Month: August 2019

Red Wings TV spent a day with Justin Abdelkader and his family in his hometown of Muskegon, MI:

WXYZ posted a short video in which Joe Kocur discusses his charitable foundation’s set of charity softball games, which took place on Saturday in Highland, MI. According to Kocur, Dylan Larkin will be helping the Ted Lindsay Foundation going forward:

The Red Wings Instagram account captured action from the Saturday’s games:

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Always a good time joining in on @kocurfoundation’s Charity Softball Series! ⚾️?? #forthekids #lgrw

A post shared by Detroit Red Wings Hockey Club (@detroitredwings) on Aug 24, 2019 at 5:59pm PDT

Red Wings goaltender Jonathan Bernier was interviewed by the Journal de Montreal’s…Jonathan Bernier…for an article published on Friday. Here’s a rough translation of the French-language article:

Bernier wants to see more action

A fight is to be expected with goaltender Jimmy Howard in Detroit

In his first season in Detroit, Jonathan Bernier had to ride the brakes until getting the confidence of Jeff Blashill. Stuck behind Jimmy Howard, he had to wait until mid-February before taking his place in front of the Red Wings’ net more regularly.

Met a few days before leaving for the Motor City, Bernier spoke well of his coach.

“That’s what happens when you sign with a new team. The coach doesn’t know you, so it takes time for him to trust you,” he told de Journal. “You have to win so much in this league that it’s demanding, even for coaches. So if he doesn’t know you, he’ll go with someone he’s confident in.”

Continue reading Roughly translated: Jonathan Bernier interviewed by le Journal de Montreal

This is a very solid example of an article that sometimes gets “sat on” as the blogger ponders the author’s point–which does happen sometimes in a one-man blog.

The Hockey News’s Jared Clinton penned a list of “Breakout Candidates” for each and every one of the NHL’s 31 teams, and I really scratched my head wondering if 1. This was “meaty” enough to post and 2. whether he was correct in his assumption.

Clinton believes that Filip Zadina is probably going to make the Red Wings’ roster and display the promise that convinced the Red Wings to draft him 6th in 2018; I’m not sure whether Zadina is ready, and I want to hold off on my assessment until I see Zadina take part in training camp and the preseason.

Anyway, here’s what Clinton has to say about Zadina:

Detroit Red Wings:Filip Zadina is ready. He fired home 16 goals and 35 points in the AHL last season and got a nine-game look with the Red Wings, during which he scored one goal and three points. He’s a full-timer come the season, though, and a dark horse for the Calder Trophy.

Clinton continues with 30 more picks; I’m somewhere between, “I don’t know if he’s ready” and, “I don’t think that he’s ready at all,” and I got all guilty and thought, “Posting that opinion and leaving it is too flighty for one entry in late August.”

I really haven’t seen Zadina on the ice since his 10-game stint with the Wings, and I wasn’t able to follow the Griffins in any closeness due to the mom, so I’m incredibly curious to see whether Zadina’s late-season surge in GR will translate into any sort of forward momentum going over the course of the summer. He’s a tremendously talented player, but my gut says that he’ll probably need another half-a-season in the AHL before he really takes off, and that’s where I’m at–hoping to be proved wrong!

What do you think about Zadina’s NHL readiness?

Red Wings prospect Jack Adams suffered a horrible setback when he tore his ACL and MCL ligaments in his right knee during the Wings’ summer development camp. Adams worked hard to prepare his knee for surgery, and now he’s recovering from the reconstructive procedure, as he tells us in this installment of, “You Don’t Know Jack“:

One day, you’ll look back on all the hardships in your life and have nothing but gratitude for everything that’s happened along the way. A simple message Danny Carr constantly echoes to me is engraved in my mind: feeling sorry for yourself gets you nowhere.

5:15 a.m. The time my alarm sounds off each morning, a daily reminder that it’s time to start my work and preparation for the day. While this routine might sound ubiquitous and somewhat boring, this strict schedule that my trainer and I put in place is what we believe in, and it’s the reason why my recovery is moving at a rapid pace. However, the day of surgery, I honestly thought I’d never walk again. It hurt … So. Bad.

An ACL tear is a life-changing experience and injury, and while the prognosis at first is formidable, the pain from the surgery is excruciating, both physically and mentally. But, as I said before, I kept telling myself to not feel sorry for myself.

Continued on the Red Wings’ website;

The Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy examines what the Red Wings’ 2023-24 season roster might look like if the Wings were not to make trades or add significant prospects through the draft, essentially determining how the team’s current players and prospects might develop over time.

At forward, Kennedy expects a significant turnover:

By the time 2023-24 rolls around, the Red Wings will have a very nice set of forwards, led by captain Larkin. Naturally, Detroit fans have to hope that player such as Svechnikov, Veleno and Zadina develop on an upward trajectory, but that’s a big part of this forecasting exercise, isn’t it? Rasmussen can be an excellent third-line center with a couple bangers on his wings, while Smith brings some muscle to the fourth line. You will also notice that by this time, the Red Wings will mercifully be free of the current long-term contracts to veterans such as Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm. It’s going to be a whole new era.

