Month: July 2021

Winged Wheel Podcast interviews Alex Nedeljkovic

Enjoy:

NHL on Sirius XM radio posts 2-minute clip from Alex Nedeljkovic’s interview

I haven’t been able to find the full audio of Alex Nedeljkovic’s interview on the NHL on Sirius XM Radio’s “Power Play,” but here’s a short chunk thereof:

#RedWings Alexander Nedeljkovic @alexned_ on @SiriusXMNHL The Power Play!

The new @DetroitRedWings goalie joined @stevekouleas @Rupper17 @ShaneOBrien55 during #NHLFreeAgency week to talk about how he ended up in Hockeytown and his special season with the #Canes pic.twitter.com/MmZ1ZuvKun— SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (@SiriusXMNHL) July 30, 2021

Red Wings officially announce that training camp will take place in Traverse City

Per the Red Wings:

Detroit #RedWings executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman today announced that the Red Wings will return to Centre ICE Arena in Traverse City, MI!

Details: https://t.co/rkWDsmD6r8 pic.twitter.com/WRuY0AekWa— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 30, 2021

FTR: The Traverse City area earns somewhere around $3-5 million from tourism spending related to the prospect tournament and main training camp.

This is hugely welcome news for Traverse City and the businesses there. https://t.co/RoVUc2mlM1— George Malik (@georgemalik) July 30, 2021

Here’s the press release:

Continue reading Red Wings officially announce that training camp will take place in Traverse City

Wings’ beat writers: Mitchell Stephens likely to replace Luke Glendening as Wings’ 4th-line center

The Detroit Red Wings acquired Tampa Bay Lightning center Mitchell Stephens, a 24-year-old righty, for a 6th-round pick this morning, and the Red Wings’ beat writers are weighing in regarding the pick-up.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen suggests as much…

The Detroit Red Wings found their likely replacement for Luke Glendening when they acquired Mitchell Stephens from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. Stephens, 24, started last season as the Lightning’s fourth-line center until he suffered a serous knee injury.

He is a right-shot, which the Red Wings need. He didn’t play during the Lightning’s Stanley Cup run last season, but played with the team during the 2019-20 run. Stephens has appeared in 45 games for the back-to-back Stanley Cup-champion Lightning over the last two seasons, totaling seven points (3-4-7) and 10 penalty minutes.

MLive’s Ansar Khan, in an article summarizing the Wings’ depth signings, offers this regarding Stephens…

Mitchell Stephens, center: Detroit traded its 2022 sixth-round pick to Tampa Bay for Stephens, selected 33rd overall in 2015 under Steve Yzerman’s watch. Stephens (5-11, 190) appeared in seven games for the Lightning (no goals, one assist) this season and 38 games in 2019-20 (three goals, three assists), when he also played in seven playoff games (one goal) on a Stanley Cup-winning club. The 24-year-old right-handed shooter had a goal and seven assists in four games with AHL Syracuse, for whom he has played in parts of six seasons. He played 3½ seasons with the OHL Saginaw Spirit. He has one year remaining on his contract and will be a restricted free agent next summer.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan comes out and says it plainly…

Stephens was a 2015 second-round draft pick of the Lightning while Yzerman was still GM of that organization.

Stephens played junior hockey in Saginaw and London of the OHL, and in 209 games had 73 goals and 87 assists (160 points) with 92 penalty minutes.

Stephens would appear to be in the hunt for a job on the Wings’ bottom-six forwards, what with the losses of Darren Helm and Luke Glendening to free agency.

Sportsnet agrees…

Stephens, 24, struggled to find a role on a deep Lightning squad. He has appeared in just 45 NHL games over the past two seasons, including seven last year. He is signed for one more season at an AAV of $737,500.

On the rebuilding Red Wings, Stephens will slot into a hole created by the departure of depth centre Luke Glendening, who signed with the Dallas Stars in free agency.

And so does WDIV’s David Bartkowiak Jr.:

He played just seven games with the Lightning this past year, spending a large portion of the season injured. He returned at the end of the season with the Crunch.

