Month: September 2020

In my cursory glance at the international press this morning, I found an article on Hockeysverige.se in which Oscar Leibsch reports that Red Wings prospect netminder Jesper Eliasson is on the move again.

After playing for the Vaxjo Lakers’s SHL and under-20 teams, IK Oskarshamn of the Allsvenskan, Vaxjo’s under-20 team again, Vaxjo’s SHL team, and then Almtuna IS of the Allsvenskan, all over the past 2 seasons, it was assumed that he’d earn at least back-up work with Farjestad BK.

According to Leibsch, Eliasson is on the move again. He’s been loaned to BIK Karlskoga of the Allsvenskan for a week as BIK’s starter is hurt.

Eliasson needs some stability if he is to develop as a goaltender.

ESPN’s Chris Peters posted a mock draft covering the 2020 edition of the “entry draft’s” first two rounds via an article for ESPN+. Because the Red Wings have 4 picks over the course of the draft’s first and second rounds, Peters lists four possible candidates that the Wings might draft:

Detroit Red Wings

4. Cole Perfetti, C, Saginaw (OHL)
32. Justin Barron, D, Halifax (QMJHL)
45. Martin Chromiak, RW, Kingston (OHL)
56. Theodor Niederbach, C, Frolunda Jr. (Sweden Jr.)

For me, the players who sit at Nos. 4-12 on my board don’t have a ton of separation. If GM Steve Yzerman went defense, forward or even took a swing on the goaltender at No. 4, I wouldn’t bat an eye. But Perfetti is going to be the best player available in this range and offers a dynamic skill set the Red Wings desperately need.

In the second round, Detroit could definitely package things to trade back up into the first round if there’s a player it really likes — but there is still value to be had. Barron might not slip to the second round, but I think he’s a talented all-around blueliner. Chromiak and Niederbach are longer-term prospects who are going to need some nurturing, but their ceilings are quite high.

Continued (paywall); once again, Cole Perfetti is linked to the Wings…

MLive’s Ansar Khan is taking on the task of ranking the Red Wings’ “Top 20 prospects,” and this morning, he discusses his 16th through 20th-ranked players. I would argue that #19’s development is absolutely critical to the future of the Wings’ goaltending position:

19. Keith Petruzzelli, goaltender

Height/Weight: 6-5/185

Drafted: Third round 2017 (No. 88)

2019-20 club: Quinnipiac (ECAC)

2019-20 stats: 34 GP, 21-10-2, 2.01 GAA, .920 save percentage

Tall, lanky goaltender who got better in each of his three seasons in college. He matured physically and mentally since being drafted and improved his work ethic, realizing the kind of commitment needed to have a chance to reach the next level. NHL Central Scouting rated him as the No. 2 North American goalie in his draft year and Red Line Report praised his quickness, athleticism and fundamentals, noting that he has learned to use his size to his advantage and not scramble as much.

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators are going to be inextricably linked in the 2020 NHL draft for a simple reason: Detroit’s 4th overall pick is sandwiched between two Senators first-rounders, at 3rd and 5th.

Just as the Senators will take “whoever the Kings don’t pick” 2nd overall–i.e. Tim Stuetzle or Quinton Byfield–the Senators will also be taking “whoever the Red Wings don’t pick” 4th overall.

As a result, we’re getting some hints as to who the Red Wings might be leaning toward drafting per Ottawa scribes.

The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch penned an excellent draft summary which suggests that the Red Wings are going to go with defenseman Jamie Drysdale at #4…Maybe…

Continue reading Two tidbits as to where the Red Wings may be leaning at the draft, via Ottawa Senators scribes

Former Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey will be among the featured guests in a TSN special airing at 7 PM EDT on Tuesday (in Canada), The Problem of Pain. TSN’s Rick Westhead will discuss the issue of painkillers and pain management in a league where everybody is playing hurt at one point or another:

Hockey players are celebrated for their willingness to play through injury no matter the cost.

Tuesday on a special edition of That's Hockey, TSN presents The Problem of Pain, a year-long investigation into painkillers and the culture of pain in the NHL. @rwesthead pic.twitter.com/Lmle0It7IB

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 21, 2020

Take this for what you will: Via TSN 1260 Edmonton’s Jason Gregor and NHL.com/InGoal guru Kevin Woodley, and posted via my Twitter pals Mike “The Vyrus,” Ryan Hana and the excellent Winged Wheel Podcast…

This hit the wires while I was taking my pre-game nap:

"I'm hearing, if he goes to market, the Red Wings are looking to make a big pitch for Markstrom. I wonder if they give Markstrom his ask of $6m how it would impact others after Lehner signed for $5m in Vegas." Woodley.

— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) September 21, 2020

Markstrom is 30, and the 6’6,” 206-pound goaltender posted a 2.73 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage over the course of 44 games, going 23-16-and-4, all while earning $4 million on a $3.66 million cap hit. He went 8-5-and-1 in the bubble as well…

I’m not sure that the Red Wings need to spend $6 million on a goaltender when they have Bernier emerging as a starter, but having a platoon system of Markstrom and Bernier as 1A/1B is intriguing to me.

Woodley doesn’t screw around when it comes to rumors, and he’s Vancouver-based, so this is a reliable tip.

You’re just going to get some non-sequiturs as part of TMR 3.0. I’m a writer, and I have thoughts about hockey that extend beyond posting articles or writing my own (and I’m working on finding my voice in terms of the second point). So:

Today, in a normal world, this would be the last day of the Detroit Red Wings’ training camp in Traverse City.

I would be utterly exhausted from two weeks’ worth of covering the prospect tournament and main training camp, but I’d be happy with the work I’d produced.

I’d have a celebratory meal of Culver’s at the hotel and “empty the notebook” ahead of the autumn equinox tomorrow, and I’d head home on Wednesday to start covering the Red Wings’ condensed exhibition season (the team usually plays 8 games over the course of only 12 nights), preceding an early-October regular season start.

Continue reading Off topic, part 2: The ‘last day of training camp’

Here’s a slightly off-topic note from Winging It in Motown’s excellent Kyle McIlmurray on Twitter: former Red Wings forward Drew Miller has retired from hockey, and he’s embarking upon a new career as a property and casualty insurance agent:

Former Red Wing Drew Miller has a new gig as an insurance agent pic.twitter.com/OareQyUSnU— Kyle M. (@KyleWIIM) September 21, 2020

As McIlmurray’s Tweet notes, Miller is working for the Korotkin Insurance Group, and he has both a Facebook page and a LinkedIn page if you, well, want to get some insurance.

Not everybody ends up making millions and millions of dollars in their NHL careers, and grinders like Miller often end up working day jobs to get by.

Hell, even Ted Lindsay was working for an auto parts supplier into his 70’s thanks to the fact that player salaries were all but literal peanuts back in the day, and Nicklas Lidstrom, who made a mint during his playing career, is a business consultant and investor (Henrik Zetterberg probably has the cushiest job as he runs a sandwich shop [seriously!]).

This is the norm, in all honesty, not the exception for hockey players, so congrats to Drew for landing a solid post-hockey job.

The Athletic has produced a significant amount of 2020 NHL draft-related content today, issuing a staff mock draft, Scott Wheeler’s list of his 100 best prospects available, and now The Athletic’s Max Bultman has posted a list of his best 2nd round picks.

Detroit picks 32nd overall, 45th overall and 56th overall in the 2nd round, and they own the 63rd and 65th picks as well, so, in theory, anyway, the Wings will have multiple and significant opportunities to stack their roster with prospects who “fall out” of the first round.

Bultman has zeroed in on 6 potential 2nd round picks, and I’m going to afford you a glance at his take on the “local kid”:

Continue reading Bultman discusses potential 2nd round Wings picks

The Detroit Red Wings will have ample cap space with which to work during the 2020 offseason, but there are a couple of players who’ve become a drag on the team’s salary structure in one Frans Nielsen (signed for 2 more years at a $5.25 million cap hit) and Justin Abdelkader (signed for 3 more years at a $4.25 million cap hit).

Per CapFriendly, the Red Wings would have to pay Nielsen 1/3rd of his salary over twice the length of his contract, which translates to a cap hit that ranges between $666K and $4.4 million for four years (per CapFriendly’s buyout calculator), while buying out Abdelkader would translate to a cap hit between $1.8 and 2.3 million for the next six years.

All of that being said, given that the salary cap will remain flat for the next two seasons (at least), Sportsnet’s Luke Fox believes that the Wings should swallow hard and buy out Abdelkader:

Continue reading Sportsnet’s Fox suggests that the Wings should buy out Justin Abdelkader