Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill was on the NHL Tonight last night, and he addressed the Wings’ coaching and personnel moves over the course of a 9-minute phone interview:
Month: July 2018
Three things: Profiling Trevor Hamilton and Alec Regula, and Tweets of note
Of Red Wings-related note this morning:
1. The Grand Rapids Griffins posted a video profiling defenseman Trevor Hamilton:
Regula described himself as a two-way defenseman. He produced seven goals and 18 assists in 67 games in his first OHL season.
“I think I can contribute offensively, but I really pride myself on my defense,” the right-shooting Regula said. “I got a good stick and good gaps. I think I got a lot to work on. I think I’m kind of a project for the Wings. I need to get my footwork going and I got to get a lot stronger, better endurance, all these things are what it takes to move to the next level.”
A pro career became a realistic goal for him following his lone season with the USHL Chicago Steel that was capped by a Clark Cup championship in 2016-17.
In London, he was paired with Evan Bouchard, a player the Red Wings might have selected at No. 6 if Filip Zadina weren’t available. Bouchard went 10th overall to the Edmonton Oilers.
“Every single night we were facing the other team’s top line and that’s something that helped me a lot,” Regula said.
3. On Twitter:
Tag that friend you’re always waiting on…. #LGRW @meijer pic.twitter.com/04txtzZzGx
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 13, 2018
The Joy of Six (Seasons) ?? pic.twitter.com/wHwEbv3MBB
— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) July 12, 2018
Luke Witkowski to take part in a youth hockey camp in Holland, MI
According to the Grand Rapids Press’s Scott DeCamp, Red Wings forward Luke Witkowski will be taking part in a youth hockey camp next week in Holland, MI:
Witkowski will be among current and former pro hockey players who will be working the Great Lakes Hockey Camp July 16-20 at Griff’s IceHouse West in Holland.
Former Grand Rapids Griffins player Jared Nightingale, who played at Michigan State, will be the host of the camp.
The camp is for boys and girls ages 7-17. It will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
The camp will include two on-ice sessions with off-ice games and training, as well as video and discussion each day.
Cost is $480 per camper. The goalie fee is $100. To reserve a spot, go to the Great Lakes Hockey website at https://www.glakeshockey.com/holland. If you have questions, email glakeshockey@gmail.com.
Regner profiles prospect Lane Zablocki
DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner provides a profile of Red Wings prospect Lane Zablocki this morning, discussing Zablocki’s “numbers” from his 2017-18 season. Zablocki, who was traded twice during the 2017-18 season, needs to “find a home” to truly establish himself as a gritty forward with some offensive pop:
Quotable: “One of the pleasant surprises for me was I actually didn’t know before he came in how versatile he is as a forward. To give you an example, we started him on his strong side wing. We learned quickly he can play his off-side wing as well, more of a shooting winger, but in the playoffs when we had a few injuries at the center position he actually played center for us and did that very well. He’s strong in the face-off circle, he’s strong physically generally, which helps him be good down low and he’s very competitive, he’s really hard to play against. We were able to manufacture a center we didn’t know we had.
So that’s a real positive as a coach when you have a player you can move around at all three positions (who) can play anywhere on the ice and can have an impact offensively and defensively. It’s a real opportunity for him to grow (next season) and to demonstrate to Detroit what he can do, not just what he can do now, but what he could become, which is obviously such an important part of the evaluation from the pro team – ‘what will this player be in a few years?’ So with that speed and physicality that he brings, the versatility at all three positions and he’s also really good around the net and that’s obviously a big part of Detroit’s success in the past with people like (Tomas) Holmstrom as an example.
And with a person like Lane potentially a candidate for that type of role, whether it be junior, American League or NHL, I think that’s really exciting for Detroit.” – Dan Price, Victoria Royals head coach
Regner continues at length…
Two Things: On ‘best friends’ and Filip Zadina’s modern comparables
Of Red Wings-related note this morning:
1. In the “Funny Ha” vein, the Wings posted a video in which prospects David Pope and Jack Adams took the “best friends’ challenge”:
Filip Zadina, RW, Detroit Red Wings
2018 draft: No. 6 overall draft pick
Top comparison: Filip ForsbergFilip Zadina is probably one of the more skilled players in the draft, which makes him both exciting and a little difficult to compare. He plays a style very much his own and showed many different sides of himself throughout his draft season. You can see how he pulled different things from different players. Most of all, however, he is a goal scorer.
