Could Red Wings prospect use AHL playoffs as springboard to NHL?

The Detroit Red Wings have a glaring need for a second-line center to slot in behind captain Dylan Larkin.

Will Nate Danielson ultimately be that center?

Danielson was the Red Wings' first-round pick (ninth overall) and has impressed the organization since.

In his first NHL training camp last September, the 19-year-old lasted long enough to play in exhibition games because of his complete 200-foot game, which is quite advanced for his age. Danielson, 6-foot-2 and 187 pounds continued to excel this season in the Western Hockey League with the Brandon Wheat Kings and Portland Winterhawks. 

He had 24 goals and 67 points in 54 games and was plus-26 during the regular season and seven goals and 17 assists for 24 points in 18 playoff games with Portland. Danielson and the Winterhawks were swept in four games in the WHL final by the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Detroit's assigned him to their American Hockey League affiliate in Grand Rapids, which is participating in the playoffs, on Saturday.

The Red Wings signed Danielson to a three-year entry-level NHL contract last July.

It is still way too early to predict Danielson's NHL future but Larkin also got his feet wet in professional hockey as a teenager by playing with Grand Rapids in the American Hockey League playoffs in 2015.

Larkin then made Detroit's opening-night roster out of training camp the following fall.

Will Danielson follow in that path?