The Detroit Red Wings’ coaching staff added some wrinkles to the mix after days one and two of the Red Wings’ 2022 training camp in Traverse City, MI.
As per usual, the Red Wings’ 67 training camp participants were divided into three teams, Team Lindsay, Team Howe and Team Delvecchio, and, as per usual, the teams’ rosters were changed somewhat significantly so that the young prospects from Team Lindsay would get a full two-hour practice with the “big teams,” and the coaching staff also seemed to very consciously break up some early roster pairings on Saturday, separating Ben Chiarot from Moritz Seider, for example.
Once again, Tyler Bertuzzi missed practice with a “flare-up,” though he made an appearance for the “morning team’s” video session (today, that was Team Howe), along with the injured Andrew Copp (abdominal surgery), Jake Walman (shoulder surgery), and Oskar Sundqvist (undisclosed);
Once again, Copp, Walman, prospects Jake Uberti and Tnias Mathurin also practiced so early that, when I got to the rink early at 7:50 AM, they’d been on the ice for almost half an hour, working with skills coach Dwayne Blais. At 8 AM, they were joined by Sebastian Cossa and Jan Bednar, who worked with Wings goalie coach Alex Westlund and Griffins goalie coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson. Their presence meant that meant that, for the second day, Cossa was going to be on the “prospect team.”
At 8:30, after the injured players finished up their hour-long skate, Team Lindsay took to the ice, and while their drills were condensed into an hour’s worth of practice time, the points of emphasis were puck pursuit, neutral zone tracking, gaining the offensive zone and then drop-passing back to the point, and working on battle drills via “small area games” in which the nets were placed along the half boards for a little “street hockey.”
It’s worth noting that, during Team Lindsay’s drills, both Oskar Sundqvist and Mark Pysyk (Achilles tendon surgery) were deemed late for Team Howe’s 20-minute video session, so they were told that the session was locked down, and that they’d have to make up for being late by doing something for the team! Incredulous, they grumbled their way back to the trainer’s room.
When Team Howe took to the ice, the first half of their practice was more or less dedicated to more player tracking and battle drills, but the emphasis was on defending odd-man rushes and breaking out by utilizing defensemen as relief valves.
Again, there were some small-area games to wrap up the first hour of practice, and captain Dylan Larkin won the drill with a shootout goal on Victor Brattstrom. Another 20-minute video session followed, and while I didn’t get great angles of what was going on, I could tell that coach Lalonde, coach Jay Varady and coach Alex Tanguay all took part in the presentations.
The second hour of practice for Team Howe consisted of special teams drills. 5-on-4 situations dominated the hour, whether players were working on lateral passes, entries with drop passes in the neutral zone, penalty-kill zone clearing, break-ins, break-outs, situational drills, where faceoffs started play, or where the power play units regrouped at center ice and then re-entered the zone after tagging up.
There were a few instances where the Wings’ coaches–again, we’re talking about Lalonde, Alex Tanguay, Bob Boughner, Jay Varady and video coaches LJ Scarpace and Jeff Weintraub–broke up the power play drills by having players practice 5-man passing or layered screening of goaltenders, but I kept writing “5 on 4 drill” in my notebook over and over again. The practice wrapped up with 1-minute shifts for units of 5 and 4 skaters, respectively, covering the full ice.
After Team Howe wrapped up their drills, the media folks had to head upstairs and wait for media availabilities, so I missed the first 40 or so minutes of Team Delvecchio’s practice, but I caught the second half thereof, and, again, we were talking about 5-on-4 power play drills, some utilizing 2 penalty-killing and 2 power play units per drill. I noted a moment when coach Scarpace blew the whistle and told the players, “We don’t stop!” when the power play entry got too scatterbrained, and the practice wrapped up, again, with 1-minute shifts for units of 5 and 4 skaters, respectively, covering the full ice.
Unlike Team Howe, Team Delvecchio got to stay on the ice for another 20 or so minutes, with some players working on their shots, some working on faceoffs, and others just goofing around. They didn’t come off the ice until well after their scheduled departure of 1:25 PM, so we ended up speaking with Filip Zadina, who spent a lot of time on the ice with Jakub Vrana at the end of practice, around 2 PM.
Just as was the case on Thursday and Friday, even though hockey is universal to some extent, the drills the Red Wings’ players were put through were all new to them and all new to me, and they’ve really been bombarded by information in video and practice forms over the last three days.
I have the feeling that the Red vs. White Game tomorrow at 12 PM EDT (to be streamed on the Red Wings’ social media channels) will be a welcome change of pace, ahead of Monday’s more game-like practices…
But it’s hard to quantify how much information coach Lalonde and his staff have been throwing at the players, and reinforcing on a repeated basis. This team is going to be doing everything differently, and it’s going to take at the very least two more full weeks’ worth of practices and 8 exhibition games for everything to sink in…If not a good month or two before everything truly becomes reflexive and automatic.
