Month: November 2020

Prospect round-up: Lindstrom, Larsson still absent with injuries

Of prospect-related note today, in the Swedish Allsvenskan:

Both Gustav Lindstrom and Filip Larsson missed Almtuna IS’s 6-3 win over BIK Karlskoga;

And Gustav Berglund is playing with the Swedish World Junior team right now, so he missed Vasteras IK’s 3-0 win over Tingsryds IF.

Wings’ beat writers weigh in on GM Steve Yzerman’s remarks

Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman engaged in a press conference with the media earlier today…

And this evening, the Wings’ beat writers have weighed in on Yzerman’s remarks regarding re-signing Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi, as well as the state of his team as a whole.

Regarding Mantha, the Free Press’s Helene St. James noted that Yzerman would prefer that the big power forward keep his gloves on if at all possible…

Continue reading Wings’ beat writers weigh in on GM Steve Yzerman’s remarks

Joe Kocur appears on the ‘Cam and Strick Podcast’

Long-time Red Wings enforcer and charitable warrior Joe Kocur appeared on the “Cam and Strick Podcast” yesterday:

Roughly translated: Jonatan Berggren speaks with SHL.se about making the Swedish national team

Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren spoke with SHL.se’s Johannes Hagglund yesterday, and here’s a rough translation of their conversation:

Jonatan Berggren: “Proud and ruggedly happy”

Finally injury free, now Jonatan Berggren has exploded. The 20-year-old is third in SHL in points and he received a reward from the national team management in the form of a spot on Tre Kronor’s Karjala squad—even though it took time before Berggren answered when Markus Akerblom, assistant national team manager, heard from him. “He disturbed me when I played Fortnite, so he had to call three, or four times,” says the Skelleftea forward, who laughs.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Jonatan Berggren speaks with SHL.se about making the Swedish national team

Interview: Red Wings prospect ‘Mo’ Seider speaks with Rogle BK’s website regarding the SHL pause

Red Wings prospect Moritz Seider spoke with Rogle BK’s website for just under 3 minutes today, discussing his experiences during the SHL’s Euro Hockey Tour pause as he acclimates to his surroundings, his acclimation to Swedish ice hockey, and he explains the reasons why he’s not playing for Germany’s World Championship evaluation team due to coronavirus restrictions.

Seider feels that he needs to be “tighter” and “have a better gap” against his opponents, defensively speaking, but he speaks glowingly of the SHL’s talent level, and he discusses the SHL’s condensed schedule (every other day) post-Euro Hockey Tour pause as well.

Three international hockey things: Berggren on Sweden’s 3rd line; Hronek OK to practice after ‘inconclusive’ coronavirus test; Zadina heralds Czech Extraliga’s return

Per HockeyNews.se’s Mattias Ek, it looks like Jonatan Berggren is playing on Sweden’s 3rd line ahead of tomorrow’s Karjala Cup game vs. the Czechs:

Filip Hronek was also allowed to practice yesterday after having to spend a day in the hotel in Helsinki due to an “inconclusive” coronavirus test:

And, as Filip Zadina noted on Twitter, the Czech Extraliga is going to be coming back within the next week to ten days, so…

Update: Ocelari Trinec’s website reports that Zadina and company will return to action on Monday vs. Vitkovice.

HSJ discusses Mantha’s contract in fiscal context

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a subscriber-only article this morning which discusses the re-signing of Anthony Mantha to a 4-year, $22.8 million contract in context of the “fiscal restraint” that Steve Yzerman has exercised over the course of his tenure as the Red Wings’ GM:

The $5.7 million annual average value, or salary cap hit, recognizes that Mantha is a key rebuilding block, but keeps the hit below Dylan Larkin’s $6.1 million AAV. Four years says Yzerman believes in Mantha, but there’s room to grow. Tyler Bertuzzi, who, like Mantha, was a restricted free agent, probably could have had similar term, but that was a gamble Bertuzzi took, and lost, when he filed for arbitration. Bertuzzi wound up with one year at $3.5 million. 

Bertuzzi and Mantha were Yzerman’s biggest RFAs this offseason, and their combined AAV adds up to $9.2 million. 

Larkin, who was signed by former GM Ken Holland for five years, $30.5 million in 2018, and Mantha are locked up through 2022-23 for a combined $11.8 million cap hit. Considering the uncertainty wrought by the novel coronavirus pandemic regarding the future growth of the salary cap, that’s a nice number that won’t get the Wings into cap trouble.

Four years is a good deal for Mantha, too. He could have gone for a one-year deal under the guise of trying to boost his value, but the risk in doing so increased as the start of the 2021 season kept shrinking the length of the season. Now he has job security — and a chance at one more big, long-term deal when he’s 30.

Continued (paywall)