Month: June 2018

The Athletic’s Corey Pronman has penned a “Mock Draft 2.0,” and as he believes that Evan Bouchard will go to Ottawa 4th overall, Pronman and Craig Custance suggest that the Red Wings will draft Michigan native Quinn Hughes at #6:

No 6 Detroit: Quinn Hughes, D, Michigan-Big 10 What does the team typically value in players? The Red Wings ideal during their rebuild would be to build a team with skill and size. Even as the league is trending smaller, they value size along with character players they believe will put in the work to develop. That said, they understand the organizational need for high-end skill so they may be more willing to take on risk with their stockpile of draft picks.

Is there any major area of need? The Red Wings focus at the top of the draft will be on defense and at center.

Rationale? If the draft plays out like this, expect the Red Wings to look to trade down, although they won’t go outside the top 10. They might prefer Noah Dobson in this spot because of his size and his right-handed shot, but it’s hard to pass up Hughes’ skating and playmaking.— Craig Custance

Pronman’s comments: The Wings pick out of their backyard to get the defenseman with the second highest pure upside in the class, and the best pure skater in the class. He immediately becomes the organization’s top prospect and the most talented young defense prospect they’ve had in decades.

Continued (paywall), and I’d be surprised if Bouchard doesn’t slide down to 6th, but that’s my take.

According to The Athletic’s Craig Custance, the Red Wings have offered Dan Bylsma an assistant coaching job:

Believe that Dan Bylsma is weighing an offer to join Jeff Blashill’s staff. When reached, Bylsma said if he was talking to Detroit, he wouldn’t say. And if he wasn’t, he still wouldn’t say. He warned not to read anything into his comment or no comment or unwillingness to comment.

— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) June 12, 2018

It was a good talk.

— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) June 12, 2018

That said, Jeff Blashill and Dan Bylsma coached Team USA together at Worlds and got along great, by all accounts. Bylsma has other options but it’s a good fit. Living in west Michigan right now.

— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) June 12, 2018

Via WDIV’s David Bartkowkiak Jr.:

Kovalchuk actually met with the Sharks today. San Jose among the 8-9 teams with interest. https://t.co/9u2Zq3NXAP

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 12, 2018

Mentioned Kovalchuk’s visit to San Jose yesterday. Detroit also among the teams believed to be pushing.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 12, 2018

Nyet, spasiba.

Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

1. Sportsnet’s Sean McIndoe examined 8 Stanley Cup champions “who survived early deficits“:

3) 2002 Detroit Red Wings

If there are any Canucks fans still reading after we mentioned the 2011 Bruins, this section should finish them off.

The 2001–02 Red Wings were easily the Cup favourites heading into the season; they were coming off a 116-point season in a year when nobody else managed more than 101. But the eighth-seeded Canucks seemed poised to pull off the upset, stealing the opener on Henrik Sedin’s OT winner and then rolling to a 5–2 win in Game 2.

With the Red Wings on the ropes and a raucous home crowd cheering them on, the Canucks tied Game 3 with a goal midway through the second period and were headed into the intermission with a chance to shove the favourites into an impossible hole.

Every Canucks fan remembers what happened next:

The goal held up as the winner, and the Canucks didn’t win another game. The Red Wings went on to beat the Blues and Avalanche on their way to an easy final matchup with the overmatched Hurricanes.

But look on the bright side, Canucks fans. While the series may have featured one of the most devasting gut-punch goals in modern NHL history, at least it served up a legendary Brian Burke press conference.

2. USA Today’s Kevin Allen compiled a list of 15 potential unrestricted free agents of note, and the Wings are mentioned in the cases of two potential UFA players:

Continue reading Three things: Recalling 2002’s Wings-Canucks series; UFA’s of note and Nyquist’s ‘numbers’

This morning, MLive’s Ansar Khan examines the Red Wings’ top prospects, attempting to estimate when Michael Rasmussen, Evgeny Svechnikov, Filip Hronek, Dennis Cholowski, David Pope, Libor Sulak, Givani Smith, Filip Larsson and Vili Saarijarvi will be ready to arrive in the NHL:

Michael Rasmussen

Position: Center

Height/Weight: 6-6/221

Shoots: Left

Drafted: First round in 2017 (No. 9)

2017-18 season: He tallied 31 goals and 59 points in 47 games with the WHL Tri-City Americans in a season interrupted by wrist surgery. He was even more dominant in the playoffs, with 16 goals and 33 points in 14 games.

Timeline to NHL: The Red Wings are counting on Rasmussen to make the team in training camp. They plan to ease his transition to the NHL by starting him on wing, like they did with Dylan Larkin as a rookie in 2015-16. If Rasmussen isn’t ready for the NHL he will return to Tri-City for his final junior season. He is not eligible to play in the AHL in 2018-19.