Continue reading Two Things: On ‘best friends’ and Filip Zadina’s modern comparables
A profile of Wings prospect Alec Regula
The C&G Newspapers’ Timothy Ponzer penned a profile of Red Wings draft pick and Cranbrook-Kingswood graduate Alec Regula. It turns out that Regula, who is the son of the former Red Wings’ dentist, is already relatively familiar with some of his future teammates:
From June 26 to June 30, Regula participated in Detroit’s development camp, practicing and scrimmaging with the team’s top picks and prospects at the Belfor Training Center inside Little Caesars Arena.
“You see the type of pace at this level, and it makes you work that much harder,” Regula said. “You can see the quality prospects and how you have to work and improve to make it.”
Additionally, Regula has been working out at 2SP Sports Performance in Madison Heights. He credited the facility’s strength and conditioning coach Joe Neal and the opportunity to play with potential future teammates as major aspects of his development.
“I started really working hard there this summer. Guys like Justin Abdelkader, Jimmy Howard, Gustav Nyquist, Danny DeKeyser and Luke Witkowski all skate there,” Regula said. “They knew I was preparing for the draft, and it was great to see their work ethic up close. (Neal) has helped me take a lot of steps with my body.”
Griffins re-sign Toledo Walleye starter Pat Nagle
The Grand Rapids Griffins re-signed Toledo Walleye goaltender Pat Nagle to a 2-way AHL-ECHL contract this afternoon:
GRIFFINS RE-SIGN GOALTENDER PAT NAGLE
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Thursday re-signed goaltender Pat Nagle to a one-year contract.
A native of Bloomfield, Mich., Nagle enjoyed the best campaign of his seven-year pro career in 2017-18, his first as a member of the Toledo Walleye, the Griffins’ ECHL affiliate. His league-high 37 wins (37-6-4) set a Toledo mark and tied for the third-most in ECHL history, falling just one shy of the record.
Nagle led the Walleye to a Central Division title and the second-best record (50-17-3-2, 105 pts.) in the ECHL last season while placing among the circuit’s leaders with 50 goalie games played (1st), three shutouts (T4th), a career-best 0.924 save percentage (5th) and a 2.23 goals against average (6th) that tied his personal-best set the previous season.
Along the way to earning All-ECHL Second Team honors, he participated in his first ECHL All-Star Game and was named the league’s Goalie of the Month for both November (7-1-1) and February (8-0-0). In the midst of his landmark season, Nagle posted a 10-game winning streak (Jan. 27-March 2) as part of his franchise-record 17-game point run (15-0-2 from Jan. 24-March 18).
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound netminder capped off three standout seasons (2014-17) with the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets by tallying a 15-3-4 record, a 2.23 GAA and a 0.916 save percentage in 25 appearances during the 2016-17 campaign. If he had played enough minutes to qualify, Nagle would have placed third in the league in GAA and eighth in save percentage that year.
Nagle has appeared in 272 ECHL games since 2011-12 with Florida, Idaho, Fort Wayne and Toledo, amassing a 160-65-28 record, a 2.54 GAA, a 0.914 save percentage and 13 shutouts. As a rookie with Florida, he helped the Everblades capture the Kelly Cup in 2012.
Nagle logged two games with the Griffins in 2014-15 and picked up a win while showing a 0.78 GAA and a 0.971 save percentage. The 30-year-old has competed in seven career AHL games since 2012-13 between Grand Rapids, Syracuse, Rochester and Utica, going 1-4-0 with a 3.23 GAA and a 0.900 save percentage.
