Month: August 2019

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji spoke with St. Louis Blues color commentator Darren Pang regarding the fact that his close friend, one Steve Yzerman, has ascended to the GM’s chair in Detroit:

“Obviously I’m thrilled for Steve to be back here,” Pang said. “Steve’s just a special guy. He does things the right way, he’s an honorable friend, he’s loyal. I went up there to his offices to see him and spent a half a day. I saw him in the Red Wings golf shirt and I just looked at him and I said, ‘Boy, does that look good.’ And it does look good. He’s a special guy and I’m lucky to have him as a friend for a long time.”

Pang said he was not surprised to see Yzerman, the Hall of Fame player, decide to stay in hockey in a front office role after his retirement.

“Once he started running Team Canada, started being under Kenny Holland, yes, I saw it,” Pang said. “There was a determination typical of Steve that just never went away. He’s a worker, he’s a grinder, every day he’s thinking about another way of making the team better and what player and Hot Stoving and talking about this player, that player, this coach, that coach, this assistant manager. He thinks about it, besides that and me and him golfing, those are the things we talk about all the time.”

Continued

The Athletic’s Max Bultman hazards an educated guess as to why the Red Wings made significant changes to their amateur scouting staff, and Bultman discusses the team’s priorities under Kris Draper’s regime:

Two months later, as the final days before the start of prospect camp drift away, there is some clarity on the image in which Yzerman is building his front office. The team has updated its hockey operations roster to reflect what ended up being a healthy amount of turnover. Some came from within, namely Kris Draper, previously a special assistant to the general manager, being promoted to the director of amateur scouting. And some came from outside, including the hirings of Ryan Rezmierski and Jesse Wallin, from Nashville and St. Louis, respectively, as chief amateur scouts. The hiring of Mike Barwis as director of sports science and human performance added some additional big-name flair as well.

It’s easy, of course, to get lost in the sea of new names, but make no mistake: Many of the additions made public last week will play substantial roles in determining the success of Yzerman’s tenure as Red Wings general manager. And for a team that has signaled a desire to build through the draft, that all starts with the amateur scouting department.

Continued (paywall)

MLive’s Ansar Khan issues a 2019-2020 season outlook for Justin Abdelkader this morning, and Khan believes that the Red Wings might part ways with #8 if he is unable to salvage his game:

Abdelkader is most effective when he’s creating havoc in the hard areas of the ice, in the corners and in front of the net, playing physical without taking bad penalties, creating space for skilled players and contributing some offense.

If Abdelkader continues to struggle and younger players are ready to step into the lineup, it’s not out of the question he could be waived (he would clear) and assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins (only $1.075 million of his salary would come off the cap).

Another poor season could prompt the Red Wings to buy out Abdelkader of the final three years of his contract in the off-season. It would cost a total of $6.3 million over six years ($1.8M, $2.3M, $2.3M, $1.05M, $1.05M and $1.05M against the cap annually through 2025-26).

Continued; I don’t believe that Abdelkader would be bought out if he has another rough campaign, but it wouldn’t be totally surprising. It sounds like Abdelkader knows his time in Detroit will be short if he doesn’t step up, and that’s a good thing.

Danny DeKeyser appears on two broadcasts today, following up his 97.1 the Ticket chat with an appearance on Arthur J. Regner’s “Red and White Authority”:

Danny DeKeyser joins us on the podcast to discuss the #RedWings blueline, Steve Yzerman’s return, the tough Atlantic Division and becoming a college graduate.

?️Listen/Subscribe: https://t.co/uFNkBWITcW pic.twitter.com/5RiVE00E9G— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 26, 2019

Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser spoke with 97.1 the Ticket’s Jamie and Stoney this morning, discussing the Red Wings’ season to come and DeKeyser earning his college degree at Western Michigan University this summer:

The Grand Rapids Press’s Peter J. Wallner spoke with Joe Hicketts during his appearance at the Grand Rapids Griffins’ youth hockey camp today, and while Hicketts knows that the Red Wings’ blueline has something of a personnel jam, Hicketts still believes that he can make the Wings’ roster:

“I don’t think it’s a secret that some of our guys are getting a little bit older,” said Hicketts, 23. “You look at the good veterans guys – as much as Trevor Daley is an awesome dude to be around, he’s not getting any younger. With age comes opportunity for some of the younger guys. The (veterans have) earned that right to that job and have proven themselves, but if there are injuries, it’s up to me to put my foot in the door and hold it open.”

