Per Red Wings Prospects on Twitter and “Mr. Madhawk”:
Rumor: Anton Johansson(4th round’22 for Leksands if) signing a new two year deal with Leksands. If true it would take him past his rights expiration but with the nhl agreement Detroit has priority if they were to sign him to an elc I believe. #LGRW https://t.co/LT1rLSeJHI
— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) January 14, 2025
The 20-18-and-4 Detroit Red Wings host the 13-26-and-6 San Jose Sharks this evening (7 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/NBCSCA/97.1 FM), with the Red Wings hoping to extend their winning streak to eight games.
The Sharks are on a 3-game losing streak at present, but they won 2 of their past 5 games, and Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks’ corps of young players have been excellent of late, and Jake Walman has posted 26 points in 31 games (he’s just returning from a lower-body injury), emerging as the Sharks’ top defender.
Anyway, here are this morning’s game notes…
Continue reading Red Wings-Sharks morning skate Tweets and set-up: Husso starts as Wings hope to extend winning streak to 8 vs. Walman’s SharksThe Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranks the NHL’s best players under 23 years of age into “tiers” today.
Lucas Raymond earns a “tier 2” selection as “Tier 2: NHL All-Star”…
Lucas Raymond
Raymond has been the leader on Detroit’s offense this season and one of the best U23 forwards in the league overall in the first half. He’s a dynamic player with the puck. He has special puck skills, with the ability to make high-skill maneuvers in tight areas at a high rate. He combines that skill with excellent offensive IQ and vision. He sees plays other players don’t, and has a unique ability to hold onto pucks for an extra second to let lanes develop. He had a good shot and with how many plays he makes he can run a PP1 in the NHL. Raymond isn’t that big, but he works hard and even added PK duty for the Red Wings this season. He’s not that fast, but he’s very elusive and has good edges. He’s a budding star forward.
#36, Nate Danielson, ends up in “Tier 4: Top of the lineup player”…
Nate Danielson
Danielson’s first pro season has been a familiar story. He looks like an impactful all-around player, who logs a lot of minutes and creates a lot of chances, but doesn’t score in big amounts. His numbers aren’t amazing for where I have him projected, but I’ve seen enough offense from this player to think he’s going to score in the NHL. He has excellent one-on-one skills, he skates well, and his ability to create chances in transition will make him dangerous as a pro. He’s both a strong passer and shooter who can make a lot of things happen inside the offensive zone. Danielson is also a diligent two-way center. I get the concerns about his production, but when I’ve watched the player I think his skill is legit. If he’s Detroit’s second-line center of the future he can be a heck of a 2C.
#40, Simon Edvinsson, makes “Tier 5: Bubble top and middle of the lineup player”…
Continue reading The Athletic’s Pronman ranks 140 under-23 prospects into ‘tiers’ESPN’s Kristen Shilton and Ryan S. Clark issue mid-season grades for every one of the NHL’s 32 teams this morning:
Detroit Red Wings
Record: 20-18-4
Preseason over/under: 90.5
Current points pace: 85.9Class president: Lucas Raymond. The Red Wings have a burgeoning star in Raymond. He’s Detroit’s leading scorer — with 16 goals and 41 points — but that’s not why he’s ahead of the pack. He’s been a jack-of-all-trades in Detroit, producing as a top-line performer and also trusted to be a second-line driver. Raymond’s potential as a two-way player seems to grow on a game-by-game basis, and that confidence has translated not only on the scoresheet but in Raymond’s overall leadership with the club. It’s exactly what Detroit should be getting from a player they signed to an eight-year, $64.6 million extension in September.
In danger of failing: Dylan Larkin. Detroit has been in a bind for scoring all season, and the captain could do more to help there. He’s averaging less than a point per game — with 16 goals and 33 points — and while those aren’t awful totals, it’s not nearly enough to be setting a standard for Detroit’s other forwards to follow. That said, Larkin could get on a heater at any time but needs to display a defensive effort to match. That’s how he — and Detroit — can get back on track.
Grade: B- (first-quarter grade: C+). The Red Wings’ poor start put coach Derek Lalonde out of a gig before midseason. That’s about as suboptimal as it gets, especially when they have more than enough talent to be a playoff contender. And could it be that the Red Wings are actually starting to play like it? They’re on a seven-game winning streak that has put them within striking distance of a playoff spot. The team will have to improve their offensive game at 5-on-5 (they’re 23rd overall averaging 2.86 goals per game) but its second-ranked power play is a true difference-maker. New coach Todd McLellan has Detroit turned in the right direction.