Continued

From the Toledo Walleye:

Toledo, OH – Forward Josh Winquist has agreed to terms with the Toledo Walleye for the 2019-2020 season.

Winquist has performed above a point per game in his ECHL career with 84 points (27G, 57A) in just 78 contests between Bakersfield, Orlando and Utah. Due to an injury he only appeared in five games for Utah last year but did have 8 points (4G, 4A) in those contests. In 2017-18 while with Orlando, the St. Albert, Alberta native had 53 points (18G, 35A) over 55 contests to go along with 65 penalty minutes.

“This is a player that we are very excited about because of his playmaking,” said Head Coach Dan Watson. “Josh has the ability to produce offense at an extremely high level that is evident by each stop he has made in his career.”

To go along with high production in the ECHL, Winquist has another 81 points (31G, 50A) at the AHL level. His pro career got started with Oklahoma City at the end of the 2013-2014 season for one game before heading into the next year when he skated in 46 contests for the Barons posting eight goals, 11 assists and 17 penalty minutes. The 25-year-old moved to Bakersfield the in 2015-2016 season and had 30 points (8G, 22A) in 35 contests. He had another full AHL season in 2016-2017 with Bridgeport, when Winquist had 15 goals with 17assists over 53 appearances for the Sound Tigers.

The 6’0”, 180 pound forward rolled in his junior career also picking up 216 points (101G, 115A) in 301 career games in the WHL. His entire junior career was spent with Everett from 2009-2014. Winquist posted career best numbers in his final year with the Silvertips with an outstanding 47 goals with 46 assists for 93 points while playing as a plus 19.

The Athletic’s Craig Custance examines how/whether/if the Atlantic Division’s teams stack up against the St. Louis Blues‘ championship model this morning, and it should not surprise you to find out that the Red Wings…need some work:

Detroit Red Wings

Strong contract efficiency: No. But the good news for Red Wings fans who have patiently waited out some bad contracts in Detroit, there is a lot coming off the books after this season. And that Dylan Larkin contract will look great in one year, tops.

Playoff scar tissue: The franchise that was once the envy of all sports for its playoff streak hasn’t made it in three seasons. They were knocked out in the first round the final three seasons of the streak. The scar tissue belongs to a different generation.

A balance of ages: Actually, yeah. One of the things the Red Wings have consciously done is keep players around with experience as to not rush the kids. GM Steve Yzerman continued that with the signing of 35-year-old Valtteri Filppula. There’s mid-range talent in players like Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou. Then Larkin leads the group that hopes to lead the turnaround.

Skill and size on defense: There’s not nearly enough skill to qualify, even if there is some size on the back end for the Red Wings.

A game-breaker: Athanasiou has his moments. Larkin blossomed offensively. But their best shot in this category spent last year getting acclimated in the AHL, and Filip Zadina probably still needs more time down there.

Total: 1 out of 5

Continued (paywall)

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji discusses significant figures from Taro Hirose’s abbreviated 2018-19 campaign, as well as Hirose’s take on jumping into the Red Wings’ lineup after completing his NCAA season with Michigan State this past spring:

Quotable II: “Ending my season at Michigan State to the next couple of days playing at Madison Square Garden was definitely surreal. Playing on the road you sort of get acclimated to everything, spend a lot of time on the road with the guys. I jumped right in, didn’t have to think too much about it. When you’re in warmups and see Sidney Crosby, that was sort of a wow moment. We played (Evgeni) Malkin and (Phil) Kessel and those guys and sort of seeing what those guys do a shift by shift basis, how effective they are, it was definitely something … there’s a lot of good players and those guys take it to the next level.” — Hirose

Continued

MLive’s Ansar Khan offers a season outlook for defenseman Madison Bowey this morning. It’s not certain whether Bowey will start the year with the Red Wings, but Khan believes that the 24-year-old’s waiver status will keep Bowey from being sent to Grand Rapids:

2019-20 outlook: Bowey got an opportunity to play regularly after arriving from Washington and logged a fair amount of ice time due to injuries on defense. A stay-at-home, right-shooting defender with decent size and mobility, he can step into opponent to deliver a solid check. But he’ll be evaluated in training camp and the preseason on how well he moves the puck and his ability to limit mistakes.

Bowey is not waiver-exempt, which could work in his favor if the competition for a roster spot is close between him, Oliwer Kaski and Dennis Cholowski, both of whom can be sent to Grand Rapids without waivers. But, given the health issues of several veterans last season, what are the odds this defense is completely healthy at the start of the regular season? So, expect Bowey, the 53rd overall pick in 2013, to be on the team and quite possibly in the lineup opening night.

Continued