Impressions from the second day of the Red Wings’ 2022 summer development camp

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects engaged in skill development and skating drills on Tuesday morning inside the BELFOR Training Center at Little Caesars Arena. By the time I got to the rink around 8:30, Team Howe was already on the ice (half an hour early).

While we have yet to see a bunch of battle drills or in-game simulations, over the first two days of Dan Cleary’s camp, skill development coach Dwayne Blais, the Red Wings’ skating coach and the goaltending coaches have begun building a foundation for a productive week’s worth of on and off-ice education.

While Monday’s session involved fitness testing and introductory observations, Tuesday’s sessions for Team Howe and Team Lindsay were a little more subtle.

The forwards for each team took part in separate sessions from the defensemen, and the goaltenders’ roles were still somewhat limited, so they spoke with Detroit’s goaltending specialists, all under the watchful gaze of Blais, Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon, and, for the first time, an on-ice Niklas Kronwall.

Watching Kronwall take prospects aside in a gentle manner to show them the intricacies of drills really helped illustrate why he’s been so successful as the Wings’ resident European Prospect Mentor/Whisperer, and it was just really cool to see him on the ice again, engrossed in his work and happy to lend a hand.

Kronner. pic.twitter.com/PW739NN57C

— George Malik (@georgemalik) July 11, 2022

Especially as compared to hearing some barking from the hallway near the Red Wings’ gym (which has an opaque window looking toward the rink at ice level), and what sounded like a hammer hitting an anvil (no, I’m not kidding), Kronwall’s careful, easygoing manner struck me as perfect for prospects that need to both learn and learn that it’s okay to mess up.

I very distinctly hear coach Blais and the skating coach emphasize that very point today: the drills the 30-something prospects at the Wings’ development camp are taking part in are intricate, and, “Sometimes part of learning is learning by making mistakes.”

There is a heavy emphasis on doing things the “right way” this week, but the stakes are not job-on-the-line heavy. The emphasis is on learning to accentuate one’s skating, stickhandling, shooting, passing, et. al. while doing things that don’t necessarily feel natural, and when you ask players to go outside their comfort zone, it’s very important to let them know that it’s okay if they don’t always get things right.

Today was definitely a day where players were not necessarily “getting things right”–players would flub pucks from time to time, get a skating drill wrong and blow a tire, or drills would be stopped to re-emphasize getting the details correct, but there was no yelling, no hard whistles, no demand that the players take a lap for not keeping up the tempo of a drill, and that’s essential.

At least at this point of the camp. Perhaps as we get into game situations, there will be a harder edge to the development process, but right now, it’s about learning and it’s about trying things that you’re not comfortable with to increase your skill set.

Things got particularly uncomfortable today, and particularly detailed. The players first worked with the Wings’ skating coach, who is unnamed at present, and he was particularly innovative in my opinion.

Taking as much video as possible (despite this “not being an evaluation camp,” there are cameras watching the rink and recording every minute thereof), the skating coach began his sessions with the players by filming them skating face-on toward him via an iPad, and then side-on.

Watch the iPad, boys. pic.twitter.com/4KCbMDQWca

— George Malik (@georgemalik) July 11, 2022

The players were then educated as to their drills via video clips shown via a second iPad. The skaters first practiced proper form by squaring up standing against the benches, working on proper pushes, recovery strides, and snapping their skates back under their centers of mass.

They proceeded to engage in free-ice drills, and some of them were pretty weird, with the players skating with their sticks out in front of them or held straight-up to emphasize balance and proper technique.

The drills became more and more dynamic as they proceeded, but they cut up the ice, so the players took a little break halfway through their on-ice session to allow a very quick Al Sobotka-free Zamboni crew to resurface the ice…

And then coach Blais took over, spending about 45 minutes focusing on stick-handling drills, with the drills building upon each other in terms of complexity. Pucks weren’t in play for most of the skating drills, but pucks were at the center of Blais’ work.

Much of Blais’ drills involved cut-backs, forehand and backhand feints and dekes, stick-handling with heads up and peripheral vision tracking pucks (as opposed to players skating with their heads down, looking at the puck), and, eventually, utilizing said skills to pass to teammates and shoot on the Wings’ goaltenders.

