Month: August 2019

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses the Red Wings’ forward corps today, wrapping up a 3-part series on the Wings’ goaltending, defense and forward depth.

Kulfan calls Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi and Anthony Mantha the Wings’ “core four” up front:

They are the hope, the beacon of light as the Red Wings dwell in this current rebuild.

Young forwards Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha are the foundation the Wings are building around.

All four had career-best offensive seasons, and gradually began taking over leadership of the team. If the Wings are headed anywhere this season, or in the near future, this is the core that will likely take them there.

“Can they carry a hockey team to wins? That’s a big question they’ll answer on a nightly basis next year,” coach Jeff Blashill said late last season. “It’s a heck of a responsibility. I don’t think there’s very many young players in the league that are able to carry their team. We’re going to ask that group of four up front to be a huge piece to carrying this team.”

Continued

From the Detroit Red Wings:

Red Wings acquire forward Adam Erne from Tampa Bay

Former Second-Round pick posted career-bests in Goals (7), Assists (13), Points (20) and Games Played (65) During the 2018-19 Season

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today acquired forward Adam Erne from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Detroit’s fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Erne, 24, posted career numbers during the 2018-19 season with the Lightning, recording personal bests in games played (65), goals (7) and assists (13) en route to reaching the 20-point plateau. He also finished third on the Lightning last season with 159 hits.

Drafted in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Lightning, Erne has totaled 27 points (13-14-27) in 114 games over the last three seasons with Tampa Bay, in addition to suiting up in three playoff games for the Lightning last season. The 6-foot-1, 214-pound forward has spent parts of four seasons (2013-18) with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League, skating in 150 games and recording 41 goals and 47 assists. Erne also posted 10 points (3-7-10) for the Crunch during their postseason run in 2016-17 before being defeated by the Grand Rapids Griffins in the Calder Cup Finals.  

Prior to turning pro, Erne suited up for the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for four seasons, totaling 118 goals, 157 assists and 275 points in 240 games. During his final campaign in Quebec (2014-15), Erne posted a career-best 86 points (41-45-86) in 60 games and led the Remparts to a President Cup victory, tallying 21 goals and nine assists during the team’s playoff run and claiming the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the postseason most valuable player. Before joining the Remparts, Erne skated with the Indiana Ice of the USHL for one season (2010-11), recording 18 points (10-8-18) in 45 games. A native of New Haven, Conn., Erne represented Team USA at the 2012 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia and the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship in Malmo, Sweden. 

From The Athletic’s Max Bultman, via Kukla’s Korner:

Frans Nielsen, Dylan Larkin and Evgeny Svechnikiv going through a PEP drill back-to-back-to-back at a camp at USA Hockey Arena this morning: pic.twitter.com/ngvFSjBrHs

— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) August 14, 2019

The Detroit Free Press reports that Wings fans will receive a unique opportunity to attend a screening of “The Russian Five”:

“The Russian Five” is headed to Campus Martius.

The hit documentary about the charismatic Russian hockey stars who helped propel the Red Wings to back-to-back Stanley Cups will get a free outdoor screening at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, at the park in downtown Detroit.

After receiving its world premiere at Freep Film Festival’s opening night in 2018, the film has gone on to an award-winning festival run and national distribution, both theatrically and on streaming platforms. 

Continued

The Athletic’s Max Bultman proposes a scenario in which the Red Wings lose traction in the standings this upcoming season in order to earn a higher draft position:

Thanks to the number of young, still-developing players on their roster, the 2019-20 Red Wings have a chance to be an improved hockey team from the one they were last year. They also have a chance to stagnate, or even fall lower, in the NHL standings. And it’s perfectly plausible that those two outcomes could exist concurrently, strange as it may sound.

It’s a concept that came up in the comments of a recent story, which posed one question about each skater on the Red Wings’ roster. With a handful of young players entering, or currently in, their prime years, improvement from those players is a fair expectation. Decline from some aging players could always negate that progress, but if not, that might be enough for at least a marginal step forward in the standings. And that’s probably what you’re looking to see from the Red Wings a couple years into their rebuild. (Although our Dom Luszczyszyn does have them losing half a win based on their offseason moves, which also is a relevant consideration).

