Month: September 2022

The Score’s Jon Matisz posted a listing of the “Bottom 16” NHL teams, and he ranks the Red Wings as one of them, though he suggests that for the Red Wings, Senators, Jets, Islanders, Blue Jackets, Devils, Stars and Canucks, being in “Tier 5: Standings Purgatory” still means that the above-listed teams could make the playoffs “if the stars align”:

Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings are the most interesting NHL team to monitor this year.

Detroit built up momentum last season with small gains in the win column and brilliant performances from young studs Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond. Then GM Steve Yzerman went wild, acquiring everyday NHLers Ville Husso, David Perron, Andrew Copp, Dominik Kubalik, Olli Maatta, and Ben Chiarot in one busy summer.

It’s impossible to not be bullish on this squad, both in the short and long terms. They’ve upgraded by leaps and bounds on paper, while holdovers like Jakub Vrana, who’s coming off a major injury, and Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Alex Nedeljkovic, all pending unrestricted free agents, aren’t short on motivation.

Along with Seider and Raymond’s continued growth, keep tabs on Swedish defenseman Simon Edvinsson and his transition to North America.

Last season, the Wings finished with 74 points, 26 short of the playoff cutline. This year, if the blue line holds up, they’re capable of 90-plus and should be playing meaningful games down the stretch under first-time head coach Derek Lalonde.

Continued; I’m starting to wonder whether the Red Wings would really fill out their roster by adding one more puck-moving defenseman, but that’s just me hazarding a guess there.

I had mentioned that Cape Breton Screaming Eagles forward Ivan Ivan will be attending the Red Wings’ prospect tournament as a free agent try-out way back on August 30th, and today, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff has a bit more on the slight forward with the funny name:

“A lot of people are thinking my parents did it on purpose,” Ivan explained during an interview at the World Juniors. “My parents love me and they did it because they want me to be special. I didn’t want to be special because of my name more than my hockey skills.”

Evidently, hockey people have been of the opinion that on the ice, the 5-foot-11, 171-pound Ivan Ivan isn’t that special. He’s been passed over for selection in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 NHL entry drafts.

He’s been playing the past two seasons in the QMJHL with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Last season, Ivan led the Screaming Eagles with 31 goals and 65 assists. His 34 assists ended up earning him a share of the team lead in that department.

He’s slated to be returning to play for Cape Breton again as an overager during the 2022-23 season.

Continued; like I said, the name makes for a great story, but I want to see whether Ivan is a diamond in the rough who’s been waiting for his chance, or whether the name on his passport is what will stick about his game.

With the Wings’ forward corps at the prospect tournament very thin, Detroit will need all its try-outs to give their all if they are to win their three round robin games.

Updated at 5:36 PM: Of Red Wings prospect-related note on Saturday:

In the Champions Hockey League, Liam Dower Nilsson finished even in 9:07 played as Frolunda HC won 7-1 over the Eisbaren Berlin:

Rogle BK won 2-1 over Fehervahr AV19, and in said victory:

Marco Kasper scored the game-wining goal on 1 shot, finishing even in 17:16 played (and, as usual, IceHockeyGifs was on the scene, as it were):

Marco Kasper scores the game winner for Rögle, 2-1 with a few minutes left in the 3rd after some good forechecking work #LGRW pic.twitter.com/a7CFsZyxzx

— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) September 3, 2022

Theodor Niederbach did not play;

And William Wallinder finished at -1 with 1 shot in 15:26 played.

Updated at 5:36 PM with highlights:

Marco Kasper hat heute in Gruppe D der Champions Hockey League den Siegestreffer für seine Mannschaft erzielt.

👉 Kasper wurde zwar beim NHL-Draft von den Detroit Red Wings gewählt, spielt diese Saison aber noch für den Club aus der SHL. pic.twitter.com/q1YZQ80nhf— ÖEHV (@hockeyaustria) September 3, 2022

Also, in the KHL, Dmitri Buchelnikov made his KHL debut, finishing even with a shot on goal in 6:49 played (on the fourth line) as SKA St. Petersburg won 3-2 in overtime over Salavat Yulaev Ufa.

Update: You can watch the entire Frolunda-Eisbaren game here, and the Rogle BK-Fehervahr AV19 game here.

In the second day of Champions Hockey League play, Red Wings prospect Antti Tuomisto had a very good outing in terms of ice time, finishing at +2 with 6 shots in over 26:17 played as TPS Turku won 3-2 over Olimpija Ljubjana.

You can watch the game’s highlights here:

On Saturday, Rogle (Kasper, Niederbach and Wallinder) will battle Fehervahr AV19 at 12 PM EDT, and Frolunda HC (Dower Nilsson) will battle Eisbaren Berlin at 9:05 AM EDT, and on Sunday, Tuomisto and TPS Turku will battle EV Zug at 12 PM EDT.

I believe that all three games will be live-streamed on the Champions Hockey League’s YouTube channel.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills filed an article in which he spoke with Red Wings prospect and 2022 2nd round draft pick Dylan James regarding his selection process:

Dylan James was watching the 2022 NHL Entry Draft with his family in Calgary, Alberta, when he heard his name called as the 40th overall pick. But James, who described the moment as “an exciting time,” couldn’t fully celebrate just yet.

“My (streaming) feed was actually a little delayed, so I saw the person before me, his clips going out,” James said. “Then I heard my name called and I didn’t know what team was up next. Twenty seconds later, it was the Red Wings.”

The 6-foot, 181-pound forward prospect said he talked to several interested NHL teams before July’s draft and is thrilled to join the Red Wings organization.

“I’m pumped to be with Detroit,” James said. “Once I found out, I was pretty stoked.”

