Month: September 2018

The Athletic’s Max Bultman estimates the Red Wings’ lines as training camp begins:

After​ months of waiting,​ training camp​ is almost here​ for​ the​ Detroit Red​ Wings. Following a golf outing​​ in Traverse City on Thursday, players will hit the ice for the first time Friday morning to kick off what could be a competitive training camp for the franchise’s top young players.

There will be intrigue over three recent first-round picks, Filip Zadina, Michael Rasmussen and Dennis Cholowski, all looking to make the roster for the first time. There’ll be a glimpse at the progress of players like Evgeny Svechnikov, coming into an important camp for his trajectory in Detroit. And of course, curiosity over Henrik Zetterberg’s future with the team, which looks bleak given the condition of his back heading into the season.

All of those factors will go into solving the puzzle that is an NHL depth chart. The few baseline assumptions are these: Dylan Larkin is in for a big promotion as a first-line center and the player other teams will focus on. It stands to reason he’ll be flanked by the team’s top goal scorer, Anthony Mantha, creating a solid foundation but one that could still struggle to match up against some of the elite top lines in the Eastern Conference. Andreas Athanasiou should start the season at center; Rasmussen feels like a good bet to make the team at this point, and Zadina is likely to have that opportunity as well with a good preseason.

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

Getting fit for 2018. #DRWTC pic.twitter.com/ZYEn7FsAMU

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 13, 2018

#DRWTC begins with fitness testing. pic.twitter.com/j0fZ05nQ7f

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 13, 2018

#RedWings Blashill said defenseman Jared McIsaac not likely to be available during training camp due to the shoulder injury.

— Dana Wakiji (@Dwakiji) September 13, 2018

Blashill says Zetterberg update tomorrow…says there will be 3 teams split evenly in this camp; kid line of Zadina-Veleno-Rasmussen will stay intact #RedWings

— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) September 13, 2018

Will have full training camp roster breakdown shortly, but Jeff Blashill said he’s keeping Joe Veleno, Michael Rasmussen & Filip Zadina together after the chemistry they had in prospects tournament. Offers opportunity to see how they scrimmage against NHL defenders. #RedWings

— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) September 13, 2018

From the Detroit Red Wings:

Red Wings release 2018 Training Camp teams and daily schedule

Seventy-two players hit the ice from Sept. 14-18 in Traverse City

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today released their training camp roster and schedule, comprised of 72 players who will hit the ice on Friday, Sept. 14 at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich., for five days of camp before returning to Detroit to begin preseason play on Wednesday, Sept. 19.

I apologize for posting a single Wing on The Athletic’s Corey Pronman’s prospect list. Here’s a modified post noting that five Wings make the Top 100 cut:

6. Filip Zadina, RW, Detroit

Skating: 55
Puck Skills: 65
Physical Game: 55
Hockey sense: 55
Shot Grade: 60

Zadina skates well, with a powerful stride that eats up ice efficiently. He has near elite-grade hands, which allow him to be quite elusive. He can create as a playmaker and tends to make good decisions moving the puck, but he’s known as a trigger man with one of the better wrist shots in the draft class. What I love about Zadina is how multi-dimensional he is. He can attack defenses by dangling through guys, he can protect pucks and drive around guys, and he can power his way past defenders or utilize an inch of space to score from long distance. He is a highly competitive player who gets high marks for his character and competes his butt off to win puck battles on the ice.

Continue reading Take two: 5 Wings prospects on The Athletic’s Pronman’s Top 100 list

Red Wings TV headed to Longueuil, Quebec to visit Anthony Mantha in his home town this past August, and a 9-minute video is the result:

Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

1. The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan spoke with Wings GM Ken Holland regarding the top story lines for the team as training camp begins on Friday…

“This is going to be a competitive camp for a variety of reasons,” general manager Ken Holland said. “We want the young kids to push for a spot on the team. I’m holding a spot on the back end and I’m holding a spot or two, maybe three, up front.

“But they have to earn it. I just can’t throw out a Kiddie Corps out there. I’m hoping some of these kids we have to send back, that they’re ready, and they’re going to be up here as the year wears on.”

