DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner speaks with Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon on the latest Red and White Authority. Simon took the coaching reins while working with the Red Wings’ summer development campers, and he’s just hired his assistant coaches, so there was much to talk about over the course of a 52-minute interview:
Month: July 2018
USA, Canada’s World Junior Summer Showcase rosters released: Petruzzelli, Regula, Rasmussen, McIsaac and Veleno taking part
The World Junior Summer Showcase is being held in Kamloops, British Columbia this year, not Plymouth, Michigan, so I’m not going to be able to attend the event…
But I thought it was worth noting the rosters that have been released as they pertain to Red Wings prospects as two teams’ rosters have been released, and a total of five Red Wings prospects will be taking part (so far).
Team USA’s World Junior Summer Showcase roster came out a little while ago, and it includes Keith Petruzzelli and Alec Regula;
Canada’s World Junior Summer Showcase roster came out today, and it includes Michael Rasmussen, Jared McIsaac and Joe Veleno.
Many thanks to the WHL’s website for the heads-up.
Khan notes that Vanek, Green hope to mentor Wings’ youngsters
MLive’s Ansar Khan reeexamines the comments made on Sunday by Red Wings GM Ken Holland, Thomas Vanek and Mike Green.
Both players expressed enthusiasm about playing with the Red Wings this upcoming season, and both players stated that they hope to mentor the next generation of Red Wings players:
“I loved it there. It was a good fit,” Vanek said. “I really liked the whole culture of the organization and the guys were great. We tried to make it work last year, it didn’t work out, so I’m happy it did this year.”
Vanek believes he can mentor young wingers like Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou and, if they make the team, Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina.
“I’ve done that the last 2-3 years, getting to know the young guys, and if they want some advice I’ll give it to them,” Vanek said. “In Detroit, I did that with AA, Mo, Larks (Dylan Larkin). They are great players. They just need a little bit of time. I’m there to help everyone, help myself. The good, young kids we have, Rasmussen, Zadina, I’ll be there to help them as well.”
…
“I love it in Detroit,” Green said. “I love the organization, I love the culture, I love the guys. I think it’s easy at times to go somewhere else, especially with the transition that’s going on in Detroit, but I feel I can be useful in the next couple of years to help the younger guys develop quicker and speed up that process.”
Discussing Patrick Holway’s 2017-18 season
DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examines Wings prospect and University of Maine defenseman Patrick Holway’s 2017-18 season this morning. Wakiji spoke with Holway’s coach regarding the rangy defenseman’s progress made this past season:
Quotable: “Patrick was much improved over his freshman year, which is quite obvious. He’s a big body and physical when it’s warranted. Pat has outstanding offensive skill, great poise with the puck, a good shot from the point. He was a very good power play player for us from the back end. So, he has an awful lot of tools, he’s a big guy at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds. He has the body of a big NHL defenseman and he has the skill set to bloom. A very good two-way player.” — Dennis “Red” Gendron, University of Maine head coach
NHL.com’s Rosen gives Wings a B- free agency grade
NHL.com’s Dan Rosen provides an outside perspective on the Red Wings’ free agent signings via his Over the Boards mailbag:
How do you grade the Detroit Red Wings pickups on Sunday? — @Mr_Wright19
I’ll say B-minus. They’re fine. Nothing crazy. They added forward Thomas Vanek on a one-year, $3 million contract and goalie Jonathan Bernier on a three-year, $9 million contract. They also re-signed Mike Green, who did become a UFA, to a two-year, $10.75 million contract. Vanek is a scorer, so he will help the Red Wings improve from last season, when they were 28th in the NHL with 2.59 goals per game. He’ll also provide healthy competition for some of the younger players trying to earn their minutes in Detroit. Bernier paired with Jimmy Howard gives the Red Wings the goaltending depth that should allow them to compete for 82 games. They know what they’re getting from Green, who is still a good player on the power play and a threat at 5-on-5.
The Red Wings left room for further growth of their younger players including forwards Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou, Michael Rasmussen, Joe Veleno and Filip Zadina, and defenseman Dennis Cholowski.
Stan Fischler profiles Marcel Pronovost
Stan Fischler posted an article for NHL.com which discusses the career of former Red Wings great Marcel Pronovost. The venerable defenseman split his career between Detroit and Toronto, and, as Fischler suggests, Pronovost was “fearless”:
Who is the most courageous player in NHL history to be a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame?
One way to answer the question is to take a Hall of Famer and compare the number of times he survived serious injuries and still managed to play at a high level for Cup-winning teams.
Perhaps the NHL’s best combination of skill and courage was Marcel Pronovost, a defenseman who excelled for the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs in a career that ran from 1950 to 1970. That’s two decades worth of injuries, comebacks — and five Stanley Cups, four with Detroit and the last, in 1967, with Toronto.