Last year, Hicketts had 27 points (3-24-27) in 64 games with the Griffins, leading all team defensemen in scoring and assists along with a plus-two rating and 67 penalty minutes. He appeared in 11 games with the Red Wings in two stints without a point and averaged 18:35 of ice time.

If he does end up back in Grand Rapids, Hicketts would embrace a different role as a veteran leader.

“I showed that I can be responsible defensively in Grand Rapids and they’ve entrusted me to be in a role like what (Brian) Lashoff or (Dylan) McIlrath have done with a (Vila) Saarijarvi or (Dennis) Cholowski. And not only protect them defensively but help to add to their game offensively as well.

“This year, I feel like I’m in great shape. I never felt this good in early August.”

Continued

Expressen’s Niklas A. Svensson spoke with former Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg about purchasing a trotting horse as a post-career hobby, and eventually Svensson and Zetterberg get down to chatting about Zetterberg’s post-career life.

What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

Continue reading Roughly translated: Henrik Zetterberg ‘trots’ about investing in a horse, living in Sweden

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examines Tyler Bertuzzi’s 2018-2019 season’s significant statistics today:

100 — On Jan. 12 at Minnesota, Bertuzzi played in his 100th career game, a 5-2 victory.

1 — Bertuzzi made his 100th game a very memorable one, scoring his first career hat trick. He scored the first goal of the game 24 seconds into the first period, assisted by Gustav Nyquist and Dylan Larkin. Bertuzzi then scored the final two goals of the game, 47 seconds into the third, assisted by Larkin and Mike Green, and at 8:38 of the third, assisted by Nyquist and Larkin.

4 — For an Original Six team, it’s hard to believe that there are still records to be set. Yet Bertuzzi set a new one with four straight three-point games from March 28-April 2. He was the first NHL player to turn that trick since Keith Tkachuk did so for the St. Louis Blues from Dec. 1-10, 2005 and Patrick Marleau did so for the San Jose Sharks from Dec. 2-8, 2005.

Continued

The Detroit Free Press’s Kathleen Gray spoke with former Red Wing Darren McCarty regarding his business partnership with a Michigan-based marijuana company. McCarty is an outspoken advocate of medicinal and non-medical marijuana:

McCarty has formed a partnership with Pincanna, a cannabis company that is building a massive marijuana grow and processing operation along I-75 in Pinconning, north of Bay City. And McCarty hopes one day to win a Cannabis Cup — a marijuana competition that is held all over the United States to rate different pot products — with his own strains of legal weed.

By partnering with the company, McCarty wants to broaden the advocacy he already has been doing since he kicked his addiction to alcohol in 2015 with the help of pot. While he has grown his own pot outdoors, he’s leaving the cultivating, processing and retail sales to the experts and will lend his name instead to products ranging from a CBD rub and gummy, to a mellowing strain of marijuana and a high-potency, marijuana-infused chocolate peanut-butter candy bar that will “crush” those who choose to indulge.

“I have a couple of ideas for the names (of the marijuana strains). Something to do with four cups, maybe sweet revenge,” McCarty said, referring to his now infamous fight with Colorado Avalanche forward Claude Lemieux, whom he pummeled in 1997 in retaliation for Lemieux’s brutal attack on Red Wings’ teammate Kris Draper in 1996. “The names will come from some pretty big moments that I’ve had.”

Continued; the Free Press posted a video of McCarty’s comments as well:

MLive’s Ansar Khan continues his player profiles this morning by examining Dylan Larkin’s 2018-19 season and 2019-2020 season outlook. Khan suggests that Larkin hasn’t reached his ceiling as a player yet:

2019-20 outlook: Larkin stepped up with the best of his four NHL seasons in his first full season as the top-line center following Henrik Zetterberg’s retirement and nearly doubled his goal output from the previous two seasons combined.

In the first year of a five-year, $30.5 million contract, Larkin fulfilled his goal of being that “go-to guy that is a main cog,” playing in all situations and stepping up in overtime.

Larkin was better defensively and must continue improving his play without the puck.

He formed good chemistry late in the season with linemates Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi.

Larkin’s effort has never been questioned. His motor is always running, and he is highly motivated to keep improving and lead this team. He is certain to be the Red Wings’ next captain, whether it’s this season (which seems likely) or in 2020-21.

Continued