Year: 2021

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted an article in which he offers his best estimate of the Red Wings’ 2020-2021 season opening-night lineup:

Red Wings training camp is now officially in the books, after two warp-speed weeks of practices, scrimmages and mad dashes between players jostling to be in the NHL lineup Thursday night.

Because of three big question marks — forwards Darren Helm, Bobby Ryan and Adam Erne all being deemed “unfit to practice” Monday — that lineup picture still looks a bit murky, even with Monday’s final practice featuring 20 skaters (one fewer than Detroit could carry into the season). Detroit coach Jeff Blashill also stressed Monday that while the NHL’s roster deadline creates a “decision day” feel, those decisions are also not permanent. The roster is, and will remain, relatively fluid into the season.

Nonetheless, as Thursday nears, what appears to be Detroit’s opening night lineup is coming into view, pending the availability of those three forwards. Here’s how it’s shaping up, what could still change and some final thoughts on the roster as camp comes to a close.

Continued (paywall)

MLive’s Ansar Khan predicts the order of finish in the NHL’s Central Division for the 2020-2021 season this morning, and Khan tells MLive subscribers that the Red Wings will finish at the bottom of their newly-adopted division:

8. Detroit (17-49-5, 39 points)

The Red Wings ranked at or near the bottom of the league in all statistical categories but should be improved offensively, defensively and in goal after several offseason moves. Bobby Ryan and Vladislav Namestnikov will provide some secondary scoring to complement a strong top line of Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi. Marc Staal, Troy Stecher, Jon Merrill and a healthy Danny DeKeyser improve the defense. Thomas Greiss is a significant upgrade in goal. The Red Wings might slip ahead of the Blackhawks to avoid the Central basement, but even that could be a tough task considering how much ground they would need to make up.

Continued (paywall)

If you’re interested in this sort of thing, from the Red Wings….

PointsBet Becomes Official Gaming Partner for the Detroit Red Wings and Little Caesars Arena

Multi-year partnership highlighted by opening of PointsBet Sports Bar at Little Caesars Arena

Follows recent announcement of PointsBet becoming the official gaming partner for the Detroit Tigers

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings have entered into a strategic multi-year partnership with PointsBet, a premier global sportsbook operator and provider of a market-leading sports wagering app. The partnership, designed to enhance fan engagement and game-day excitement, includes the rebranding of Sports & Social Detroit at Little Caesars Arena to the PointsBet Sports Bar. Expected to be operational in 2021, the PointsBet Sports Bar will offer a full-service food & beverage menu, high-definition televisions, live betting odds, special guests, unique programing, VIP access and fun gaming promotions. 

“Our fans will enjoy the lively atmosphere of the PointsBet Sports Bar and the energy this partnership will bring to the game-day experience in and around Little Caesars Arena,” said Chris Granger, Group President, Sports & Entertainment, Ilitch Holdings, Inc. “We are proud to deepen our relationship with PointsBet and we look forward to creating dynamic experiences for our fans.”

Continue reading Press release: Red Wings partner with PointsBet

Red Wings equipment manager Paul Boyer spoke with Carolina Hurricanes broadcaster Tripp Tracy recently, and here’s the podcast of their discussion:

The NHL Tonight’s Mike Rupp, Kevin Weekes and Tony Luftman discussed the Red Wings’ prospect pool and their lack of a franchise goaltender in a 2:52 clip posted on NHL.com tonight. Kevin Weekes praises Tyler Bertuzzi, calling him a “diet Matthew Tkachuk”:

Of prospect-related note:

In Belarus, Kirill Tyutyayev did not play in Yunost Minsk’s 3-1 win over Shakhtar-2 Soligorsk;

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Malte Setkov finished even with 1 shot, 1 penalty taken and 1 shot block in 26:24 played during AIK Stockholm’s 3-2 shootout win over Vasterviks IK. At least Setkov is playing regularly in the Allsvenskan, which isn’t usually true in the SHL;

And in NCAA Hockey, Cooper Moore finished even with no shots as the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks won 2-1 over Colorado College.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter paid attention to Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill’s media availability on Monday, and the coach essentially wrapped up the Wings’ training camp and expectations for their imminent regular season over the course of a couple of paragraphs’ worth of comments:

Blashill, who is entering his sixth season at the helm of the Red Wings, said the biggest aspect of improvement he’s focused on is team defense. He said it takes everyone–forwards, defensemen and goalies–to help translate defense into offense, and translate offense into winning.

“I would say that we need to, without a shadow of a doubt, be better in our team defense,” Blashill said. “I hope that not only the players we added on the blue line, but also the type of players we added up front–the guys that are fairly complete players, that are respectful of what it takes to win–ultimately, would give us a chance to be a more sound team defensively, which then means you probably have the puck more and you’re a better team offensively.”

