Month: August 2022

I’m unable to access Aftonbladet’s paywall articles, but IceHockeyGifs has the ability to do so, and he notes the following from Tomas Ros’ preview of the SHL team Leksands IF:

Aftonbladet’s Tomas Ros comments on Anton Johansson:

“One of the game’s biggest standouts, with good reach and exciting offense.
Played a fine game and showed off his mobility. Will get more games in Leksand [SHL] this winter.” #LGRWhttps://t.co/a3Rz0m4HbL https://t.co/ONmoO1jYPk— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) August 19, 2022

The Red Wings drafted right-shooting defenseman Anton Johansson 105th overall in this summer’s NHL Draft. He’s 6’4″ but weighs only 172 pounds.

He’s played exclusively for Leksands’ Under-18 and Under-20 teams, so he’s looking to break into the SHL as a player who didn’t turn 18 until this past June.

According to EliteProspects.com, his dad, Thomas Johansson, was a long-time SHL defenseman, so he has “good bloodlines,” as they say.

Red Wings prospect and Team Sweden defenseman Simon Edvinsson has been dealing with a chronic injury throughout the World Junior Championship’s preliminary round, and he suffered from a case of food poisoning a couple of days ago, forcing him to miss a game and feel less than 100% during Sweden’s Quarterfinal win over Latvia…

But Edvinsson is not happy with his performance at the tournament thus far, as he told HockeySverige.se’s Rasmus Kagstrom:

Simon Edvinsson: “I have under-performed”

Simon Edvinsson’s WJC has not turned out as he imagined. He’s been hampered by an injury [suffered in the pre-tournament game vs. the USA] and plagued by food poisoning. Despite the mitigating circumstances, the defenseman judges his own contributions in the tournament:

“I have not been satisfied with how I’ve played in any of the games,” he says to HockeySverige.se.

EDMONTON: Even before the tournament began, bad luck smiled in the face of Swedish star defenseman Simon Edvinsson. In the exhibition game against Canada, he sustained an injury that’s bothered him during the tournament–and, like onions on salmon, he suffered food poisoning before the group stage game against the U.S.A.

“It was blurry during the game (against the U.S.A.). I was really angry and then I went to the hotel where…Without being too graphic, I can say that it wasn’t fun,” says Edvinsson with a wry smile to HockeySverige.se.

“It’s not something I recommend to anyone. It wasn’t great fun, if I may say so. Now I’m fine, so that’s a positive, anyway.”

“I have under-performed”

In the four games that the defenseman has played, he’s produced two points (1 goal + 1 assist) and averaged 21:30 of ice time per game. Despite the injury concerns and the food poisoning, which can be called mitigating circumstances, Edvinsson does not hold back when he is asked to rate his efforts in the tournament thus far.

“I have under-performed. There is so much more to be gained, and I haven’t been satisfied with how I’ve played in any of the games,” he says.

“I haven’t reached the level I want. I have a few more levels in me. Then I had an injury and food poisoning, which put a bit of a damper on the wheels, so the season hasn’t started in the best possible way,” says Edvinsson, who can’t help but laugh.

The Swedish star defenseman, who signed his first NHL contract with the Detroit Red Wings this past spring, hopes to bounce back onto track in the semifinal against Finland, which he expects to be the biggest challenge of the tournament thus far.

“They have many good players. There’s not a specific line that you have to watch out for, but they’re a very deep team. We have to find a way to exploit their weaknesses. It’s a neighboring country, so there will be a little extra glory in the pot. It will be a good game. After all, we still have a rivalry between our countries, so there will probably be a little extra punch and pressure in the game. We’re looking forward to that.”

Red Wings prospect and Team Sweden defenseman Simon Edvinsson clarified the reason why he missed Monday’s game vs. Latvia at the World Junior Championship. It turns out that he had food poisoning, as he told HockeyNews.se’s Henrik Sjoberg:

Edvinsson had an injury and food poisoning: “I don’t recommend it”

EDMONTON. Simon Edvinsson has had a relatively modest World Junior Championship in Edmonton, for obvious reasons.

