Of European prospect-related note on a Friday evening:
In Austria’s ICE Hockey League, Michael Rasmussen did not take part in the Graz99ers’ 6-4 win over Fehervar AV19;
And in the Czech Extraliga, Filip Hronek finished at +1 in 22:07 played as Mountfield HK won 3-2 over PSG Berani Zlin.
Of NHL draft-related note this evening:
Late Thursday afternoon, the NHL had a Zoom call with some of the top prospects who will be available in the upcoming 2020 NHL Entry Draft, including forwards Alexis Lafrenière, Quinton Byfield, Tim Stützle, Marco Rossi, Cole Perfetti and Jack Quinn, plus defensemen Jamie Drysdale and Jake Sanderson.
Perfetti, who had 37 goals and 74 assists in 61 games with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit this past season, said he has spoken to the Wings a couple of times but said Yzerman did more listening than talking.
“With Mr. Yzerman, it’s been limited,” Perfetti said. “He’s been on the calls but for the most part he’s had his camera off and has been very quiet, just kind of listening. He didn’t really ask anything too much. It was mainly Kris Draper (director of amateur scouting) who was running the calls and he was leading it and asking most of the questions. Yzerman, he wasn’t saying too much, he was kind of just sitting back with his screen off and I think taking notes and listening to what I had to say.”
2. MLive’s Ansar Khan profiled fellow draft prospect Marco Rossi…
Continue reading Three draft-related things: On Zoom call comments, Marco Rossi and possible draft targetsOf brief prospect-related note this morning:
Jonatan Berggren, LW, Skellefteå AIK (Detroit Red Wings): Berggren has some similar traits to [Zion] Nybeck. Both are speedy and skilled wingers who can use their body to protect the puck and I have to say that I really like forwards who play this way. However, Berggren has had an edge on the younger forward. Unlike Nybeck, he has been quite frequently used on the power play, and even though he was not able to capitalize in the preseason, he compensated it right at the start of Skellefteå’s first game of the season. Just after four minutes and seven seconds of play, he became the author of the first goal of the 2020-2021 SHL campaign.
Albin Grewe, RW, Djurgårdens IF (Detroit Red Wings): Grewe is an interesting figure who somewhat stands out from this list. It is mainly because he has a different job than any other player mentioned here. He plays more of a grinding role in the Djurgårdens lineup and I have to say that he has done a very good job so far. He was one of the few players that I actually saw throw a hard hit along the boards during a preseason game. However, it was not just hits that got my attention. He was not afraid to block shots or go to the dirty areas in front of the net. Grewe has shown that this might be his trademark throughout the season. A bold mix of fast skating, drive to the net, hard bodychecking, and shot-blocking as the icing on the cake.
2. And, of note from the Hockey Writers’ Mark Scheig, who penned an article discussing yesterday’s NHL-hosted Zoom call with top prospects:
[Marco] Rossi says he’s spoken to the Red Wings three times. The talks were good in his mind. Apparently Yzerman was on the Zoom calls but his camera was shut off. Imagine what the prospects might be thinking knowing he’s there but you can’t see him.
…
Notice a theme yet? [Jamie] Drysdale too has had “a few” interviews with the Red Wings. While I still maintain Perfetti is the leader in the clubhouse, the Red Wings are going to get a great player no matter which direction they go. Silver lining for missing out on first overall.
DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examines Finnish defenseman Kasper Kotkansalo’s career “By the Numbers” this morning, and the most important part of her article, as usual in these prospect pieces, comes from Red Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff:
Quotable: “He’s over in Europe. He got a little banged up there playing preseason in Ässät back in Liiga. That was kind of his decision. He really just wanted to play more games. One thing with college, and obviously we’ve got uncertainty with them starting, he’s far enough along in his schooling that he really can still graduate, he’s not far away from graduating with turning pro and going back there and playing more games. Really it came down to just wanting to play hockey and the uncertainty of when college was going to start, just the ability to play more games.
