Time is of the Essence for Andrej Nestrasil
FollowThe pressure is on Andrej Nestrasil. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound forward is under the gun to show the Detroit Red Wings he is worthy of an NHL contract before the June deadline.
The Czech native was the 75th overall selection in the 2009 draft. At the time of the draft, Detroit was ecstatic to pick him citing his size, strength, and puck control as his strengths. Nestrasil’s biggest question mark continues to be his skating which lacks speed and explosiveness. While he has been working hard to improve, it’s still remain a weakness and could cause the Wings to pass on signing him.
Furthermore, Nestrasil hasn’t exactly had the breakthrough season the Red Wings had hoped for after being traded to the Prince Edward Island Rockets of the QMJHL. The right wing has tallied 15 goals and 52 assists in 43 games. He also had a disappointing performance for the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championship picking up a goal and three points in 6 games.
The Wings have already signed four players from the 2009 draft –Mitchell Callahan, Gleason Fournier, Tomas Tatar, and Landon Ferraro. In all likelihood, they will also offer Adam Almqvist a contract as well and continue to let Nick Jensen mature in the NCAA for a few more seasons. The question remains will Nestrasil be the fifth 2009 draft pick to sign an entry level deal with Detroit.