Mid-day news: videos from St. James, Samuelssen on the Wings’ luck and Khan on Zadina

Updated at 1:57 PM: Of Red Wings prospect-related note this afternoon:

  1. The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted clips of Givani Smith and Filip Zadina speaking to the media after this morning’s summer development camp session:

[edit/update: The Wings posted a clip of Patrick Holway speaking with the media as well:

/end edit]

2. The Free Press’s Jamie Samuelssen weighed in regarding the Wings’ draft class and the fact that luck played into the Wings’ selections…

Continue reading Mid-day news: videos from St. James, Samuelssen on the Wings’ luck and Khan on Zadina

Griffins coach Ben Simon speaks to the media at the summer development camp ’18

Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon spoke with the media at the Red Wings’ summer development camp this afternoon, addressing the play of Givani Smith, Dennis Cholowski, Michael Rasmussen and a few more players before discussing his own coaching style and the timeline for his assistants to be named (soon):

Update: The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a clip of Simon’s remarks:

 

Morning audio from the second day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp ’18: Smith, Lindstrom, McIsaac, O’Reilly

From the second day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp ’18:

Givani Smith deserves major credit for having to rehash the racist taunts he had to deal with during the Kitchener Rangers’ playoff run during today’s media availability. Smith was forthright and honest regarding the fact that he faces racism on a regular basis, and he spoke bluntly about the challenges he faces at times and the fact that the hockey community reached out to him when he needed them most. Smith is ready to put those issues behind him and head to Grand Rapids to start his professional career, but he was very brave in revisiting a tough chapter of his hockey history today:

Me and MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with defenseman Gustav Lindstrom, a defenseman who has NHL skills in a still-growing body. Lindstrom spoke about his past season, earning a contract with the SHL’s Frolunda Indians, his already-participating status in terms of dryland training and on-ice fitness with Frolunda, and his goals for his upcoming campaign:

My interview with Jared McIsaac went…okay. I asked McIsaac about his skill set, why he felt he was drafted in the early 2nd round, his attributes as a player and the whirlwind that has been going from the draft to the Wings’ development camp:

Aside from my stupid phone ringing in the middle of the interview, my discussion with Ryan O’Reilly went better. O’Reilly is a Texas-born player who still spent a season playing for Little Caesars hockey, so he discussed his eclectic background, his preparations for attending UMass-Lowell a year from now (he’ll play for the USHL’s Tri-City Storm first) and his take on the Wings’ fantastic facility:

Wakiji on Christoffer Ehn’s health

Red Wings prospect Christoffer Ehn is notably absent from the Wings’ summer development camp. This morning, DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji reminds us why Ehn’s sitting this one out as she examines the turning-North-American-pro’s 2017-18 season:

Quotable: “Christoffer had an up and down season in Frölunda last year. Didn’t get off to the best start but had a much better second half and was playing his best hockey when he came over to GR to join us for the playoffs. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with mono the day he got here and was unable to play any games. He was extremely frustrated by that and has been working hard this offseason to get his conditioning back up to its normal elite level.” — Shawn Horcoff, Red Wings director of player development

Continued

The media’s takes from the first day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp ’18

Of Red Wings-related note this morning, on a source-by-source basis:

A. Fox Sports Detroit:

1. FSD posted a clip of Joe Veleno speaking with Trevor Thompson, and this clip aired on today’s Tigers game:

2. “The 313” wondered whether Filip Zadina is NHL-ready:

B. DetroitRedWings.com:

1. DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji penned an article about Filip Zadina, the media darling of the day, and Zadina’s belief that he can make an immediate jump from the QMJHL to the NHL:

Continue reading The media’s takes from the first day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp ’18

Impressions from the first day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp ’18

The Red Wings’ top prospects began their 5-day summer development camp on Tuesday, at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center (a.k.a the team’s practice rink).

Teams Lindsay and Howe arrived at the rink early–Team Lindsay arrived at 7 AM, and the players didn’t leave until after 4 PM–and the day started with more goaltending coaches on the ice than goaltenders.

Continue reading Impressions from the first day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp ’18

Oodles of free agent news from Custance: Lehner visits the Wings; could Filppula, Vanek follow?

According to The Athletic’s Craig Custance, goaltender Robin Lehner has visited Detroit as the Wings look for a back-up to support Jimmy Howard:

Multiple sources confirmed that 26-year-old goalie Robin Lehner made an in-person visit to Detroit on Tuesday, meeting with Red Wings management and coaches. Lehner has been the Sabres starting goalie but became an unrestricted free agent when the Sabres declined to give him a qualifying offer.

The Red Wings have a backup goalie position to fill, one that is among the more appealing spots in the market since starter Jimmy Howard’s contract is up after this season. There’s also the outside expectation that the backup goalie signed in Detroit will get plenty of playing time because of Howard’s propensity to get injured at some point during the season.

Lehner is an especially interesting option because he’s still young enough that he could re-emerge as a legit No. 1 goalie after struggling last season in Buffalo with a .908 save percentage. In his first two seasons with the Sabres, Lehner had a .921 save percentage in 80 games played. He has personality quirks, isn’t afraid to speak his mind and may have the occasional meltdown – all things that are part of the equation on a young team. But he might have the most upside of any goalie on the market. New Red Wings assistant coach Dan Bylsma, who coached Lehner in Buffalo, knows him well.

The Red Wings have also spoken with the representatives for Carter Hutton and Jonathan Bernier among others. Hutton has been the most sought-after of the backup goalies and with that comes the expectation that he’ll get a three-year deal. Hutton was great last season for the Blues, finishing with a career-high .931 save percentage. He’s also in high demand, with the Hurricanes and Bruins among the interested teams.

Custance continues (paywall), reporting that the Wings are talking to Valtteri Filppula (as a fall-back, pun intended, if Henrik Zetterberg gets hurt), Thomas Vanek and Mike Green; the team is also working on a bridge deal for Anthony Mantha and a long-term extension for Dylan Larkin.

Audio from the first day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp ’18: Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina

After a lengthy skill development session, Red Wings prospects Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina spoke with the assembled media at the BELFOR training center.

Rasmussen addressed his scoring surge after recovering from wrist surgery, including a tremendous playoff run with the Tri-City Americans, and he spoke about the possibility of making the team out of training camp in the fall…

And Filip Zadina addressed similar topics while discussing the “wow factor” of Little Caesars Arena, the fact that he’s playing with all-new equipment save his skates, and his belief that “playing my hockey” will carry the day at both the summer development camp and come the fall:

Update: The Detroit News also posted a 26-image gallery from camp.

Michigan Hockey, St. James, Khan post videos from the first day of the Wings’ summer development camp ’18

In addition to my audio files from the first day of the Wings’ summer development camp, there are videos available from:

A. Michigan Hockey…

Which posted videos of Dennis Cholowski…

 Joe Veleno…

Alec Regula…

And David Pope:

B. The Free Press’s Helene St. James also posted videos…
Of Shawn Horcoff…

Veleno…

Regula…

And Dennis Cholowski:

C. MLive’s Ansar Khan also posted a video of Veleno:

Update: Khan posted some highlights of Horcoff’s comments as well:

Continue reading Michigan Hockey, St. James, Khan post videos from the first day of the Wings’ summer development camp ’18