The Free Press’s Helene St. James has posted something of a training camp preview as we are just over two weeks out from the Red Wings’ hitting the ice in Traverse City:
The Detroit Red Wings are two weeks out from the start of training camp, their ice time booked for Traverse City as has been tradition since 1997.
They weren’t able to go in 2020, of course, because of COVID-19. This year’s event runs about a week later than normal, with a golf outing Sept. 22 and practices/scrimmages Sept. 23-28. Their exhibition season begins Sept. 29 with a game at the Chicago Blackhawks and runs through Oct. 9. The home opener is Oct. 14 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
This will be the third season under general manager Steve Yzerman. When training began in September 2019, players noted most of them weren’t “his,” meaning they were on the roster when Yzerman was named GM five months earlier.
Now, nearly every player on the roster bears Yzerman’s endorsement. Gone from the squad that finished the 2018-19 season are: forwards Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou, Frans Nielsen, Thomas Vanek, Darren Helm, Luke Glendening, Justin Abdelkader, Christoffer Ehn and Jacob de la Rose; defensemen Niklas Kronwall (who retired and joined the front office), Trevor Daley, Madison Bowey and Jonathan Ericsson; and goaltenders Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Bernier. In addition, defenseman Dennis Cholowski, a first-round pick from 2016, was lost in the Seattle expansion draft, and forward Evgeny Svechnikov, a first-round pick from 2017, was not tendered a qualifying offer this summer.