Kasper has a chat with the skating coach. pic.twitter.com/ISqO7HZaTJ

— George Malik (@georgemalik) July 11, 2022

As was the case during the skating coach’s drills, Blais was trying to get players outside their comfort zones, so there were some bad feints and dekes, some lost pucks and some bad passes and shots, but the day’s emphasis was on the learning process–the only time Blais really got emphatic vocally was to tell the players that it was okay to make mistakes. Which they did.

Mostly, however, the fit and finish was quite good in both the skating and stickhandling drills–enough to allow me to make some general impressions regarding the players who I introduced you to in yesterday’s entry.

TEAM HOWE:

Forwards:

#56 Pasquale Zito, LW: Zito hasn’t actually skated in any of the drills yet, so I’m wondering whether he’s injured. The 6’1,” 178-pound center was just traded from the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires to the Niagara IceDogs, and he’s a plucky little bugger who posted 42 points in 49 games this past season–after not playing at all during his draft year due to the pandemic halting the OHL season–but there’s some work to be done to round out his body and his skating.

#58 Riley Piercey, RW**: Piercey is a free agent invite from the Flint Firebirds, and the 6’3,” 212-pound winger has at least looked solid as a 20-year-old who posted a 58-points-in-59-games season for a very good Firebirds team. He didn’t stand out during the skating drills, but he’s obviously got size, and he’s got some decent hands.

#61 Ethan Phillips, C: Phillips, frustrates me. He’s only 5’10” and 160 pounds, and the Boston University senior forward has yet to find his form because, to put it bluntly, he’s got a lot of speed, and he’s got some moderate scoring touches here and there, but he’s so under-developed physically that I can understand why he’s struggled to earn a regular lineup spot over his first three years of NCAA hockey. He looks under-powered, and that’s not a good thing.

#62 Theodor Niederbach, C: The lanky 6,’ 190-pound center who’s swapped out playing for the Frolunda Indians for a better chance to play with Rogle BK of the SHL is now 20 years of age, and he’s struck me as slight, but a good passer and skater who has some confidence issues. He hasn’t been able to participate in the development camp thus far, like the rest of the Wings’ Swedes, because his passport is at the Swedish consulate.

No news as to whether any of Niederbach, Edvinsson or Wallinder resolved their issues as of this evening.

#72 Trenton Bliss, C*: Bliss, a 24-year-old graduate of Michigan Tech, has actually looked quite capable and mature after posting a 40-point season over the course of 36 senior year NCAA games. The problem with the relatively talented 6’1″ 195-pound center is that he’s already 24, and may end up playing in Toledo given the Grand Rapids Griffins’ depth–and that one asterisk means that he’s Griffins-contracted. He actually skates quite smoothly and has a solid pair of hands.

#74 Cross Hanas, RW: A skilled sniper and set-up man who’s turning pro after an 86-point WHL season (26 goals and 60 assists), the 20-year-old Hanas stands at 6’1″ and 171 pounds, and his flat-out speed and maneuverability on his blades is good, but he’s always looked a little heavy-footed to me.

Shades of Ray Sheppard, I suppose, and Ray Sheppard might be a good comparison in terms of Hanas’ patience and poise, despite his age. He’s skilled enough to wait out his opponents, and his vision in terms of his passing is quite good, but he’s still got a ways to go physically, thus the heavy-footedness. I’m going to be intrigued to see whether the point-per-game producer at the WHL level is going to be able to make the physical jump to the AHL, or whether he’ll have to take some ECHL time to develop into the two-way forward that he wants to become.

#84 Julien Anctil, C**: Put bluntly, Anctil hasn’t stood out as of yet. The 6’2,” 175-pound center, a free agent invite from the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix, posted a superb 68-point season as a 20-year-old, and as he’s aging out of the QMJHL at 21, he needs to find a professional home, but the right-shooting center has blended into the pack for the most part over the course of two days’ worth of observations.

