The Detroit Red Wings have posted their updated prospect tournament roster on Pointstreak, and the team chose to add an 8th defenseman to the mix.
Jeremie Biakabutuka is a 6’4,” 203-pound defenseman who’s played for Val-d’Or, Rimouski and now the Charlottetown Islanders of the QMJHL.
He hasn’t dazzled in the points category, but the 20-year-old is a big hunk of guy who will provide depth wearing #63 for the Wings.
And yes, his uncle is Tim Biakabutuka.
Per the Detroit Red Wings’ Twitter account:
Lucas Raymonds tio snyggaste mĂ„l i NHL đ @DetroitRedWings | #LGRW | #Raymond pic.twitter.com/Kfp5WaUJZDâ NHL Sverige (@NHLsv) September 15, 2022
Red Wings assistant director of player development Dan Cleary spoke with “The Word on Woodward” crew regarding the Red Wings’ 2022 prospect tournament team a couple of days ago…
And, this morning, DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted an article in which he discusses Cleary’s remarks:
Cleary said the NHL Prospect Tournament is valuable because it helps players feel more comfortable heading into training camp.
“You get some games under your belt going into training camp, on the ice with the competition, get familiarized with Traverse City and you can get the nerves out a bit before main camp opens,” Cleary said. “It’s a nice little segue into main camp.”
The Red Wings’ 2022 NHL Prospect Tournament roster features 24 recent draft picks, free-agent signees and tryouts. In particular, Cleary is excited to see blue line prospects Simon Edvinsson (sixth overall pick in 2021 NHL Entry Draft), Eemil Viro (70th overall in 2020) and Albert Johansson (60th overall in 2019).
“They’re all smart players,” Cleary said. “Edvinsson skates very well, a big guy. Johansson is a beautiful skater as well, a nice handler of the puck. Viro is just real steady, calm and doesn’t stress a lot at all out there.”
Cleary also spoke highly about former first-round pick Sebastian Cossa, who was Detroit’s 15th overall selection in 2021.
“He is doing what he needs to do,” Cleary said. “He listens and is a really nice kid. I don’t think we’ve seen the type of goaltender that he can be because it’s only a small sample size.”
Continued; Centre ICE Arena’s prospect tournament page is here, and tickets are available here.
Ahead of the start of the Red Wings’ 2022 Prospect Tournament, I posted my breakdown of the players participating for the Red Wings’ prospect team. This morning, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a set of “capsule previews” of each and every player as well.
Let’s go with some under-the-radar guys here:
Seth Barton (23, 6-3, 196, 81st overall, 2018 NHL entry draft)
2021-22 Club: Grand Rapids (AHL)
Played 20 games last season for AHL Griffins . . . Also played five games for ECHL Toledo Walleye . . . Played three seasons at UMass-Lowell.
…
Pasquale Zito C (19, 6-1, 176, 166th overall, 2021 NHL entry draft)
2021-22 Club: Windsor (OHL)
Helped the Spitifres reach Game 7 of the OHL final . . . Posted 22-20-42 totals in 49 games for Windsor . . . Traded to Niagara IceDogs during offseason.
…
Marcus Limpar-Lantz C (19, 6-0, 187, free agent)
2021-22 Club: Orebo (SHL)
Spent last season with Orebo J20 . . . Also saw action in two senior SHL games . . . Selected by Sarnia (OHL) in CHL import draft, will play for Sting this season.
Continued; Barton is a periphery prospect right now, and he could work his way back into relevance with a good tournament; Zito is definitely a wild card as a plucky, determined center, and Limpar-Lantz could be a “bonus draft pick” next summer–presuming that he’s any good.
Among the “ramblings” of DobberHockey’s Michael Clifford this morning is this statistically-driven fantasy hockey analysis of one Filip Zadina, who under-performed from a fantasy hockey standpoint last year:
Filip Zadina: With the offseason additions of David Perron, Andrew Copp, and Dominik Kubalik, plus a healthy Jakub Vrana, a top-6 role for Zadina looks more distant than ever. That, in and of itself, is a big issue for his fantasy relevance in most formats. He didn’t produce well last year in terms of raw points, with 24 in 74 games playing 14:11 a game, but he may have been a bit unlucky. His IPP at 5-on-5 was 42.4%, good for 303rd out of 306 forwards with at least 700 minutes. His first two full-ish seasons saw him post a mark of 65.6%. Had he managed that mark, he would have added roughly eight points to his total, and that would have made his season look considerably better.