With several key veteran additions, through free agency and trades, the Red Wings look to be improved in every aspect of the game, and Blashill said he’s excited about his club’s mindset heading into Thursday’s season opener.

“I like our hunger,” he said. “We’re a group that had an extraordinarily long layoff. I think sometimes you gain perspective in those situations. I certainly think we’re a hungry group, a group that wants to keep getting better, a group that doesn’t like what’s happened here and wants to get this organization to better days.”

Continued;

The Red Wings concluded a 9-day training camp on Monday afternoon, and while the Wings were unable to participate in preseason play, Wings coach Jeff Blashill told the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan that he appreciated the fact that the Wings were afforded an extra 3 days of practice time:

“You get more practice time relative to the amount of time you have,” Blashill said. “In a normal training camp you have those four days at the beginning of camp and start into the exhibition (game) season, and your practices get disjointed and you don’t get to practice with your (likely NHL) group.

“The cons are you don’t get those exhibition games and those games get you ready and are for evaluation.”

Blashill added evaluation not just in terms of personnel, but who plays on what forward lines and defensive pairings, the power play and penalty kill.

“In the end, we tried to be as effective as we could given the parameters that are given,” Blashill said. “Each team is given similar parameters.”

Continued; training camps during regular NHL seasons are too short, frankly.

NBC Sports’ Adam Gretz posted a Red Wings 2020-2021 season preview article today, and he offers a realistic “best-case scenario” for the team:

Best-Case Scenario

It is almost impossible to see a playoff berth here, so the best case for the Red Wings is that they show improvement and see young players continue to develop and progress. Players like Zadina, Mantha, Fabri, Filip Hronek.

The other thing that would be beneficial is if some of these low-cost free agent signings perform well enough to boost their trade value at the trade deadline. Players like Bobby Ryan, Troy Stecher, Jon Merrill, and Vladislav Namestnikov. No one expects them to be long-term answers. But if they can help the Red Wings get through the season and play well enough to bring back some potential long-term assets, it all works out for everybody (including the veteran players, who would then be part of a contender).

The other best case scenario? A little bit of draft lottery luck.

Continued

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill addressed the team’s decision to waive Evgeny Svechnikov today, and the Free Press’s Helene St. James took note of Blashill’s remarks (which pretty much explain why he won’t be picked up on waivers):

The Detroit Red Wings sound like they hope Evgeny Svechnikov will remain with the organization, but they left themselves vulnerable to losing a former first-round pick for nothing when they placed him on waivers Monday.

How general manager Steve Yzerman explained the decision to Svechnikov is not known, but if another team puts in a claim before noon Tuesday, it’s sayonara Svechnikov.

“Unfortunately, Evgeny has had a number of injuries so he hasn’t been able to show a full kind of season of where he is at,” coach Jeff Blashill said Monday. “But we also have to make roster decisions and you’re restricted to your roster. Nothing is permanent. You have that risk, potentially, of losing guys, but let’s see where we’re at here at noon tomorrow.”

…

“Waivers just simply means that if they’re not claimed, you have flexibility to send people to Grand Rapids, to send people to the taxi squad,” Blashill said. “With the whole group of guys, it gives you flexibility to do that.

“This is kind of decision day, but it’s totally flexible. Guys that are on your roster opening day, it doesn’t mean they’re going to stay. And guys that aren’t certainly have the opportunity to be called up at some point.”

MLive’s Ansar Khan also took note of Blashill’s remarks regarding both Svechnikov…

“Unfortunately, Evgeny has had a number of injuries so he hasn’t been able to show a full season of where he’s at,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “But we also have to make roster decisions and you’re restricted to your roster. Nothing is permanent. You have that risk of losing guys, but let’s see where we’re at here at noon tomorrow.”

And free agent signing Mathias Brome, who appears to have made the team:

Brome began camp practicing with players projected to start with the Griffins but quickly moved his way up the lineup. He skated Monday on the third line, with Valtteri Filppula and Sam Gagner.

“I didn’t totally know what to expect because without seeing him even in the American League it’s hard to get a comparable,” Blashill said. “It’s really hard to get a read on which guys (who played in Europe) are transferrable in their skill-set and which guys aren’t.

“He’s been stronger on his skates and more tenacious than I realized when I watched him on tape. That’s helped him be real effective. When coaches have walked off the bench or walked off the ice they’ve generally said, ‘Brome played pretty well.’ The other part is he has shown to be trustworthy. He’s not a young kid. He understands hockey, understands when to take his opportunities and not to force it and he knows how to play good, defensive hockey.”

Khan continues