Month: August 2022

The Athletic’s Max Bultman engages in a thought experiment this morning, pondering what the Red Wings’ lineup might look for the 2026-2027 season:

Detroit is coming off a season in which its two top prospects, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, debuted and starred right away. Another, Simon Edvinsson, has a real shot to make the NHL next season. And this summer, the Red Wings’ aggressiveness in free agency set them up to be much more competitive in 2022-23.

But the big-picture priority of the franchise remains the same. The Red Wings’ rebuild has always been geared toward making them a Stanley Cup contender in the long-term, and while the team’s moves and progress in the farm system mean that future is drawing closer, the state of the rebuild is still best viewed from 10,000 feet above.

So, today, we’ll renew our annual attempt to do just that by projecting Detroit’s lineup four years out.

And, as always, that means some ground rules. First, I projected only players currently in the Red Wings organization. That means prospects are in the fold, but no projecting of future free agent signings or trades. Second, I kept the entire core intact for this projection — including some who can become free agents before 2026, or even traded in anticipation of that. Certainly, a trade or departure of one of Detroit’s older top-six pieces would shake up this projection considerably, but trying to predict who (and for what) would introduce too many moving parts.

For those reasons, we’ll get this out of the way now: No, this is not what the 2026-27 Red Wings are actually going to look like. There will be new top draft picks entering the picture, current players who are traded or un-signed, and new free agents joining the fold.

Instead, the point of this exercise is to highlight what’s on the way for Detroit, and what questions remain as Steve Yzerman works toward the future.

Continued (paywall)

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn posted an article this morning which discusses which NHL teams “improved the most and improved the least” based on Luszczyszyn’s “Game Score Value Added” model, and it gives high marks to the Red Wings, Ben Chiarot signing included:

1. Detroit Red Wings

Wins Added: 6.0 wins

Salary Added: $24.2 million

In: Ville Husso, David Perron, Andrew Copp, Dominik Kubalik, Mark Pysyk, Austin Czarnik, Olli Maatta, Matt Luff, Ben Chiarot

Out: Olli Juolevi, Thomas Greiss, Marc Staal

The Detroit Red Wings balled out this summer spending big money in hopes of clawing out of the league’s basement and forging a path toward contention. No team saw a bigger increase in spending and it looks like it should be worth it because no team added more value either. With a 1.9-win gap between first and second, it wasn’t even close either.

The Red Wings didn’t lose much with three players who offered minimal value … if that. In their place, there are nine new notable faces who will inject some life into the lineup. Detroit’s issue has long been its depth and that should be alleviated heavily after a busy offseason.

Up front, David Perron and Andrew Copp are legitimate top-six talents that should immediately provide some depth scoring beyond the top line. Detroit has long depended on Dylan Larkin and his linemates to do it all. Now it doesn’t have to. Perron and Copp aren’t stars, but they move the needle and provide strong support. Add Dominik Kubalik to the mix and the top nine looks the scariest it has in a long time. 

On defense, the changes aren’t as exciting but there’s hope. Mark Pysyk is an analytics darling that should do just fine on the team’s third pair, while Olli Maatta bounced back well last season. He has top-four potential if he can keep that up. Considering the money they’re giving him, the Red Wings are likely hoping Ben Chiarot is the big top-four piece needed to take this team to a higher level. The model is incredibly skeptical of that, but it’s nice knowing the team added six wins anyway despite Chiarot’s projected value dragging it down. If he can be as good as some suggest he is, that’s another win or so in Detroit’s ledger.

The team’s biggest add though comes in net with Ville Husso. Detroit took a calculated risk last offseason with Alex Nedeljkovic and it’s doing something similar with Husso. It’s another young goalie who got hot and showed starter potential. The duo has tremendous upside, but the small sample risk remains real for both. As long as one of them hits it’s a good bet though, giving Detroit some stability in net for the first time since the last time Jimmy Howard was good. Incidentally, that was the last time the team was any good. It’s been a long time coming, but the Red Wings are back on the rise.

Continued (paywall)…

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an early-morning article which focuses on Red Wings prospect and Grand Rapids Griffins defenseman Donovan Sebrango, who will serve as an alternate captain for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship this month.

Sebrango has 2 AHL seasons under his belt as a 20-year-old prospect because the OHL cancelled the 2020-2021 season due to COVID, opening a spot for Sebrango in Grand Rapids, and he’s played in 96 AHL games since:

“It’s pretty obvious I’m not going to be an offensive guy at the next level,” Sebrango said. “Being gritty is something I pride myself on and being able to shut down their top players.”

Sebrango signed an amateur tryout contract with Grand Rapids in January 2021 after the OHL season with Kitchener was suspended, and later canceled, due to the pandemic. He appeared in 31 games with the Griffins as a 19-year-old, making him eligible to play in the AHL in 2021-22, when he appeared in 65 more.