“I thought it got better as the year went on. The thing with Kasper, he’s a defensive D-man so it’s hard to look at numbers for those type of guys and really put any sort of gauge on how his year went in terms of numbers because that’s not his game. He’s hard to play against, he’s a defensive D, good on the penalty kill. Once this season gets going, we’ll be monitoring closely because it’ll be good test for him over in the pro league in Finland. The Liiga is a good hockey league and now he’s playing against men, it’s going to be a step up for him and a bigger challenge. It’ll be interesting to see how he plays.” – Shawn Horcoff, director of player development and assistant director of player personnel
The NHL held a Zoom call with six of the top prospects for the 2020 draft on Thursday, and the Free Press’s Helene St. James took note of the comments made by one Cole Perfetti:
“I’ve met a couple times with the Detroit Red Wings over the break,” Perfetti said Thursday afternoon via Zoom. “With Mr. Yzerman, it’s been limited. He’s been on all the calls, but for the most part he’s had his camera off and very quiet, just kind of listening and taking notes. He didn’t really ask anything. I just tried to be myself, show my personality, and hopefully he enjoyed that and got a lot out of that. I hope I made a good impression.”
Perfetti comes across as personable and professional, and his hockey prowess has him ranked No. 5 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. Perfetti lit up the Ontario Hockey League in 2019-20, recording 37 goals and 74 assists in 61 games with the Saginaw Spirit. He played both wing and center, though he said he prefers center because he feels he makes more of an impact in the middle.
Parrying a question about his size — he’s listed as 5-foot-10, 185 pounds — Perfetti noted that “the way the game is going, you have to be a quicker player and think the game at a very high level. That suits me very well. That’s what makes me the player I am.”
If Yzerman drafts Perfetti, the Wings could develop him similar to Dylan Larkin, who played wing his first year, then switched to his natural center position. But keeping Perfetti on the wing could make sense, if, down the road, Joe Veleno emerges as a No. 2 center. Perfetti would give the Wings a scoring option, potentially forming a second line with Veleno and Filip Zadina, while Larkin mans the top line with Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi.
The Athletic’s Max Bultman proposes three possible cap-related Red Wings trades to be made this coming offseason, and his third “weaponization” of the Wings’ cap space is quite intriguing:
The candidate: Marc-Andre Fleury, G, Vegas: In spite of their need of a goaltender to pair with Jonathan Bernier, the rebuilding Red Wings aren’t in an ideal position to bring in a player as expensive as Fleury to fill that hole. Fleury himself should still be good enough to not be a pure cap dump, even after losing his starting job in Vegas, but his contract is likely too rich for this point in his career, too. That makes him a tough case.
But, what about copying the manner in which Vegas acquired Robin Lehner this trade deadline? In that deal, Toronto stepped in as an intermediary between Vegas and Chicago, retained some salary and cap hit, and got a fifth-round pick for its trouble. And that was for just over a month’s worth of cap space.
In a Fleury deal, with bigger money and two years at odds, Detroit would be able to command a much better sweetener for providing the same service, if Vegas finds a contender interested in taking on Fleury. Who might that contender be? That’s another question, but who it is shouldn’t ultimately change the dynamic too much (though it might help if it’s also a cap-strapped team, that really needs Detroit to retain some of Fleury’s AAV).
This would be a bit different than the Patrick Marleau cap-dump trade between Toronto and Carolina last year, and retaining salary as an intermediary probably doesn’t bring a first-round pick to Detroit. Still, in terms of both real dollars and cap dollars, this would represent a serious savings for both the team acquiring Fleury, and the Golden Knights, who could then use the space to take a run at someone to help put them over the top. There’s value in that, even if it’s not the coveted first-round pick.
Continued (paywall)
97.1 The Ticket’s Pat Caputo weighs in regarding his preferred draft scenarios for the Red Wings:
Marco Rossi led the OHL in scoring for Ottawa, and Cole Perfetti of Saginaw was second. The skill set is off the charts for both. They are incredibly gifted playmakers. Perfetti played wing last season, but possesses classic center skills. Size is the only concern for the pair.
