Month: September 2022

The Detroit Red Wings concluded their 2022 training camp activities in Traverse City on Monday with two hour-long practices, from 9:30 to 10:10 AM and then 11 until about 11:45 AM.

Regrettably, the Wings chose to omit the dreaded “skating test” from their Monday activities, so the players were spared from grueling sets of full-rink laps with 3, 2, 1 minute and then 30 seconds’ worth of rest between laps.

After days one, two, three and four (which consisted of the Red vs. White Game), perhaps the coaching staff felt that it was better to practice and get out of dodge, and perhaps they were sparing the players of some cruelty given the hard work they’d put in over the last five days.

With the team making 9 cuts on Monday, Team Red and Team White were preceded on the ice by a set of injured players, Grand Rapids Griffins-bound players and Major Junior-bound prospects.

So, injured forward Andrew Copp (abdominal issue) and defenseman Jake Walman (shoulder) were joined by 8 more skaters–try-outs Marcus Limpar-Lantz, Jake Uberti, Ivan Ivan and Jacob Mathieu, draft picks Pasquale Zito and Tnias Mathurin, Griffins players Trenton Bliss and Cedric Lacroix, as well as try-out goaltender Andrew Oke–for a practice that ran from 8:30 AM till 9:30 AM.

Continue reading Impressions from the fifth day of the Red Wings’ 2022 training camp

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed an afternoon notebook which discusses the Red Wings’ heavy exhibition schedule, which consists of 8 games to be played over the course of 12 nights:

This is where the competition for roster spots and roles begins in earnest. Coach Derek Lalonde cited building structure as the main objective, as well as sorting out line combinations, defense pairings and special teams units.

“Keep building on our process with implementing new neutral zone, new D-zone coverage,” Lalonde said. “Obviously, take a step every day, hopefully with our structure, some of it is new for the guys. Certainly, establishing some compete, some attitude. Feel fortunate we have eight games to start fine-tuning some things before our opener.”

Young players like defensemen Simon Edvinsson and forwards Elmer Soderblom and Jonatan Berggren are expected to see a lot of preseason action.

“Obviously, the vets don’t need to play six games,” Lalonde said. “Some of those young guys, Simon, Elmer, we target a lot of games for them.”

Lalonde said he’ll eventually get his power play and penalty killing units finalized late in the preseason and formulate line combinations and defense pairs from there.

“We’re going to take the full eight games and let it play out and go from there,” he said.

Continued

Of Red Wings prospect-related note:

In the KHL, Dmitri Buchelnikov registered 3 shots and 1 hit in a healthy-for-him 9:55 of ice time over the course of SKA St. Petersburg’s 3-0 win over Torpedo on Monday.

As Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen notes, free agent try-out defenseman Jeremie Biakabutuka survived the first round of training camp cuts, and at present, it appears that the Charlottetown Islanders defenseman is going to earn a “look” in an exhibition game or two. Allen took note of Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s comments regarding the 6’4,” 201-pound defenseman:

“He keeps earning looks,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “Every time we have a practice, a game, or a skate, we reevaluate our roster for the next day. A lot of it will come from the staff. Some of it will come from Steve (Yzerman) and his management group. They continually want to see him in situations. It’s a credit to him and something he’s earned throughout camp.”

Biakabutuka has played four seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and has been passed over in the draft. But he is 6-foot-4 and he can skate.

“High compete,” Lalonde said. “He can skate north south. Driven kid, he wants to be coached. Looks you in the eye. Little habits like that, you appreciate as a coach. He’s made a good impression. Really good kid. We’ve liked having him around.”

The Red Wings currently have 20 defensemen officially on their training camp roster, although Jake Walman and Mark Pysyk are both out with long-term injuries. Robert Hagg was also injured in the Red and White game.

The Red Wings have signed prospects Donovan Sebrango, Jared McIsaac, Wyatt Newpower, Albert Johansson and Eemil Viro already projected to play in Grand Rapids this season. Veterans Brian Lashoff and Steven Kampfer are also headed for Grand Rapids. Simon Edvinsson could end up in either Detroit or Grand Rapids.

Depending upon injuries and Edvinsson, the Red Wings may have room for another defenseman in Grand Rapids.

Continued

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted an article in which he discusses a pair of training camp roster battles–for the 5th and 6th spots on defense and the 12th playing forward’s spot, respectively:

Third defense pair

The contenders: Jordan Oesterle, Gustav Lindstrom, Robert Hagg, Simon Edvinsson

The dark horse: Albert Johansson

The breakdown: This one would appear the most straightforward at first blush.

