Generally speaking, most of the notable contractual elements that could come into play for key prospects occur at the beginning of the season. However, that isn’t the case for the Red Wings and Capitals who are facing decisions on a pair of promising wingers. For Detroit, Jonatan Berggren is one game away from becoming waiver-eligible while for Washington, Ivan Miroshnichenko is one game away from officially activating the first year of his entry-level contract.
Berggren was a regular for Detroit last season and fared pretty well, picking up 15 goals and 13 assists in 37 games while playing in their middle six. However, GM Steve Yzerman opted to make several additions up front over the summer, pushing the 23-year-old to the outside looking in at a regular spot in the lineup.
Instead of keeping him as a spare forward, the Red Wings decided to send Berggren to AHL Grand Rapids and kept him there for most of the season. Through 43 games with the Griffins, he has done quite well, scoring 19 goals while adding 47 assists. That has earned Berggren a brief stint with the big club where he has been productive in limited action, notching two goals and four helpers in a dozen games despite averaging less than 11 minutes a night.
Berggren was papered to Grand Rapids at the trade deadline and subsequently recalled, permitting him to return to the Griffins. The only way they can do that is by not playing him in another game with Detroit. Grand Rapids is well-positioned to make the playoffs this season so there’s a case to make that his development would be best served by a long postseason run with them over being on the fringes of the NHL lineup while the Red Wings are trying to hold onto the last Wild Card spot in the East.
Detroit elected to punt on the decision for today as they scratched Berggren against Buffalo but they will have to make a call on either playing him and keeping him up for the rest of the season or sending him down for the rest of the year.
As for Miroshnichenko, he has played in nine games for the Capitals so far this season and as a junior-aged player, the ten-game mark is critical as he would officially burn the first year of his contract. If he doesn’t, the year would slide and he would still have three seasons left on that deal – at a slightly lower cap hit – heading into 2024-25.
The 20-year-old is in his first season in North America after spending his post-draft campaign split between Russia’s junior league and two professional leagues after recovering from cancer. The bulk of that campaign was spent in the KHL with Avangard Omsk who agreed to terminate his deal after the season ended, allowing him to join Washington’s system.
Miroshnichenko has spent the majority of this season with AHL Hershey and has done relatively well, collecting nine goals and 16 assists through 47 games so far. That has earned him a handful of recalls, the most recent of which came nearly three weeks ago. Miroshnichenko has been a regular the last couple of weeks, getting him to that nine-game mark where he has two goals while averaging nearly 12 minutes a night.
Washington will soon need to decide if their playoff push (they sit one point out of the last Wild Card spot heading into today) is best aided with Miroshnichenko in the lineup or if they should be taking the longer view and sending him back down to get the extra cheap year on his contract. Either way, unlike Berggren, Miroshnichenko will be able to return to Hershey whether it’s in the coming days or at the end of their season as he’ll remain waiver-exempt either way. Set to play Vancouver later today, Washington will have to make the decision soon unless they want to push the decision back a couple of days by making him a healthy scratch.
It’s not often that decisions like this come up this late in a season but for Detroit and Washington, they’ll have to make a call on their youngsters in the near future.