Continued (paywall)
Per the NHL:
Debuting Today, “Never Offside with Julie and Cat” Takes Listeners Inside the Life of an NHL Player … From the Wives Point of View!
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman Joins the Duo for First Episode of the NHL’s Newest Podcast Experience
NEW YORK (January 15, 2025) – Have you ever wondered how professional athletes balance the challenges of constant travel, family dynamics, game day preparation, unexpected hazards of the business and everything in between? Well, Julie Petry, married to Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jeff and Cat Toffoli, married to San Jose Sharks forward Tyler are about to answer these very questions in their new NHL Productions podcast called, “Never Offside with Julie and Cat”. Episode 1 is available for download now.
Julie and Cat will take listeners behind the curtain of what life is like as a wife of an NHL player. From the glitz and glamour of game nights to managing their families when the boys are on the road. Jeff and Tyler have played 28 seasons and over 1,800 games between them, so the ladies will have plenty of real-life experiences to rely on when they share candid stories, laughs, and unforgettable moments most fans don’t see. These off-ice GMs will have conversations with notable weekly guests, including players, celebrities, executives and other hockey wives. They’ll answer your most burning questions and share an inside look into the world of hockey.
In the debut episode airing today, Julie and Cat sit down with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman from the NHL headquarters in New York to talk hockey and drop the puck on their new venture. Among the topics discussed were home-life balance, hockey in Florida including the two outdoor games slated for 2026, as well as the first round of the ‘shootout’. Julie and Cat wrap the episode with their ‘Garesy’ takeaways and Julie’s excitement for the upcoming 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series — the outdoor matchup between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Detroit Red Wings at Ohio Stadium, Home of the Buckeyes, on Saturday, March 1.
MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an article which discusses the Red Wings’ soaring power play:
The Red Wings haven’t scored on the power play in nine consecutive games since 2015 (Feb. 26-March 15). They haven’t finished a season ranked as high as second in the league since 2014-15. They are converting at 28.6 percent. Only Winnipeg has been more productive at 32.3 percent.
They’re using the same power-play personnel, and the same assistant coach (Alex Tanguay) remains in charge. So, what’s been the reason for the bump since Todd McLellan took over as head coach?
“It feels confident,” McLellan said. “It’s not the same look, all the time the pieces are interchangeable. It makes it hard to prepare to defend it. Sometimes you get just stationary and then you can anticipate what might be coming.”
Players are rotating to different spots more, using more motion. Their entries have been cleaner, they’re getting more zone time and McLellan has stressed a shot mentality, not only on the power play, but at even strength as well.
Lucas Raymond has become sort of the quarterback from the left flank and leads the team with 22 power-play points (four goals, 18 assists). He’s well on pace to pass last season’s leader in power-play points, Shayne Gostisbehere (29 points), who signed with Carolina.
Continued (paywall)
The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an article which discusses the Red Wings’ defense’s offensive “pop” since Todd McLellan took over behind the Wings’ bench, as evidenced by Erik Gustafsson’s play:
Among the keys to the Detroit Red Wings’ resurgence is how much more their defensemen have been engaged in the offense.
Nobody on the back end epitomizes this more than Erik Gustafsson, who has taken strides towards looking more like the guy the Wings thought they were getting when they signed him in the offseason with every game since Todd McLellan was named coach on Dec. 26.
Gustafsson is coming off his first multipoint performance of the season as the Wings take a seven-game winning streak up against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena.
“I didn’t know Gus coming in,” McLellan said. “I wasn’t sure how he would react to what we wanted to do. But he’s been outstanding. The knock on him will always be, can he defend? He’s doing an outstanding job of that. He’s bought into taking care of that first, and when you do that, it opens up the other end, as well.”
Gustafsson was at five points — all assists — and a minus-11 rating in 26 games at Christmas, having struggled to establish himself as a regular. It was not what was envisioned when he was signed for two years at $2 million per season in July to ameliorate the loss of Shayne Gostisbehere, the offensive defenseman and power-play specialist who bolted for the Carolina Hurricanes.