“Marcel’s courage could match anyone’s in the League,” said Jack Adams, himself a Hall of Famer. It was Adams, as Detroit’s general manager, who signed Pronovost to a contract with the Red Wings.
“Marsh’s problem was the fact that he was overshadowed by our more flashy players like Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and Red Kelly.”
HSJ clarifies Filip Zadina’s status: NHL or QMJHL
The Free Press’s Helene St. James has gotten to the bottom of a complicated situation:
The Detroit Red Wings and Filip Zadina were both under the impression he could play in the AHL in 2018-19, but have been told his junior team wants him back if he does not make the Wings.
During last week’s development camp, Zadina, the sixth overall pick in the 2018 draft, said he had been loaned by his Czech team to his junior team. That was also what the Wings believed. It’s a significant distinction because if Zadina were on loan, he could be sent to the AHL if he does not make the Wings. That would make it easy to call him back up.
Tuesday evening, Wings general manager Ken Holland told the Free Press he had been informed Halifax Mooseheads general manager Cam Russell wants Zadina back if he’s not in the NHL.
St. James continues, and if the CHL team puts up a fight, the CHL team usually wins it.
Caputo laments the Red Wings’ free agent moves
If you caught Fox 2’s SportsWorks round-table on Sunday, the Oakland Press’s Pat Caputo got particularly angry when discussing the Red Wings’ free agent moves…
Given they already had little cap space to work with in a hard cap league, this could preclude the Red Wings making value-for-value trades for players other organizations desire to move because of cost, that would fit the Red Wings better in the long-range future. But then again, Holland NEVER makes player-for-player trades in the off season. He ALWAYS falls into the trap of overpaying veterans in free agency to set the roster before it needs to be. He is ALWAYS overvaluing his own players. Come on, why is this particular organization signing 33- and 34-year-old veteran free agent skaters like Green and Thomas Vanek as free agents? It’s about as nonsensical as it gets.
And please, spare us the line about “veteran presence to help the youngsters.” The Red Wings already have a whole bunch of that because of bad-value deals Holland handed out in the past.
Caputo continues, and I know that some of you feel similarly…
HSJ profiles David Pope
The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a profile of David Pope this afternoon:
Pope, who turns 24 in September, was among the older prospects at development camp, having spent the last four years playing wing at Nebraska-Omaha. Originally drafted 109th overall in 2013, Pope signed with the Wings in May with the understanding he’ll get some opportunities in the exhibition season as he vies for a role in Detroit.
“I have a shot to make the NHL and I just have to have a good summer, work on a few things,” Pope said during last week’s camp at Little Caesars Arena. “For me it’s more about skating – not necessarily technique or anything, but about stamina. I’ve been working with a skating coach in Detroit and should be good in the fall.”
Pope, 6 feet 3 and 198 pounds, has good offensive instincts and soft hands, and knows how to get open away from play. He recorded career highs in his senior year and led the Mavericks with 20 goals (12 on the power play) and 21 assists in 35 games. He’s a power play half-wall guy with a shoot-first mentality that should be welcome on the Wings, who ranked 25th with a 30.2 shots-per-game average in 2017-18.
“David is a scorer,” director of player development Shawn Horcoff said. “You can tell he is a shooter – he’s not a guy that’s going to lug the puck through the neutral zone or be creative – he is going to get it, give it to skill, and get open. And when he does get it, he’s going to shoot. He is going to get a lot of pucks to the net. He’s got a great shot. I know he’s looking to come to camp and vie for a spot.”
Custance: for the Wings it’s ‘no’ on Karlsson, ‘yes’ on competing for 2019 free agents
According to The Athletic’s Craig Custance, the Red Wings are not part of the Erik Karlsson sweepstakes, but their abundance of cap space during the 2019 offseason means that the Wings will be bidding for top free agents next year at this time:
According to an NHL source, the Red Wings are not currently involved in Karlsson trade talks. They’re just now getting to the point in the rebuild where they’re assembling the kind of young talent necessary to successfully turn things around. They don’t have the desire to give up a huge package of those players for a crack at Karlsson.
The preferred plan is to stockpile picks and prospects and when the cap space is created, try and lure a high-end player without tapping into that collective talent pool.
As we’re seeing, that might be the hardest part of the plan. When a player of that caliber reaches free agency, the competition to land him is off the charts. Just look at the John Tavares sweepstakes. And that’s in the rare case a player like him becomes available.
But a look at the Red Wings’ cap situation as it stands now reveals that they should be well-positioned to make some noise in free agency on July 1, 2019.
Custance continues (paywall)…