Month: August 2022

Pretty cool, posted a little late as I took a nap:

It’s here and it’s beautiful. pic.twitter.com/BukCeSypkC

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 1, 2022

Update: Here’s the video:

There’s a pro camp taking place at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, and Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin is part of the fray:

Inside USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, NHL all-stars and young sensations are back home working together.

There’s no summer vacation for Dylan Larkin, Zach Werenski, Jack and Quinn Hughes, Matty Beniers, Cole Caufield, Trevor Zegras, and a group of players with Michigan roots. pic.twitter.com/vUK7aEgPJa— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) August 31, 2022

Here’s the YouTube video:

We did a great job of kicking off the fundraising campaign in earnest yesterday, but I’ve got at least $3,000 to go, for better or worse.

As the prospect tournament is just over two weeks away, I’m certainly trying to earn my keep, but part of my job is to post a daily reminder that I’m raising money to get up to Traverse City for the prospect tournament and main training camp because I’ve got a hotel bill, gas & groceries, dry cleaning, a couple of shirts and three headlights’ (and an oil change?) worth of car repairs to get up there on the 14th and return home two weeks later.

You’re wonderful readers, and I’m grateful as hell for your readership, but this is one of those “times of need,” and I’m trying to learn to not be ashamed to ask for help here. This is just how the blog works right now, and if that’s the case:

If you’re are willing to help, you can use PayPal at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport, Venmo at https://venmo.com/george-malik-2, Giftly by using my email, rtxg@yahoo.com, at https://www.giftly.com. And you can contact me via email if you want to send me a paper check.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen, writing a subscriber-only article, discusses 4 very important factors which may determine whether the Red Wings manage to earn a playoff spot this upcoming season. The first factor is the most obvious one–improving on defense:

It’s not difficult to quantify how bad the Red Wings were defensively. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, they gave up more High Danger Chances Against (881) than any other team. That was 318 more than the Boston Bruins gave up. Boston finished fourth in the Atlantic Division.

The importance of dangerous scoring chances is illustrated in this statistic: last season, the New York Rangers were the only team to qualify for the playoffs after finishing in the bottom 10 in HDCA.

Yzerman addressed this issue by adding four defensemen, including shutdown defenseman Ben Chiarot and defensive-minded Olli Maatta. Both of those players should give the Red Wings steadier defensive play, while Robert Hagg add to the team’s physical presence.

But changing personnel is only part of the solution. New coach Derek Lalonde is expected to instill a much stronger defensive culture than we’ve seen over the last few seasons.

The Red Wings surrendered  3.78 goals-per-game last season and need to cut that down to near three goals per game to make the playoffs. The Toronto Maple Leafs were the worst defensive team to make the playoffs last season and they were at 3.07 goals-against per game.

Continued (paywall)

Daily Faceoff’s Mike Gould posted a massive Red Wings 2022-2023 season preview, and here’s the gist thereof–the “burning questions” and season prediction:

BURNING QUESTIONS

1. Can Edvinsson follow in Seider’s footsteps? One thing the Red Wings really need is a strong, consistent partner for Seider. They tried DeKeyser, Marc Staal, Jordan Oesterle, and a few others in that spot last season, but none of them really worked. If Edvinsson can jump in and play like a top-four guy at age 19, he’ll help answer a lot of questions in Detroit.

2. What does Robby Fabbri’s future hold? Fabbri looked to be on the right track in Detroit after tearing his left ACL twice as a member of the St. Louis Blues. But the 26-year-old suffered another ACL injury — this time, to his right knee — late last season, and it’s unclear when he might ready to return in 2022–23. Fabbri is an effective middle-six scoring forward when healthy, and he’s under contract through the end of the 2024–25 season.

3. Is Tyler Bertuzzi on his way out? Trade rumors followed Bertuzzi throughout the 2021–22 season, which was the most productive of his NHL career to date. The 27-year-old winger netted 30 goals in just 68 games and played with a ton of snarl on the Red Wings’ top line. He has just one year left on his current deal, which carries a $4.75 million cap hit, and is eligible to become a UFA next summer.

Continue reading Daily Faceoff posts its Red Wings season preview

Okay, so the Red Wings released their prospect tournament roster ahead of the September 15th-19th tourney in Traverse City, MI.

Here’s the roster, which is particularly thin at forward and particularly stout on defense:

Continue reading Breaking down the Red Wings’ prospect tournament roster

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Red Wings release 2022 NHL Prospect Tournament roster and schedule

First-round pair of Edvinsson and Cossa headline 24-man roster for five-team tournament

