Month: July 2019

Of Red Wings-related note this evening:

1. In the land of lists, The Score’s Sean O’Leary penned a list of the best and worst moves of each and every one of the NHL’s 31 general managers, and Ken Holland’s moves come from his time with the Red Wings:

Ken Holland, Detroit Red Wings (1997-2019)

*Current GM: Steve Yzerman

Best move: Drafting Pavel Datsyuk – Holland’s Red Wings career spanned parts of three decades, so there’s plenty to choose from here, but Datsyuk takes the cake. Plucked in the sixth round of the 1998 NHL Draft, the Magic Man played 14 seasons for Detroit, winning two Cups, three Selke trophies, and four Lady Byngs while adding 918 points during a Hall of Fame career.

Worst move: Signing Stephen Weiss – The arrival of the salary cap made it more difficult for Holland to swing for the fences as he did when he was building Cup contenders in the ’90s, but he still didn’t shy away from doling out big-time money in free agency. He proved as much with a five-year, $24.5-million contract for Weiss in 2013. The forward played 78 games for Detroit, and his buyout is on the Wings’ books until 2021.

You’ll have to read on for Yzerman’s best and worst moves…

2. Speaking of heavy contracts, Yahoo Sports’ Ryan Lambert gave a graduating Red Wing a dig a dig in his latest “31 Takes”:

Continue reading Evening news: On managerial moves, dekeing DeKeyser, ‘weighing’ the Winged Wheel and Evan McGrath

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed an “emptying out the notebook” article reflecting upon Red Wings prospect Ryan Kuffner’s rookie campaign and experiences at the Wings’ summer development camp:

Kuffner is doing everything he can to help himself do that. He’s spending this summer living with 2015 sixth-round draft pick defenseman Patrick Holway, while skating several times a week with the likes of Dylan Larkin, Darren Helm and Luke Glendening.

“Being here, it’s away from home (Ottawa) and it’s a great opportunity of just 24 hours a day, doing everything it takes (to become an NHL player),” Kuffner said. “A big thing for me this summer is just being here, with the guys, doing everything we can to make it a competitive environment, because that will make us better.”

Improving and strengthening his core and lower body is something else Kuffner is concentrating on, after losing too many personal battles in that NHL audition.

“In the corners, the tight spaces, if you can be on the opposite side of the pushing around, that’s massive,” Kuffner said. “Then it just opens up an extra second to make a play, and that’s more than enough time to be able to make a difference.

“It’s strength, especially on the bottom, but working the whole body and just getting as strong as I can.”

Continued

DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner spoke with Red Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff for the latest edition of “The Red and White Authority” podcast, reviewing the Wings’ summer development camp and discussing prospects, prospects and more prospects:

Shawn Horcoff, the #RedWings director of player development is our guest The Red and White Authority podcast to discuss development camp and several of Detroit’s promising prospects.

Listen/download: https://t.co/LKIs1FwPyh pic.twitter.com/BMJ1DidLVa— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 22, 2019

The Hockey News’s Ken Campbell penned a list of the 10 most untradeable contracts in the NHL, and it’s hard to disagree with his suggestion that Justin Abdelkader’s contract will be eaten by the Red Wings, one way or another:

Justin Abdelkader, Detroit: The Red Wings are on the hook for four more years with a $4.25-million cap hit. That’s an awful lot of money to pay a guy who gives you little more than quality leadership and serves as a mentor for the young players in the organization. Abdelkader posted a career-low with six goals and tied his worst season with just 19 points in 2018-19. Abdelkader was once an effective two-way winger, but at 32, those days are behind him.

Campbell continues, and it’s a little staggering that Abdelkader ranks 9th on a top-10 list that doesn’t include Darren Helm or Frans Nielsen.

From USA Hockey:

NHL Network to Televise 2019 WJSS

Event Begins Friday, July 26, at USA Hockey Arena and includes USA, Canada, Finland and Sweden

USA Hockey announced today that NHL Network will televise live the final three days of games at the 2019 World Junior Summer Showcase.

The week-long event will include 11 international competitions featuring the best Under-20 players from four nations – the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden – auditioning for a spot to represent their country in the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship. Collectively, the four teams have skated in at least one of the last three IIHF World Junior Championship gold-medal games. In 2017, the U.S. defeated Canada in a thrilling 5-4 shootout victory before Canada topped Sweden, 3-1, a year later. This past January, Finland edged the U.S., 3-2, to win gold.

The six-game NHL Network coverage begins on Wed., July 31, with Canada facing Finland at 1 p.m. ET followed by USA vs. Sweden at 4 p.m. ET. NHL Network’s coverage will continue on Fri., Aug. 2, with Sweden vs. Canada at 1 p.m. ET before Finland and USA meet at 4 p.m. ET in a rematch of the gold-medal game of the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship. Event competition will conclude on Sat., Aug. 3, with back-to-back rivalry games as Sweden faces Finland at 1 p.m. ET and the USA takes on Canada at 4 p.m. ET.