#87 Dylan James, LW: A 2022 draft pick, people thought that being drafted 40th overall was way too high for a 3rd/4th line grinder, but I’m starting to see why the Red Wings picked the 6,’ 177-pound winger where they did. Posting 61 points in 62 USHL games, he’s headed to the University of North Dakota, where playing time is not easily surrendered, but the plucky winger skates fast, he’s technically skilled and he’s just damn enthusiastic, contagiously so (and this is the first time in two-and-a-half years that I’ve said something positive about contagious things).

James isn’t big, he isn’t strong yet, and he isn’t a first-line player in the making, but I think that the Red Wings are hoping for another Carter Mazur “diamond in the rough” here, perhaps with a similar physical edge to him.

James and Brennan Ali have been the players very clearly most excited to just be here on both teams combined, and for a pair of players that weren’t Red Wings until Saturday, it’s great to see his enthusiasm.

#88 Liam Dower-Nilsson, C: According to VM-Hockey.se, Dower-Nilsson will take part in a summer evaluation camp for the Swedish 2023 World Junior team, and I can see why. He’s not particularly big at 6′ and 174 pounds, but the chunky little guy who is going to try to break into the SHL as more than an “extra skater” on mighty Frolunda HC is fun to watch.

He’s got a choppy, chippy skating stride, but he gets up and down the ice well, he’s got a playmaker’s sense, and he posted 50 points in only 34 J20 league games for a reason. Dower-Nilsson projects as a second-line, playmaking center or winger, and he’s done a fine job thus far of busting his butt to very evidently work hard accentuating his skilled game with better skating and stick-handling skills.

#92 Marco Kasper, C: Kasper turned 18 in April, and the 6’1,” 183-pound center and 8th overall draft pick at the 2022 NHL Draft has, thus far, displayed top-line potential. Kasper, perhaps like Dower-Nilsson, is a bit choppy and chippy off the start, but once he hits top speed, he’s a maneuverable gliding presence on the ice, and he’s not necessarily looked like an 85-point-scorer in the making, but, over the course of two viewings, he’s displayed the kind of mature game that I would describe as much more than wise beyond his years. To put it bluntly, he plays like an adult, and a pesky, determined one at that.

#98 Brennan Ali, C: Ali was drafted 212th overall this past weekend in Montreal, and he’s a stocky 6′ and 193 pounds of USHL-bound, eventually-Notre Dame-recruited center whose enthusiasm is tremendous. Ali didn’t do a hell of a lot of scoring at anywhere but the Connecticut high school level, but his excellent speed suggests that perhaps his point-per-game numbers against high-schoolers may herald more offense when he matures physically.

Defensemen:

#3 Simon Edvinsson: I’m particularly bummed that the 6’6,” 205-pound defenseman from Frolunda HC has not been able to participate in the summer development camp as of yet. He’s supposed to be a smooth-skating, physically dominant defenseman whose lack of “numbers” at the SHL level belie fine offensive talents, and while I’m not certain that he’s going to end up on the Red Wings’ blueline out of training camp, from what I’ve seen of him, he’s a blue-chip-plus prospect.

#51 Eemil Viro: Viro isn’t going to dazzle and dangle at the North American Pro level, but, after two seasons playing for the excellent TPS Turku of the Finnish Liiga, the 20-year-old Viro is more than ready to establish himself as a middle-of-the-lineup, Jack-of-all-trades defenseman. Standing only 6′ and 176 pounds, Viro is wiry, so he’s already more or less in a man’s body despite his lack of weight on the bone, and he’s strong and mobile on his skates. He also plays heads-up hockey and makes excellent passes and wrist shots, so there may or may not be some untapped offensive potential there.

#78 Shai Buium: Buium and Carter Mazur won the NCAA Division 1 hockey championship with the University of Denver this past season, as freshmen, and while the 6’3,” 220-pound 19-year-old looks as inelegant as a giraffe on the ice, when he skates up and down the ice with great lateral and backward mobility, he can blaze a trail, and his shot is accurate and his passes are smart. He’s also got a bit of a physical edge to him, evident even in non-contact drills, and with three more years of college eligibility to go, the still-skinny Buium could really develop into a behemoth.