In terms of impressions and assessments of the Red Wings’ participating players, on a “team by team” basis…
TEAM LINDSAY
Forwards:
#58 Riley Piercey*: Piercey, a free agent invite, had the game of his life with a 4-goal effort in the Red Wings’ first prospect tournament game, and since then, I will at least say that the 20-year-old power forward for the Flint Firebirds has had a great time at main camp. The 6’3,” 193-pound Piercey is probably headed back to Flint for a final Major Junior season, but he’s been hard-working, physical, and he can score goals. We’ll see how he develops this upcoming season.
#72 Trenton Bliss**: Grand Rapids bound, the Griffins-contracted Bliss is 24, he stands 6’1″ and 193 pounds, and he plays a physical, net-front-friendly game in which he plays hard and fast. He’s going to project as more of a grinder in Grand Rapids, but that role seems to suit him well.
#75 Cedric Lacroix**: It’s sort of understood that the 27-year-old Lacroix is going to “keep the flies off” the Griffins’ kids, and the 6’1,” 187-pound Lacroix does just that at the AHL and ECHL levels. He’s not devoid of talent otherwise–I’ve been impressed with his jam around the net and his overall skating abilities–but his job is his job, and there’s nothing to be ashamed of in terms of making one’s living as a professional protection artist.
#78 Amadeus Lombardi: At 19 and all of 5’10” and 165 pounds, it’s hard to project Lombardi being the Red Wings’ next first-line center, but there’s certainly a steal to be had in the 2022 4th round draft pick. Lombardi is plucky, speedy, absolutely fearless and talented offensively. Talented enough that he played seamlessly as Elmer Soderblom’s center at the prospect tournament, and plucky enough that he’s given the NHL’ers no quarter when he’s played on their teams. I don’t know what his upside really is, whether he’s a third-line center with grit or something more, but I know that I will be excited to watch “Ammo” develop.
#79 Kirill Tyutyayev**: I’ve said a lot about the 5’9,” 178-pound Tyutyayev, and my fascination and frustration with him both continue after Saturday’s practice. Tyutyayev had dekes, dangles, fakes, feints and sublime skating to spare, but he’s not that great at finishing, at least at a near-NHL level, and so the Grand Rapids Griffins-contracted winger needs to find his confidence and needs to find a little more willingness to make one less deke and one more attempt at actually putting the puck in the back of the net. It’s both fascinating and utterly frustrating to watch him play so very well and then generate so little for all the effort he puts into play. He’s strong enough to be able to stuff some pucks in the net, and sometimes that’s exactly what he needs to do.
#83 Marcus Limpar-Lantz*: MLL has been up and down over the course of the prospect tournament and training camp. A prolific scorer at the Swedish J20 level with Orebro, the 19-year-old is heading over to the Erie Otters, an OHL powerhouse on a perennial basis, to try his hand at North American hockey, and the 6,’ 188-pound center’s skills are evident and present, but his application thereof is still inconsistent. Sometimes, Limpar-Lantz looks like a draft steal in the making, and sometimes, the free agent invite has looked like someone for whom the Wings were doing a favor by exposing him to as many talent scouts as they did.
#84 Julien Anctil*: Another player who just hasn’t connected talent to execution consistently enough, the 6’2,” 177-pound Sherbrooke Phoenix center and free agent invite is 21, and he posted 68 points in 67 QMJHL games this past season, but he just hasn’t displayed that level of talent on a consistent basis here in Traverse City. He’ll head back to the Q for one very overage season and see where it takes him.
#86 Ivan Ivan*: Ivan just turned 20, and the 6,’ 199-pound forward from the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles is another one of those point-per-game players in the “Q” who hasn’t stood out over the course of the prospect tournament and main camp. Ivan is big and heavy enough to maintain puck possession in traffic, he passes well, he sees the ice and attacks the net well, but he seems to run into walls instead of opposing goaltenders. I don’t know whether his confidence is the issue, or whether there’s something with his mechanics that can be corrected.
#87 Jacob Mathieu*: Only 18, the 5’10,” 177-pound Rimouski Oceanic forward and free agent invite was passed over in the draft because he’s small and slight, and he’s just not quite sorted out his on-ice identity yet.
#94 Mitchell Martin*: The 19-year-old Martin is definitely big at 6’3″ and 199 pounds, and the left-shooting left wing has been more than physical enough over the course of the prospect tournament and main camp, but he’s been inconsistent otherwise. He’s going to head back to the Kitchener Rangers and sort himself out.
Defensemen:
#49 Seth Barton: As I’ve said previously, Seth Barton and Wyatt Newpower are in unique situations. Barton is 23 years old, and the 6’3,” 194-pound defenseman is physical and smart, possessing a fair amount of skill and good skating abilities, but there is a wave of European defensemen who want “in” on the Grand Rapids Griffins in Albert Johansson, Eemil Viro and, to some extent, Simon Edvinsson, and the in-beteweener prospects that are Barton and Newpower need to fight hard to keep their AHL jobs.
