll have to battle it out with Devin Cooley for the starter gig. Not to mention Denver won’t be as stout offensively, having lost Henrik Borgstrom, Dylan Gambrell and Troy Terry up front.

He’s also coming off an injury. The last time he played was on Feb. 24th when he sustained a lower-body injury. So he’ll have to prove to himself he’s still got what it takes.

Larsson will be facing his fair share of challenges as he heads to Denver, but with that comes opportunity to show he’s a legit NHL prospect.

Axel Holmstrom, the Red Wings 2014 7th rounder, managed to have a good first two full SHL seasons and then was hit with injury trouble. He injured his knee at the end of the 2015-16 season, then re-injured it in November of 2016, keeping him out for most of the 2016-17 SHL season. He played in 16 regular season games, then was a point per game in Skellefteå’s 7 playoff games before coming over to play a few regular season and playoff games for Grand Rapids. He had a healthy and fairly productive first pro season in North America putting up 26 points in 66 games for Grand Rapids. This season is a contract year for Holmstrom and he’ll need to up his production and prove that he still has the third/fourth line potential that he showed in his first two seasons in Skellefteå.

Among the many players that have something to prove this upcoming season, the most interesting for me is Givani Smith. Not only is the forward going to be making his professional debut this season, but he is joining a Grand Rapids Griffins team getting a massive injection of youth. Dennis Cholowski and Libor Sulak hope to be mainstays on the blueline and the messiah Filip Zadina might be joining them for the first couple months of the season.

If Smith works well with an elite player like Zadina, then we could be seeing him up in Detroit sooner than most think. He has a lot to prove all of his doubters and if he is able to put up some solid points in the AHL, I’ll be ecstatic.

I’ll be keeping my eye on Joe Veleno. I know he’s just joined the organization but his acquisition was such a ballyhooed circumstance that I feel like this kid is going to feel the pressure right out of the gate. From being granted exceptional status, to struggling (by and large) through juniors, to what we all hope was a break through in Drummondville. Corey Pronman lists the Detroit Red Wings as owners of the 7th best farm system in the NHL. While the primary reason for this is Zadina (obviously), he believes that Veleno instantly became their 2nd best prospect (I’d tend to agree) who has a chance to be an above average playmaker and a top 6 center in the NHL. One would assume that Veleno, like Zadina, will want to throw it back at the teams that passed on him. As such, he has a lot to prove in Drummondville this year to show why passing on him was their loss and the Red Wings gain.

When I think about who has the most to prove in the Red Wings pool of prospects, Michael Rasmussen’s name comes to mind immediately. Here is a kid who was drafted with the first top-10 pick the Wings had in 20 years and was immediately dismissed by fans and the media as “a reach”. There was plenty of talent available on the board still, such as Gabe Vilardi and Nick Suzuki, but the Red Wings opted to go with the 6’7″ center who had plenty of “good character”. Many had pegged the pick as a disaster.

Now, after a bountiful season in the WHL and a stellar playoff performance, Rasmussen is all but a lock to be on the Red Wings opening night roster. Should he make it, he’ll get a chance to prove everybody wrong that he was absolutely the right player to pick at number nine overall. He’s jumping into a roster that could potentially be worse than the last two years, so this is his opportunity to make an immediate impact. Nobody expects him to be an elite number one center, but he has to prove that he’s at least top-10 material.