from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

General manager Ken Holland told the Free Press on Friday the Wings don’t expect Svechnikov to play this season. The benefit of him missing what would have been his third season of pro hockey is he’ll be waiver exempt next season.

That means the Wings can send him to Grand Rapids without waivers. Maybe he has a strong summer and comes in ready to compete for a job in Detroit, but the Wings don’t know what they have in Svechnikov, who they selected at 19th overall in 2015.

He had an impressive rookie pro season in 2016-17 with the Griffins, scoring 20 goals among 51 points in 74 games, and adding 12 points during the Griffins run to the 2017 Calder Cup championship.

But the following season, Svechnikov struggled, producing seven goals among 23 points in 57 games with the Griffins, and producing two goals and two assists in 14 games with the Wings.

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