In the eight games since Christmas, however, Gustafsson, a 32-year-old journeyman on his eighth NHL team, has two goals, four assists and a plus-3 rating.
Continued (paywall)
Michigan Public’s Kalloi Bhatt and April Van Buren posted April Behr’s interview with the Free Press’s Helene St. James from “Stateside” this morning, with the following summary:
The past few seasons have been frustrating for Detroit Red Wings fan, to say the least.
On paper, things were looking up. Steve Yzerman, an NFL Hall of Fame center with plenty of championship experience, has served as the general manager since 2019. But despite a roster of talented players, things hadn’t seemed to click for the Detroit team.
But now, a coaching swap seems to be injecting new life into the team and its chances at the playoffs. Departing coach Derek Lalonde’s position was filled in December by Todd McClelland. Suddenly, there’s new energy at Little Caesars Arena.
According to Helene St. James, who reports on the Wings for the Detroit Free Press, Yzerman felt he had to make a coaching change after last year’s game against the St. Louis Blues.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like that because usually the game before any holiday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, you know, I mean, players just have to show up and the crowd is already so into it,” St. James said. “And for the Wings to get booed off home ice right before the Christmas break, it was just unprecedented.”
The Buffalo News’s Mike Harrington posted this in his “look around the East” at the 2024-2025 season’s halfway point, and I am not going to admit that I laughed out loud at the trade he proffers, but I will admit that I guffawed.
The Dylan Cozens situation: The Sabres aren’t shopping a player who’s currently their No. 1 center and it seems crazy they would trade him, given Tage Thompson’s lingering injury. But Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on his podcast that Cozens is a Detroit target and that Buffalo assistant general manager Jason Karmanos has been spotted on the scouting list at Red Wings games. This corner can take that point event further by noting that Detroit pro scout Chris Yzerman (yes, Steve’s brother) has been at recent Sabres games.
But unless the Sabres are getting their hands on young stars like Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider or winger Lucas Raymond – which seems impossible – what are they doing answering the Wings’ calls on Cozens? And don’t the Wings’ sudden winning ways under new coach Todd McLellan cool the need for a big move?
Continued; Seider and Raymond are foundational pieces of the Red Wings’ roster and are untouchable players. There’s no way that the Red Wings would trade one of them for a point-per-every-other-game center who translated one really good season into a $7.1 million-per-season contract.
Hell, there’s no way that Seider or Raymond are moving, period. The Red Wings didn’t make two $8-plus million investments on each player to trade them.
The Red Wings have a bunch of tertiary prospects who might be moveable. Their primary players are not going to be swapped for a reclamation project like Cozens.
The 19-18-and-4 Detroit Red Wings place their 6-game winning streak on the line when they host the Seattle Kraken today at 3 PM EST (on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/KHN/KONG/NHL Network/Sportsnet/97.1 FM).
While the Kraken possess an 18-22-and-3 record, the team still believes that it can make a run for a Western Conference playoff spot; the Red Wings can say the same, as they find themselves in a dogfight for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division.
The Kraken snapped a 4-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon, and Field Level Media describes the Kraken’s victory thusly:
The Kraken will be playing the second game of a back-to-back. They snapped a four-game losing streak with a win at Buffalo, 6-2, on Saturday. Seattle trailed 2-0 after the first, tied it in the second and scored four times in the third.
Kaapo Kakko had a pair of third-period goals. He scored one goal in his first nine games with the Kraken after being traded by the New York Rangers.
“(Coach Dan Bylsma) obviously made it pretty clear that (our first period) wasn’t good enough, which I think everybody could agree with,” said forward Oliver Bjorkstrand, who also scored. “We had to find another step in our game. I think we responded well. And we have to play hockey like that more often. So tomorrow, we have to find a way to start that way…get a lead and build off of that instead of coming from behind.”
Seattle is still four games under .500 and trying to claw back into the playoff picture. The game on Sunday will be the middle contest of a five-game road trip.
“It’s playoff hockey for us right now; we’re trying to win as many games, collect as many points as we can,” said center Chandler Stephenson, who recorded two assists on Saturday. “It doesn’t really matter who we’re playing. We’re just trying to keep distractions away and just trying to focus on us.”
SeattleKraken.com’s Allison Lukan posted a game preview from the Kraken’s perspective this morning…
Continue reading Red Wings-Kraken game preview