Prior to turning pro, Nagle played four seasons at Ferris State University (CCHA) from 2007-11 and ranks among the school’s all-time leaders with 45 wins (3rd), a 2.32 GAA (3rd) and a 0.916 save percentage (T2nd). As a senior in 2010-11, he was named a CCHA First-Team All-Star after posting a 2.02 GAA and a 0.923 save percentage.
A bit about the Larkin contract negotiations from Custance
The Athletic’s Craig Custance wrote an article discussing Dylan Larkin’s contract negotiations with the Red Wings, and it appears that the Red Wings will have to work some salary cap magic to maximize both Larkin’s yield and the team’s ability to balance its books:
The salary cap is a complicated thing and in order to completely maximize the Johan Franzen long-term injured reserve option, the Red Wings would want to get as close to $78.745 million as possible (their adjusted cap number because of bonuses) before putting him on long-term injured reserve. Then they could exceed the cap by Franzen’s salary.
“Basically wherever you are before you activate LTI, they take a snapshot of your cap picture and you get the player you’re putting on to LTI’s cap room and that’s it,” said an Eastern Conference capologist. “You want to get as close to [the cap] as possible.”
With the Red Wings currently at $76.67 million (according to CapFriendly.com), that would leave them with just about $2 million to sign Larkin to get that ideal snapshot before putting Franzen on LTI. Obviously, that’s not going to happen. Even when you factor in the Franzen salary ($3.945 million) that’s still just getting into the range of what it’s likely going to take to get Larkin signed to anything beyond a bridge deal.
“I have them really jammed up unless they know someone is going,” said the cap expert.
As explored earlier this week, their jammed up depth chart along with this cap situation points to a winger trade being very advantageous for the Red Wings. Moving Gustav Nyquist ($4.75 million) would make a Larkin deal fit in nicely before using any LTIR. Athansiou’s $3 million would give breathing room, too.
Custance continues (paywall)…
HSJ on retiring Sergei Fedorov’s #91
The Free Press’s Helene St. James broaches a somewhat sensitive subject this afternoon, discussing whether the Red Wings should retire Sergei Fedorov’s #91. The answer is obviously, “Yes!”
He was an electrifying presence, an incredibly strong skater who dominated all over the ice and one of the most skilled Red Wings of all time. Off the ice, however, his Detroit career was tarnished by a contract holdout and his decision to play for the Anaheim Ducks for less money in Southern California.
The bitterness between the organization and Fedorov — and fans and Fedorov — appeared to subside in 2015 when he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. And as more time passes, it becomes more likely that his No. 91 will become the eighth number retired by the Red Wings.
“Sergei had a fabulous career in a Red Wings uniform,” general manager Ken Holland told the Free Press. “He had a tremendous impact on this franchise. I would assume as we continue to go forward there will be ongoing conversations about his impact on this franchise.”
Attempts to reach Red Wings owner Christopher Ilitch were unsuccessful.
Scotty Bowman, who coached Fedorov from 1993 to 2002, winning three Stanley Cups, did not hesitate with his answer when asked if Fedorov’s number should be retired by the Wings.
“Sure,” Bowman said. “He’s done it all. Sergei was a spectacular player. He was so good offensively and defensively. Sometimes it takes a little while. Detroit doesn’t retire as many, which makes it more valuable.”
Khan profiles Kasper Kotkansalo
This afternoon MLive’s Ansar Khan profiles defenseman Kasper Kotkansalo, who attended Boston University this past season:
Kotkansalo, who participated in the Red Wings development camp last month at Little Caesars Arena, is working on his skating and agility.
“I think my speed is all right,” Kotkansalo said. “I just think agility-wise, I’m not consuming that much when I’m skating, my edge work. I think I can shake forwards off better if I can skate better.
“We did that PEP (Power Edge Pro) stuff, stuff like that I really need to work on this summer. We’re getting some good keys to do that so hopefully get better at it.”
Kotkansalo also possesses some leadership qualities that appeal to the Red Wings.
“When he went to Switzerland and played for Finland’s under-19 team, he wore the captaincy,” Red Wings director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright said. “He’s a good leader, a good skater, showed a little bit more offense than we saw in the USHL.”