Month: October 2020

Via Paul Kukla of Abel to Yzerman: Six of NHL.com’s beat writers discussed the influence that the NHL’s game of musical chairs at the goaltending position will have upon goalies’ new teams, and Thomas Greiss earned a nod from NHL.com’s Tim Campbell:

Thomas Greiss, Detroit Red Wings

The default answer to this roundtable should be [Anton] Khudobin, but since he didn’t change teams, I’m going to go with Greiss. You can argue that there are flaws in just about every goalie who has changed teams, from evidence of decline or inconsistency in their game, but in my opinion, the two who rise slightly above the field are [Jacob] Markstrom and Greiss. The Red Wings were the team that needed an upgrade at goalie the most after allowing a League-worst 265 goals last season (.894 save percentage as a team), so this was a much-needed signing. Greiss was 16-9-4 with a 2.74 GAA and a .913 save percentage in 31 games (29 starts) with the New York Islanders last season, and 2-2 with a 2.02 GAA and .929 save percentage in four playoff games (three starts). The work Greiss put in during his five seasons with the Islanders was above average, and his .915 career save percentage says that although he may not solve all the issues for the Red Wings, he will improve the situation at goalie. — Tim Campbell, staff writer

Continued; I find it interesting that the six NHL.com writers picked six different goalies.

The talk of Red Wings Twitter today (see: the Winged Wheel Podcast‘s gents, and The Athletic’s Prashanth Iyer) in light of the signing of Vladislav Namesnikov, combined with Tyler Bertuzzi’s filing for arbitration, is this:

Should the Red Wings use their significant amount of cap space to buy out the last two years of Frans Nielsen’s contract?

Nielsen has a $5.2 million cap hit over the next two seasons, but, per CapFriendly, Nielsen is actually only owed $5 million this season ($2.5 million in a signing bonus and $2.5 million in actual salary) and then $3 million ($1.5 million in a signing bonus and $1.5 million in actual salary) for the 21-22 season.

Buying out the 36-year-old would cost the Wings, again, per CapFriendly, the signing bonuses (those have to be paid in full) for this season and next season, plus $666,666 per season for four years, or approximately $6.6 million in total to buy Nielsen out.

Continue reading What happens with Frans?

The Red Wings’ European-playing prospects are, for the most part, doing quite well as a collective group this year, but there are some concerns injury-wise.

Jared McIsaac and Filip Zadina are nursing hand injuries with HPK in Finland and Ocelari Trinec in the Czech Extraliga, respectively, and, for the last two games, Michael Rasmussen hasn’t played for the Graz99ers for unknown reasons. So today’s game summaries are pretty thin:

In the ICE Hockey League, Rasmussen’s Graz99ers won 6-2 over VSV;

Jesper Eliasson was loaned to the Red Bulls Salzburg, but he’s not even a back-up listed on the game sheet of the Red Bulls’ 4-2 win over KAC;

In the Swedish J20 league, Theodor Niederbach didn’t register a point in the Frolunda Indians’ 5-1 loss to Linkopings HC, nor did Elmer Soderblom;

And William Wallinder registered an assist and a +3 in MODO Hockey’s 4-2 win over Lulea.

Update: Krone.at’s Robert Groiss reports that Jesper Eliasson is now practicing with the Red Bulls Salzburg.

Red Wings defenseman Patrik Nemeth spoke with HockeyNews.se’s Henrik Sjoberg regarding his offseason work trying to improve his game for the 20-21 NHL season. You won’t get much out of this Swedish-language video…

But here’s a rough translation of Sjoberg’s article:

Continue reading Roughly Translated: Patrik Nemeth speaks with HockeyNews.se

Updated 3x at 5:34 PM: The Red Wings signed Vladislav Namestnikov to a 2-year, $4 million contract on Sunday afternoon, and in his remarks to the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan, the Commerce Township native explained that, despite his circuitous journey from Ontario to Metro Detroit to Russia and back to the U.S. as a child and then a teenager, he feels like the Red Wings are his “hometown team“:

“Detroit was always on the top of my list,” Namestnikov said. “It’s kind of awesome it happened and I’m beyond grateful. Hopefully we can start here soon and get it going. It was a priority to be here. I’m from here. It really wasn’t a hard decision when it came down to it.”

In many ways, this was like coming home for Namestnikov. He also talked about hanging around the Wings’ locker room at Joe Louis Arena when Kozlov played, and meeting current general manager Steve Yzerman — at a park in Birmingham.

“My aunt was with me, and Steve was with his daughters. That’s my memory of first meeting him, in a park in Birmingham,” Namestnikov said. “I have flashbacks of going into the locker room, I had hockey cards and I went around and had guys sign my hockey cards.

“I have a bunch of cards somewhere. We moved from Waterford to here and I know they’re somewhere. I know I have them for sure.

“It does (feel like coming home). It still doesn’t feel real, but in a way it does feel like coming home. This is our summer home for many years and I grew up here, so it definitely feels like coming home, and like I said, I’m beyond excited.”

Continued

Update: Here’s more from NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika:

Continue reading Vladislav Namesnikov, ‘hometown signing’

The NHL Network posted a clip of the best moments of Vladislav Namesnikov’s career goals:

I got beaten to the punch on the Vladislav Namestnikov signing out of sheer exhaustion (sorry).

Now, MLive’s Ansar Khan penned an article that duly notes the Red Wings have done a fantastic job of signing a core of low-risk, high-reward unrestricted free agents to short-term deals over the past three days, affording the team roster flexibility and a set of players looking to prove themselves on a rebuilding team:

The Red Wings have more NHL-quality players – several players they parted with will not play in the league anymore.