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today released their 2022 NHL Prospect Tournament roster and a complete tournament schedule for the event, held from Thursday, Sept. 15 to Monday, Sept. 19 at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich. The team consists of 24 recent draft picks, free agent signees and tryouts who will battle against prospect teams from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Red Wings roster is highlighted by a pair of first round picks from the 2021 NHL Entry Draft: defenseman Simon Edvinsson (6th overall) and goaltender Sebastian Cossa (15th overall). Edvinsson recorded 19 points (2-17-19) in 44 games for Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League and led league rookies with an average of 19:46 time on ice en route to being named a finalist for the SHL’s Rookie of the Year Award. The 19-year-old blueliner also helped Team Sweden to a bronze medal at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, averaging 22:27 time on ice and recording two points (1-1-2) in six games for Sweden. Cossa was a finalist for the Western Hockey League’s Goaltender of the Year Award last season after posting a 33-9-3 record, a 2.28 goals against average and a 0.913 save percentage for the Edmonton Oil Kings. In all, Cossa owns a 71-16-7 record with a 2.12 goals against average and a 0.921 save percentage across three seasons for the Oil Kings. The 19-year-old also appeared in one game to help Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Other roster notables include left wing Elmer Soderblom (159th overall, 2019), who at 6-foot-8, 249-pounds led Frolunda of the SHL with 21 goals in his first full season with the club and recorded 33 points (21-12-33) to lead all Under-21 SHL skaters; center Cross Hanas (55th overall, 2020), who averaged more than point-per-game to pace the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL with 86 points (26-60-86) in 63 games; defenseman Donovan Sebrango (63rd overall, 2020), who has already skated in 96 games for Grand Rapids as a 20-year-old and helped Team Canada win the gold medal as an alternate captain at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship; and blueliner Albert Johansson (60th overall, 2019), who posted a career-high 25 points (5-20-25) in 52 regular-season games and chipped in eight points (2-6-8) in 19 postseason appearances to help Farjestads claim the 2022 SHL Championship.

Fourteen of the 24 players on the roster are former Red Wings draft picks, with the two first-round picks in addition to two second-round picks, three third-round selections, two fourth-round picks, two fifth-round choices, two sixth-round picks and a seventh-round pick. The drafted prospects range in age from two 18-year olds (Andrew Oke and Tnias Mathurin) to 25-year-old Drew Worrad.

Continue reading Press release: Red Wings post 2022 prospect tournament roster and schedule

ESPN’s Greg Wyshysnki checked in on several players who remain unrestricted free agents as of August 31st, and here’s his report on former Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser:

Danny DeKeyser, D
Age: 32 | 2021-22 cap hit: $5 million

Back in 2019, DeKeyser probably thought this summer was going to be a financial windfall. Back then, he was playing over 21 minutes per game on average with the Detroit Red Wings and making $5 million against the cap. It wasn’t outrageous to think that he would be due for a raise as a 32-year-old free agent in 2022 as an established NHL defenseman.

Then came the back injury in late 2019, followed by the back surgery. That basically derailed DeKeyser’s career. He was limited to eight games in 2019-20 and then saw his ice time drop by nearly four minutes per game on average in the following season. He played in 59 games last season, passed through waivers and saw his 10-year run in Detroit end in a whimper, even as he felt better physically while the season progressed.

Agent Matt Federico and O2K Sports Management started working with DeKeyser a few weeks ago after the veteran defenseman was unable to latch on with a new team. The biggest questions they had for DeKeyser were about his health and his expectations. They found a player feeling good about his physical status, but one who might have been priced out of the market initially this summer. There were just too many question marks to justify a $5 million AAV deal for DeKeyser under a flat salary cap.

So expectations were adjusted and the interest started to build, Federico said.

“We weren’t sure what the landscape was going to be. But we’ve been pretty encouraged,” the agent said. “The interest has been good. We feel pretty confident that he’s going to get a deal before training camp here. It’s going to take some time to shake out. Hopefully we know more this week.”

Federico is confident that DeKeyser will have a deal in place before training camps open next month. It could be in the range of a $1 million “show me” contract, as DeKeyser attempts to rebuild his reputation.

“It’ll be a lower money deal, but it’ll be a chance to showcase himself outside of Detroit,” Federico said. “We kind of look at him as a Jack Johnson type, where he had to kind of reinvent himself and play at these lower numbers. But [Jack] is getting more years out of his career having done it. Danny has to reestablish himself.”

Continued; I hope that DeKeyser does find employment at the NHL level, but I also hope that it’s not with Detroit.

DobberHockey’s Rick Roos examined the NHL’s 32 goaltending tandems to assess potential “goalie timeshares” in teams’ creases, for fantasy hockey purposes, and Roos believes that Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic may split time in the Red Wings’ crease:

Detroit Red Wings (Ville Husso, Alex Nedeljokovic)

One would think that Husso would have the inside track, having been signed as a UFA. Yet the gap between their salaries is less than $2M and Husso has never been tasked with being the starter going into a season. Moreover, it was when he was not the presumed starter, back with the Canes, that Neds was at his best; so he might step up again now that he’s not supposed to shine, plus due to the fact that he’s a UFA to be and thus will want to earn his next paycheck. We might be looking at a timeshare situation brewing.

Continued; my best bet is that the first half of the season will involve splitting duties for Husso and Nedeljkovic, with coach Lalonde picking a “starter” over the course of the second half of the season.

My apologies for the delay in finding this one, but a month ago Friday, Filip Zadina was training with the team where his dad Marek has become an assistant coach, HC Dynamo Pardubice (i.e. a team in Zadina’s home town). Zadina played for Ocelari Trinec during the COVID-shortened season, and dad won a championship with Ocelari before moving home to Dynamo Pardubice this season.

Anyway, the 3-minute video shows Zadina practicing with fellow Pardubice product and Dallas Stars prospect Matej Blumel.

I don’t speak Czech, so here’s an APB being sent out for all the Czech-speakers out there to figure out what Zadina is saying.