Ex-Red Wings forward Daniel Sprong defiantly speaks out after major demotion
Former Detroit Red Wings forward Daniel Sprong was waived by the Seattle Kraken and sent to the American Hockey League, and now he's speaking out about it.
Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman chose not to retain forward Daniel Sprong, who scored 43 points (18G, 25A) in 76 games last year in his 1st and only season with the team.
He found work as a member of the Vancouver Canucks, signing a 1-year contract for an inexpensive $975K. But just 9 games into his tenure in Vancouver, he was traded to the Seattle Kraken.
Last week, he was waived by the Kraken, with whom he scored a career-best 21 goals in 2022-23; he was sent to the Coachella Valley Firebirds, and had a positive debut by scoring twice.
He followed up that debut with another goal in his 2nd game, giving him 3 total goals in both games.
And now, Sprong is making it clear he feels he doesn't belong in the American Hockey League.
It's been a tough couple of days and I think my mindset here is to help the young guys. I've been a young guy before, but for myself I want to prove that I don't belong here. I think over my last two years in the NHL speaks for itself, but these are the cards I'm dealt right now, so I'm going to try to help the guys here and fix my game a little bit.
I would say as far as the game I think in the first period I was a little too many steps ahead and expecting plays to be a little quicker so I had to slow it down and sort of mentally get on that speed, and after that I was fine. But like I said it is what it is and I don't want to be a distraction, but at the end of the day I want to make it clear that I'm an NHL player and that's my mindset.
He's scored a total of 87 goals in 363 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim Ducks, Washington Capitals, Kraken, Red Wings and Canucks.
POLL |
JANVIER 13 | 200 ANSWERS Ex-Red Wings forward Daniel Sprong defiantly speaks out after major demotion Will former Red Wings forward Daniel Sprong get another chance in the NHL? |
Yes | 121 | 60.5 % |
No | 79 | 39.5 % |
List of polls |
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