Impressions from the second day of Red Wings training camp ’18

The Detroit Red Wings’ second day of training camp began with a little bit of a shock treatment for Team Lindsay, which woke up a little rusty: coach Blashill made the first practice group skate lateral laps for a couple of minutes, and Blashill himself explained that he wanted to issue some “immediate punishment” for a case of the sleepies.

Eventually, Team Lindsay woke up and took part in a complicated hour-and-a-half’s worth of attacking and gap control drills, so many that I’ve got four pages worth of drill notes in my notebook.

It’s hard to emphasize how fast the Red Wings are executing their drills this season, but the pace is break-neck, if not, dare I say it, “Babcockian.” It’s been impressive to watch the Red Wings emphasize not just team speed, but also execution of high-tempo plays at high speed. The average fan in the crowd may not understand the intricacies of a looping retrieval and counterattack, but things like urgency and pace translate to any level of hockey-speak…

And Filip Zadina’s 2 goals and an assist, Tyler Bertuzzi’s goal and 2 assists and the tremendous level of play during the scrimmage between Team Howe and Team Delvecchio spoke to the level of competition for jobs, even on the second day of training camp.

In terms of player and team observations, trying to put some observations with the faces:

Team Lindsay:

Forwards:

#59 Tyler Bertuzzi: Bertuzzi, looking spry at 6’1″ and 190 pounds, has played exactly what the Red Wings want in a fast, concentrated offensive game. What he can provide on a day-to-day basis is a little more skewed toward instigating and irritating as opposed to goal-scoring, but it’s good to know that he’s still got it.

#57 Turner Elson*: The Griffins-contracted 6’0,” 195-pound Elson has looked solid enough as he returns for his second campaign with the Griffins. The 26-year-old forward is speedy but limited in terms of his scoring impact.

#42 Martin Frk: Frk was injured yesterday and didn’t take part in today’s on-ice activities as a result.

#89 Pavel Gogolev**: Gogolev, a 6,’ 168-pound invite from the Peterborough Petes, has looked a little more calm and at ease among the NHL’ers. He can score goals, but his size is an issue…

#92 Maxim Golod**: And the same is true for the 5’10,” 160-pound Golod, an Erie Otters forward who looks like he could be 12 or 13, not 18.

#76 Nicholas Guay**: Guay comes from the Drummondville Voltigeurs, Joe Veleno’s team, and he’s displayed pluck at 6’1″ and 183 pounds, but he’s there…and that’s about it.

#20 Jussi Jokinen**: I’ve not been impressed with the 35-year-old Jokinen as of yet, but it’s entirely possible that Jokinen is finding his way with the Wings as the 6,’ 192-pound sniper and NHL veteran gets used to the Red Wings’ style of play. Whether he makes the team will be determined during the exhibition season.

#85 Luke Kirwan**: Kirwan, a 6’2,” 218-pound try-out from the QMJHL, has at least looked big and nasty at times.

#71 Dylan Larkin: Larkin is doing his best to lead by example, and so far, it’s been so good. At 22 years of age, the Red Wings’ resident star-in-waiting knows that he’s not yet met the top of his potential, and as a result, he’s working hard to get better. That’s encouraging to say the least.

#39 Anthony Mantha: Mantha was unable to box this past summer due to a knee issue, but the massive 6’5,” 225-pound winger appears to have come to camp with at least half-an-extra step in his stride, and he’s playing more consistently in terms of shift-by-shift intensity.

#22 Wade Megan: Megan, a 28-year-old AHL veteran, posted 52 points in 63 AHL games last season, and the Griffins will hope to reap that kind of scoring from the 6’1,” 194-pound vet.

#54 Matt Puempel: Puempel is a sort-of-prospect and sort-of-farmhand, a 25-year-old Windsor native who can score 20 goals in the AHL with ease. The question is whether Puempel can translate his AHL scoring to NHL rinks, and that remains to be seen.

#23 Dominic Turgeon: Turgeon looks ready to work. The 6’2,” 200-pound center and 22-year-old forward is going to battle for one of the final spots on the Red Wings’ roster, and Turgeon may be best-suited to fourth-line duty as he’s a stalwart of a defensive forward.

#81 Trevor Yates*: Yates was signed by the Griffins to help the team’s center depth, perhaps in no small part in case Turgeon makes the Wings’ roster. The 6’2,” 23-pound Cornell grad is ready and able to check at the AHL level.

Defensemen:

#65 Danny DeKeyser: DeKeyser, sporting “shot blocker” protection on his gloves, at least looks faster, and if you’re not going to be able to gain a whole lot of weight on a 192-pound frame that consumes calories like they’re air, you’d better be faster than your opponent.