Having good line mates helps a lot, and Zadina’s three most-common line mates in 2021-22 were Pius Suter, Adam Erne, and Michael Rasmussen. He has largely been kept away from the team’s top stars and that’s going to continue in 2022-23 barring injury or a huge jump in his game. But he has shown some good offensive flashes and likes to shoot the puck. He is definitely a player to monitor as the season wears on because some improve line mate quality could lead to a much better season, at least in spurts.
Continued; I’m not worried about Zadina’s spot in the lineup causing him production woes. He may do better with Dominik Kubalik and Pius Suter as his complementary winger and center, respectively, on a less pressure-packed third line. I like that trio.
The Athletic posted a meaty article this morning in which it explained how the writers assembled their Top 100 players into four groups, and ranked them by four “tiers”…
Itâs the third annual NHL Player Tiers, where we place the top 100 skaters into four groups: the MVPs, the franchise players, the All-Stars, and the bonafide top-liners. The goal is simple: blend analytics and scouting to figure out where the leagueâs best stand going into the 2022-23 season.
This is more than one personâs ranking, itâs more than the results of a model, and itâs more than the collected perspective of various people inside the game. We want this to be the most complete list of hockeyâs best that you can find, one that started based on numbers, then morphed into what it is today after hours of discussions internally and externally.
And if you guessed that Moritz Seider is both the Wings’ second mention and a player who is considered not-necessarily third-tier player (with Dylan Larkin finishing in the fourth tier), you’d be right:
Continue reading The Athletic’s Top 100 NHL players list includes Seider and Larkin…and a debate about Seider’s upsideI happen to believe that the Red Wings’ prospect tournament is a near-invaluable resource for the Red Wings’ prospects.
It provides three highly competitive games in which the Wings’ skaters and goalies, both those “turning pro” and first experiencing professional-level competition, get to adjust to the pace and play of North American pro-level hockey while playing among their peers (players between 18 and 25 years of age).
The prospect tournament isn’t a be-all-end-all, but it’s a significant step toward preparing players for the main training camp, where there are 40-60 players skating at 100 miles an hour and no time for player instruction or real systems-building in a “teaching” environment.
Especially with coach Derek Lalonde coming in, the emphasis over the five days of training camp is going to be on building an exhibition season-ready NHL team while very thoroughly presenting a ton of information to the players, and that can really overwhelm the young guys.
In that sense, the practices are almost as important as the games, because Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon and his staff are able to teach new players the systems that most of them will be playing in Grand Rapids, Toledo or even Detroit, all while both continuing to develop skill and while giving the Griffins and Red Wings’ coaches and scouts a bellwether as to where their potential AHL or NHL employees stand.
This morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an article in which she highlights three aspects of the prospect tournament worth watching:
Eye on the pipes: When the Wings traded up to draft 6-foot-6 Sebastian Cossa at No. 15 in 2021, it signaled confidence the team had found its goaltender of the future. Cossa, 19, spent the past three seasons starring with the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Western Hockey League (he posted a 1.93 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 19 playoff games last spring). He cracked Team Canadaâs roster for the World Juniors last December and again when the pandemic forced its postponement till August, but both times, he was passed over as the starter. Itâs on Cossa to convince management he should have a job in Grand Rapids this season.Â
Cossa has a lot to gain and a lot to lose over a very short period of time here. I know that Wings fans are concerned about the Cossa-vs-Wallstedt debate, but right now, the Wings have four goalies in their AHL-ECHL system in Cossa, Victor Brattstrom, Jussi Olkinuora and Jonathan Lethemon, and only two spots in GR.
Cossa could still be sent back to the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings if the Wings don’t feel he’s ready, or would benefit best from playing there, but Edmonton’s already gone out and gotten a new starting goalie.