“Especially from my first year to my second in the AHL, it’s been a completely different growing experience,” Sebrango said. “Your first year, you kind of got a mixture of junior guys being brought up and East Coast (League) guys.

“And then (in 2021-22) kind of my first taste of what real AHL hockey is like. It was a big wake-up call, a growth year, kind of being able to see the men you play against and where you have to be to get to the next level. … You got NHL-ready players and your fourth-line big guys that are willing to go through you to get the puck. It keeps you on your toes.”

Continued

Detroit Hockey Now’s audit of the Red Wings’ prospect system continues this morning with something of a real wild card in 5’10,” 163-pound center Dmitri Buchelnikov of SKA St. Petersburg.

With the situation in Russia complicated to say the least, the Red Wings leaned upon their European scouts to make a recommendation on the 52nd overall pick in last month’s NHL Draft. He impressed, posting 41 goals and 34 assists for 75 points in 56 games played in the MHL, the Russian version of Major Junior hockey.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Nate Brown took note of Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper’s comments regarding Buchelnikov:

“Wasn’t allowed over there,” Draper said about scouting in person. “(European Scout) Nikolai (Vakourov) saw him quite a bit. As the second half of the season came on, really started to talk to Nikolai and Dimitri started producing, scoring, putting up good numbers.”

…

“We think we got a very skilled, very smart hockey player,” Draper said.

Playing in the MHL indicates that Buchelnikov hasn’t faced the push back he’ll get in other leagues as his career ascends, but just a glance at what he’s capable of in the short clips or highlight reels shows why Detroit drafted him.

Where he fits, then, in the arrival timeline depends on where Detroit lets him play. Russia will be his likely course for at least another year, and a crack at a KHL lineup would begin giving some indication of where he’s at. On the other hand, if he tears it up in the MHL again, it’s evident that he absolutely needs a greater challenge.

Continued; with Buchelnikov currently playing in the MHL system of SKA St. Petersburg, it’s hard to say whether the team will want him to eventually join SKA’s VHL team (the equivalent of the Russian AHL) and KHL team before coming over, mostly because the Russians might make a fuss of a blossoming KHL-contracted player breaking a valid contract (and KHL players are now considered property of their teams until they’re 26).

Long story long, the Wings will want Buchenlinkov to do well, but not too well, as he rises in the Russian hockey ranks.

Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider spoke with the podcast “Eiskalt auf den Punkt” (Ice-Cold to the Point) recently (as I translated last week), and NHL.com’s Oliver Jensen uses some of Seider’s comments as a jumping-off point to NHL.com/de’s analysis of the state of the Red Wings going into the 2022-2023 season. Here’s a translation of his piece:

Seider wants to battle with for the playoffs with the Red Wings: “We can believe in ourselves”

NHL.com/de’s 32 in 32: German Moritz Seider wants the sporting thirst of the Red Wings to end and to become a driving player himself

Moritz Seider’s first season in the NHL was like a fairy tale. The German defenseman was the Red Wings best assist-provider with 43 assists, he scored seven goals himself, and he was awarded the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie. The 21-year-old thus followed in the footsteps of superstars like Kirill Kaprizov, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon and the legendary Mario Lemieux. Never before had a player from a German-speaking region won this award.

“It’s a huge honor to be able to accept such an award at all. It’s an incredible confirmation of the work that you do,” the defenseman said in a recent interview with the Deutsche Eishockey Liga’s “Eiskalt auf den Punkt” podcast. However, he himself had not given much thought as to whether he would win this award beforehand.

“Actually, I was always teased about it on the team because we had another contender on the team, Lucas Raymond, who was very keen to be one of the finalists, and so it was always fun. We always teased about each other, if one played a better game than the other, or we both had a great game,” said Seider.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Moritz Seider shares thoughts about the Red Wings’ 22-23 campaign with NHL.com/de

The Red Wings have 10 NHL veteran defensemen under contract for the upcoming season, and 11 potential blueliners if you count super-prospect Simon Edvinsson. The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted something of an audit of the Red Wings’ defensive corps this evening, and here’s what he has to say about the brightest lights:

► Simon Edvinsson: Edvinsson plays the left side, and has the athleticism and skating ability that could be immediately NHL caliber. Edvinsson (6-foot-6) can transport the puck, has a big shot, creates offense, and doesn’t shy away from physicality. There’s no question Edvinsson is an exciting prospect.

► Filip Hronek: There was growing speculation Hronek was going to be trade bait, but that didn’t happen. So, Hronek (right side) heads into camp looking to reverse what was an inconsistent season. Hronek’s defense continues to be a question mark, with his decision-making still an issue. 

► Moritz Seider: After an award-winning rookie season, it’ll be interesting to see how far Seider takes his game. Seider said he watched Colorado’s Cale Makar during the playoffs, watching how Makar controlled the puck and navigated the blue line. Chiarot, for one, is excited about having Seider on his side. “He’s an impressive young defenseman,” [Ben] Chiarot said. “Plays physical, which you don’t see a ton of any more with young guys coming in. He doesn’t back down out there. I look forward to getting out there with him.”