Continued (paywall)

The Athletic’s Scott Burnside penned an article discussing what coaches do during the NHL off-season, and Burnside notes that Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill has kept himself busy every spring that the Wings have missed the playoffs:

Blashill is coming off a third straight gig as head coach of Team USA at the [World Championship], and he has used that experience to try and add to his own bank of knowledge about how different coaches coach and players play. He’s also never been afraid to look outside his own comfort zone to talk to people who might help him in that pursuit.

“I also think it’s a discovery process in you can do some research projects on other teams. Teams that play similar to you. What do they do a little different? Where maybe we can steal some ideas,” Blashill said. “The other thing that I try to spend those months doing is talking to other coaches. Other coaches in the NHL, other coaches in different levels. I’ve done a thing with a small coaching development group where we have a good sharing of ideas. I’ve brought coaches into Detroit and had one- or two-day sessions with them, what they’re good at. If I see something in college, maybe someone’s got a great power play, I want to bring them in and learn from them. I try to go and spend time with professional coaches in other sports when I can, specifically I’ve done that a little bit with the Lions. And it’s that discovery process.”

Continued (paywall)

MLive’s Ansar Khan examines Darren Helm’s 2019-2020 season outlook this morning:

2019-20 outlook: Helm still possesses the elite speed that that broke into the NHL with in 2007, which he uses to get in on the forecheck and create turnovers. He continues to be one of the team’s top penalty-killing forwards. His quickness creates scoring chances, but he doesn’t have the hands to finish most of them.

Injuries over the years have contributed to his decline in physicality. He’s not as hard to play against as he was earlier in his career.

Where does Helm fit in the lineup? He’ll likely start at wing on the fourth line but could move into the top six as an injury replacement because of his ability to win puck battles with his speed and willingness to go to the net.

Continued

DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner profiles Wings prospects Cooper Moore and Kirill Tyutyayev this morning, discussing both players’ 2018-19 seasons. As Regner notes, Moore is headed to the BCHL to continue to develop before heading to the University of North Dakota:

“Another mobile guy, obviously very raw. Good skill set but he’s going to play hockey in the BCHL before heading off to college. He’s got a lot of development in front of him. He’s actually playing for an old teammate of mine at Michigan State (Brian Maloney) at Chilliwack so I’ve got good ties there, we’re going to stay on top of him. But good tools, good tool set there.” Shawn Horcoff, Red Wings director of player development.

Continued

Via the Muskegon Lumberjacks…

Join us at this special game for a great cause! Featuring Werenski, DeKeyser, Draper, Mickey Redmond, and Play-by-Play Announcer for the Detroit Red Wings, Ken Daniels, + more!

Admission is FREE! Register here ? https://t.co/qNCxD8MVlp #handsfreemichigan #playwithpurpose pic.twitter.com/4ejuZ27ILA— Muskegon Lumberjacks (@MuskegonJacks) August 13, 2019

USA Hockey Arena on Facebook, and The Game 730 AM:

Many current and former NHL players will take part in a charity hockey game to support distracted driving awareness initiatives.

The 3rd Annual “Play With Purpose” game will take place on Friday, August 16th at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth.

The game, presented by Hockey has Heart, will feature current NHL players like Danny DeKeyser from the Red Wings, Zach Werenski from Columbus and Austin Czarnik from Calgary.

Former NHL players expected to take part include Kris Draper, Joe Kocur, Darren McCarty, Mickey Redmond, David Legwand and Tie Domi. There will also players from the NCAA and USHL on hand for the game.

Bob Duff pens this month’s prospect report on DetroitRedWings.com, and Duff notes that the Red Wings’ prospects will have a major presence at Boston University this upcoming season:

No fewer than three Red Wings prospects will be suiting up for the NCAA’s Boston University Terriers this season.

Defenseman Kasper Kotkansalo, selected 71st overall in the 2017 NHL entry draft, will be entering his junior year with the Terriers.

Meanwhile, two of Detroit’s 2019 entry draft selections — left-winger Robert Mastrosimone (54th overall) and center Ethan Phillips (97th overall) — will be enrolling as freshmen at BU.

“It does make it easier because when you go in, you can see three guys,” [Red Wings director of player development Shawn] Horcoff said. There’s another Red Wings connection at Boston with Terriers assistant coach Len Quesnelle, at one time a Detroit amateur scout.

“When you talk with the coaching staff, Kasper’s been there for a while now and obviously Len worked in the organization before going there,” Horcoff said. “So we’ve got a good relationship with BU and yeah, it makes it easier. I get more viewing on the guys.”

Continued