Month: September 2021

Red Wings make first roster subtractions ahead of Red vs. White Game

UPDATE: The #RedWings today assigned F Cross Hanas & Pasquale Zito, D Oscar Plandowski & G Jan Bednar & Sebastian Cossa to their respective major junior clubs & released F Cameron Butler, Luke Toporowski & Cooper Walker from their amateur tryouts. #DRWTC pic.twitter.com/b9RvQyyLkN— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 25, 2021

Bluntly:

  1. Hanas needs to go back to the Portland Winterhawks and have a fine overage season;
  2. Zito needs to play and instigate in Windsor, period;
  3. Bednar needs a full North American season with Acadie-Bathurst;
  4. Cossa is young and will benefit most from playing for the Edmonton Oil Kings right now;
  5. And Butler, Toporowski and Walker weren’t going to be signed.

Allen discusses the possibility of a Nick Leddy-Moritz Seider defensive pairing

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen noted that Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill seems to be leaning toward starting the exhibition season (at least) with prized rookie Moritz Seider skating on a defensive pair with 30-year-old defenseman Nick Leddy:

“It’s a pairing that we could potentially use going into the season,” Blashill said.  “We want to go through some exhibition games and see. It was a starting point for us. Part of it is how good does Moritz play in terms of what type of minutes they’re going to see.”

Leddy was acquired from the New York Islanders in the offseason. The hope is he could help the team’s power play. Leddy is an exceptional skater, known for his ability to move the puck through the neutral zone.  He has also played in 776 NHL regular-season games and has frequently been matched up against top offensive players. Leddy is known for his puck-moving, but he is an underrated one-on-one defender.

“I don’t think we necessarily need to have one pair that goes out every night against the other team’s best players every single shift,” Blashill said. “I think we can share those responsibilities. Moritz and Leds can do that. ”

The players’ strengths complement each other. Plus, Leddy is a left shot and Seider shoots right.

“You got a really good skater in Leddy,” Blashill said. “You got a real big guy in Moritz. Both have the opportunity to jump up into the play. I think having that veteran presence, we felt like it could be a real good match. They could see some significant minutes together. We’ll see how they continue to go.”

Continued

Prospect round-up: Playing time and wins for Viro, Grewe and Kivenmaki in Finland; 1 assist for Wallinder, and a win for the Frolunda Trio

Of prospect-related note in Europe:

In the Finnish Liiga, Eemil Viro finished even with a shot in 20:15 played as TPS Turku won 2-1 over Jukurit;

Albin Grewe finished even in 9:15 played as Ilves Tampere lost 5-0 to KalPa;

Otto Kivenmaki finished at -1 in 16:05 played as his Lahti Pelicans won 3-2 over SaiPa;

In the SHL, Simon Edvinsson finished at -1 with 3 shots and a penalty taken in 21:16, Theodor Niederbach finished at -1 with 3 shots in 8:48 played, and Elmer Soderblom finished at -1 with 1 shot in 11:05 played as Frolunda HC won 3-2 in OT over Oskarshamn;

And William Wallinder had an assist, finishing at +1 in 7:37 played as Rogle BK lost 3-2 to the Vaxjo Lakers.

Khan on the likelihood of a ‘split crease’ in Detroit

MLive’s Ansar Khan took note of Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill’s remarks regarding the high likelihood that Thomas Greiss and Alex Nedeljkovic will split starts this upcoming season in the Red Wings’ crease:

“Certainly, what [Nedeljkovic] did last season in those 20 games was good,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “Can he keep that going for 50 games? 40 games? Consistency in this league is critical.”

Nedeljkovic was a Calder Trophy finalist after going 15-5-3, with a 1.90 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. The Red Wings acquired him for a third-round pick in this year’s draft (94th overall) and the rights to unrestricted free-agent goalie Jonathan Bernier, who performed well the past two seasons but wasn’t going to be re-signed.

The trade appears to be a steal. Nedeljkovic, 25, is seven years younger than Bernier and could soon be the franchise’s No. 1 goalie, at least until Sebastian Cossa, the 15th selection in this year’s draft, is NHL-ready in a few years.

Blashill said he plans to give Nedeljkovic and veteran Thomas Greiss, who finished strong last season, looks early in the season until one establishes himself as the clear-cut starter, if that happens.

“As the year plays out, the guy that plays the best will play,” Blashill said. “If they both play great, they’ll both play.”

Continued

Red Wings videos from training camp: Filip Zadina, Sam Gagner (and Blashill and Fabbri to come)

The Red Wings held four Zoom calls with players and coach Jeff Blashill today at Centre ICE Arena. Here are the clips of Filip Zadina and Sam Gagner, with clips of coach Jeff Blashill and forward Robby Fabbri to come:

Update: Here’s Robby Fabbri…

Update #2: Here’s coach Blashill:

Jakub Vrana injures his shoulder

Not great news, from the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

Jakub Vrana returned to Red Wings’ practice Saturday — and quickly departed.

Vrana, who arrived Saturday after encountering visa issues this week, was on the ice for approximately 10 minutes before injuring a shoulder, coach Jeff Blashill said.

Vrana will be further evaluated and isn’t scheduled to play in Sunday’s Red & White scrimmage.