Talking about the ‘taxi squad’

WDIV’s Dave Bartkowiak Jr. wrote a fine primer on the 2020-2021 NHL season for Red Wings fans this morning, offering critical dates, important divisional notes and this question as to what the Red Wings might do with their four-to-six-man “taxi squad”:

The Red Wings — and all teams — will be allowed 36 players at training camp. Again, they’ll have to trim that to a 23-player roster before the season (remember there are no preseason games) with the addition of up to four to six players.

In the case of the Red Wings, training camp could be wild. We’re looking at a team with a long list of players who are trying to pry their way into a NHL lineup. Can you imagine the ferocity at training camp with so many young players working to make this team?

There will be at least one goalie required on the tax squad. Should we see 22-year-old goalie Filip Larsson in net at some point? What about 2017 first-round draft pick Michael Rasmussen? He just put up 18 points in 18 games in the Austrian league. Will defenseman Gustav Lindstrom be part of this?

I can’t wait to see what this taxi squad looks like. Mathias Bromé, the Swedish league goal scorer who Steve Yzerman signed to a one-year deal in April, is apparently making the trip to North America now. The 26-year-old left wing has 20 points in 23 games with Orebo this season.

Continued; this week’s podcast will have a little more about the concept.

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, when MLive hired me to work their SlapShots blog, and I joined Kukla's Korner in 2011 as The Malik Report. I'm starting The Malik Report as a stand-alone site, hoping that having my readers fund the website is indeed the way to go to build a better community and create better content.