St. James also talks about Simon Edvinsson before offering this concluding point:
Sizing up the rest: Keeping on the topic of big men, 6-8 forward Elmer Soderblom (No. 159, 2019) is also part of the cast. He led Frölunda with 21 goals in his first full season in the SHL, and led the clubâs under-21 players with 33 points. He and defenseman Albert Johansson (No. 60, 2019) are vying for spots in Grand Rapids as they get started on their North American careers. Johansson posted 25 points in 52 games with Farjestad, plus eight points in 19 playoff games to help his club claim the 2022 SHL Championship. Other prospects include defenseman Donovan Sebrango (No. 63, 2020), who already has appeared in 96 games with the Griffins and is coming off helping Canada win gold at the World Juniors, and forward Cross Hanas (No. 55, 2020), who had 86 points in 63 games with the Portland Winterharwks in the Western Hockey League.Â
I am very curious to see Soderblom, who may or may not be AHL-ready, and Johansson, who’s an under-the-radar prospect, but Eemil Viro, Kirill Tyutyayev and even back-up goalie Jan Bednar will pique my interest as well.
The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted his pre-2022 Prospect Tournament take as to which Red Wings prospects are worth keeping a close eye upon this weekend. Among his picks are the following:
âș Sebastian Cossa, goaltender: With the goaltending situation appearing set in Grand Rapids, it seems the Wings will return Cossa (a 2021 first-round pick) to Edmonton (WHL) for one more junior season. Cossa, 19, wasn’t able to win the starting job for gold-medalist Canada at the recent world junior championships but was dominant leading Edmonton to the Memorial Cup Finals. Cossa will likely get a lot of playing time in this tournament.
…
âș Elmer Söderblom, forward: After the social-media highlights from Sweden and breathless reports, the 6-foot-8 Söderblom, 20, is likely going to attract a lot of attention. Söderblom scored 21 goals for Frolunda and showed the shot and hands that, combined with his size, make him an intriguing prospect. It’ll be interesting to see how well Söderblom handles the speed and quickness in this tournament.
…
âș Cross Hanas, forward: A positive tournament and training camp with the Wings could land Hanas, a 2020 second-round pick, a roster spot in Grand Rapids. Hanas scored 26 goals for Portland (WHL) last season and reversed a sub-par 2020-21 COVID-marred season (five goals). Hanas will be looked to for offense this weekend.
Continued; I’ve weighed in regarding the roster, and here’s my take on the above-mentioned players:
Continue reading Bouncing observations off Kulfan’s take on prospects to watch at the Wings’ prospect tourneyWay back in late July, I found an article from WLUC TV 6 in Marquette which stated that the Red Wings Alumni Association would be playing in a charity hockey game against the “Yoopers United” in Marquette, MI to raise funds for the United Way.
It turns out that the game is scheduled for this Saturday, September 17th, and the Yoopers United and United Way spoke about the event on WLUC 6’s morning show (non-embeddable video).
The tickets are still available from Northern Michigan University’s website for $20 apiece, and it sounds like Mickey Redmond and Joe Kocur will headline the Wings’ roster.
Of Red Wings prospect-related note today:
In the KHL, the good news is that SKA St. Petersburg won 3-2 over Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, advancing to 6-and-0 (though they’re 5-0-0-and-1 thanks to the KHL’s rule that an overtime win is only 2 points).
The bad news if you’re a fan of Red Wings prospects as opposed to the KHL’s flagship franchise is that Dmitri Buchelnikov continues to be used very sparingly. After playing a staggeringly regular 13:19 in the previous game, he finished even in 4:41 of ice time on Thursday, over the course of 8 shifts.
He may play in SKA-1946’s MHL game (i.e. in the Russian under-20 league) on Friday before returning to SKA on Saturday, but playing yo-yo hockey isn’t great, and playing for five-to-eight minutes per game at the KHL level “because that’s how they break young players in” isn’t ideal, either.
Regrettably, it’s going to be one or the other for Buchelnikov, and he’s going to have to be patient and wait for his chance to impress.