#77 Oscar Plandowski: At 19, the 6,’ 186-pound Plandowski, of the fine skating and hockey skills, but lacking much of a toolbox within to place his supremely good skating, strong puck-handling and good shooting skills, is going to be heading back to the Charlottetown Islanders as a 2021 draft pick that simply needs time to put his game together. There’s more than enough talent for Plandowski to find his way among a deep Red Wings prospect blueline corps, but it’s up to Plandowski to find consistency.
Goaltenders:
#33 Sebastian Cossa: That’s two training camp days out of three where Cossa, who desperately wants to turn pro this season as a 19-year-old goaltender, has spent his time on the “back to Major Junior and/or the AHL with you” team, and that’s got to be disappointing. Perhaps calculated by the Red Wings, but disappointing nonetheless. The 6’6,” 229-pound goaltender had a let-down day on Friday, but on Saturday, he was mostly back to his more patient, composed puck-stopping self. Possessing a massive frame and tremendous reflexes, Cossa is still learning when to rely on the former and when to indulge in the latter. His blocker’s great, he handles the puck well, his leg pads and toes are smart and his glove can be wonderful and it can be awful, but that can be rectified with time and teaching. He’s upright, square to shooters and anticipates well, but gets in trouble when he drops to his knees by default. There’s real pro potential in Cossa, and some maturity coming along with it, and I hope he’ll get a little time in the Red vs. White game.
#60 Jan Bednar: Bednar is at a different point in his development. big at 6’4″ and 199 pounds, the 20-year-old Acadie-Bathurst Titan goaltender is still learning how to not only make spectacular saves, but also make the routine ones, and his consistency is something of a bugaboo, though it is improving. Bednar made a ton of great glove saves on Saturday, and, overall, he just needs more time to mature in the QMJHL before the Red Wings consider whether to sign him.
Injured reserve:
#61 Jake Uberti*: I’ve certainly got no complaints regarding the 20-year-old free agent invite’s work ethic. The 6’2,” 197-pound Mississauga Steelheads center has been busting his butt working with Andrew Copp and Jake Walman every morning, and he’s looked good in terms of his ability to tip shots and to generally keep up with the Red Wings’ more fleet-footed skaters. He’s got some raw potential as a big center, but he’s been too injured to show his stuff at the prospect tournament.
#68 John Lethemon**: The Red Wings signed the 26-year-old native of Northville because the 6’3,” 189-pound Lethemon has posted two very good ECHL campaigns, and a wee bit of AHL time on top of that. I think that the Toledo Walleye’s decision to sign two goaltenders complicates the AHL-contracted Lethemon’s future, as does Sebastian Cossa’s ascent.
#95 Tnias Mathurin: Mathurin, a 2022 draft pick, has been skating in the morning with Uberti, Copp and Walman, and again, his work ethic has been admirable while getting on the ice at 7:30 in the dang morning. Big at 6’3″ and 201 pounds, the North Bay Battalion defenseman seems to project somewhere between a #5/6 defender and a #6/7 guy, depending on how well his talent pans out.
TEAM HOWE:
Forwards:
#22 Matt Luff: Luff leaves me wondering. The 25-year-old forward was signed as a free agent to provide depth in Grand Rapids, but the 6’3,” 212-pound forward has looked pretty darn solid playing alongside more skilled players. He’s big and heavy, but skates well, his passing skills are adequate and he’s a bit snipe-y around the net. Luff is theoretically going to replicate his point-per-game totals in the AHL this upcoming season, but there may be more to his game, and while 25 years old is no longer “prospect” age, we’ll see what he does with some NHL time at some point this season.
#23 Lucas Raymond: All of 20 and still growing into a 5’11,” 176-pound body, Raymond has admittedly been delightful to watch at training camp because he’s been like a dog on a bone when it comes to winning competitions to put rebounds and loose pucks in the back of the net. Already possessing enough talent to post 23 goals and 57 points last season, Raymond seems to want to bring an edge to his game this year, and that would be absolutely lovely to see, because the plucky little forward already generates tremendous offense and his skating skills continue to improve with time. Raymond feels that he has more to give, and that’s fantastic.
#24 Pius Suter: Again, my sense is that the 26-year-old Suter is probably going to be better-served getting away from those primary defensive match-ups that he faced as a second-line center. 5’11” and 179 pounds, he’s not big, and he’s not fast, but Suter gets around the ice well enough, he did post 36 points in 82 games last season, and if the Wings can get 45+ points out of Suter working on a line with Dominik Kubalik and possibly Filip Zadina, that would be ideal. Suter is determined and seems to work hard, and it’s just a matter of slotting him in the right spot right now.