#25 Mike Green: Green just looks much more comfortable in his skin now that he’s had his neck surgery and no longer needs to fear getting hit the wrong way. At 33 years of age, we forget that the 6’1,” 207-pound defenseman has played defensively sound at one point or another.

#62 Trevor Hamilton*: Hamilton is going to battle for a spot on the Griffins’ defense as a 6,’ 198-pound right-shooting defenseman, and the Penn State grad will probably end up with the Walleye to start.

#3 Nick Jensen: Jensen, also sporting “shot blocker” padding, isn’t necessarily faster, but he’s heavier on the puck right now.

#55 Niklas Kronwall: Kronwall at least looks able to battle his opponents and his arthritis as the 6,’ 194-pound defenseman looks to wrap up his career with a strong campaign.

#23 Brian Lashoff: Lashoff has been unable to play due to an injury, but he’s skated with the goaltenders prior to the start of practice. Lashoff will be a stalwart on the Griffins’ blueline this upcoming season.

#94 Alec Regula: Regula has actually looked pretty good as a complementary defenseman, possessing a massive frame at 6’4″ and 203 lanky pounds and a good amount of speed.

#29 Vili Saarijarvi: Saarijarvi hasn’t looked as rushed skating with the Red Wings’ defensemen. The 21-year-old defenseman hopes to overcome his 5’10,” 182-pound frame’s drawbacks as he battles for a spot on the Wings’ defense.

Goaltenders:

#68 Justin Fazio**: Fazio earns praise for the fact that he’s continued to work, work, work and work some more as a “practice goalie,” under the tutelage of goalie coaches Jeff Salajko and Brian Mahoney-Wilson.

#35 Jimmy Howard: Howard still has some weaknesses in terms of his ability to move laterally while on his knees and he still has some rebounds that bounce hard off his blocker or toes, but Howard appears to have spent the summer trying to get a little faster and fill in some holes.

* = Griffins or Walleye contract, ** = Try-out.

Team Howe:

#17 Colin Campbell*: Colin Campbell is a prototypical AHL checker, a 6’1,” 194-pound grinder who does a fantastic job of shutting opponents down as a Grand Rapids Griffin;

#88 Carter Camper**: Camper, a 30-year-old AHL veteran, is in camp trying to earn a spot on the Griffins or Walleye’s roster. At 5’9″ and 173 pounds, he does not cut an imposing figure.

#64 Zach Gallant: Gallant is going into his final year of Major Junior hockey, and the 6’2,” 198-pound checking forward needs to have a big season to earn a contract.

#43 Darren Helm: Helm looks like his steady self as the 31-year-old forward begins another campaign with the Red Wings. He hasn’t gotten faster, but the 6,” 196-pound forward looks a little steadier.

#49 Axel Holmstrom: Holmstrom has seemed to gain an extra step as he got his legs under him during training camp. The 22-year-old 6’1,” 219-pound Griffins forward faces a big year in terms of attempting to advance from AHL forward to NHL prospect.

#51 Frans Nielsen: Nielsen looks sharp and ready to go at 34 years of age. The 6’1,” 188-pound center appears to be a little extra determined as Zetterberg was a personal friend.

#14 Gustav Nyquist: Nyquist, 5’11” and 184 pounds at 29 years of age, still needs to step up and score another couple of goals and couple more points as 40 points in 82 games don’t quite justify his salary.

#27 Michael Rasmussen: Rasmussen, massive at 6’6″ and 221 pounds, may be a little more likely to earn an NHL spot than Filip Zadina because Rasmussen could excel in a bottom-six role, developing just as well in a fourth-line role as he would in a first-line role because big “Ras” just works his frickin’ tail off regardless of where he is in the lineup.

#56 Dominic Shine*: Shine is an AHL sniper who will attempt to post more than 8 goals as he embarks upon his first full AHL season at 25 years of age.

#15 Chris Terry: Terry was brought in from the Montreal Canadiens organization at 29 years of age because the 5’10,” 195-pound forward is a point-per-game scoring machine at the AHL level.

#53 Jordan Topping*: Topping continues to look competent as a Grand Rapids Griffins-signed rookie coming from the Tri-City Americans. The 6’1,” 185-pound winger does a nice job of shutting down the opposition.

#90 Joe Veleno: Veleno has been unable to participate in camp due to a shoulder injury suffered on the first day. The 6’1,” 191-pound center will get a chance to play in an exhibition game or 3 as an 18-year-old, but he’s going to head back to the QMJHL.