Last season, James was named the United States Hockey League’s Rookie of the Year after tallying 61 points (28-33-61) in 62 regular-season games with the Sioux City Musketeers. He also had five goals and three assists in 10 postseason games, helping the Musketeers win the 2021-22 Clark Cup championship.

Continued

My apologies for the lateness on this one. Anyway, per the Winnipeg Sun’s Paul Friesen, former Red Wings forward Sam Gagner has signed a 1-year deal with the Winnipeg Jets today:

The Winnipeg Jets took a late dip into the free-agent pool, emerging with 15-year NHL veteran centre Sam Gagner. The 33-year-old inked a one-year deal that will pay him the league minimum $750,000, making Winnipeg his seventh NHL stop.

Gagner was most recently in Detroit, where he scored 13 goals and 31 points last season, his second with the Red Wings.

He’s averaged 12 goals and 33 points per season over his career. His best seasons produced 18 goals: with Edmonton in 2011-12 and Columbus five years later.

His biggest night was a four-goal, four assist outburst – the NHL’s only eight-point night in the last 33 years – for Edmonton in 2012.

The 5-foot-11, 197-pound product of London, Ont., was the Oilers first-round pick, sixth overall, in 2007.

Continued

The Athletic’s Jonathan Willis compiled a list of players upon whom NHL teams awarded large contracts based upon seasons in which the players posted career-best numbers in terms of shooting percentage, and “lost” as a result. One of the 20 contracts on Willis’ list was awarded by one Ken Holland:

4. Justin Abdelkader, Red Wings

How it happened: Abdelkader was an excellent role player for the Red Wings for many years. Drafted in 2005, he broke into the league in a depth role at 22 and spent the next few seasons hanging around as an all-positions forward with some skill but mostly a lot of hustle and defensive value.

Then, at 27, he caught his big break. His ice time spiked, and so did his shooting percentage. A guy with a career finishing rate of 6.5 percent at five-on-five nearly doubled that, hitting 12 percent. He also got some power play opportunities as a result, and ended the season with a career-high 23 goals and 14.9 shooting percentage.

The contract: The Red Wings had another year before Abdelkader’s contract expired, which is one of the reasons this deal ranks as highly as it does. By November of the following season, player and team had agreed on a seven-year pact worth $4.91 million annually in 2022 dollars.

How it ended: Abdelkader took 384 five-on-five shots in his post-breakout career, scoring 24 times for a shooting percentage of 6.3 percent — basically identical to his pre-breakout average.

More power play work helped soften the blow, but not enough. Abdelkader reverted back to being the player he always was until age took even that away and Detroit bought out the last three seasons of his extension.

Continued (paywall); I think that there were a lot of things that went wrong over the course of Abdelkader’s contract extension, with the main one being the retirement of Pavel Datsyuk, and secondary issues including some injuries to Abdelkader and different usage under coach Jeff Blashill as compared with coach Babcock…

So the argument that it was solely shooting percentage that turned the piano-puller back into a grinder doesn’t tell the whole story for me. There’s no doubt that Abdelkader stopped scoring goals, but the “Why’s” and “How’s” thereof were a little more complicated than, “A grinder grinds.”

USA Today’s Mike Brehm posted a list of “offseason team grades” for every NHL team, and he gave the Red Wings a solid mark:

Detroit Red Wings: A-

They were aggressive, with forwards Andrew Copp and David Perron, plus goalie Ville Husso their best pickups. They appeared to overpay for defenseman Ben Chiarot (four years, $19 million) after a down season. New coach Derek Lalonde has experience winning as a Lightning assistant.

Continued; the Red Wings did overpay for Chiarot. We’ll see how that contract works out…

During the NHL’s media tour in Paris, France recently, Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stuetzle and his friend, one Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider, spoke with NHL.com/de’s Axel Jeroma regarding their encounters with Germany’s standard-bearer, Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl:

Continue reading Roughly translated: Tim Stuetzle and Moritz Seider discuss playing against Leon Draisaitl with NHL.com/de

Pro Hockey Rumors’ Ethan Hetu offered a potential trade scenario which might relieve the New York Rangers of defenseman Nils Lundkvist, who the New York Post’s Larry Brooks has reported is disgruntled and has asked for a trade. Hetu believes that there’s a fit between the Rangers and a certain Detroit Red Wings forward:

Per Brooks, GM Chris Drury’s “target” in trade talks over Lundkvist is to acquire a “young, top-nine center who might grow with the organization.” While no specific teams that are potentially interested in Lundkvist were mentioned in the reporting, a few possibilities emerge when looking over the depth charts of other NHL clubs.

The Detroit Red Wings, for example, have a potential opening on the left side of their defense if they don’t want to use Jordan Oesterle as an everyday third-pairing defenseman. Lundkvist could potentially be a fit there playing next to his countryman, Gustav Lindstrom. He could even compete for a chance to play next to Calder Trophy winner Moritz Seider as well. Lundkvist is, of course, a right-shot defenseman but if he wants to prioritize the best fit possible on a new team he might need to be flexible with where exactly in a lineup he plays.

One other factor making Detroit an intriguing potential trade partner is the fact that the Red Wings also have a young centerman who could fit the Rangers’ desired return: Joe Veleno. Veleno might not have a regular role down the middle in Detroit next season, given the emergence of Michael Rasmussen and the addition of Andrew Copp. Could a swap of the two 2018 first-rounders make sense for both teams?

Continued; this is an interesting scenario, but I don’t see the fit, frankly.

First and foremost, the Red Wings already have a defensive corps that looks something like this:

Continue reading Examining a trade proposal involving Joe Veleno and Nils Lundkvist via Pro Hockey Rumors