#26 Pontus Andreasson: The Red Wings signed the 24-year-old winger from Lulea of the SHL because the 5’10,” 183-pound forward can score points, and over the first three days of training camp, he’s been draining goals into the back of the net on a repeated basis. He’s not particularly big and not particularly strong, so he’s going to need some “finishing” in Grand Rapids, but he’s stout and pesky, and he scores goals at a professional level. Bonus prospect? We’ll see.
#46 Chase Pearson: Pearson turned 25 this August, and he was going to be in the mix for the fourth-line center’s spot on Detroit, but the 6’2,” 200-pound forward has had to step away from the team for a bit, and here’s hoping that everything gets rectified soon. As a result of his issues, he’ll likely start the season in Grand Rapids, but he understands that his bread-and-butter paycheck in professional hockey comes from hard work and grinding, and he should be okay once everything else is okay.
#50 Dominik Shine**: 29 and among a bevy of Grand Rapids Griffins-forwards who are small but worker bee consistent, the 5’11,” 176-pound native of Pinckney, Michigan has never needed to test greener pastures, so he’s remained with the Red Wings and/or Griffins organization since he graduated from college. He’s scrappy enough and useful at the AHL level.
#56 Pasquale Zito: Zito, a 19-year-old who’s a steady 6’1″ and 181 pounds, just needs to get out of his own way. The Red Wings’ 2021 6th round pick has spent too much of the prospect tournament and training camp trying to finish his checks at the expense of puck possession, and Zito seemed to start to come around to playing the Red Wings’ new systems on Saturday. He’s posted nearly a point-per-game at the OHL level, and after being traded from Windsor to Niagara, Zito should find a new opportunity to focus on the non-physical aspects of his game while continuing to be a pain in the butt.
#57 David Perron: We’re already hearing from the players “in the room” that David Perron is stepping up as a leader, and that he’s setting an example for his younger charges. The 34-year-old unrestricted free agent signing is no slouch at 6’1″ and 196 pounds of effort, intensity and determination, and he’s so dead-set on winning battles for the puck that he can be a downright nasty player to play against. He’s still good for 20 goals and 50 points on top of that leadership and snarl, and the Red Wings need that kind of veteran leader.
#59 Tyler Bertuzzi: There’s no doubt that Tyler Bertuzzi is tremendously talented as a 30-goal-scorer, or in anything less than his prime at 27 years of age. The 6’1,” 186-pound Bertuzzi is as plucky and pesky as they come as something of a power forward, and while he’s missed some time with a “tweak” of some sort, he’ll get back to being his rambunctious, popular self soon. The big question is whether he’ll end the season in Detroit, and that is a big mystery to everyone including me.
#62 Drew Worrad**: Worrad is going to fit in just fine with the Grand Rapids Griffins’ grinders. The 25-year-old graduate of Western Michigan University is a 6’1,” 186-pound Griffins-contracted forward who posted 45 points in 39 NCAA games this past season, but it’s more likely that he’ll have to embrace third-line role to succeed in Grand Rapids. I like his jam and work ethic quite a bit.
#67 Joel L’Esperance**: Again, the Red Wings signed the 27-year-old Brighton, MI native to an AHL contract because he posts 20 to 25 goals and about 50 points per season in the AHL. The 6’2,” 210-pound L’Esperance is no slouch physically, and he’s kept up with the blistering pace at which the new-look Red Wings hold their practices, but he hasn’t stood out as a goal-scorer per se.
#71 Dylan Larkin: Then there is the man who sets the pace. Larkin, now 26, is coming off a fine 31-goal, 69-point season, but he believes that he has more to give to the team he captains, and the 6’1,” 198-pound Larkin may very well find that he’s got another gear in terms of consistency. Possessing tremendous speed and excellent speed while carrying the puck, Larkin possesses an array of shots and passes and playmaking skills, but it’s his “motor” that sets him apart. He’s also apparently blossoming as the leader of a younger Red Wings team.
#73 Adam Erne: The 27-year-old Erne needs to find some consistency, and he needs to do it quickly. Heavy at 6’1″ and 212 pounds, strong-skating and possessing good hands, Erne just hasn’t really connected in terms of finding a power forward’s game on a regular basis. Erne certainly has the tools necessary to generate offense and he has the physical gifts necessary to crash and bang, but his effort is inconsistent, and his application of talent is inconsistent. I hope he finds his way this year, because if he doesn’t, he’ll lose his job to somebody else.
#85 Elmer Soderblom: Soderblom is one of the players who could conceivably steal a spot from Erne. The 21-year-old is a massive 6’8″ and 246 pounds, but he’s light on his feet and heavy on the puck, possessing strong skating abilities, tremendous hand-eye and stick coordination, he’s got an amazing wingspan and knows how to deke and dangle the puck if necessary, and when to power through battles in the corners or along the half boards. He’s not going to be a heavy-checking physical forward, but Soderblom holds his own in terms of physical play, and he’s got a goal-scorer’s touch. The big man may need some time in Grand Rapids to truly adapt to the North American game, but it won’t be long before he’s in Detroit.
Defensemen:
#2 Olli Maatta: The 28-year-old Maatta is a great example of adapting to fill a need. Drafted as an offensive defenseman, the 6’2,” 207-pound Maatta has become a fine shut-down defenseman and complementary second or third-pair defender to a more offensively-minded counterpart. Maatta has reformed his game as that of a true “human eraser,” as I’ve said previously, but there are still hints of the game he grew up playing, and he possesses enough offensive skill to give and go with whichever partner he’s tasked with bailing out.
#3 Simon Edvinsson: Edvinsson’s interest in playing actual defense has been piqued by his participation in the Red Wings’ training camp. Perhaps it was somewhat understandable that a 19-year-old who’s been playing in a men’s league for a year-and-a-half with Frolunda HC of the SHL was all but bored during the prospect tournament, but that was the affect of the incredibly gifted 6’6,” 209-pound defenseman, and it worried me. He glides on the ice as a massive skater, he’s got a tremendous pass, a sneaky hard shot, and he generates offense and is able to get back to clean up his own messes, should he make them, but he’s still learning how to actually seal off opponents along the boards and to defend with that sharp, long stick of his. He’s a fast learner, and he’s learning quite a bit while being exposed to NHL competition over the past three days. Like Soderblom, the question of Edvinsson coming to the NHL isn’t “if,” but rather, “when.”
#28 Gustav Lindstrom: If Edvinsson makes the NHL, he may very well save Gustav Lindstrom’s job. The 23-year-old Lindstrom has been Edvinsson’s partner for the most part, and a stronger Lindstrom, now 6’2″ and 186 pounds, has sort of repurposed himself as a shut-down partner for the elegant Edvinsson, and the pairing just works. Lindstrom is in tough for a spot on the Red Wings’ roster after all the free agent signings, and the strong skater and smart, sometimes spare defenseman is going to have to do his damnedest to keep his spot.
#38 Robert Hagg: One of those free agents is 27-year-old Robert Hagg, a 6’2,” 210-pound defenseman who plays a hard, physical game. I’ve really enjoyed watching Hagg compete and embrace the “bump and grind” aspect of the game, because the mobile defender is the kind of steady, stay-at-home hit machine that you want on your blueline, even if it’s only in a depth role. He’s been smart, he can keep up offensively, and he knows that his bread and butter is being a hard-nosed defender.
#41 Jared McIsaac: I suppose you can lump McIsaac in with Newpower and Barton. At 22, the 6’1,” 197-pound McIsaac is looking to keep his job in Grand Rapids and stay relevant as a Red Wings prospect while playing a very steady but very simple game. Not particularly big, but particularly “heavy” on the puck, McIsaac can disappear from view at times, but that’s because he’s very good at erasing mistakes and just playing steady, physical defense.
#51 Eemil Viro: 20-year-old Eemil Viro is looking to steal a job. Not big at 6′ and 177 wiry pounds, Viro is stronger than he looks, and he’s an intriguing prospect because the little bugger has a fantastic, fantastic stick in terms of breaking up plays, poke checking pucks, and passing and firing hard shots on goal, and his hip-shaking skating style affords him the ability to keep up with opponents and seal them off. He’s a good middle-to-bottom-pair defenseman in the making.
#53 Moritz Seider: Then there are the superstars, and they drive the bus. At all of 21 years of age, Seider’s coming off a Calder Trophy-winning 50-point season, and I believe that the 6’4,” 204-pound defenseman can better that by ten or fifteen points. An elegant skater and sublime passer with a heavy, accurate shot and a wonderful playmaker’s vision, he gaps up tremendously well, skates as well going backward and laterally as he does going forward, and he’s got this underrated physical bite that leaves opponents shell-shocked. Seider is going to be a stud defenseman for years to come, and that’s just fantastic.
#54 Steven Kampfer: Likely Grand Rapids Griffins-bound, the 34-year-old Kampfer actually had a surprisingly solid season with the KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan, but the 5’11,” 198-pound defenseman chose to come home and play for the Red Wings’ organization instead. He had a smile on his face during practice today, and he was surprising teammates with the fact that an older dog can continue to learn new offensive tricks. He’s not going to score points at the NHL level, but he can provide some rock-solid dependable defense.
Goaltenders:
#34 Victor Brattstrom: The 25-year-old Brattstrom still needs to find a level of technical consistency in his game that has yet to appear. His 6’5,” 182-pound frame allows the Swedish goaltender to play a puck-blocking style, but he’s far more effective as a hybrid butterfly netminder who happens to be able to flop and literally do back-flips when he wins. He’ll head to Grand Rapids and do battle with Jussi Olkinuora for the starter’s spot.
#35 Ville Husso: If a 27-year-old can just be finding his footing in the NHL, that’s Ville Husso for you. He’s coming out of Jordan Binnington’s shadow after a fine season in St. Louis, and the 6’3,” 200-pound Husso is exactly the kind of goaltender who knows when to use his technical skills, which he possesses in plenty, and when to flail and throw his body at the puck. He’s fun to watch because he’s a perfect mixture of the school of principled goaltending and the school of, “Toss a body part at the puck and see what happens.”
Injured reserve:
#18 Andrew Copp: Another late-bloomer, the 28-year-old Copp is basically going to miss the exhibition season because he has to do so to fit the recovery time for an abdominal procedure that he had late in the summer. The 6’1,” 199-pound Copp has been like a kid in a candy store in terms of shooting pucks into the top of the empty net during those 7:30 AM practices, and he’s been tipping Jake Walman’s shots in like a seasoned pro. Big, strong, skating excellently well and just possessing a diligent work ethic, his value as a second-line center may be valued more in terms of what he does over how many points he scores.
#43 Mark Pysyk: Again, there’s a certain irony in the fact that the Red Wings signed the 30-year-old Pysyk to be a depth defender, because the 6’3,” 200-pound Pysyk will be coming back from his Achilles tendon injury around the time that the Wings will need him to fill in for an injured defenseman or two. He’s just steady like a semi truck and solid.
TEAM DELVECCHIO:
Forwards:
#11 Filip Zadina: I’m going to be as interested in finding out whether the 22-year-old Zadina can successfully re-start his career as anybody else. Zadina talked intently about earning a fresh start under coach Lalonde this season, and if he does end up on a line with Pius Suter and Dominik Kubalik, that will afford the 6,’ 190-pound winger the ability to get away from some of those prime defensive match-ups while flexing what we all know are innate goal-scoring muscles. If Zadina can be a little less critical of himself, and a little less reliant on that one-timer from the bottom of the right faceoff circle, he can indeed be a productive goal-scorer.
#15 Jakub Vrana: What does a goal-scorer do when all he does is score goals? He diversifies his skill set. That’s where the 26-year-old Jakub Vrana is, and the Red Wings know he can score 20 to 35 goals on a regular basis, provided he’s healthy. They want him to be a factor on the nights that he doesn’t score goals, and they want him to be far better defensively than he is right now. That’s fair, and it’s within the talent level of Vrana to execute.
#21 Austin Czarnik: 29 going on 30 this December, the 5’9,” 170-pound Czarnik was signed because the Detroit native can post a point per game at the AHL level, then come up to the NHL level for a handful of games and be counted upon to embrace a third or fourth-liner’s role. The Wings have a lot of small but prolific AHL scorers, and that’s certainly a useful way to maximize talent. Go for the little guys with the great “motors.”
#25 Taro Hirose: Then there is Taro Hirose. At 26, he’s not necessarily a prospect, but the 5’10,” 162-pound passing machine has never been able to overcome his lack of size and heft, despite the fact that he’s nearly an assist-per-game play-maker at the AHL level. I still root for the young man to “make it” at the NHL level, but his chances are diminishing.
#27 Michael Rasmussen: At 23, the 6’6,” 211-pound Rasmussen may have to embrace a fourth-line center’s role on a temporary basis to truly move his career forward. Now he projects to be more of a second-line winger or third-line center, but on the Red Wings, the top three lines are spoken for, and it’s going to be up to Rasmussen to prove that he still merits special teams play as a net-front menace, even if he’s only getting 8 to 10 minutes of ice time a night to start. Two steps forward, one step back, sometimes that’s how it works.
#42 Kyle Criscuolo: Another one of those “small guys with a motor,” the 5’9,” 167-pound Criscuolo came back to the Red Wings’ organization after stints in Buffalo, Philadelphia and Anaheim’s AHL system, and the Wings are happy to have the 30-year-old as a 40-point-guy at the AHL level. He works hard and he’s seen how other organizations work, but he came back to the one with which he began his professional career.
#48 Givani Smith: We all know that the 24-year-old Smith isn’t going down without a fight, but the question is what else the 6’2,” 214-pound forward possesses in his talent arsenal. Scrappy, tough and determined, Smith is no longer waiver-exempt, but the tough guy who fancies himself a goal-scorer in practice but plays a fourth-line role in games is in a hard, tough fight for a spot on the Wings’ roster. If he doesn’t make it, the Wings won’t hesitate to knock him down to Grand Rapids if they feel that that’s best for his long-term development.
#52 Jonatan Berggren: No longer small at 5’11” and 197 pounds, the bigger, stronger version of Jonatan Berggren that the Red Wings possess today is a player coming off a 43-assist, 64-point season in Grand Rapids, and he’s one of the players who will be battling for a fourth-line spot to start the regular season. Berggren really is an excellent passer, a strong skater, and he gives no quarter to his opponents any more, especially because he’s grown into his body at 22 and he’s grown into his game.
#74 Cross Hanas: Hanas is bigger and stronger than he used to be at a now-listed 6’1″ and 180 pounds, and he is also an assist machine, having posted 60 assists and 86 points in the WHL last season. At 20 years of age, he’s just turning pro this season, and the Red Wings hope that a player who buys his teammates time and space to generate offense will continue to do so at the AHL level.
#76 Tyler Spezia**: Another small Grand Rapids Griffins-contracted guy, the 5’10,” 170-pound Spezia is a speedy little center from Clinton Township, MI who can post about 35 points a season at the AHL level, and more at the ECHL level. The Griffins like his skating abilities and his pluck, and as the resident bald hockey blogger, I can tell you that he’s got a mean “salad” on top of his head. Mostly, he works hard and plays well for Grand Rapids.
#81 Dominik Kubalik: Kubalik turned 27 a month ago, but he’s something of a late-bloomer after playing 3 seasons in the NHL, and the 6’2,” 190-pound winger managed to score 30 goals in his rookie season, but only 32 in the two combined seasons thereafter. As a result, the Blackhawks let him walk, and the Red Wings found a fine companion for Pius Suter on the third line. Kubalik is indeed a sniper of a forward, and he’s fleet of foot as well, and take him away from those primary defensive match-ups, and he should be good for 20 goals.
#90 Joe Veleno: The Red Wings still believe in the 22-year-old Veleno’s potential, and if he’s slated to play fourth-line minutes in Detroit, he’ll be sent to Grand Rapids as a waiver-exempt player. Bigger and stronger than he once was at 6’1″ and 203 pounds, Veleno is a strong skater, a good passer and a bit of a sniper as well, who possesses a diligent two-way game, but he has yet to place the disparate parts of his game together on a consistent basis. So he’s going to battle for a spot in the lineup, both present and future.
Defensemen:
#8 Ben Chiarot: Chiarot is 31 years of age, and probably overpaid, but the Red Wings brought in the 6’3,” 232-pound defenseman because he is utterly miserable to play against. Chiarot has been borderline dirty playing against teammates, and it’s scary to think of the amount of physicality he’s going to unleash upon opponents, assuming that he does so consistently. I thought that it was interesting that coach Lalonde took him away from the Seider pairing today, placing Chiarot with Filip Hronek instead, and the pair really looked good together. He skates well enough to keep up with fleet-footed offensive defensemen, but his bread and butter is not generating offense, though he can do so.
#17 Filip Hronek: The Red Wings like what the 24-year-old Hronek can bring to the table in terms of being a solid all-round offensive defenseman. They just want to see more of it on a more consistent basis. Hronek is a strong skater, he’s got a wicked stick in terms of his ability to check with it, to hack and whack, and yes, to make pinpoint passes and whip hard shots toward the opposing goal. He can be physical, too, but only inconsistently so. Hronek needs to give a more consistent effort if he is to be the Wings’ second-pair stalwart.
#20 Albert Johansson: If only eventually, players like Eemil Viro and Albert Johansson want Filip Hronek’s job. In Johansson’s case, the 21-year-old graduate of the SHL Champions in Farjestads BK is a plucky customer at 6′ and 184 pounds. He’s an excellent skater, he’s got a fantastic stick in terms of his ability to utilize his blade to poke away pucks and negate shots, he has excellent passing skills, he fires sneaky little bombs on net and he can occasionally check the snot out of unsuspecting opponents. He’s also an every-day hard worker and he’s still learning the North American game, so he and Viro would do well to partner up as future second-pair defensemen at the NHL level.
#32 Brian Lashoff**: It’s easy to run out of compliments when it comes to the 32-year-old captain of the Grand Rapids Griffins. He’s on an AHL contract but can be brought up on a pro try-out in a pinch, and at the AHL level, the 6’3,” 210-pound Lashoff is an essential every-day defenseman who’s utilized in every scenario as a #1/2 defender. Lashoff leads by example and quietly demands excellence from his teammates, as well as himself.
#44 Donovan Sebrango: Sebrango has blended in somewhat during some of the Red Wings’ practices, and that’s not a bad thing. The 20-year-old with 96 games of AHL experience already plays a quiet but efficient and physically effective game, using his stick and body to block shots, break up scoring chances, and send opponents reeling. As he illustrated at the World Junior Championship, he can also play as the “relief valve” defenseman for an offensive counterpart, making him particularly adaptable.
#47 Wyatt Newpower: At 24, Newpower isn’t necessarily a prospect any more, but the 6’3,” 207-pound defenseman is big, heavy, hard and surprisingly fast. At the AHL level, there’s a bit of a fear factor regarding his toughness, despite a limited AHL resume, and he both he and Seth Barton should not be written off as right-shooting defensemen who provide a physical aspect without sacrificing pace of game.