Jimmy Devellano and Chris Osgood are part of the Saginaw ownership group, and Perfetti knows Red Wings’ director of amateur scouting Kris Draper well as a friend. Such familiarity could lead Perfetti to Detroit. It wouldn’t be a reach.
In doing so, the Red Wings would be bypassing Swedish wingers Lucas Raymond and Alexander Holtz. Raymond is a small winger, but with an exceptional feel for the game. Holtz is the best pure goal scorer in this draft. They have held their own taking regular shifts in the AHL-level Swedish Hockey League.
All things equal, I think the Red Wings should draft a center in the first round. Perfetti would be ideal. But if Yzerman went defense, who could argue based on what has been demonstrated in the Stanley Cup playoffs?
The Red Wings are 94 years old today:
#OTD in 1926: The NHL officially grants a franchise to the Detroit Cougars, later changed to the #RedWings. pic.twitter.com/sDOpqzZUh5
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 25, 2020
THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Sept. 25
1926: The NHL officially approves franchises in Chicago and Detroit for the 1926-27 season. Along with a second franchise awarded earlier to New York, the NHL becomes a 10-team league and soon adopts a two-division format.
The Detroit team calls itself the Cougars after purchasing players from the Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League, which ceases operations after the 1925-26 season. The franchise changes its name to Falcons in 1930 before becoming known as the Red Wings two years later.
MLive’s Ansar Khan has posted three articles ranking the Red Wings‘ top 20 prospects, and he arrives at the top of the class this morning.
#1 is an obvious choice:
1. Moritz Seider, defenseman
Height/Weight: 6-4/207
Drafted: First round 2019 (No. 6)
2019-20 club: Grand Rapids (AHL)
2019-20 stats: 49 GP, 2 G, 20 A, 22 PT, 28 PM
The future could be now for the big, mobile, puck-moving defenseman who is poised to anchor Detroit’s blue line for many years. Seider will have an excellent opportunity to earn a roster spot in camp after a solid rookie season in Grand Rapids, where he logged a lot of minutes and played in all situations. He has tremendous hockey sense and makes good decisions with the puck. He is playing for his German club, Mannheim, during the pandemic.
The NHL conducted a massive Zoom call with eight of the top prospects for the 2020 draft on Thursday afternoon (I’d share the Zoom video with you, but it’s two gigabytes’ worth of data!), and NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika penned an article about the conference call, with two of the Wings’ possible targets discussing the unique challenges that the pandemic has provided them with:
Take Marco Rossi, a center from Ottawa of the OHL. He’s the No. 6-ranked North American skater, but he’s from Austria. He said he went home in mid-March and immediately started training with his personal coach.
“It’s going really good,” Rossi said. “We can see big improvements off the ice, on the ice. I’ve never felt that good on the ice. Especially my body. Like, I got so much better with my body. It was really good before, but now it’s even much better.”
No, the prospects didn’t get to go to the NHL Scouting Combine, which had been scheduled to be held in Buffalo from June 1-6. They didn’t get to go through testing and interviews. But they met with teams via videoconferences.
Take Perfetti. He said he had gone through almost 50 calls, meeting with more than 20 teams, many more than once. When he met with the Detroit Red Wings, he really didn’t get to see general manager Steve Yzerman, because Yzerman mostly had his camera off while someone else led the conversation. But that didn’t affect him.
“I was going to be myself and express who I am, whether he was asking the questions or just listening,” Perfetti said. “I hope I made a good impression. It was a good process doing these Zoom calls, and it was a lot of fun.”
Continued; Perfetti also told Cotsonika that the prospects have become accustomed to offbeat circumstances:
“Obviously it’s been uncertain times, and it’s been such a fluid summer and things have been changing, and I’ve just kind of learned how to go with the flow and deal with adversity,” Perfetti said. “It’s tough to deal with when you kind of dream of having things the way [they are] normally.”
Update: The Detroit News’s Mark Falkner also posted an article regarding the Zoom call:
Continue reading A bit about Rossi and Perfetti’s unusual pre-draft summers