#79 Cedric Fielder**: No complaints. Fielder is a free agent invite, a 19-year-old defenseman who played for Western Michigan University last season, and he’s big and solid at 6’3″ and 204 pounds, and while he’s not high-end, for a free agent invite, he’s been evident and visible on the ice as a very maneuverable skater and capable puck-handler. There’s nothing top-shelf about him, but he’s learning and absorbing lessons left and right.

#81 Cooper Moore: Moore is a bit of a puzzle for me. The University of North Dakota junior just hasn’t hit his stride after posting tons of offense in the BCHL, and while he’s a good enough skater at 6’2″ and 190 pounds, and he’s earned ice time on a stacked North Dakota team, the 21-year-old is starting to run out of runway to impress the Red Wings’ brass in a system stacked with defensive prospects. His skill game is solid enough, but it’s not dazzling, and I’m not sure whether his physical, mental and skill games are going to intersect at the right developmental time.

#95 Tnias Mathurin: First impressions? Much more than a 6’3,” 197-pound plodder of a 3rd pair defenseman in the making. The North Bay Battalion defenseman, like Buium, looks like he might top out at 225 pounds on a very lanky frame, and the 137th overall pick in the 2022 draft hasn’t posted many points as of yet in the OHL, but his bent-over skating stride belies much more skating ability than you’d think, and the scouting reports suggesting that his skill set is not much more than that of a #6/7 guy seem to be premature. Not a blue-chipper, but not a trash-heap player, either.

Goaltenders:

#31 Andrew Oke**: I can see why the Red Wings brought in the Saginaw Spirit goaltender as a free agent invite after he was passed over in the draft, and I can see why he struggled so very badly (13-16-and-1 with a 4.63 GAA and .848 save percentage) on a very bad Saginaw team. The 18-year-old is “NHL average” sized at 6’2″ and 200 pounds, and he just stands with his hands in a little too tightly to his body, he’s easy to beat going from post to post or recovering off the goalpost, and while his blocker and toes are superb, his glove needs work. He’s still 18, and all his issues can be rectified with time and teaching.

#35 Carter Gylander: Gylander, like so many of the NCAA prospects that I don’t get to see regularly, is a hard read. Massive at 6’5″ and 185 pounds, he lost his starting job at Colgate this past season, but the 21-year-old goaltender is big, lanky, and he BOOTS OUT pucks. The rebounds off his excellent glove and blocker go far, and his pads are as stiff and bouncy as Joe Louis Arena’s end boards. That’s an asset for a big, modern shot-blocking butterfly goaltender, and it’s also a problem, because pucks rarely “stick” to him. Going into his junior year, he’s got to earn his job back.

#68 Connor Murphy**: Another free agent NCAA invite, at 6’4″ and 200 pounds, Murphy had an up-and-down season for a middling Union team, and the 23-year-old going into his senior season has impeccable technique, but there are holes where the puck squeaks through his blocker arm, glove and 5-hole. There’s not a ton of pro potential here, but he’s been brought in to learn and grow his game, and that he seems to be enthusiastic to do.

TEAM LINDSAY:

Forwards:

#21 Kienan Draper, RW: I didn’t get to see much of Draper on Tuesday, but my initial impressions of the 6’1,” 198-pound incoming University of Michigan freshman at 20 years of age (read: he’s played 2 overage seasons in the BCHL) is that he’s not quite as good a skater as his dad was (and his dad’s skating was upper-end elite), but he’s competitive as heck and busts his butt. He posted 50 points in 53 games with Chilliwack this past season, and if he can become more than a middle-of-the-lineup grinder in college, there is some offensive potential there.

#37 Chase Bradley, LW: Is it impolite to call him a little clunky? It probably is. The 20-year-old UConn sophomore has yet to establish himself at the NCAA level despite overcoming his 5’11,” 180-pound status to establish himself as a chippy forward. He just hasn’t stood out yet, and to graduate to the next level, he’s got to find a more defined role over the next couple of seasons.

#43 Carter Mazur, LW: Enthusiastic, edgy, great in tight scoring-wise and acerbic, the 20-year-old University of Denver sophomore posted a superb 38 points over the course of 41 regular season and playoff NCAA games, earning a Division 1 hockey title. Like James and Ali, he’s more than just happy to be here–his work ethic is evident thereof–and he’s got more skill to add to his game over the course of the week. I still see rough edges to his game, and that’s a compliment given his first-year production. He’s got to fill out that 6,’ 173-pound frame yet, too.

#54 Robert Mastrosimone, C: I have a sort of love-hate relationship with Mastrosimone’s pro potential. Despite being 5’10” and 170 pounds, the mighty mite and teammate of Ethan Phillips–until he transferred to the Arizona State University Sun Devils this past spring–has displayed grit and jam, but, at 21 years of age, I haven’t seen a ton of consistency from him, despite a 25-points-in-34-games performance during his junior year. He’s got skills. He can skate well. But he’s so physically under-developed, and he’s had three years to find a consistent form and a consistent, well, physique.

#57 Cole Knuble, RW**: Knuble has been skating on Team Howe to balance out the forward lineup, and while he wasn’t drafted this past weekend in Montreal, the 5’10,” 175-pound right-shooter did post 49 points in 62 USHL games, he’s Notre Dame bound in two years (like Ali), and his skating is far better than his dad’s, he works very hard and he’s got a set of hands on him. I think that his physical size is the reason he was passed over in the draft, because his skill set is at least worth a late-round pick. I guess the Red Wings have the family connection (Mike is an assistant coach in Grand Rapids) and bloodlines and chose to see whether they may have to make a “bonus draft year pick” a year from now.

#63 Sam Stange: Stange is a sniper who hasn’t found himself sniping through two NCAA seasons. The University of Wisconsin junior was a prolific high school scorer, but the 6’1,” 208-pound Stange hasn’t blossomed physically at 21 years of age, and he is just maddeningly inconsistent, scoring clutch, natural-goal-scorer’s goals and then fading back into the lineup for the majority of the season. He needs to stake his claim to his skill set, and soon.

#64 A.J. Vanderbeck, C**: Another free agent invite, Vanderbeck is 24 going on 25, and a graduate of Northern Michigan, so while he posted a 43-point season in 36 NCAA games this past year, he’s probably looking for a pro home as another undersized (5’11,” 185-pound) forward who can score. Over the course of two days, he’s not stood out, but he’ll probably be invited to the prospect tournament as veteran leadership.

#67 Redmond Savage, C: If I didn’t say this about Carter Mazur, I’ll say this about Savage, and retroactively apply it to both players: Savage loves doing the dirty work. He’s only 5’11” and 185 pounds, but the 19-year-old center from Miami of Ohio absolutely adores winning faceoffs, killing penalties, using his underrated skating to break up rushes and bail out teammates on the PK, and while he’s got some filling out to do and some skill development to learn this week and going forward, this 4th-line center in the making adores being a support player, and as I said yesterday, you need those players to succeed.

#94 Mitchell Martin, LW**: Martin hasn’t stood out thus far as a free agent invite from the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. A mid-range scorer at the Major Junior level, he’s a massive 6’4″ but lanky at 199 pounds, and Martin has more or less blended in thus far as a 19-year-old invite.

#96 Amadeus Lombardi, C: Lombardi, on the other hand, is a bombastic player. The 2022 draft pick (113th overall) is a wee 5’10” and 165 pounds, but he skates like he’s seven feet tall and made of steel, sauntering around the ice with all the pluck and self-assuredness as Carter Mazur possesses. He’s only 18 and is coming off a 59-point-in-67-games season with the stacked Flint Firebirds, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

#97 Owen Mehlenbacher, C: Another 2022 draft pick, the lanky Mehlenbacher is 6’2″ and 189 pounds, and he’s headed to the University of Wisconsin this upcoming season, coming off a successful 42-point campaign with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks. The Wings took a late-round flyer (201st overall) on him, and he’s looked…Young.

