Month: November 2020

Sportsnet’s ‘The Greatest: NHL Goal of the 21st Century’ round of 16 pits Datsyuk’s trick flip vs. Matt Duchene’s out-of-the-air goal

Sportsnet’s “The Greatest: NHL Goal of the 21st Century” match-up for today pits Pavel Datsyuk’s goal vs. Antti Niemi in 2010 against a Matt Duchene rebound-out-of-the-air goal from 2018:

You can vote as to your favorite goal here.

Continue reading Sportsnet’s ‘The Greatest: NHL Goal of the 21st Century’ round of 16 pits Datsyuk’s trick flip vs. Matt Duchene’s out-of-the-air goal

ESPN’s Kaplan discusses ‘best and worst’ contracts for every team

ESPN’s Emily Kaplan posted a list of the best and worst contracts for each and every one of the NHL’s 31 teams (entry-level contracts excluded), and here’s her take on the Wings’ best and worst deals:

Detroit Red Wings

Best: Dylan Larkin 24, C
$6.1 million through 2022-23

The Red Wings were bottom-feeders last season, as they are in total revamp mode. Steve Yzerman is essentially trying to build a winner from scratch, though the top line of Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi (all 26 and under) is worth building around. The best of the bunch is Larkin, a fiery leader and likely next captain of this team (he currently wears an “A”). Having your No. 1 center count about $6 million against the cap is a coup in today’s NHL.

Worst: Frans Nielsen 36, C
$5.25 million through 2021-22

For the better part of the decade, the Red Wings have been saddled by bloated, poorly aging contracts — the aftermath of 25 consecutive playoff appearances. Ken Holland passed the torch to Yzerman, who has been slowly cleaning up (and waiting out) the salary-cap mess. The last big contract on the books belongs to Henrik Zetterberg, who hasn’t played since 2017-18 but is in his final year of a 12-year, $73 million contract extension signed in 2009. Since Zetterberg is on LTIR, our choice here is Nielsen, who scored just four goals and five assists in 60 games last season, saw his average ice time dip to 13:41 and is signed for two more seasons.

Continued; one may debate which deal is the Red Wings’ “best,” but the Nielsen contract, one made after the Wings swung and missed on landing Steven Stamkos back in 2016, is doubtlessly the worst remnant of the Holland regime.

The Nielsen deal doesn’t include a no-move clause any more, so the Wings can expose him for the 2021 expansion draft (if they don’t just buy the last year of his deal out), and Nielsen has been admirable in terms of his on-ice efforts and his off-ice accountability, but neither factor has produced on-ice results in terms of points or wins.

Rogle’s still postponing games

Moritz Seider’s Swedish team, Rogle BK, is still having some issues with coronavirus infections.

According to KvallsPosten’s Linus Vedmar, Rogle hasn’t played since they announced that the team wouldn’t be playing against Orebro on November 14th, and the team just postponed Thursday’s game against Djurgarden (their third postponement in a row) because the team is still attempting to reassemble its roster.

Rogle’s coach, Chris Abbott, tells Vedmar that the team has only 9 players practicing right now, so the team’s going to shoot for a Saturday restart vs. the Vaxjo Lakers at home.

There’s no word as to which players have contracted the coronavirus, but the players are apparently doing okay.

Plugging the Wings’ ‘Pucks for Paws’ calendar

I don’t mind giving the Red Wings some free advertising here, so here’s the Red Wings’ “Pucks for Paws” calendar Tweet:

Here’s the Red Wings’ press release regarding the “Pucks for Paws” calendar:

Continue reading Plugging the Wings’ ‘Pucks for Paws’ calendar

Bultman discusses divisional realignment’s ramifications upon the Red Wings

The Athletic’s Max Bultman discusses the ramifications of possible divisional realignment for the 2020-2021 season upon the Red Wings this morning. Bultman’s bottom line is blunt:

Look, the Red Wings are unlikely to have a realistic shot at the playoffs in 2021. Even if Detroit were to add the most wins of any team from last season, it’s starting from a steep deficit. Finishing in 31st place again is a more reasonable expectation than making it into the top 16.

That said, if the season ends up significantly abbreviated, then one hot (or cold) streak has to the potential to carry outsize bearing on a team’s overall record. And that’s where chaos can happen.