In addition, HockeyTV will provide live streaming coverage of the first four days of the event, including five games and the U.S. Blue vs. White scrimmage on Fri., July 26, at 5:30 p.m. ET. HockeyTV will also live stream the U.S. Blue vs. White scrimmage on Fri., July 26, at 5:30 p.m. ET.

All total, 11 games as well as the U.S. split-squad scrimmage will be contested over a nine-day span. Tickets to the games are available at the USA Hockey Arena Box Office (14900 Beck Road, Plymouth, Michigan) or by calling (734) 453-8400 or at USAHockeyArena.com.

It’s good to see the NHL promoting one Dylan Larkin this morning:

The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler penned a lengthy list today, ranking his Top 50 NHL Drafted Prospects, and the Wings make a couple of appearances on Wheeler’s list:

12. Filip Zadina, LW/RW, 19 (Detroit Red Wings — 6th overall, 2o18)

Zadina’s season probably didn’t go as he or the Red Wings had hoped and though he’s probably not going to be a line-carrying puck presence, the Red Wings have playmaking centers like Dylan Larkin and Joe Veleno who may be able to get the best out of him, though they missed an opportunity to take another when they passed on several high-end centers in favor of Moritz Seider. Zadina is young, can really break players down with his puck skill and can flat out score. That should be enough to make him a 30-30-60 guy (maybe more) and a dynamic threat on the power play. It may just not happen overnight.

…

33. Joe Veleno, C, 19 (Detroit Red Wings — 30th overall, 2018)

I believed Veleno should have been a top-15 pick on draft day and I still believe that a year later after his first full season on a strong QMJHL team led to the best point per game clip (1.76) in the league (narrowly ahead of Alexis Lafreniere’s 1.72 rate). Veleno has been miscast as someone who’s going to be a very good third-line center due to the fact that his two-way game is more well-rounded than his high-end peers. That was true when he was shoved into a fourth-line role on last year’s version of Team Canada at the world juniors on a team that ultimately lost in the quarters. And it’s true in the way a lot of evaluators talk about him. I see something more. Because Veleno is also an excellent skater whose scoring touch has begun to catch up to his elite speed and cerebral playmaking talent. There’s impact 2C upside in his game.

Continued (paywall), and I believe that Veleno could be equally successful in a 2nd line offensive or 3rd line shut-down role, depending on where the Wings slot him.

Here’s an FYI from Steven Olesky: the annual Eastside Elite Hockey League All-Star Challenge is taking place tomorrow, Tuesday July 22nd at the Mt. Clemens Ice Arena. The game is scheduled to start at 7 PM EDT, and the game will benefit the Cassie Hines Shoes Cancer Foundation. Tickets can be purchased at the Mt. Clemens Ice Arena box office:

This Tuesday at Mt. Clemens Ice Arena!! Be there!!!! pic.twitter.com/kKXqxTaqXt— Steven Oleksy (@StevenOleksy) July 22, 2019

The Free Press’s Helene St. James examines the Red Wings’ best and worst free agent signings since 1998 this morning. This story parallels St. James’ article regarding the 11 best and 11 worst draft picks since 2008.

I prefer to accentuate the positive, so let’s examine St. James’ “bests“:

1. D Brian Rafalski

Signed: 2007 (5 years, $30 million)

A master at tape-to-tape passes, Rafalski produced 204 points in 292 regular-season games and 40 points in 63 playoff games before retiring early because of injuries.

2. F Brett Hull

Signed: 2001 (2 years, $9 million)

He scored 30 goals his first season and led the star-studded 2002 playoff team with 10 goals while forming the “two kids and a goat” line with Pavel Datsyuk and Boyd Devereaux. Hull ended up staying three seasons, leading the team with 207 points in 245 regular-season games and fourth with 24 points in 39 playoff games. 

3. G Chris Osgood

Signed: 2005 (1 year, $800,000)

Lost on waivers in 2001 after the trade for Dominik Hasek, the Wings brought back Osgood and he ended up staying five seasons. He took over for a struggling Hasek in the 2008 playoffs and backstopped the Wings to the Stanley Cup, and did what he could to help defend it, going 15-8 with a .926 save percentage in the 2009 playoffs. 

She continues at length, and I suppose you could consider this a solid critique of Ken Holland’s regime as Holland mostly made moves via the free agent marketplace.

NHL.com’s Dave Hogg penned a profile of Red Wings prospect and 2019 2nd round draft pick Antti Tuomisto, a “big and heavy” Finnish defenseman who may provide superb depth for the Wings in a couple of seasons:

“He’s a big guy who can certainly fill out and he’s a very good skater who plays with a natural bite,” Red Wings director of European scouting Hakan Andersson said. “He’s physical and he has a real good shot.”

After attending rookie and training camps in the fall, Tuomisto will head back to Finland for what he expects to be one more season with Assat. In 2020-21, though, he plans to be playing college hockey in the United States.

“It’s good hockey,” he said. “It is North American hockey and there’s an education on the side, which is a bonus for me. It is a good route, and that’s the right fit for me.”

A year in college will also give Tuomisto time to acclimate to the smaller rinks in North America, something he hadn’t seen until development camp.

“I just need to learn,” he said. “I have to keep educating myself.”

Continued