The Red Wings have roughly $18.7 million of cap space, according to capfriendly.com. That is enough to re-sign Mantha and Bertuzzi and possibly add a hefty expiring contract for a draft pick, like they did with Staal.

More changes are in store. The Red Wings are not likely to be in playoff contention at the trade deadline, whenever that may be, and are in position to stock up on more draft picks by moving many of their impending unrestricted free agents. The list includes Ryan, Staal, Merrill, Gagner, Helm, Filppula, Nemeth, Glendening and Bernier.

They already have three second-round picks and two third-rounders in 2021. More selections equals more opportunities to find impact players, further helping the rebuild.

Yzerman has roster and financial flexibility moving forward while improving the team for 2020-21, at least on paper.

Khan continues, and, put bluntly, this is how you reshape a roster smartly. Low-risk deals and new faces who are determined to prove themselves again.

Per the Red Wings on Twitter:

“I’m excited to join the team!”@Vladdy18 speaks following the announcement of his two-year deal with the #RedWings. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/ZcKa7zB7Qy— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 11, 2020

.@Vladdy18 is coming home. ? #LGRW pic.twitter.com/RAJXuqrhmG— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 11, 2020

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Namestnikov agrees to terms with Detroit

Center has played 425 games with Tampa Bay, NY Rangers, Ottawa and Colorado

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today agreed to terms with center Vladislav Namestnikov on a two-year contract.

Namestnikov, 27, was originally drafted in the first round (27th overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lighting and spent parts of five seasons with the team from 2013-18. The 6-foot, 183-pound forward has totaled 425 NHL games between the Lightning, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators and Colorado Avalanche, registering 189 points (83-106-189) and 227 penalty minutes. Namestnikov played for three teams in 2019-20, appearing in two games with the Rangers prior to a trade to Ottawa, where he tallied 25 points (13-12-25) in 54 games before he was moved to Colorado at the trade deadline. With the Avalanche, he recorded six points (4-2-6) in nine regular-season games and added five points (4-1-5) in 12 playoff games. Namestnikov is two years removed from his most productive NHL campaign, when he picked up 48 points (22-26-48) in 81 games between the Lightning and Rangers in 2017-18. He also skated in 134 American Hockey League games with the Syracuse Crunch, recording 104 points (40-64-104) and 84 penalty minutes and making the 2015 AHL All-Star Game.

Born in Zhukovskiy, Russia, Namestnikov spent part of his childhood in Michigan and has multiple family members with NHL connections, including his father, Evgeny Namestnikov, who played 43 NHL games with Vancouver, NY Islanders and Nashville between 1993-00, and his uncle, Vyacheslav Kozlov, a member of the Russian Five who played for Detroit from 1992-01 and totaled 1,182 NHL games until 2009-10. Prior to turning professional, Namestnikov racked up 139 points (52-87-139), a plus-27 rating and 99 penalty minutes in 131 games with the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights, winning an OHL championship in 2012. On the international stage, Namestnikov has represented Russia at multiple international tournaments, most notably winning a bronze medal at the 2017 IIHF World Championship after picking up six points (3-3-6) in 10 games.

Vladislav Namestnikov, Center

Born Nov 22 1992 — Zhukovskiy, Russia

Height 6.00 — Weight 183 — Shoots L

Selected by Tampa Bay Lightning round 1 #27 overall 2011 NHL Entry Draft

Per MLive’s Ansar Khan:

Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman continued adding to the roster on Sunday, signing center Vladislav Namestnikov to a two-year deal at a $2 million cap hit.

Namestnikov, 27, played for three teams last season (Rangers, Ottawa, Colorado) and tallied 17 goals and 14 assists in 65 games.

Continue reading Red Wings sign Vladislav Namestnikov to a 2-year contract

DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter penned an article discussing the 7 free agent players who the Red Wings have signed over the past two days:

On the first day of free agency Friday, Detroit signed forward Bobby Ryan and defenseman Jon Merrill to one-year deals, and also agreed to terms with goaltender Kevin Boyle and forwards Riley Barber and Kyle Criscuolo. On Saturday, the Red Wings added goalie Thomas Greiss and defenseman Troy Stecher, providing the club with several eager veterans who will contribute on and off the ice.

Ryan is the biggest gem of the free-agent class for Detroit, as a former No. 2 overall pick and an 833-game NHL veteran with 254 career goals and 301 assists under his belt. He had a 45-minute phone conversation with Red Wings executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman and said he was immediately sold.

“The passion that comes through for the Red Wings through him is contagious,” Ryan said. “I walked out of the room (after the call) and told my wife ‘I think we’re signing with Detroit.'” Ryan, who spent six seasons with the Anaheim Ducks and seven with the Ottawa Senators, boasts six seasons of 50 or more points in his career. The veteran was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance and dedication to hockey last season.

Berenter also noted GM Steve Yzerman’s take on his work:

Yzerman said he’s pleased with the haul of free agents his team signed over the weekend. The Wings’ GM said it’s important to have players excited about joining the club and buying in to the direction the organization is heading.

“We’re real happy. The more guys that really have that enthusiasm that really have a burning (desire) to play for our team, I think that’s really important,” Yzerman said. “We’re trying to surround the younger players with high-quality veterans, with guys who can help our team get better, help our young guys improve and be professional and make us more competitive.”

Continued