As the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan notes, Steve Yzerman spent a significant portion of his press conference reflecting upon the performances of the Wings’ prospects during their prospect-tournament-winning campaign:
“We need more (prospects), but I’m encouraged – there’s a good group of young players that have potential,” Yzerman said Friday as he met with the media at camp, after the day’s workouts had been completed. “We’re going to try to add to that group. But with that group, we’re trying to create an environment that allows them to go from prospects to good NHL players, and that’s a big step.”
It was only four games, but the Wings fielded one of the younger teams in the Prospects Tournament and Yzerman was encouraged by the competitiveness of his team.
Defenseman Moritz Seider, and forwards Joe Veleno, Filip Zadina, Givani Smith, Chase Pearson, Ryan Kuffner and Taro Hirose were among some of the recent draft picks or undrafted college free agents who were impressive, according to Yzerman.
“You like to win – it’s better to win than to lose,” Yzerman said. “Most importantly, the kids competed real hard. They learned from it. Some of those kids are only 18 years old and playing against some 23- and 24-year-olds. They had good week’s and it’s preparing them for next week and a good buildup for them moving forward. It looks like we have a good group of prospects here and we’re hoping they continue to improve and eventually become NHLers.”
Update: Also, from MLive’s Ansar Khan:
“To play any competition, you like to win,” Yzerman said. “Most importantly, the kids competed really hard. I think they learned from it. Some of these kids are just 18 years of age, they’re playing against some 23 and 24-year-olds. It was a good build-up for them.
“Now it’s a step up for some of them. It’s only practice, but you want to see if they can they keep up with the speed of the NHLers. It’s quicker and it’s all part of the process of getting to a 23-man roster to start the season.
“We want to get them organized and in game shape, get their timing shooting the puck. They skate a lot in the summer, but they don’t get bumped around, so the next step is get into the drills and practice, get bumped around a little bit, pass the puck a little, do everything a little quicker and sharper. And then for the players to learn the coaches’ systems, how they want them to play and who they’re going to play with.”
Yzerman said players not only are competing for roster sports but also ice time and more prominent roles, like the power play and penalty kill
“That goes for kids and veterans,” Yzerman said. “But for the younger players, whether they’re graduating from junior hockey or have played in the American League, they’re pushing to make the team and there’s an opportunity for some of them to make it — several of them.”