#11 Filip Zadina: Zadina has scored a couple of goals over the course of two scrimmages, and Zadina has looked a lot better playing a simpler game among NHL’ers than he did playing a complicated QMJHL game among prospects and AHL try-outs. Zadina may not make the Red Wings out of training camp, but the 6,” 196-pound forward is going to work his tail off to keep his confidence and score, score, score.

Defense:

#21 Dennis Cholowski: Cholowski looks almost as good as Filip Hronek does right now, and that’s impressive. At 6’1″ and 195 pounds, the 20-year-old defenseman will likely start the season with the Griffins, sending slick outlet passes toward forwards on the fly, hopefully with a continued level of professional urgency and poise.

#2 Joe Hicketts: Hicketts has been excellent, too, and if the Red Wings choose to go with a #6/7 defenseman, they may call Hicketts’ name instead of Hronek’s. Half-a-step faster than last year’s model, Hicketts worked with a skating coach this past summer to improving his stride, and it’s evident as the 5’8,” 180-pound defenseman skitters up and down the ice.

#24 Filip Hronek: Hronek, all kinds of cocky and arrogant in the best senses of the term, may be 6′ and 170 pounds soaking wet, but the 21-year-old defenseman appears the most ready of any of the Wings’ prospects to play at the NHL level because his passes and shots are tremendously efficient and his pace of play is professional. Hronek skates particularly well, he makes daring dashes into the rush that don’t cost his team scoring chances against, and he’s just looked sharp out there.

#79 Brenden Kotyk**: At a massive 6’5″ and 225 pounds, the 27-year-old Kotyk is trying to earn a spot on the Toledo Walleye’s blueline via a strong training camp.

#63 Jared McIsaac: McIsaac is missed as the 18-year-old defenseman has a sprained shoulder and will miss approximately a month of time due to the prospect tournament-incurred injury. I believe that he’ll head back to Halifax after training camp ends.

#86 MacKenzie Stewart**: Another potential ECHL defenseman, the 23-year-old 6’3,” 240-pound defenseman posted 55 points in 56 ECHL games this past season.

#47 Libor Sulak: Sulak, like Cholowski, is almost ready. It simply appears that the 6’2,” 207-pound rangy defenseman is still too unaccustomed to the North American-sized rink at 24 years of age and coming off a sterling season with the Finnish Liiga’s Lahti Pelicans. He skates tremendously well, lugs the puck up ice with authority and possesses pinpoint passing and shooting skills, but he’s just half-a-second hesitant.

#50 Reilly Webb: The big (6’3,” 201-lb) Saginaw Spirit defenseman needs to go back to Major Junior and have a knock-their-socks-off season to earn a contract.

Goaltenders:

#34 Patrik Rybar: Rybar has displayed some consistent “holes” as he adjusts to the North American-width rink against NHL players, but for the most part, the 6’3,” 190-pound Slovak has done a good job of working hard to hone his game with the Wings’ goaltending coaches.

#31 Harri Sateri: Sateri is an intriguing wild card in that the 29-year-old netminder possesses elite skill and won 14 of his 29 AHL appearances and 4 more NHL games after some sterling seasons for Vityaz Podolsk of the KHL. Sateri is a late-blooming butterfly goaltender whose 6,’ 207-pound frame gobbles up pucks.

* = Griffins or Walleye contract, ** = Try-out.

Team Lindsay:

Forwards:

#8 Justin Abdelkader: Justin Abdelkader is at home in Metro Detroit, awaiting the birth of his first daughter. More important than training camp.

#72 Andreas Athanasiou: Andreas Athanasiou issued his statement regarding the “chicken or the egg” this afternoon: AA believes that consistent ice time yields consistent performance, not the other way around. It’s hard to argue that the 6’2,” 188-pound 24-year-old isn’t better when he’s skating more, but the question is whether he simply earns the ice time out of hand, or whether he needs to play more consistently to merit the ice time. He’s got the scoring skills. Can he apply himself? The Wings do believe in him.

#70 Christoffer Ehn: Ehn is turning North American pro after a successful career with the Frolunda Indians, and the 22-year-old forward is fast and surprisingly strong at a supposed 6’2″ and 193 pounds (probably while wearing his equipment). I believe that Ehn will succeed as Dominic Turgeon’s replacement.

#67 Brady Gilmour: Gilmour is defensively sound and a very good center despite his 5’10,” 170-pound frame, but he’s going to have to work very hard to earn a contract going into his final Major Junior season in Saginaw.

#41 Luke Glendening: Glendening has more or less blended in to the training camp crowd, and that’s OK given that Glendening is most useful grinding down opponents. At 5’11” and 192 pounds, the 29-year-old center will be more effective during the exhibition season.

