Has Joe Veleno Improved After his Season in Sweden?

The Canadian-born, 21-year old Joe Veleno scored 11 goals and 9 assists in the 46 games he played with the elite Swedish Hockey League. Veleno was there as a loan to Malmö Redhawks. After the end of the Swedish season, the Red Wings recalled him on April 17th and reassigned him to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Veleno had to spend a week in quarantine and also recover from a concussion he earned in Sweden. After that, he was promoted to the team’s taxi squad with number 90.  and will finish out the 2020-21 season in North America. Perhaps he will still be able to play in an NHL game before the season is over. Red Wings fans can follow his progress online and capitalize on this promising young center.

Joe Veleno was a 1st-round pick back in June 2018, a top-rated forward at the time. His entry-level contract with the Red Wings expires in 2023. In his first pro season, 2019-20, he scored 11 goals and 23 points in 54 games with the Grand Rapids. Veleno also contributed to Canada’s gold medal at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he led the team in average time on ice (19:13) and placed sixth with six points (1-5—6) in six games. Before that, the young promise from Montreal had spent four years in the QMJHL, where he was noted for a remarkable result with the Drummondville Voltigeurs,104 points over 59 games.

At this point, a brilliant North American prospect would typically follow a path including college or junior hockey, a period in the AHL, and then a debut in the NHL. A European pause in this standard career path is quite unusual. But the epidemics disrupted the season last year, so Veleno made good use of the opportunity to keep playing on the other side of the Ocean. He has now come back with a series of valuable insights and newly acquired experience.

His opinion is that several players from the Swedish league possess strong skills, and several young talents among them will probably make their way into the NHL. The SHL is, in his words, a “very hardworking league, and I guess very structured defensively.”  They certainly made a strong impression on the young Canadian: “I think that was honestly the biggest difference is just how hardworking teams are and how coaches focus so much on defense and being good defensively, and then obviously, good defense transitions to offense.”

In Europe, Joe Veleno had to learn how to cope with a situation in which the offensive zone is bigger and the defensive zone too. This challenge pushed him to improve his 200-foot game and his off-puck play, including his positioning. Red Wings director of player development, Shawn Horcoff, sees progress in Veleno as a result of his Swedish season: “In terms of his individual play, we were happy with a lot of aspects of his game. I think his overall 200-foot game, which is what we really want Joe to work on, really came a long way.”