Of video-related note this morning:

1. Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon spoke with WOOD TV’s Jack Doles regarding his hiring by the Griffins:

Of note from Elliotte Friedman’s 31 Thoughts:

1. Regarding the draft…

I don’t think Detroit is moving, barring an offer that gives them great assets for their rebuild. After that sixth pick, teams willing to move are Vancouver (at seven), Edmonton (at 10) and possibly the Islanders (11 and/or 12).

2. Regarding the Wings’ assistant coaching search…

There are rumblings Dan Bylsma may return somewhere as an assistant coach if he’s not on the Islanders’ radar. A logical spot would be Detroit, since he and Jeff Blashill just worked together at the World Championships.

3. And regarding managerial news:

It’s believed assistant GM Mike Futa — linked to almost every job opening in existence — signed an extension with Los Angeles.

Mark Hunter, involved in almost as many rumours, has been linked to Detroit, Montreal and the Islanders. We’ll see. He’s (officially) unavailable until July 15.

The Detroit Red Wings’ front office is holding its second set of organizational meetings this week, re-examining the team’s draft rankings post-scouting combine and discussing the team’s outlook for both its own free agents-to-be and the UFA marketplace.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James spoke with Red Wings GM Ken Holland regarding the front office’s docket…

“The object of the meeting is to bring the staff together and talk about what we are going do with team over the next month and beyond,” Holland said. “We’ll go through our team in detail, talk philosophy for ’18-19 and ’19-20. Then we’ll go through all the other teams and talk about what opportunities exist, if any with other players.”

The group also includes special assistant Kris Draper and assistant general manager Ryan Martin, who are part of the group spearheading plans for the June 22-23 draft.

Whoever the Wings select with their sixth overall pick — options could include defensemen Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson and Quinn Hughes — figures to be in the group of prospects club personnel hopes to see challenge for a spot with the Wings during exhibition season this autumn. Those prospects include 2017 first-round pick Michael Rasmussen, 2016 first-round pick Dennis Cholowski, 2015 first-round pick Evgeny Svechnikov, as well as Filip Hronek, Libor Sulak, Joe Hicketts and Dominic Turgeon.

“Part of our plan is going to be youth,” Holland said. “We are going to training camp and on defense, Sulak, Hronek, Cholowski, Hicketts — we want to see how those players are. Same with Svech, Rasmussen, Turgeon, and the sixth pick in the draft, whether it’s a forward or defenseman. Part of the decisions won’t be answered until camp, but we are hoping that one or two of those names are going to be grab a couple spots.”

St. James continues, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan picks it up from there:

Continue reading Organizational meetings, part 2, on tap for the Wings

The Detroit Free Press is officially kicking off its “Greatest of All Time” series in which readers will vote for the best players on the Red Wings, Tigers, Lions and Pistons. The Free Press’s Shawn Windsor explains the contest, which will eventually pick one Detroit sports player winner to rule them all:

Starting today, the Free Press begins its “Tournament of G.O.A.T,” in which you, dear reader, are expected to vote for the Greatest athlete Of All Time from a Detroit professional sports team.

Our tournament runs through mid-July. Which gives you plenty of time to think, to debate, to consider, say, whether former Lions quarterback Bobby Layne was better than former Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell.

But back to that word — greatest. Because it can mean different things.

Are we talking about winning? About greatness relative to the history of a particular position? About skill? About identity?

About what an athlete meant to our region? About how that athlete helped define us through his athletic feats?

If that’s the case, then … it’s got to be Gordie Howe, right? Mr. Hockey. The best all-around player of his generation. Maybe of any generation.

Windsor continues, and the Free Press’s timing is ironic because it’s the second anniversary of Gordie Howe’s passing:

2 years and not a day goes by where we aren’t thinking of you, Gordie. https://t.co/ho3njOzMUy

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 10, 2018

Windsor suggests that fans will probably end up voting between Howe, Ty Cobb, Barry Sanders and Isaiah Thomas.

I’m biased, but I believe that no Detroit athlete changed the sport he played like Howe changed his sport, all while playing a physically dominant game for a longer period of time than any other Detroit athlete.

The Red Wings have a solid number of goaltending prospects, but with the crop is in flux right now as Patrik Rybar and Kaden Fulcher may or may not be ready for prime time, Joren van Pottelberghe is still finding his way in Switzerland, and Keith Petruzzelli and Filip Larsson are a little further away as they take the college route.

Given the departure of Matej Machovsky and the likely departures of Jared Coreau and Tom McCollum, the Oakland Press’s Pat Caputo suggests that the Wings aren’t deep enough at the goaltending position to find a successor for Jimmy Howard (never mind a back-up). As such…

Continue reading Caputo discusses the Wings’ goaltending pipeline