► Jake Walman: Walman made a favorable impression after arriving from St. Louis at the trade deadline, but offseason shoulder surgery will keep Walman out of the lineup to start the season. Inconsistency has plagued Walman in his young career, and he’ll battle for playing time on the right-side once he returns. Walman has great skating skills, and has a dangerous shot.

Continued (paywall)…

NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika posted a profile of Red Wings prospect and soon-to-be 2022 World Junior Championship participant Carter Mazur, who skated in the Americans’ WJC selection camp in Plymouth last week:

The moment came early last season. It helped Carter Mazur have a big freshman year at the University of Denver, and it says something about a 20-year-old forward who will play for the United States at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton from Aug. 9-20 and could make an impact for the Detroit Red Wings someday.

“This is when you know the kid really cares and wants to be a player,” Red Wings assistant director of player development Dan Cleary said.

Mazur, whom Detroit selected in the third round (No. 70) of the 2021 NHL Draft, reached out to Cleary in maybe November. He was having trouble finding the net, so he asked for video samples that could help with scoring. The Red Wings sent him a five-minute video with clips illustrating how to find areas in the offensive zone and get his shot off quicker. After that, something clicked.

“He went on just an absolute tear, and he just felt so much more confident, and he just took off,” Cleary said.

Mazur ended up with 38 points (14 goals, 24 assists) in 41 games for Denver, including two assists in a 5-1 win against Minnesota State in the NCAA title game April 9.

“It’s been pretty crazy,” Mazur said. “Winning the national championship is something I’ve always dreamed about, and to finally have it finally come true is just pretty surreal.”

Continued, and it’s a good read….

Detroit Hockey Now’s set of prospect profiles has moved onto the players who were drafted this year but did not participate in the summer development camp last month. Today’s target is defenseman Anton Johansson of Leksands IF in Sweden. He’s a lanky 6’4″ but only weighs 172 pounds, and he was drafted 102nd overall in July.

DHN’s Bob Duff offers a scouting report of the skinny defender:

Like the lemurs in the animated film Madagascar, Anton Johansson likes to move it, move it – both on the ice and up the ladder of Swedish hockey. The Red Wings’ 2022 draft pick began the 2021-22 season playing with Leksand IF in the J18 (under-18) division of Sweden. He quickly moved up to Leksand’s J20 club and even played four games for their SHL squad in Sweden’s top division before the year was done.

“I’ve had an incredible development,” Johansson told hockeynews.se. “I didn’t think that I was going to start on the J18 team and finish in the SHL at the beginning of the season. With patience and hard work, it paid off.”

According to Draftineu.com’s scouting report, Johansson gets around the ice smoothly and displays soft hands while in possession of the puck.

“I saw him play in the SHL,” Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper said. “He played a lot in the J20 and we like the size, the right shot, puck-moving defenseman that we were excited to get.”

…

“He was a player we identified,” Draper said. “It’s interesting. Now that you’re a couple of years from not being able to go to the all the rinks, video is kind of accepted in our profession now. So you can actually watch more video than you were supposed to back in the day. When we put our list together and started talking about players, you get on video and start watching them and have dialogue. We really like the path that he’s on.”

That conversation with Hockeysverige.se’s Ronnie Ronnqvist might sound familiar because I translated it for you a couple of weeks ago. It’s a good starting point in terms of getting to know him.

Daily Faceoff’s Mike McKenna posted a list of five goalies which the former NHL goalkeeper feels will perform better during the 2022-2023 season, and Alex Nedeljkovic cracked McKenna’s list (as did former Red Wing Thomas Greiss):

Alex Nedeljkovic: It was a tale of two seasons for Nedeljkovic and the Red Wings last year. The first half was fantastic. The second half was miserable. And life as a goaltender reflects that.

Sure, there were a few blowup games where Nedeljkovic allowed a pile of goals. But Detroit’s defense last season — especially in the second half — was an absolute travesty. The fact that Nedeljkovic was able to post a .901 save percentage in 59 games is something of a minor miracle.

The Red Wings have added considerable talent throughout their lineup and brought in Derek Lalonde as head coach. There is every reason to believe that Detroit will not only be improved next season, but they could also make a run at the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

There will be competition in the crease with incoming goaltending partner Ville Husso. But never count out someone in a contract year. Nedeljkovic’s deal is up at the end of the 2022–23 season. Behind a restocked and rejuvenated team in Detroit, I fully expect his numbers to improve.

Continued; here’s hoping that a summer rehabilitating a “lower-body injury” will give Nedeljkovic the jumping-off point necessary to have a better season to come.

Enjoy “A Conversation With Steve Yzerman”: