Month: July 2021

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan wonders aloud what exactly the Red Wings are looking for in terms of unrestricted free agents, starting tomorrow, and Kulfan suggests that the Wings’ greatest need may be filled from “within”–by re-signing some or all of their respective free agents (i.e. Luke Glendening, Bobby Ryan, Sam Gagner and/or Darren Helm):

If negotiations with any, or all, of those forwards don’t produce results, then the Wings will aggressively hit the market looking for replacements.

“We’ll talk to our own free agents for sure,” general manager Steve Yzerman said after the NHL Entry Draft. “We’ll continue to stay in touch with them.”

Ironically, Glendening, Gagner and Ryan were the only right-shot forwards in the Wings’ lineup.

Without them, it creates a further imbalance and would force the Wings to work the free-agent market.

All three, especially East Grand Rapids native and alternate captain Glendening, have shown an interest in returning to the Wings.

“Right shots are a bit of a concern for us,” Yzerman said. “Our three right-shot forwards are unrestricted free agents, and we have definite interest in all three of them. Between now and (start of free agency), we’ll decide if we can get something done. Can we get something done with any of those guys or do we go beyond the 28th (Wednesday) and see what else is out there?”

Continued

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen offers a day-before-the-start-of-free-agency glance at the Red Wings’ salary cap situation, including an estimate as to how much money it might take to re-sign Tyler Bertuzzi, Filip Hronek, Jakub Vrana, Adam Erne and Givani Smith:

Detroit Hockey Now’s Estimate salary cost for RFAs: $15.9 presuming that none of the players get a long-term deal. If the Red Wings tied up Vrana long-term it might increase the salary cap hit by up to $2 million.After RFAs are signed, the Red Wings will be $21.7 million under the cap with 19 players signed.

Other additions: The above estimates include Moritz Seider because it is highly likely he will play in Detroit this season. It doesn’t include Joe Veleno. DHN projects he will be on the roster. His  salary is $894,000. That would put the Red Wings with $20.8 million in salary cap space left with 20 players signed.

Projected cost of four free agent veterans: Unless Yzerman decides to make a trade for a higher salaried player, the best guess is that Yzerman will sign four $1 million players. That’s essentially what he did last season. That would give him a 24-person roster with $16.8 million in salary cap space remaining.

Continued

Team Sweden lost for the third straight game at the World Junior Summer Showcase, dropping a 4-1 decision to Team USA White on Tuesday.

None of the Red Wings’ prospects taking part in the game took part in the scoring, but Theodor Niederbach served as Sweden’s #1 center, looking a little more comfortable on the “small ice” as he continues to adjust to playing against bigger, stronger players than he ever faced in the Swedish J20 league with Frolunda;

William Wallinder played in his second game for Sweden, and displayed superb three-direction skating, good gap control, excellent reads and a steady demeanor;

And Team USA White’s Shai Buium looked a little more like the player the Red Wings drafted 33rd overall on Saturday, playing steadier, stronger hockey and displaying much more maneuverability on his skates as he worked in on the Americans’ second defensive pair.

After the game, the trio spoke with myself and the Detroit News’s Nolan Bianchi:

Continue reading Audio from the WJSS: Shai Buium, Theodor Niederbach and William Wallinder

Red Wings prospect Lucas Raymond spoke with Rakapuckar’s Henrik Leman regarding his recovery from elbow surgery and his decision to head over to North America this upcoming season, and the Free Press’s Helene St. James spoke with Leman regarding the Wings’ plans for Raymond.

What follows is a rough translation of Leman’s article:

The 20-21 season has somehow never ended for Lucas Raymond. The injured (and operated upon) elbow kept him away from the end of Frolunda’s season, but he had hoped to make a comeback–but that hope died when his teammates crash-landed vs. Rogle.

“I wanted to be in game shape, so I trained pretty hard until the season ended. Then I felt that I should just as easily continue doing so…Ha ha.”

His first skate after a while was skating on the ice with Andreas Larsson (Hockey PT), who was in Kungsbacka last week, where Raymond was one of the many stars who kept skating.

It was a good test for Raymond’s operated-upon elbow. One that has turned out so well that the subject can be deleted.

