Month: October 2021

Allen suggests that the Wings’ potential injuries could yield NHL spots for Veleno, Raymond

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posits the following theory regarding the Red Wings’ top prospects and the team’s potentially injured players:

The Detroit Red Wings’ growing list of training camp injuries could increase playing opportunities for the team’s top prospects and veteran Bobby Ryan.

Rookies Lucas Raymond and Joe Veleno and Ryan might play in the Red Wings’ opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning as much out of necessity as merit.

“It’s a whole bunch of (injured) guys,” Blashill said. “We don’t know who is going to be available and who’s not. We are taking it day by day.”

Blashill didn’t say who is injured. The injured players previously identified are Michael Rasmussen who has only played one preseason game and Givani Smith.  The severity of either injury is unknown.

“We will make decisions when we have to make decisions,” Blashill said, “and not before then.”

Continued

Berggren, Renouf, Witkowski sent to Grand Rapids

From the Red Wings:

RED WINGS ASSIGN TRIO TO GRIFFINS  

… Detroit’s Preseason Roster Reduced to 32 Following Exhibition Finale …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today assigned left wing Jonatan Berggren and defensemen Dan Renouf and Luke Witkowski to the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

The Red Wings have 32 players on their preseason roster: 20 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders. Detroit concluded its eight-game preseason slate this afternoon in Buffalo with a 4-4-0 record. The team will officially begin the 96th season in franchise history on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. when it hosts the back-to-back Stanley Cup-champion Tampa Bay Lightning at Little Caesars Arena.

Preseason wrap-up: Red Wings drop preseason finale to Buffalo

The Detroit Red Wings dropped a 3-1 decision to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon, wrapping up their preseason slate of 8 games played over the course of only 11 days and nights with a 4-and-4 record.

NHL.com posted a brief recap of the game:

Zemgus Girgensons scored the go-ahead shorthanded goal to help the Buffalo Sabres defeat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 in the preseason finale for each team at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Saturday.

Girgensons scored at 19:17 of the second period after a giveaway by Red Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic for a 2-1 lead.

JJ Peterka and Vinnie Hinostroza scored, and Craig Anderson made 18 saves for the Sabres, who open the regular season against the Montreal Canadians on Thursday.

Sam Gagner scored, and Nedeljkovic made 35 saves for the Red Wings, who begin the regular season against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

The Red Wings played with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen as Jonatan Berggren couldn’t skate in today’s game, but very little seemed to spark the Wings, who have played 6 games in the past 8 days. I guess that’s understandable, but it was a little disappointing, save the fact that Nedeljkovic played so very well (aside from his brain fart).

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan also filed a recap…

Continue reading Preseason wrap-up: Red Wings drop preseason finale to Buffalo

Preseason recap: Red Wings lose 3-1 to Buffalo Sabres

The Detroit Red Wings dressed a blended roster of prospects and established players opposite the Buffalo Sabres for today’s matinee affair. With the Wings nursing injuries to Michael Rasmussen and Givani Smith (per MLive’s Ansar Khan) the status of the Red Wings’ 23-man roster, as will be submitted to the NHL at 3 PM on Monday, looked like it was “to be determined.”

The Buffalo Sabres were slightly undermanned as well, but as far as regular season dress rehearsals are concerned, these were the best rosters that both teams could muster.

So the Red Wings wrapped up a slate of 8 exhibition games played over the course of only 11 days and nights, and they did so by dropping a 3-1 decision to the Buffalo Sabres.

During an afternoon in which Sam Gagner was probably the best player on the ice, and the Wings’ only scorer, Detroit was out-shot 38-19 by a more energetic Sabres team, and out-attempted 55-31 during a game where the Wings were just plain old mentally and physically exhausted from the grind–and Buffalo was all too happy to grind them down as a result.

Detroit ends the preseason with a 4-and-4 record, and the first game that counts is Thursday vs. Tampa Bay.

Continue reading Preseason recap: Red Wings lose 3-1 to Buffalo Sabres

Prospect round-up: Johansson 2A, Soderblom 2G 1A, Niederbach 1G 1A,

Of prospect-related note in Europe this afternoon:

In the Finnish Liiga, Eemil Viro finished at -1 with 3 shots in 17:42 played as TPS Turku lost 2-1 to Karpat in a shootout;

In the SHL, Albert Johansson had 2 assists, finishing at +3 in 14:04 played as Farjestads BK won 5-2 over Brynas:

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Johansson 2A, Soderblom 2G 1A, Niederbach 1G 1A,

Red Wings waive Calvin Pickard for assignment to Grand Rapids

Per Chris Johnston:

Full list of today’s NHL waivers: John Moore (BOS), Chris Wagner (BOS), Byron Froese (CGY), Justi Kirkland (CGY), Calvin Pickard (DET), Thomas Hickey (NYI), Richard Panik (NYI), Anthony Angello (PIT), Dylan Gambrell (SJ), Logan Brown (STL), Mackenzie MacEachern (STL) …— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 9, 2021

Alex Biega (TOR), Kurtis Gabriel (TOR) and Michal Kempny (WSH).— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 9, 2021

The Score’s O’Leary suggests that coach Blashill is ‘on the hot seat’

The Score’s Sean O’Leary suggests that Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill is among a group of NHL coaches who are not only “on the hot seat,” but also “in the pressure cooker” heading into the 2021-2022 season:

Jeff Blashill, Red Wings: Blashill is also on an expiring deal. Detroit has been uninspiring for years, and he’ll have to make a noticeable impact this season to be re-upped in Hockeytown.

Continued; If the Wings make tangible improvements upon their previous seasons’ records, I wouldn’t be surprised if Blashill remains as the Red Wings’ coach.

A lukewarm Red Wings season preview from Sportsnet’s Johnston

Sportsnet’s Mike Johnston penned an Atlantic Division preview today, and here’s what he has to say about the Red Wings:

DETROIT RED WINGS

2021 season outcome: 19-27-10, seventh place in Central Division, missed playoffs.

Notable off-season additions: Pius Suter, Mitchell Stephens, Alex Nedeljkovic, Nick Leddy, Jordan Oesterle, Luke Witkowski

Notable off-season subtractions: Jonathan Bernier, Valtteri Filppula, Frans Nielsen, Luke Glendening, Richard Panik

The good news: Overall, just knowing that Steve Yzerman is the one making decisions and building this roster is reason enough for optimism. In terms of the offence, there’s really nowhere to go but up after the team scored just one more goal than the lowly Ducks last season.

It was a slightly under-the-radar move but trading for Nedeljkovic from Carolina could help jumpstart a turnaround. The young netminder posted a .932 save percentage and 1.90 goals-against average which were league bests among goalies with more than 10 starts.

The bad news: There remains a dearth of elite talent. Detroit lost seven games in regulation by just one goal plus another 10 in overtime or a shootout. Their .227 winning percentage in one-goal games was worst in the NHL and a lack of proven scorers could mean similar results. If minor improvements result in winning more of these close games, though, then we’ll begin seeing Detroit climb up from the league’s lower tiers.

Continued; I believe that the Red Wings’ roster additions and special teams renovations could give the team the opportunity to be much more competitive in one-goal games, but we’ll see how things pan out.

Tweet of note: Red Wings post today’s lineup vs. Buffalo

No Dylan Larkin for today’s game against the Buffalo Sabres (3 PM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com/MSG B):

Update: MLive’s Ansar Khan notes the injury situation:

Update #2: Here’s the Sabres’ roster: