Month: January 2022

The Score’s Calder Trophy power rankings: Fighting the Zegras hype machine

The Score’s Sean O’Leary posted a set of Calder Trophy power rankings today, and his listing of Trevor Zegras ahead of Moritz Seider or Lucas Raymond is a reminder that Zegras’ “wow” pass, combined with his advanced metrics, has a hype train rolling that the Red Wings’ dynamic rookie duo (and Alex Nedeljkovic) have to keep pace with going forward:

3. Moritz Seider, Red Wings: Seider continues to log huge minutes and put up points, but his underlying numbers took a massive hit over the past month with a miserable 38.38% expected goals rate across 11 games. The rearguard managed a 54.86% actual goals clip in that same span to minimize the damage, but Seider will have to pump his numbers back up if he wants to take home some hardware at season’s end.

All that said, it’s typical for young defensemen to endure highs and lows while figuring out the league. Seider still ranks third in rookie scoring this season and possesses all the tools to become Detroit’s No. 1 blue-line option for years to come.

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2. Lucas Raymond, Red Wings: For the first time this year, Raymond‘s fallen off the top of the podium. The Detroit dynamo still leads all rookies in scoring, but his points-per-game clip dropped last month. He’s also seen his underlying statistics drastically plummet as well.

Since our last installment, Raymond managed only one goal and fired just 14 shots on net. He may have hit a rookie wall, but it still wasn’t an easy decision to drop him a spot. He’s neck-and-neck with our top candidate in many statistics this season, and he’s by no means out of the Calder race.

Continued; there’s no doubt that Raymond has a wall to break through right now, but I expect him to do so over the next 5-10 games. He’s learned fast, and he’s going to learn to adapt to being “double covered.”

As for Seider, his lateral mobility, edge work and backwards skating are just sublime, and I think they’re separating him from the pack in terms of his ability to shift and pivot to make plays happen.

Duff notes the Rasmussen line’s offensive issues

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff took note of the Red Wings third line’s dry spell of late:

[Filip] Zadina and [Michael] Rasmussen each has accounted for one goal over the past 13 games they’ve played. [Adam] Erne was a revelation last season when he scored a team-leading goals. It earned him a new contract with the club. This season, though, he’s gone back to his inability to find the net. Erne shows one goal over his past 23 games.

“They’re just not playing good enough as individuals,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “They gotta play better as individuals.

“I think if they play to the level they’re capable of, I think they grind teams and they can do those things. But they’re making mistakes defensively and they just haven’t played well enough. Some of that is it’s only Earns’ second or third day back (from COVID-19 protocol), so he’s gotta get his feet back under him a little bit.

“I think the key to us as a hockey team is everybody playing their best hockey.”

Continued

Bultman on Lucas Raymond, power play ‘bumper’

The Athletic’s Max Bultman discusses Lucas Raymond’s new-found role as a “bumper” on the Red Wings’ power play as the team attempts to break a lengthy slump that’s found the PP unit drop to 31st in the NHL:

Detroit’s power play is once again in dire straits this season, converting at 14.4 percent — which, as of Monday, was 31st in the league. That number is a marginal improvement on last season’s man-advantage misery for the Red Wings, but it’s still noticeably behind the league median (currently around 19 percent). For that reason, it certainly makes sense for Detroit to try some new alignments. But putting one of the team’s most creative playmakers right in the middle of the opposing penalty kill (where time and space can be hard to come by) was nonetheless a significant shake-up — and one that merits a closer look.

First, it’s important to know what the Red Wings feel their recipe for success is on the power play. In Detroit coach Jeff Blashill’s mind, those key pillars are quick puck movement and having bodies around the net.

That’s all simple enough: Passing the puck around quickly can force defenses to scramble, and also potentially force goalies to move within the crease, as opposed to squaring up a shot the whole way. Meanwhile, having players around the net means a better chance at getting to the puck in the most dangerous area of the ice, especially on rebounds.

From that standpoint, the player in the bumper plays a prime role in both of those objectives. It’s a key, nearby outlet for every other spot on the power play, and Raymond is smart enough to handle that responsibility, whether it means moving the puck quickly to one of the other four spots, or shooting from his dangerous station in the slot.

Continued (paywall)

Roughly translated: Simon Edvinsson discusses the WJC’s cancellation

Red Wings prospect and Frolunda HC defenseman Simon Edvinsson makes two appearances in the Swedish press today:

  1. Ahead of Frolunda’s Champions Hockey League playoff game vs. Rogle BK, Edvinsson spoke with SVT.se for a 2-minute Swedish language interview that isn’t geo-blocked;
  2. And Edvinsson spoke about the cancellation of the World Junior Championship with GT.se’s Stefan Nilsson. Here’s a rough translation of that article:
Continue reading Roughly translated: Simon Edvinsson discusses the WJC’s cancellation

HSJ in the morning: Blashill says Wings must crank up physicality as games become more tightly contested

The Free Press’s Helene St. James filed her morning article today, discussing the Red Wings’ need to step up physically as their schedule gets tougher:

They’ve lost two in a row — at home, no less, where they’re 11-5-2 — and have one last chance to set a better tone at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks before heading out for a week on the road, where the Wings are 4-10-1. It’s getting close to the midpoint of the season, and that means one thing in the NHL.

“It only gets harder as the year goes along and we have to show that we’re a team that belongs in the win column as the games get harder and harder,” coach Jeff Blashill said Monday. “It’s individual players playing at a high level, and making plays at key moments.”

Defenseman Nick Leddy was at practice, which cleared the COVID-19 protocol list.

The Wings have scored two goals their last two games. They were pushed around by the Washington Capitals on New Year’s Eve in a 3-1 loss, and bullied Sunday by the Boston Bruins in a 5-1 loss. When teams get physical — and that doesn’t mean fighting, it means players are checking and grinding and making room for themselves at the net — the Wings’ response has been to take it, not give it back. 

“That’s just a decision that we’re going to match physicality,” Blashill said. “We are going to make the opponent pay a price when they have the puck. There’s been times we’ve passed up some checks. Not all, but some. Throughout the lineup, we just have to make sure that we’re making the opponent pay a hard price.”

Continued (paywall) with discussion of Joe Veleno’s spot on the power play.

Allen’s notebook: Veleno gets some ‘reps’ on the power play

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a notebook article in which he focuses upon Joe Veleno’s presence on the Red Wings’ second power play unit during Monday’s practice:

The Red Wings were 0-for-4 on the power play in a 5-1 loss to the Bruins. They are 0-for-13 on the power play in the last four games.  Since Nov. 18, they are 4-for-36 with the man advantage.

Their power play percentage has slipped to 14.4%, dropping them to 31st place in the NHL statistics in that category.

Even when they were on a five-game winning streak at the end of November and early December, they only scored one power play goal in that span.

“[Filip Zadina] has had been a lot of the rest of the players on the power,” Blashill said. “He has had moments of being good and too many moments of not being super effective. Otherwise the power play percentage would be way better.”

Rookie Veleno is a bubble player at this stage of his career and he feels as if Blashill is giving him a shot to show what he can do. Like Zadina,  Joe Veleno is trying to prove he can score at the NHL level. Zadina has four goals in 32 games and Veleno has three in 17.

“I’ve got to make the most of it with the opportunity that they’re giving me and take advantage of every situation, every game, every day that I get to come to the rink,” Joe Veleno said. “Not give them a reason to not put me in the lineup or to send me back down. That’s ultimately up to me and my work ethic, my compete and my urgency. If I set my expectations high and I do those things and I come to the rink every day and I apply those things, I think my chances of sticking around will be pretty good.”

Continued

Red Wings notebook: the schedule ahead is difficult for Detroit

From DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills’ notebook:

Over the next five games, the Red Wings are set to play four teams with winning records. Between Jan. 4-13, Detroit will face the Anaheim Ducks (17-11-7 overall), Los Angeles Kings (16-12-5), Winnipeg Jets (15-11-5) and twice against the San Jose Sharks (17-15-1).

Detroit dropped the first two games of its current homestand, and was 3-6 in the month of December. But when asked about his team’s current stretch compared to its impressive play in November, Blashill said nothing significant has changed.

“We’ve got to show that we’re a team that belongs on the win column as the games get harder and harder,” Blashill said. “But I don’t know that there’s any stark difference. It’s individual players playing at a high level and making plays in key moments.”

Continued

The Sharks aren’t feeling super, either

The 17-15-and-1 San Jose Sharks practiced at Little Caesars Arena ahead of tomorrow night’s game against the hometown Detroit Red Wings (who have a 15-15-and-3 record, and have lost 2 straight games). The Mercury News’s Curtis Pashelka reports that the Sharks are still smarting from their 8-5 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday:

Bob Boughner and the Sharks on Monday sifted through the wreckage of their dreadful start the day before against the Pittsburgh Penguins, going through an uneasy video session before holding a no-nonsense practice at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

“I had a heart-to-heart with the guys,” Boughner said. “It wasn’t a fun meeting. It wasn’t a fun practice. But it was much needed.”

The Sharks (17-15-1) continue their four-game road trip Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings, looking to put the stench of their 8-5 loss to the Penguins on Sunday as far in the rearview mirror as possible. San Jose was outscored 6-1 during a first period in which they couldn’t manage the puck, gave up a host of odd-man rushes, and offered little support to starting goalie James Reimer.

“I saw a lot of black and gold in that first 10 minutes,” Sharks defenseman Jake Middleton said. “They came out really firing.”

Reimer will likely be back in the Sharks’ net Tuesday, but Boughner wasn’t making the same promises about a handful of other players. Notably, Boughner said there could be some lineup changes on defense, and although he didn’t mention anyone by name, it’s fair to speculate where the adjustments might occur.

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The Sharks have allowed 16 even-strength goals in their last four games.

“Anytime you lose like we did, get the play taken to you and certain guys continue just to have very below-average games for 60 minutes – and some other guys responded and improved – we’re looking at everything right now,” Boughner said when asked about the defense. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see some new faces tomorrow.”

Continued