With the departure of Luke Glendening, Stephens is ostensibly stepping in to fill the role of 4th-line center and penalty killer. Stephens boasts a 53% conversion at the faceoff dot in his career (45 games). It’s a small sample size, but still impressive.

Griffins sign Turner Elson, Hayden Verbeek to AHL deals

The Grand Rapids Griffins brought back forward Turner Elson on an AHL deal…

UPDATE: The Griffins have signed Turner Elson to a one-year AHL contract. #GoGRG

More Info >> https://t.co/pS7S5QLBfe pic.twitter.com/cfPpDlYidR— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) July 30, 2021

And they did the same for Hayden Verbeek, who was not qualified by Detroit:

WDIV’s Bartkowiak Jr. on the Wings operating with significant cap space

WDIV’s David Bartkowiak Jr. filed his weekly “Dear Red Wings” column this morning, discussing the Red Wings’ free agency moves, and both Bartkowiak and I would like to see the Wings “ride lean” this season:

We knew Wednesday was going to be the start of a wild NHL free agency period. It’s ongoing as I write this Friday morning. So far, Yzerman has been relatively conservative in his approach. He has improved the Red Wings roster, no doubt, but he still has $31 million in cap space. He has so many options. He does have key restricted free agents to deal with, too. There is no reason to think the Red Wings won’t sign RFAs Bertuzzi, Adam Erne, Jakub Vrana and Filip Hronek. The question is how much cap space do all of these contracts actually eat up? And for how long?

Personally, I’d love to see this team go into the 2021-22 season with a relatively wide amount of cap space still. Keep some options open for now. I don’t think there is any reason to dish out huge contracts yet. I want to see the young players try to form a solid core in Detroit. I want to see who can crack the lineup, who can prove his value and who wants to earn a new contract. There are a select few Red Wings under contract beyond 2022.

At this point, the move to get goalie Alex Nedeljkovic is the biggest of the Red Wings offseason.

Continued; with six restricted free agents to re-sign, the Wings won’t have $31 million in cap space, but once Bertuzzi, Hronek, Vrana, Erne, Smith and Pearson re-signed, the Wings should still have a fair amount of cap space to bank away for a rainy day, and in this “flat cap” world (at least for a couple more years), that’s smart management.

Regarding giving a $#*+ about Darren Helm’s departure

More than a few Red Wings partisans on Twitter, Facebook and this humble blog have reacted to Darren Helm’s departure for the sometimes-despised Colorado Avalanche, after 14 seasons with the Red Wings organization, with a simple, “So what?”

That’s understandable. Helm, now 34, was playing as 4th line forward on Detroit’s roster last season, and the rivalry with the Avalanche sure isn’t what it used to be…

But I can speak for everybody who reacted to this free agent departure with heartbreak, and I can do it quite simply: sometimes fans’ emotional investments in players are greater than the sum of their on-ice contributions, and for many fans of the 2008 Stanley Cup Champions, Darren Helm was that last connection to the Wings’ salary cap-era Cup.

There is nothing wrong with the Helm fans losing their Gord-dang minds over a past-his-prime player signing with a historical but not present-day rival. This is how fandom works–sometimes we invest an enormous amount of time, energy and effort into following specific players, and losing their services stings.

Rather than bashing Helm for being a bit player whose absence may very well make the Wings more competitive (which is certainly a valid observation regarding the Wings’ departures of Helm, Abdelkader, Glendening, Ericsson and other 2008-Cup-Era-or-Thereabouts players), I would ask that those of you who don’t feel much sympathy for those shook up by the “changing of the guard” on Steve Yzerman’s Red Wings team to remind yourself that roster turnover isn’t always business in the hearts of sentimental fans.

Hockey is not a business for everyone, and some fans love their “washed-up Wings.” There’s nothing wrong with that. Give them their time and space to grieve as you prepare to move on to the next chapter in Red Wings history.