Month: December 2021

The Score’s power rankings: deck the halls with jabbed Bertuzzi

The Score posted this week’s power rankings, offering a Christmas present to each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams…

22. Detroit Red Wings (15-13-3)

Previous rank: 16th

? A vaccine for Tyler Bertuzzi. The Red Wings wingeris the only NHL player who hasn’t received his COVID-19 jab yet.

Well, Bertuzzi was the subject of quite the chirp from New Jersey Devils enforcer Mason Geertsen on Saturday, as Yahoo Sports’ Thomas Williams noted:

In a league where, understandably, anyway, you can’t “chirp the way you used to,” I thought this was a creative “jab.”

That, and it would be great to have Bertuzzi in the lineup when the Wings head to Canada in March. The team needs his ability to stir up scoring via his forechecking prowess and energetic game.

Bultman files a mailbag article

The Athletic’s Max Bultman filed a mailbag feature this morning:

Am I alone in thinking Nick Leddy’s been underwhelming so far? — Walking on a wire

You are not. Certainly, the statistics are in your favor, with Leddy having just eight points in 31 games and carrying underlying numbers much worse than the ones he turned in for the Islanders last season. I do think he’s added some much-needed mobility to the Red Wings’ blue line, and his ability to skate with the puck is something that Detroit hasn’t had enough of in recent years. He’s also still their best left-shot defenseman, which matters.

But in terms of the hope he could help provide offense, yes, it’s definitely fair to be a bit underwhelmed.

True or False: If Vrana is healthy at the start of the season, Raymond would’ve started in Grand Rapids. — Seth Walters

I love this hypothetical from Seth, partly because it now seems impossible to imagine Raymond — who has 28 points in 31 games — anywhere but his current spot on the Red Wings’ top line.

And yet, it’s still fair to acknowledge he might never have gotten the chance to play there in the first place had Vrana not been injured. Does Raymond’s talent shine through in the same way if he spends the preseason playing on the wing of Michael Rasmussen or Mitchell Stephens? Probably not, but I do think his shooting talent and smarts would have found a way to earn him a spot regardless.

In addition to his skill, he plays a reasonably mature game, and at some point talent finds a way. So I’ll say FALSE. But it’s a great question.

Continued (paywall)

HSJ in the morning: Moritz Seider vs. Jack Hughes, round 1, goes to ‘Mo’

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an early-morning article discussing Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider’s performance against New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes during Saturday’s 5-2 win over New Jersey. Both players were drafted in the first round in 2019, and even though the Red Wings finished lower than the Devils that year, the Wings’ draft lottery luck failed them…On paper, anyway:

Saturday marked the first time Seider and Hughes played against one another in the NHL. Hughes, 20, is in his third season, but Seider spent 2019-20 in the American Hockey League and last season in Sweden. Seider was on the ice against Hughes most shifts, and quickly adapted to limit his effectiveness. Wings assistant coach Doug Houda, who is in charge of the defensemen, pointed out Seider’s teachability after the game.

“I thought he respected the game,” Houda said. “He knew he had to play Jack Hughes. The first couple minutes, I thought Hughes got in behind him, and that was the last time he got in behind him, because he played against him most of the night.

“He’s a great player and he’s just learning the game and every day he’s getting better and better. As you play against these better players every game, there’s something to pick up every night, and he did it again. He defended pretty well against Jack Hughes.”

Hughes was held without a point, giving him five goals, three assists and a minus-8 rating in 12 games this season (he missed 17 games because of a dislocated shoulder). Hughes had 21 points and was minus-26 in 61 games his rookie year, and had 31 points and a minus-3 rating in 56 games last season. In November, the Devils signed Hughes to an eight-year, $64-million extension that kicks in next season and carries an $8 million annual average value.

In addition to his defensive performance, Seider starred offensively. In the second period, he had the puck in the neutral zone, slowed down to make sure the play was not offside, remained poised as he was double teamed, and then slipped the puck through defender’s legs and on to Tyler Bertuzzi, who scored to make it 3-1. It was Seider’s 18th assist of the season, tying teammate Lucas Raymond for the NHL lead in assists among rookies.

Continued (paywall); here’s the goal:

Via A2Y: The Hockey News names Larkin a 3 Star selection

Via Paul Kukla of Abel to Yzerman comes praise for Dylan Larkin as a “star of the weekend” from the Hockey News’s Adam Proteau:

1. Dylan Larkin, Detroit: Larkin and his Red Wings played three games this week, and Detroit’s captain amassed five goals – including his first career hat trick, scored Saturday against the New Jersey Devils – and seven points as the Wings won two of those games. The 25-year-old Larkin is on pace to score 40 goals and 77 points – and that would be career-bests in both categories (his current goals record is 32 goals, and his current points record is 73 points, with both marks set in the 2018-19 season).