The defensive star suffered an injury during an exhibition game against the U.S.A., and he got food poisoning and a fever.

“The food poisoning was a little more difficult than the injury, but we are professional ice hockey players and should be able to deal with that as well,” Edvinsson told HockeyNews.se.

Team captain Emil Andrae has been the Junior Crowns’ best player and perhaps the best defender of the entire tournament now that we are at the Semifinals of the Junior World Championship.

Canada faces the Czech Republic [at 4 PM EDT] and, for the Junior Crowns, Finland awaits tomorrow [at 8 PM EDT].

Defensive star Simon Edvinsson has missed one of the games in the group stage, and a couple of practice sessions with the team during the tournament, and now he tells us about the challenges he’s struggled with off the ice.

“It’s been a bit up and down. It started well there, but then I had a bit of trouble with an injury, and once I was back, I got food poisoning during the game against the U.S.A., and I felt like I was getting a fever and stuff. But yes, at least I’m back on the ice now and I’m ready to play against Finland,” says Edvinsson.

What’s it like to have to deal with such things during a championship?

“I don’t recommend it. But, uh, it’s something you have to take. Things happen all the time, food poisoning was a bit more troublesome than the injury, but we are all professional hockey players, and should be able to deal with it,” says the former Frolunda defenseman.

Now the Swedes are preparing for the rival meeting against Finland–who defeated Sweden in one of the exhibition games before the tournament.

“They are a good team, and we beat a bit at a disadvantage, but everyone is positive about it,” says Edvinsson.

Here’s his (Swedish) interview:

Of short Red Wings-related note this evening:

1. The Red Wings retweeted this short video from the NHL Network, whose Mike Rupp and Tony Luftman are bullish on the Red Wings (eventual) defensive dominance:

"Look out because they're going to be a juggernaut."

The @DetroitRedWings have the pieces in place to be competitive for years to come. @TonyLuftman | @Rupper17 | #NHLTonight pic.twitter.com/qRS4g5uLi4

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) August 18, 2022

2. CBS Sports’ Chris Bengel wrote an article attempting to handicap each and every one of the NHL’s teams’ potential Hall of Fame candidates, and he made an obvious pick:

Detroit Red Wings: Moritz Seider (D)

Current Hall of Fame “lock”: No

Seider started off his NHL career by winning the Calder Trophy this year.

In his rookie campaign, Seider tallied 50 points (seven goals & 43 assists) and became just the fifth defenseman to win the Calder Trophy in the past 20 years. 

He obviously has a long way to go in his career, but producing an award-winning season in his first professional year certainly sets the bar high.

Maybe one day!

3. Speaking of Seider, PennLive.com’s Deb Kiner reports the following:

FOCO today released four new bobbleheads that feature National Hockey League award winners from last year.

Players available are Auston Matthews, Igor Shesterkin, Moritz Seider, and recent Stanley Cup Champion Cale Makar.

Each bobblehead features the player in an action pose atop a thematic trophy base. Their names are displayed in front next to their respective team logos. The bobbles are limited to 322 units, stand at 8-inches in tall and sell for $80. They will ship no later than Feb. 3, 2023.

If you want to spend $80 on a Moritz Seider bobblehead which includes a little replica of the Calder Trophy, here you go.

Here’s the schedule for the World Junior Championship’s semifinal round on Friday, August 19th:

Canada vs. Czechia @ 4 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network;

Dominic Sebrango and Sebastian Cossa play for Canada; Jan Bednar plays for Czechia…

Sweden vs. Finland @ 8 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network;

Simon Edvinsson, Theodor Niederbach and William Wallinder play for Sweden; Eemil Viro plays for Finland.