#63 Jeremie Biakabutuka*: The free agent try-out from the Charlottetown Islanders is likely to head back down as a 20-year-old “overager,” but the 6’4,” 201-pound defenseman acquitted himself pretty well with the big boys, skating with aplomb and passing and shooting pucks with some authority, as well as neutralizing his opponents with his body-checking abilities. He’s still deferring to his elders a little bit too regularly for my liking, but when he’s comfortable in his own skin, he’s effective and fun to watch.
#82 Jordan Oesterle: Last season, Oesterle was sort of the default partner for Moritz Seider, and this fall, we don’t really know whether the 30-year-old defenseman is going to make the team. That’s how much deeper the Red Wings are as compared to last season, and that’s not a great thing for the 6,’ 187-pound native of Dearborn Heights, but it is a good thing for the Red Wings. Oesterle is a steady, safe and effective player who’s really better-suited to a middle or latter-pair defensive role, and he skates well enough and passes and shoots well enough to play alongside a Seider for a spell, but he’s not so talented as to be relied upon as a #1 defenseman. So he’ll battle for his life this fall, and that will be good for him, too.
Goaltenders:
#31 Andrew Oke*: No complaints. The 18-year-old Oke came to the summer development camp as a try-out from the struggling Saginaw Spirit, and the 6’2,” 202-pound Oke worked his tail off with Wings assistant goaltending coach Phil Osaer and Grand Rapids Griffins goaltending coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson. He’s replicated those steps over the course of the prospect tournament and main camp, and he’s gotten a little time with the “big boys” team as a result. A solid butterfly goaltender who’s a bit too floppy for my liking, Oke is still figuring out his game.
#39 Alex Nedeljkovic: Like his new net-minding partner in Ville Husso, Nedeljkovic can’t be called a sophomore per se, but in terms of NHL experience, that’s what the 26-year-old is. The 6,’ 208-pound Nedeljkovic is not gifted with a massive frame or cat-like reflexes, but his fine combination of a strong technical foundation, an ability to read plays, his willingness to thrust his body toward the puck in unconventional ways and his overall poise make him an NHL goalie with an upward career trajectory, should he continue to find more consistent form.
#45 Jussi Olkinuora: The 31-year-old Olkinuora is an absolute wild card. Big at 6’2″ and 201 pounds, old-school butterfly smart in terms of his goaltending technique, and possessing excellent skating and stick-handling skills on top of it all, he’s a real character. He won the Finnish Olympic MVP as Finland captured the Gold Medal last winter, and he’s come over from Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL to try his hand at the NHL for the second or third time. He may throw up a roadblock to Sebastian Cossa’s professional ambitions, and he may steal the Griffins starter’s spot from Victor Brattstrom. We’ll have to wait and see how the net-minding picture unfolds.
Injured reserve:
#14 Robby Fabbri: Much like Mark Pysyk, Fabbri, recovering from ACL surgery, will be coming back around January, and the Red Wings will need a goal-scoring forward at that time. The 26-year-old Fabbri is at least good for 15 to 20 goals at the NHL level, which is nothing to sneeze at, and the 5’11,” 185-pound Fabbri does a great job of maximizing his physical talents. He skates well, he shoots superbly, he’s a good passer, and he’s a competitor who gets from “point A” to “point B” faster than his opponents, even if he’s not the speediest player on the ice.
#70 Oskar Sundqvist: If he comes back from whatever injury ails him in short order, the 28-year-old Sundqvist is going to be a logical candidate to flank Michael Rasmussen on the Wings’ checking line. Massive at 6’3″ and 220 heavy pounds, he’s tough, rugged and durable, and he checks hard and has actually exceeded 30 points a couple of seasons ago. He’s a big power winger who crashes and bangs, and he’s just damn useful.
#96 Jake Walman: The third St. Louis Blues alumnus on our injured reserve list, Walman has looked very good as he recovers from shoulder surgery by skating with Andrew Copp and company at 7:30 in the damn morning. He’s mobile and skates well, he’s got a heavy, hard shot, he passes strongly and he plays a physical game, and by November, when he’s slated to return, the Red Wings are going to need the 26-year-old defender, who stands at a healthy 6’2″ and 215 pounds, in their lineup. Here’s hoping that he bolsters the Wings’ defense.
*= Training camp invite, **= Grand Rapids Griffins contract
As you know by now, I’m doing this for both fun and money, and the money part comes from you. I’ve received some remarkably generous donations on Friday, so I only have about $400 to make to pay off my hotel bill, and about $400 after that to get home, so I have to ask.
If you’re are willing or able to lend a fundraising assist, 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. I’m also on Cash App under “georgeums” (an old nickname).