“Yes, you can see that we trained quite hard; I feel safe, I don’t feel it at all. It’s very-nice,” says the ex-Frolunda winger.

Continue reading Roughly Translated: Lucas Raymond, HSJ speak with Rakapuckar’s Henrik Leman

Good depth re-signing here:

UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today agreed to terms with left wing Taro Hirose on a one-year contract extension. pic.twitter.com/cjNpGcU6vL— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 27, 2021

Here are the terms, per PuckPedia:

The #LGRW re-signed 25 y/o F Taro Hirose to 1 year $850K Deal:

NHL $850K
Minors 190K
Guarantee $220K

2P in 6 NHL GP, 28P in 29 AHL GP

Rep’d by Allain Roy @royhockeygroup https://t.co/p1iETNqgKM— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 27, 2021

Update: Here’s the Wings’ press release:

Continue reading Red Wings re-sign Hirose

From the Jamie Daniels Foundation’s Twitter account:

Join us as we Roast and toast former @StarNhl and Stanley Cup winner, Brett Hull. Guests to include @BlueDarrenPang Dennis Hull, Steve Yzerman and many more! For more info: https://t.co/PqsO5T7i9f pic.twitter.com/Y32lxj9T2K— Jamie Daniels Foundation (@JDanielsFund) July 27, 2021

MLive’s Ansar Khan ponders what the Red Wings might do during the upcoming free agent period, which begins tomorrow at 12 PM EDT:

General manager Steve Yzerman will be active, seeking to fill a few holes on the roster. The Red Wings need two or three right-shooting forwards and a depth defenseman, preferably a left-shooter.

Yzerman likely will look to sign players on short-term deals (one or two years) at relatively low cap figures.

The Red Wings had only three right-shot forwards last season – Bobby Ryan, Sam Gagner and Luke Glendening – and all are free agents.

“Right shots are a bit of a concern for us,” Yzerman said. “Our three right-shot forwards are unrestricted free agents, and we have definite interest in all three of them. Between now and (today), we’ll decide if we can get something done with any of those guys or do we go beyond the 28th and see what else is out there.”

Continued; Khan believes that Ryan, Gagner and Glendening are all legitimate options at forward, as are some of the more notable names out there at forward, but he suggests that the Wings will look at an Alex Biega-type defenseman to shuttle between Detroit and Grand Rapids, and stand pat in goal.

Red Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic appeared on 97.1 the Ticket’s Stoney and Jansen show this morning, speaking for 13 minutes about his trade to the Wings and his expectations for the upcoming season:

ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski filed a massive article for ESPN+ this morning, discussing the free agency outlook for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams. Here’s what they had to say about the Red Wings’ free agency outlook:

Detroit Red Wings

Key players hitting UFA: RW Bobby Ryan, C Sam Gagner, C Valtteri Filppula, C Luke Glendening, C Darren Helm, D Alex Biega
Key players hitting RFA: F Tyler Bertuzzi, F Adam Erne, F Jakub Vrana, D Christian Djoos, D Filip Hronek
Cap space: $37,565,277

What they should do: GM Steve Yzerman has already gotten some work done. He traded for defenseman Nick Leddy and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, and re-signed defenseman Marc Staal and forward Michael Rasmussen. That’s a good start. At the moment, the Red Wings have only 13 players under contract for next season. But that number will climb when they get around to signing some of their RFAs, with an emphasis on Vrana, Bertuzzi and Hronek.

The Wings will likely go bargain hunting in free agency, as they continue to cycle through their rebuild. Yzerman signed six UFAs last offseason, none of them to longer than two seasons. The needs this time for the Red Wings: Some right-shot forwards, as the back end looks fairly filled out — including two goaltenders.

Continued (paywall)

Per the Red Wings:

RED WINGS AGREE TO TWO-YEAR EXTENSION WITH
KYLE CRISCUOLO

… Five-Year AHL Veteran Won Calder Cup with Griffins in 2017 …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today agreed to terms with center Kyle Criscuolo on a two-year contract extension.

Continue reading Red Wings re-sign Kyle Criscuolo