#77 Matthew Ford: Ford, the Grand Rapids Griffins’ captain, is a 20-goal-scorer at the AHL level, and the 34-year-old will continue to give the Griffins great leadership this upcoming season.

#61 Bryan Moore*: The 24-year-old Moore is a Griffins signing who posted 48 points in 57 ECHL games, and he may put up similar numbers in Toledo. Moore is 5’11” and 200 pounds of solid mass.

#58 David Pope: David Pope looks ready to turn pro at 24 years of age. The 6’3,” 198-pound Pope had a very solid prospect tournament but was unable to score goals, and that’s going to be his main goal, for lack of a better term, in Grand Rapids.

#44 Dylan Sadowy: Sadowy still has a season or two to prove the Wings right in trading a 3rd round pick to San Jose for the 6,” 205-pound 22-year-old. He’s got to establish himself as a scoring presence at the pro level.

#48 Givani Smith: Givani Smith, on the other hand, will have to work with the bump-and-grind of the AHL schedule as he attempts to establish himself as a bump-and-grind forward, someone who opponents loathe and teammates love. The 20-year-old forward is 6’2″ and 206 pounds of pain in the ass, and he will be a welcome addition to the Griffins’ lineup.

#37 Evgeny Svechnikov: Svechnikov still has to establish himself at the NHL level a couple of years into his pro career.

#26 Thomas Vanek: Vanek looks a little slower at 34 but very sharp and very poised to produce offense in the form of goals and assists for the Red Wings this upcoming season. He’s happy to have earned a second chance to play in Detroit.

#28 Luke Witkowski: 6’2″ and 210 pounds of literal muscle, the 28-year-old provides enforcing grit and grinder’s grind. There’s nothing special to his game other than the fact that he possesses an element that most of his teammates do not.

#46 Lane Zablocki: Zablocki has not been able to play during the prospect tournament or main camp due to an undisclosed injury, and the 6,’ 190-pound winger will have to have a tremendous season with the WHL’s Victoria Royals to earn a contract.

Defensemen:

#84 Jake Chelios: Jake plays a steady, simple game that’s almost ideally suited to the AHL, and on a crowded Griffins blueline, the 6’2,” 185-pound defenseman will do a fine job of slotting into a 4-5-6 position. At 27, Chelios still has some room to improve.

#73 Marcus Crawford*: The Griffins signed the 5’11,” 198-pound Penn State graduate to patrol the Griffins’ blueline, and it will take some time for Crawford to adjust to the pro game, but adjust he will.

#83 Trevor Daley: Daley’s had some very good scrimmages, and while he’s 35, the 5’11,” 195-pound defenseman is one of the Wings’ speedier players. He’s quite efficient with the puck.

#52 Jonathan Ericsson: The Good, The Bad, and Big E, somewhere in between. He’ll never possess the level of offense necessary to bail out all his mistakes, but the Wings’ resident behemoth at 6’5″ and 220 pounds is a steady two-way defenseman.

#74 Cole Fraser: Fraser has looked quite solid if unspectacular among the prospects battling for a contract, and the 6’2″ 191-pound defenseman needs a huge season with Peterborough of the OHL to land a contract.

#4 Dylan McIlrath: McIlrath…if only he had more speed! A massive 6’5″ and 236 nasty pounds, McIlrath plays with Witkowski’s fists, Ericsson’s poise and AHL skating.

#87 Matt Register*: Register was brought in as the ECHL’s Defenseman of the Year, and the 6’2,” 194-pound, 29-year-old defenseman will play as the Walleye’s #1 guy.

Goaltenders:

#45 Jonathan Bernier: If Bernier has holes, they are elusive. At 30 years of age, the 6,’ 184-pound goaltender plays a tremendously efficient butterfly style of game, sending pucks into lower-danger areas of play; his puckhandling is fair, his rebound control is good, and his glove and blocker are superb, as are his quick toes.

#36 Kaden Fulcher: Fulcher, at the other end of the developmental curve at 20 years of age, is trying to close the holes over his glove and at chest height while reining in his big 6’3,” 187-pound body. Fulcher has impressed as a smart, athletic and sometimes acrobatic netminder, but when he’s in control and playing conservatively, he’s at his best.

#38 Pat Nagle*: Nagle will work as the Walleye’s #1 goaltender, mentoring Fulcher. At 31 years of age, Nagle is a workhorse at the ECHL level, and he’s a smart, sound hybrid goalie.

* = Griffins or Walleye contract, ** = Try-out.

FYI: I’m still about $600 from breaking even on the hotel at training camp, so if you’re willing to lend a hand, https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport is the place to go. Thank you for your time and your readership!