Larkin averaged approximately 20 minutes of ice time this week, a sign Wings head coach Jeff Blashill trusts him to back up his desire to win by playing responsibly at both ends of the ice. In 27 games this season, Larkin has 15 goals and 29 points. Last season, in 44 games, he scored nine goals and 23 points. That ought to tell you how well Larkin has played, and why the Red Wings are technically in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. Yes, the fifth-place Boston Bruins are just three standings points behind Detroit, and they have a whopping five games in hand on the Wings. But after many years of disappointing team results, Larkin seems set to help push Detroit back into post-season contention.

The Red Wings probably won’t make the playoffs, but it’s sure nice for the team to feel even remotely relevant again.

Relief

The Detroit Red Wings were shut down by the NHL this afternoon, after Sam Gagner, Pius Suter, Joe Veleno and assistant coach Jeff Weintraub joined coach Jeff Blashill, assistant coach Alex Tanguay, Robby Fabbri, Alex Nedeljkovic, Michael Rasmussen, Carter Rowney, Givani Smith and Filip Zadina in COVID protocols.

The Red Wings’ Monday night game vs. Colorado was already to be rescheduled due to the Avs’ COVID outbreak, and now, the Wings won’t play the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul on Thursday, providing less risk to a team scheduled to host a Winter Classic on January 1st.

I’m not “happy” about this news, but I am relieved, significantly so, at the fact that a team which has 9 players and 3 coaches dealing with breakthrough COVID infections will be given time to recover from their illnesses.

This is a vicious virus, and in an environment where players are breathing hard because of exertion, sweating, drinking, spitting, bleeding, showering, eating, drinking, and generally spending extended periods of time in close contact, that’s a paradise for a virus spread by respiratory droplets.

Once half the team and the coach and assistant coaches are in protocol, the NHL and NHLPA had no choice but to act, a year after forcing the Red Wings to battle through one of the NHL’s first COVID outbreaks, and here’s wishing everyone involved a return to health over the course of the Christmas holiday.

Prospect Round-up: Eliasson wins again; Walleye win 2nd OT game

Of Red Wings prospect-related note:

In the Swedish HockeyEttan, Jesper Eliasson stopped 21 of 24 shots in Vasby IK’s 5-3 win over Hanvikens SK;

In the ECHL, Billy Christopoulos stopped 30 shots and Randy Gazzola scored an OT goal to give Toledo a 2-1 overtime victory over Greenville;

And in the WHL, Alex Cotton finished at -1 with 4 shots and a minor penalty taken in the Vancouver Giants’ 6-5 loss to Tri-City.

Duff: Raymond’s wowing the Wings despite his age

Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond managed to battle his way into a roster spot with Detroit in no small part due to Jakub Vrana’s shoulder injury which required surgery during training camp, but since then, he’s been absolutely dominant, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes:

Detroit Red Wings rookie left-winger Lucas Raymond keeps on putting his name up there in exclusive company among NHL first-year players.

The teenage sensation is doing so again. With 28 points through his first 31 NHL games, Raymond, 19, has accumulated the fourth-most points by a first-year teen-aged winger in NHL history.

Only Hartford Whalers left-winger Sylvain Turgeon (29 points in 1983-84), Chicago Blackhawks right-winger Patrick Kane (31 points in 2007-08), and Toronto Maple Leafs left-winger Gaye Stewart (37 points in 1942-43) were producing at a pace better than Raymond through their first 31 NHL games.

The Red Wings brass was quite confident that defenseman Moritz Seider, the club’s 2019 top draft pick, would be able to step right into a significant role as an NHL rookie this season. They readily admit that they didn’t forsee that also happening with 2020 top draftee Raymond.

“Moritz was playing 20 minutes a night in Rogle last season, so our thought was that he would be ready to play in the NHL at the start of the season,” Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman explained. “With Lucas, (it was) a little bit different because he didn’t play a big role in Frolunda, and he got injured and missed a lot of time at the end of the season.

“Going into the year, we weren’t really sure what to expect from Lucas. We didn’t want to rule him out from playing but truthfully, we kinda thought he was probably going to take some time in the American Hockey League, just based on what we saw last year.”

Continued

I took a nap, and the Red Wings have been shut down through Christmas

Well, this was not a shock:

RED WINGS SHUT DOWN THROUGH THE HOLIDAY BREAK

NEW YORK (Dec. 19, 2021) – The National Hockey League announced today that due to concern with the number of positive cases within the last several days, as well continued COVID spread, the Detroit Red Wings’ games will be postponed at least through the scheduled completion of the League’s Holiday Break in the schedule on Dec. 26. The decision was made by the NHL’s, the NHLPA’s and the Club medical groups.

A decision on when the Red Wings’ training facilities will re-open will be made by the League and the NHLPA in the coming days. The League is in the process of reviewing and revising the Red Wings’ regular season schedule. Red Wings’ postponed games include, tomorrow vs. Colorado (previously postponed) plus Thursday’s game at Minnesota.

The Red Wings have followed, and will continue to follow, all recommended guidelines aimed at protecting the health and safety of their Players, staff and community at large as set by the NHL, local, state and federal agencies.

May the team get healthy again.