EDITOR’S NOTE: With the NHL Draft and free agency occurring in the next three weeks, Red Wings beat writer Ted Kulfan will analyze each of the Red Wings’ position groups. Today: Defense.

DETROIT >> The Red Wings have unearthed a lot of hockey talent over the years in Sweden, and Axel Sandin-Pellikka could be the latest find.

The Wings’ 2023 first-round draft pick (17th overall), Sandin-Pellikka this week won the prestigious Elite Prospects Award in Sweden, something future teammates Moritz Seider (2021) and Simon Edvinsson (2022) also earned.

“I have to make sure to follow in their footsteps,” Sandin-Pellikka told the Swedish hockey website hockeysverige.se Monday. “I hope it will go as well for me.”

Sandin-Pellikka, 20, is doing everything he can to make sure it does.

After a superb season in Sweden, Sandin-Pellikka joined the Grand Rapids Griffins for their short-lived playoff run, and returned to Sweden to prepare for September’s training camp.

General manager Steve Yzerman has been non-committal about the chances of Sandin-Pellikka starting the season in Detroit. But the young defenseman is going to do everything he can to make it difficult for the Wings.

“It’s to the NHL you want,” Sandin-Pellikka told the website. “That’s what has been the goal since I was a little kid and started playing hockey. Now I’m going to do everything to take a place over there.”

When looking over the Wings’ defense, a couple of weeks before the Entry Draft and the start of free agency, you can see a path for Sandin-Pellikka to begin in NHL.

The Wings currently have Seider, Albert Johansson (another Wings draft pick from Sweden) and Justin Holl on the right side, which Sandin-Pellikka plays. Simon Edvinsson, Ben Chiarot and Erik Gustafsson return on the left side. Jeff Petry is an unrestricted free agent, not likely to return.

It’s been speculated Holl and Gustafsson, both with one year remaining on their contracts, are possible buyout candidates later this month.

That would create salary cap space, and lineup spots, for an incoming veteran, or a prospect such as Sandin-Pellikka, Swede William Wallinder or Antti Tuomisto, both of whom had fine season with the Griffins.

“William had a very good year; we’re very encouraged by the progress he made and his all-around play,” Yzerman said at his season-ending press conference. “Anntti is a very good player; he just needs to continue to gain a little bit of a foot speed. Both are very good players at the American League level.”

The Wings’ unit needs more offense, something it lacked after the loss of Shayne Gostisbehere to unrestricted free agency last summer. Sandin-Pellikka plays a similar type of game and thrives with having the puck on his stick.

“I’m going to go all summer and I have a clear picture of what I want to improve both on and off the ice,” said Sandin-Pellikka, who isn’t hindered by his smaller stature (5-foot-11, 176 pounds). “I will first and foremost focus on having as good a summer as possible and then do everything I can to get a place at the training camp. It’s not something that’s written in stone, but it’s clear that I want to take a place in the NHL.”

Sandin-Pellikka had a monstrous season for Skelleftea, with 12 goals and 29 points. The 12 goals, and the 24 he scored in his career, were the most ever scored by a junior-age defenseman in the SHL. Sandin-Pellikka’s 15 points (12 were assists) over two seasons were also the most ever by a junior defenseman in the SHL playoffs.

Sandin-Pellikka was held without a point in three playoffs games in Grand Rapids, but coach Dan Watson noticed the young defenseman’s strengths.

“He can skate, he can move and he has mobility,” Watson said after the Griffins’ Game 1 loss to Texas. “(He) sees the ice extremely well.”

It’s not impossible to think the Wings might have their entire defense comprised by draft picks in the near future.

Seider and Edvinsson look like cornerstone pieces on defense, and Johansson was a pleasant surprise after coach Todd McLellan took over in December and put Johansson into the lineup. Add Sandin-Pellikka, or Wallinder or Tuomisto, or possibly Shai Buium or Anton Johansson — all of whom are draft picks under Yzerman — and the future Wings defense could be all home grown and developed.

Wings add goaltending depth

The Wings added to their goaltending depth in the organization by signing Czech goaltender Michal Postava to a two-year entry-level contract.

Postava, 23, had an outstanding season for Kometa Brno in the Czech pro league. Postava (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) was 23-18-0 with a 2.39 goals-against average and .920 save percentage during the regular season, then was a key reason behind the team’s championship-winning run, going 10-7 with a fabulous 1.97 GAA and .940 SVS.

Postava is likely to start next season in Grand Rapids, sharing the workload with Sebastian Cossa.