Almost 10 minutes of Red Wings forward Joe Veleno explaining what he’s been doing with his summer in Montreal, Quebec:

50 years old today:

HBD, coach! 🥳 pic.twitter.com/GaEaSJyTUX— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 18, 2022

EliteProspects has posted an 8-minute video which breaks down plays made by Red Wings 2022 first-round draft pick and Rogle BK center Marco Kasper:

Hey, Red Wings fans, we’ve got a new YouTube video up this morning that might be of interest to you 👀@DavidSt_Louis breaks down one of Marco Kasper’s games from last spring’s SHL playoffs in this edition of Let’s Watch!

🔗: https://t.co/aikQ4c4d3o pic.twitter.com/T0Vu8GsuYu— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) August 18, 2022

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn has posted a list compiling fans’ confidence in their respective teams’ front office personnel, based upon 18,000 reader comments, and the Red Wings came in 3rd. I’m not going to replicate Luszczyszyn’s charts, but I can share the text.

Cue Luszczyszyn’s ever-present skepticism of all things Red Wings!

Steve Yzerman can do no wrong, which to some apparently includes signing a gargoyle statue. I respect that level of trustworthiness and am always amazed at how well Detroit scores in these rankings. Wings fans love Yzerman and have the utmost faith in his vision for the future. The cache he earned building the Lightning definitely helps with that.

The Red Wings had an extremely busy offseason where it became clear that the next phase of the team’s build is upon us. It’s what makes this season a make-or-break season for the unconditional faith in the Yzerplan. At some point, a rebuild needs to take a step forward and it’s clear this is the year where Detroit takes that step. How strong that step is should be telling toward how much confidence should be placed in Detroit’s future. A big step means all the faith during the slow rebuild is rewarded. A small step though would be pretty discouraging considering the length of the rebuild process — though to Yzerman’s credit this is only his fourth season on the job.

His first draft on the job had the Red Wings selecting Moritz Seider, one of the game’s future stars on the back end, with fellow rookie stud Lucas Raymond being taken the following year. That’s a strong nucleus and explains the team’s high marks for drafting and developing. Yzerman deserves a lot of credit for that, but in order for this team to contend, they’ll need some more big hits. 

Yzerman has done a strong job so far, but the hard part is what’s next.

Continued (paywall); yes, this year is a significant stress test of Steve Yzerman’s roster-building. Why do so many of the experts assume that fans think it would be easy? This partisan never did.

NHL.com is previewing its 32 teams on an in-depth basis over the course of this month and early September, and today, they’ve reached the Detroit Red Wings.

NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika leads off the preview package with an, “Inside Look at [the] Detroit Red Wings”…

The Red Wings (32-40-10) finished sixth in the Atlantic Division last season and failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth straight time, while ranking at or near the bottom of the NHL in each major category — goals (227, 25th), goals against (310, 31st), power play (16.3 percent, 26th) and penalty kill (73.8 percent 32nd).

They will look far different after the offseason additions of coach Derek Lalonde, goalie Ville Husso, defensemen Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta and Mark Pysyk, and Copp, Dominik Kubalik and David Perron at forward.

“I think we’ve addressed some needs,” Yzerman said. “I’m hoping we’re a better team. I think we’re progressing slowly in this rebuilding of the Red Wings. Are we good enough to make the playoffs next year? I don’t know. I’m hopeful that we’ll score more goals, we’ll give up fewer goals. I’m hoping our power play will be a little bit better, our penalty killing is a little bit better, our goals against is a little bit better, and that pushes us higher up the standings.”

Lalonde, hired July 1 to replace Jeff Blashill, was an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning the past four seasons and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.

Yzerman helped build the Lightning as GM from 2010-18 and a senior adviser in 2018-19 before returning to Detroit, where he won the Stanley Cup in 1997, 1998 and 2002 as a legendary captain and again in 2008 as a vice president of hockey operations.

“Steve was very clear in the whole interview process that this is going to take some time,” Lalonde said. “We’re building. We’re building the right way. But this is going to be a process.”

Cotsonika continues, and he also asks “Three Questions” which the Red Wings face going into the 2022-2023 season…

Continue reading NHL.com posts 4 articles previewing the Red Wings’ 2022-2023 season