But you still have to be able to put that kind of hot streak together. And bringing Cup contenders such as Pittsburgh and St. Louis into the fold for regular matchups would make that a challenge. That’s to say nothing of the actual defending champs, if the Lightning do indeed stick in the Red Wings’ division. And don’t forget the Blue Jackets, who have proven they’re a tough out for anyone.

On the other hand, regional divisions could also mean getting away from Boston, a perennial contender (albeit one Detroit went 2-1 against last season). And adding a team like Chicago, which announced its intention to rebuild this offseason, could make for a few “anything can happen” games. Maybe it all just ends up a wash, compared to the Atlantic.

Continued (paywall)

Prospect round-up: Sam Stange scores first two NCAA goals in Wisconsin win

There was only one game on the prospect docket today, and there’s good news from said game:

In NCAA Division I Hockey, Red Wings prospect Sam Stange scored his first 2 NCAA goals, posting 4 shots and finishing at +2 in the University of Wisconsin Badgers’ 6-3 win over Penn State:

Stange was named the game’s first star.

HSJ reviews the Red Wings’ 2017 draft class

The Free Press’s Helene St. James looks back at the Red Wings’ 2017 NHL draft class this morning, and she’s not impressed with the return-on-investment thus far:

In addition to [Malte] Setkov, the Wings drafted forward Michael Rasmussen (ninth), defenseman Gustav Lindstrom (38th), defenseman Kasper Kotkansalo (71st), forward Lane Zablocki (79th), forward Zachary Gallant (83), goaltender Keith Petruzzelli (88th), defenseman Cole Fraser (131st), forward Jack Adams (162nd), defenseman Reilly Webb (164th) and forward Brady Gilmour (193rd). Zablocki, Gallant, Fraser, Webb and Gilmour are no longer in the Wings’ system.

Rasmussen is among several Wings players on loan to a team in Europe because of the pandemic. He has two goals and six assists with Graz in Austria. He appeared in 62 games with the Wings in 2018-19, recording eight goals and 10 assists, but spent last season with the Grand Rapids Griffins because the Wings want Rasmussen (6-6, 220) to get comfortable playing center at the pro level. He projects as a bottom six forward who can increase his value as a net-front presence on power plays.

Lindstrom appeared in 16 games last season for the Wings, playing a safe, solid game. He’s currently on loan to Almtuna IS, also in HockeyAllsvenskan.

Kotkansalo had been playing at Boston University, but he left that program to play for Ässät in Finland, where he has one assist in 18 games. He also appears unlikely to be signed before the summer deadline.

St. James continues, and the 2017 draft was the first one in which the Wings made 11 picks over the course of 7 draft rounds. I felt that Tyler Wright’s regime looked overwhelmed by the sheer number of picks, and that the team rushed its decision-making process…As a result, the Wings snagged a significant number of complementary players instead of the star power they needed, especially at the top end of the draft.

Rotoworld examines the 2020-2021 Red Wings

Rotoworld’s Ryan Dadoun offers 2020-2021 season previews for five Eastern Conference NHL teams this morning, and he discusses the Red Wings’ likely fate from a fantasy hockey perspective:

Detroit Red Wings

2019-20 Finish: 17-49-5 record, eighth in Atlantic Division

Noteworthy Gains: Vladislav Namestnikov, Thomas Greiss, Bobby Ryan, Marc Staal

Noteworthy Losses: None

Strengths: Well… Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Anthony Mantha are three fairly talented young forwards. While none of them have developed into stars, they’re all solid players and combine to be a worthwhile scoring line. There’s potential there for further development and maybe the trio will end up turning some heads this season.

Weaknesses: Almost everything else. It’s overly negative, especially because I do like the experimental additions they added over the summer. The Red Wings got some good veteran role players who should plug some holes nicely. At the same time, we’re talking about a team that was historically bad last season returning with a fairly similar roster. They ranked dead last in goals per game last season at 2 (the next worst was 2.53) and goals allowed per game at 3.73 (the next worst was 3.35). They had the third worst power-play and worst penalty kill. Will they do better this season? Yes, but that’s an extremely low bar.

Player to Watch: One potential silver lining for the team I didn’t really touch on is Thomas Greiss. He struggled mightily in 2017-18, but his other four seasons with the Islanders were fantastic. In fact, he’s put together a really solid career to date with a 2.63 GAA and .915 save percentage in 282 games. It’s going to be tough for him in Detroit given what’s in front of him, but he might be up to the challenge and provide a degree of stability for the team.

Continued