Defensemen:

#44 Donovan Sebrango: Sebrango is equal parts wily veteran and youngster. At 20, the 6’2,” 195-pound defenseman has played two seasons for the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins thanks to the pandemic, and the 2020 draft pick really looks to become a swashbuckling sort of physical defenseman in the category of somewhere between Brad Stuart or Bob Rouse. He’s got a hard, nasty edge, and he’s played for two years with players who will run you through the end boards to earn a paycheck for their family, so he knows what it takes to succeed in pro hockey, and, a lot like Red Savage, he’s willing to do the dirty work with enthusiasm and vigor.

#55 Kyle Aucoin: Going into his sophomore season at Harvard, the smooth-skating defenseman has yet to put the disparate parts of his game together. He’s 6′ and 175 pounds, he’s got a fine shot and passes well, but he only posted 2 points as a freshman, and that’s got to change. He’s clearly Adrian Aucoin’s son when you see that heavy shot of his, and his skating is superb, but sometimes it takes a while for even the kids of professional athletes to find themselves.

#75 Drew Bavaro**: The 6’3,” 200-pound free agent invite posted 27 points in 36 games for Bentley last season, and he’s transferring to Notre Dame as an incoming junior. He has not stood out thus far among the prospects and free agent invites, but you don’t get into Notre Dame for being average, on the ice or off it.

#77 Oscar Plandowski: Raw, raw, raw. Not big at 6′ and 190 pounds, the incoming Drummondville Voltigeurs defenseman and 2021 draft pick did not find his offensive game with the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders, but the tremendous technical skater and technical player skill-wise should be able to do more as a 19-year-old. There’s a hell of a skill set there, but the player hasn’t found himself.

#83 William Wallinder: Wallinder is the third of three Swedes who are having passport problems. Likely to play one more season with Rogle after playing for Sweden at the World Junior Championship (alongside Niederbach and Edvinsson) in Edmonton this August, the 6’4,” 190-pound defenseman hasn’t filled out yet, but he posted a respectable 19 points in 47 SHL games this past season, and he’s answered a fair amount of the questions I’ve had about him since the Wings drafted him in 2020. Wallinder can look passive and pedestrian when he’s not interested; when he’s “in the game,” he’s excellent.

Goaltenders:

#33 Sebastian Cossa: Cossa is learning and learning and learning this week. Whether he manages to force the Wings’ hands to afford him a professional hockey player’s opportunity is uncertain, but the 6’6,” 215-pound netminder who won a WHL title with the Edmonton Oil Kings will play in Edmonton at the World Juniors in August, and for once, he’s going to be the underdog in net.

That’s good for Cossa. His toes just find pucks, his glove just finds pucks, his massive wingspan and impressive reflexes are just tremendous, and his “ceiling” is incredibly high, but at 19, there are still some holes (5-hole, top shelf when he’s down in the butterfly), he’s not the greatest puck-handler, and another season playing for one of the WHL’s flagship franchises would not kill the sometimes-trash-talking, self-assured but not cocky netminder.

As I said to someone on Twitter today, he’s got a tremendous amount of self-confidence, but he’s “not an asshole.”

#36 Owen Flores**: Flores is a free agent invite who had a rough year with the OHL’s London Knights, and was not drafted this past weekend as a result. 6’2″ but 170 lanky pounds, there are fundamentals there, but they’re shaken by confidence or the lack thereof. He’s got a decent-enough stance and he’s got good overall fundamentals, but he’s just very unproven. He, like Cossa, is going to be playing for a “Flagship Franchise” in the OHL this upcoming season, so the Knights must see something good in him.

#80 Pierce Charleson**: The Michigan State University junior has yet to post particularly impressive stats, but the 6’2,” 193-pound goaltender and free agent invite has looked very solid to me over the course of two days’ worth of observations. I really like his overall game as a hybrid netminder and I think that he’s got a patience to him that could afford him a rebound season.

*= Grand Rapids Griffins contract, **= Free Agent Invite

I hope you’ve enjoyed the second day’s observations. I saw some of most players and more of others, and they’re still doing skill drills instead of game situations, so it’s hard to assess, but I’m doing my best. I would write a bit more, but it’s 10:39 PM right now, and 6 AM comes really early when you’re putting in long days.

Free agency day is going to be nuts, and I don’t know how the heck I’m going to get to LCA at 7:30 in the morning for Thursday’s scrimmages, but that, I will do.

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