Holland also sees plenty of competition among returning veterans.

“There’s internal competition,” Holland said. “We’re in rebuild mode and there’s going to be more opportunity. I’m hoping for young people (to claim some jobs) but if they don’t, the veterans who are here will have to.

“Some of these veterans maybe haven’t been doing these jobs (special teams, scoring lines) and maybe they pick up the responsibility because the kids haven’t grabbed it. We’ll see.”

Kulfan continues…

2. And the Oakland Press’s Pat Caputo weighed in regarding what he believes is an inevitability in Steve Yzerman returning to the Red Wings to work as their general manager:

The Lightning were floundering when he took over as GM. He did inherit Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman, first and second overall NHL Draft picks, but made the most of it, finding gems such as free agent Tyler Johnson, and landing one of the league’s great players, Nikita Kucherov, in the second round.

Yzerman has been gutsy, letting a solid goalie, Ben Bishop, depart, while being one of the rare GMs in recent years to lead an organization in identifying a first-round goalie with actual different-making talent in Andrei Vasilevskiy.

My favorite Yzerman move was taking advantage of the Canadiens need for splash moves by trading former third overall pick Jonathan Drouin, who has mostly underachieved, for a potential first-pairing defenseman, who contributed immediately at age 19, Mikhail Sergachev.

Honestly, I didn’t think Yzerman would come back. The Red Wings are in a difficult situation when you compare expectations to reality, while the Lightning are set up to contend for The Cup for a decade. But Yzerman, interestingly, really took over the celebration after the final game at Joe Louis Arena in 2017. It was as if he was “The Captain” again. He spoke so eloquently and from the heart, I told people at the time it looked like he wanted to come back.

Maybe he will. Certainly it’s more of a possibility than it had been.

My best and educated guess is he will.

Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

1. MLive’s Ansar Khan wrote a list of 10 things to watch during the Red Wings’ training camp, which begins on Friday at Centre ICE Arena:

Rasmussen, Zadina try to make jump from juniors

Khan continues…

2. DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji posted a “by the numbers” examination of Dennis Cholowski’s 2017-18 season and the early 2018-19 campaign as well:

Continue reading Three things: a list of training camp stories to watch; on Cholowski and some prized seats

The Red Wings have announced that they’re unveiling a marketing slogan called “The New Fabric of Hockeytown” today:

Welcome to The New Fabric of Hockeytown

New perks and benefits announced for 2018-19 season, including Little Caesars Arena open houses, reduced ticket pricing packages, food and beverage discounts, road game promotions, special pre-game entertainment and much more

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today introduced several new initiatives for the 2018-19 season that celebrate the incredible fans and unmatched passion of Hockeytown. The organization also unveiled a refreshed Hockeytown logo in a design inspired by the iconic Red Wings’ jersey that has united fans for generations.

The Athletic’s Max Bultman weighs in with an article discussing the Red Wings prospects’ struggles against the Columbus Blue Jackets last night:

Detroit made the championship by going 2-1 in pool play, with many of their top young players contributing heavily. Dennis Cholowski looked strong logging a ton of minutes and playing both power play and penalty kill. Michael Rasmussen was his usual self, battling and producing at the net front. Joe Veleno notched a two-goal game Monday. And [Filip] Zadina continued to show flashes of what makes him such a coveted prospect, scoring in the team’s first game and collecting assists and scoring chances in the rest.

Those are Detroit’s first-round picks for the last three years (they had two this year), so that’s exactly who you want to see leading the way.

More interesting than all of that, though, was how hard Zadina took Tuesday’s loss, especially when it came to his personal performance. In the immediate aftermath of the game, after he’d been asked about his visit to the locker room, he had this to say:

“I probably should (have stayed) in the room because I didn’t help the team. It was a horrible game.”

And then later: “I probably could play better and help the team to win the championship. I haven’t scored three games in a row. It’s probably a little bit my fault.”

Continued (paywall)…

During last night’s prospect tournament championship game, Red Wings announcer Ken Kal interviewed Wings director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright…