Month: June 2019

At 1 PM EDT, the 2019 NHL Draft’s second through seventh rounds will be held (simulcast on the NHL Network and NHL.com).

The Red Wings have 9 more picks over the course of the draft’s six remaining rounds–the 35th, 54th, 60th, 66th, 97th, 128th, 143rd, 159th and 190th overall picks–and there will be several solid first-round talents available to the Wings for their second-round picks.

Among this morning’s Moritz Seider-related articles and videos:

1. MLive’s Ansar Khan took note of Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s comments regarding Seider…

“We think he has excellent hockey sense,” Yzerman told media at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. “He’s a big kid, a real good skater. In our opinion, he was one of the top defensemen in the draft. We were picking 6 and 35, we had to make a decision; he wasn’t going to be there at 35. We explored options to possibly trade back, we weren’t able to do that.

“We’re pretty excited to get him. I know our fans don’t know much about him, but I think when people come to development camp (next week at Little Caesars Arena) and see him move — Google him, watch him play a little bit — I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Seider, 18, appeared in 29 games for Mannheim in Germany’s top men’s league (two goals, four assists). Yzerman first started following him in December and spent extensive time with him at last month’s Draft Combine in Buffalo, calling him bright, full of energy and an excellent athlete with a lot of potential.

“He’s a really good player and a really good kid,” Yzerman said. “We think we got an excellent prospect, somebody that’ll really fit into what we’re doing and that our fan base will really enjoy watching.”

2. As did the Free Press’s Helene St. James…

“I think he’s a good, solid two-way guy. He can play the power play, he can walk the line with his head up and get his shot through. I think he’ll play with your top players and play against your top players because he can move the puck. He’s not going to be Erik Karlsson weaving through traffic, but he can skate it and he can pass it. I think he’s going to be a player that can play in all situations.”

Seider played last season for Adler Mannheim of the Deutsch Eishockey Liga, Germany’s highest league, as a 17-year-old. He was named rookie of the year. He had six points in 29 games, plus five assists in 14 playoff games as Mannheim won the DEL championship, contributing five assists. Moritz, who shoots right, is listed as 6-foot-4, 207 pounds.

He first caught Yzerman’s attention in December.

“When I first saw him, I was surprised,” Yzerman said. “You go see a young kid in Germany, I didn’t expect to see the hockey IQ that I saw. He handled it well in a men’s league against a good team. Played in the World Championship on a men’s team, against the Czechs, Slovaks, NHL players. Didn’t look out of place.”

3. Via Abel to Yzerman, the crew from the NHL Tonight weighed in on the Wings’ drafting of Seider…

4. And here are the Red Wings’ first-round draft-day videos:

Updated 6x at 3:45 AM: Of Moritz Seider-related note early in the morning in Detroit and late on Friday night in Vancouver:

1. The Red Wings posted a 9-minute clip of Seider’s scrum with the Red Wings’ media corps:

2. NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale spoke with several members of the Red Wings’ organization regarding the team’s decision to pick Seider 6th overall:

“He looks like a guy who can be a top-four [defenseman] and help you win hockey games,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “Does he become a top-pair D? We’ll see. That all comes in time. To me, you need big, efficient smart defensemen and he’s that.”

Blashill coached the United States at the 2019 IIHF World Championship, where Seider played for Germany and scored two goals in five games. The tournament provided Blashill to watch Seider up close.

“What I liked is when he was under pressure he was able to make passes through people,” Blashill said. “That is what the best defensemen do. They almost don’t see the first forechecker; all they see is the options, and I thought he did a good job of that.”

The Red Wings also liked that the 18-year-old played in the top professional league in Germany, where he faced older, more seasoned competition. He had six points (two goals, four assists) in 29 games for Manheim.

“I think it was the perfect opportunity for myself in getting better as a player, but also, I think it’s very important to get better as a person,” Seider said of his first season with Manheim. “Hanging around all these experienced guys, that was a huge step for myself as a person.”

Morreale continues…

3. Also from NHL.com, Yzerman spoke with the NBCSN’s Kathryn Tappen regarding the Wings’ pick:

Continue reading Late night Seider stuff

The Detroit Red Wings’ general manager took a hit to his seemingly bulletproof facade by selecting Moritz Seider with the 6th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. Fans were a little jittery, to say the least, after the Red Wings’ amateur scouts made their pick.

Yzerman himself suggested that the Red Wings have faith in their decision-making, however, as noted by the Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy:

In his first draft as GM of the Detroit Red Wings, Steve Yzerman made a splash. The Red Wings shocked the hockey world by taking German defenseman Moritz Seider sixth overall, making him the second defenseman taken after Colorado’s Bowen Byram at No. 4.

On most lists, Seider was slated to go in the 15-20 range. He played for Adler Mannheim in the DEL, but viewings weren’t always easy for NHL teams due to some minor injuries he had along the way. Yzerman noted that the Red Wings did try to trade back to get another asset while still picking Seider, but they couldn’t find a dance partner and since their next pick didn’t come until No. 35 in the second round, they had to make a decision.

“We think he has excellent hockey sense,” Yzerman said. “Obviously he’s a big kid at 6-foot-3 and a real good skater. In our opinion he was one of the top defensemen in the draft. I know our fans don’t know much about him, but people will come to development camp and see him move, watch him play a bit and they’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Kennedy states the obvious, which is good:

This was a big pick for Detroit. The Red Wings are in the midst of a rebuild while playing in a very top-heavy Atlantic Division. They’ve got a lot of catching up to do with the likes of Tampa Bay, Boston and Toronto and some nice young pieces in Filip Zadina, Michael Rasmussen and Filip Hronek, to name a new. Seider can be a difference-maker on the blueline and a character guy, at that.

“He’s very personable; a very bright young man,” Yzerman said. “He has a lot of energy and he’s an excellent athlete. There’s a lot of potential in his play and his athleticism.”

It’s fun when an organization gets their guy at the draft, even if the pick seems high at the time. Yzerman’s tenure in Detroit is starting off with a bang – now we wait to see if it pays off down the road.

Kennedy continues…

I have a rule that saves me a lot of stress each and every year: don’t fall in love with undrafted prospects, because there’s a 1-in-31 chance that any particular player is going to be drafted by your team.

There are prospects that I grow to admire and hope that the Red Wings draft, but I try to not get so emotionally involved with any player who doesn’t have an NHL home.

The Detroit Red Wings’ decision to draft German-born defenseman Moritz Seider with their 6th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft caused more than a little consternation with the Red Wings’ still-sensitive fan base. I, too, am a little puzzled as to why the Wings picked a top-25 player so early, but I believe that the Wings’ scouts had to see something that the rest of us did not in order to make the pick that they did.

GM Steve Yzerman spoke with the Associated Press to discuss the Wings’ drafting of Moritz:

“He has excellent hockey sense. Obviously a big kid at 6-foot-3. Real good skater. In our opinion he’s one of the top defensemen in the draft,” Yzerman said. “Our next pick was 35. We had to make a decision. He wasn’t going to be there at 35.”

Yzerman has a huge job ahead in trying to re-establish the Red Wings as one of the premier clubs in the NHL. After 25 straight playoff appearances, the Red Wings have failed to reach the postseason in the past three years. Yzerman won the Stanley Cup three times as Red Wings captain and is back in Hockeytown after eight years as Tampa Bay Lightning GM and another as an adviser.

And clearly Seider was his first target.

“I wasn’t really going by position. I think anyone we would have picked we would have felt we were filling a need,” Yzerman said.

Cross your fingers, folks. The draft is not an exact science, and post-draft analysis would suggest that the Wings may have pulled off a relative coup here…But we won’t know for at least a couple of years whether Seider was a steal or a swing-and-a-miss.

Updated 9x at 1:10 AM Saturday: The Detroit Red Wings selected Moritz Seider with the 6th overall pick in the NHL Draft on Friday, and here’s a bunch of information about him, starting with NHL.com’s prospect profile:

Seider was named Rookie of the Year in the DEL – Germany’s top men’s hockey league – in 2018-19 after the defenseman posted 2-4—6 in 29 games during the regular season and five assists in 14 postseason contests to help Mannheim capture the league championship.

• A member of back-to-back championship teams with Mannheim’s junior club in 2017 and 2018.

• Internationally, Seider skated for Team Germany at the 2019 World Championship where he scored twice in five games and captained his country to a gold medal at the 2019 World Junior Championship – Division 1, Group A where he was named Best Defenseman after leading all blueliners in points with 1-6—7 in five games.

• Models his style of play after Predators defenseman Roman Josi.

Seider is 6’3,” 208 pounds, and hails from Zell, Germany. He did play for Mannheim’s men’s team.

Continue reading Scouting Moritz Seider

The Detroit Red Wings have drafted DEL defenseman with the 6th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.

With the 6th pick in the 2019 #NHLDraft, the #RedWings select D Moritz Seider.#DRWDraft | #LGRW— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 22, 2019

With the 6th pick in the 2019 #NHLDraft, the Detroit Red Wings select D Moritz Seider! pic.twitter.com/dUU82Dyqe1— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 22, 2019

The Red Wings picked German defenseman Moritz Seider with the sixth overall pick.

Seider was openly surprised. pic.twitter.com/LHNT0nnBOS— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) June 22, 2019

Big, great skater and can absolutely crush the competition. I think of all first rounders, he has the most potential to improve as he gets more ice time in the DEL. Played some of his best offensive hockey at the #IIHFWorlds. #NHLDraft— Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisTHN) June 22, 2019

The @DetroitRedWings select Moritz Seider with the No. 6 pick in the #NHLDraft.

NHL Draft Tracker: https://t.co/gJrtpV1CPj

(Presented by Esso Canada) pic.twitter.com/mzYC4YTfkZ— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 22, 2019

German D Moritz Seider is selected by the Red Wings at No. 6https://t.co/XsAOg3GjhN pic.twitter.com/t7Hm8itXp1— SI NHL (@SI_NHL) June 22, 2019

Detroit claims D Moritz Sieder (Adler Mannheim, DEL) at #6 overall.

From McKeen’s: “He is calm on the puck and when he lets a pass go, it is crisp, quick and easy to receive. His poise with the puck speaks to his overall maturity.”— Tom Dorsa (@TomDorsa) June 22, 2019

6. Seider, Det: First German born-and-trained defenceman drafted in first round is major surprise this high. He entered the draft ranked No. 15 on Bob McKenzie’s final TSN ranking. Big move by new GM Steve Yzerman.— TSNquizmaster (@TSNquizmaster) June 22, 2019

There’s the REAL mock draft buster! In his first draft as #redwings GM, Yzerman takes D-man Moritz Seider from Mannheim of German League.— Mike Zeisberger (@Zeisberger) June 22, 2019

1/6 DET Moritz Seider D

We had Seider 10th on our list, absolutely love this kid. He was our 2nd best D available in the draft. Two-way D with great size and skating ability. He stole the show at the combine, Detroit media will love this guy.— Jérôme Bérubé (@Jerome_Berube) June 22, 2019

At No. 6 overall, Steve Yzerman and the #RedWings went a bit off the board to select German defenseman Moritz Seider at No. 6 overall.

? | https://t.co/Ckv10uUd4k pic.twitter.com/vhLmlyPWN6— MiHockey (@MiHockeyNow) June 22, 2019

6th overall: @DetroitRedWings
Moritz Seider | Mannheim (Germany)
More #NHLStats: https://t.co/VrO9OhMNBt #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/sgsyoR8ikH— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 22, 2019

Getting drafted is kind of a big deal.

Right, Moritz? ? #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/bXIyMRdMeH— NHL (@NHL) June 22, 2019

Yzerman post-pick: “That was not a curveball for us.”— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 22, 2019

Why the defenseman? Yzerman explains. pic.twitter.com/pvkpxF8sQA— Jeff Riger (@riger1984) June 22, 2019

Here’s the Red Wings’ press release regarding Seider:

Continue reading Red Wings draft Moritz Seider 6th overall

NHL.com’s Dan Rosen spoke to several coaches after the NHL Coaches’ Association met in Vancouver today, and Rosen discussed the expanded criteria by which a coach’s challenge may be levied during the 2019-2020 season.

According to Rosen, the fact that a minor penalty can be assessed for any incorrect challenge minimizes the likelihood of a, “Hell, let’s challenge it and see what happens” call from the bench–the kind of call that Wings coach Jeff Blashill has often made in the past:

The added punitive measure of making a failed challenge result in a two-minute minor for delay of game and all subsequent failed challenges in the same game result in a double-minor has coaches thinking about how often they’re going to use a challenge.

There previously had been a minor penalty associated with a failed offside challenge, but going forward it will be equal across the board in all three challenge categories.

“The consequence has gone up if you’re challenging and you’re not right,” New Jersey Devils coach John Hynes said. “Although the rule is it has to be clear-cut, sometimes the definition of clear-cut are also different. But it’s something that you have to find a way to be good at it and make the right decisions any time you have to challenge something with a consequence.”

It will be an increasingly difficult decision considering that power-play percentages have risen recently. The NHL average has been above 19 percent in each of the past three seasons after 22 straight seasons of it being 18 percent or lower.

“There’s no question that will create less challenges,” Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “The definition of 100 percent right is probably different between every coach, but our job as coaches now is to learn what the standard of 100 percent right is. I just think you’re going to end up with less challenges.”

Rosen continues…

TMR readers,

After seven months’ worth of time spent addressing my mother’s health issues, including two hospitalizations, a psychotic episode, and somewhere around 60 days spent in rehabilitation facilities, things have finally settled down in the Malik household.

My mom’s healthier than she’s been in a very long time, we’re awaiting the results of a her long-delayed breast biopsy (things will get interesting again if mom has cancer, but the family will take it one day at a time), and the aunt’s health is stable enough that I am now able to devote some of my time to blogging.

It’s been a difficult seven months in terms of the mental, physical and emotional strain, but the three of us gave ourselves about a month to recover from the worst of it, and as anxious and nervous as I am about returning to blogging, it’s time.

I missed blogging terribly while I was gone, and I exhausted my savings making sure that I was taking care of others first, so I both want and need to get back to work.

I don’t know how realistic the reader-contribution-without-commercials funding model is for this blog, but I’ve got about five-and-a-half months until the State of Michigan’s medicaid work requirement goes into effect, and if I can make $750 a month by the end of the year (the equivalent of 20 hours of minimum wage work per week), I can keep blogging on a full-time basis.

Such an endeavor would mean adding value to the Patreon part of the equation (Columns? Podcasts?), holding fundraisers (For travel, training camp, and to replace my outdated computer) and other ideas that have yet to germinate (Merchandise? Hiring a prospect expert?), but all of that is for the near future to decide.

Tonight, the Red Wings draft 6th overall, and on Saturday, the Wings have 9 more picks, and I hope to provide information on each and every one of the 10 new members of the Red Wings’ prospect family. Next week, I am crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to attend the Wings’ summer development camp at Little Caesars Arena, and we’ll take it from there.

I’m back. It’s time to get to work.