Of note from Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen and Bob Duff:
- In the “odds” department, Duff suggests that Alex Nedeljkovic is a decent bet to earn a Vezina Trophy with the Wings, in the parlance of sports betting…
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook BetMGM appear to share Yzerman’s optimism. They’ve established Nedeljkovic as the co-eighth betting choice to win the Vezina Trophy this season. Both Nedeljkovic and Tuukka Rask are opening at odds of +1400. Rask is currently seeking a new contract. Expectations are he’ll rejoin the Boston Bruins at some point this season.
Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning is the +600 favorite. The odds on Nedeljkovic are only slightly longer than that what bettors can get on former Vezina and Hart Trophy winner Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens (+1200).
Among those assigned longer Vezina odds than Nedeljkovic are Stanley Cup winner Jordan Binnington (+2200) of the St. Louis Blues, former Wing Petr Mrazek (+1800) of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Robin Lehner (+1800) of the Vegas Golden Knights, two-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky (+2700) of the Florida Panthers and Carter Hart (+3200) of the Philadelphia Flyers.
2. Duff also discusses offer sheets in his daily “Duffer’s Dabbles”…
The Jesperi Kotkaniemi offer sheet drama has concluded. Are there any other NHL teams that might consider going the offer sheet route with a restricted free agent? Pittsbugh Hockey Now contemplated this issue and came up with a short list of likely candidates.
Detroit Red Wings RFA forward Givani Smith was among those who made the list. It’s purely speculative and the Wings certainly have the salary cap space to match any offer made to Smith but it is intriguing, considering he’s the only Red Wings player left without a contract.
3. And, among Kevin Allen’s “Ten Facts Guaranteed to Make a Detroit Red Wings Fan Feel Old“…
Nicklas Lidstrom hasn’t played an NHL game in nine years and he still might be better than anyone on the Red Wings’ defense.
Chris Chelios turns 60 in January.
Dylan Larkin was 11 months old when the Red Wings ended a 41-year old drought by winning the 1997 Stanley Cup.
Scotty Bowman hasn’t coached the Detroit Red Wings in 19 years and he’s 87 now.