Assuming Detroit’s projected top four holds serve during camp, there’s a whole pairing here up for grabs — and some classic archetypes vying to be on it.

Oesterle and Lidstrom are the returners from last season. Hagg is the free agent signing on a team that wants to improve defensively. Edvinsson is the top prospect hoping to break in at just 19 years old. Tale as old as time.

The situation may be complicated by Hagg exiting the Red and White scrimmage after he was hit by a puck, but we’re leaving him in this conversation until we know more.

You more or less know what you’re getting in Oesterle and Lindstrom, and Red Wings can go into the season with them as their third pair. At the same time, Hagg was brought in because Detroit wants to improve its team defense, and he can indeed help accomplish that.

Continued (paywall)

The Hockey News posted a 5-minute video preview in which they discuss their expectations for the Detroit Red Wings’ 2022-2023 season:

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a final-day-of-training-camp notebook, and

New coach Derek Lalonde was pleased with what was accomplished over the four days of scrimmaging and drills in practice in Traverse City. Now, it’s onto some games, more evaluating, and maintaining and improving what was established in this camp.

“Structure, and keep building on our process,” Lalonde said of what his hopes are for the preseason. “Obviously take a step every day hopefully with our structure. Some of it is new for the guys, but certainly establishing some compete, attitude, work on all those things and again, we feel fortunate to have eight (preseason) games this year to start fine-tuning some things.”

Lalonde was planning to give players a certain amount of games, but that plan is already changing by the day. Injuries to forwards Tyler Bertuzzi, Andrew Copp (recovering from summer core surgery), Joe Veleno and Oskar Sundqvist, and defenseman Robert Hagg − all are essentially day to day − have thrown the lineups into flux, but also give other players opportunities for ice time.

“It’s a little frustrating to see (several forwards) out of our top nine out of camp to start, but it gives opportunity for other guys for some different looks, so that’s a positive in some ways,” Lalonde said.

There are roster spots to be won during this exhibition season, but Lalonde isn’t getting into how many positions might be available.

“(General manager) Steve (Yzerman) and I have talked a few times, we’ve talked about being patient with this, not go too deep about it,” Lalonde said. “I can’t give you any looks or numbers going forward. We’ll take the full eight games and let it play out and go from there.”

Continued

Per the University of Michigan‘s Kristy McNeil:

University of Michigan interim ice hockey head coach Brandon Naurato is pleased to announce the hiring of Jeff Salajko as goaltender coach and Anthony Ciatti as director of analytics to the Michigan ice hockey program.

Salajko spent the last six seasons as the Detroit Red Wings’ goaltending coach. He was promoted to that position after a three-year stint with their American Hockey League affiliate Grand Rapids from 2013-16. He is not a stranger to the college coaching ranks, as he served as an assistant coach at Ohio State from 2008-11. A native of Kitchener, Ontario, Salajko was selected in the 10th round and 236th overall in the 1993 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks. He played eight seasons of professional hockey, seeing action with 11 different teams in four leagues.

“Jeff has been at the highest levels of the game,” Naurato said. “He’s worked with the best and is well respected. We’re happy to have him work with our goalies and take them to another level. Jeff is a great communicator and student of the game. It’s a luxury to add someone of his caliber to the coaching staff.”

Ciatti has four years of experience in junior hockey as both a data tracker and analytics lead. He spent two years as coordinator of analytics with Green Bay of the United State Hockey League and two with the Ontario Hockey League’s Mississauga Steelheads. A native of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, Ciatti graduated from U-M Dearborn with a degree in computer engineering. In addition to technical program management, Ciatti has worked in product innovation and has 11 US patents.

“Anthony is one of the most driven analytic people, who can help steer and guide a program, and has shown that with his time spent within two different leagues,” Naurato said. “Through Anthony, we will put ourselves in a position to show clear objectives of where we are at, and how we are progressing. He’s forward thinking and brings things that don’t exist in college hockey.”

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a mid-day article in which he discusses the impact that Red Wings free agent signing David Perron will have upon the team:

“He self-admitted he’s had to evolve within his career on approach, work ethic, habits,” [Red Wings coach Derek] Lalonde said. “It’s an unbelievable example of where he is now that he expects practice to be at a high pace. He wants guys to work throughout the entire practice. He’s going to bring some energy to practice.”

The Red Wings hope that translates to games as they seek to take a significant step with several new additions, including Perron, a 34-year-old winger who has played 973 games over 15 seasons, mostly in St. Louis.

The Red Wings signed Perron to a two-year, $9.5 million free-agent deal because of his offensively ability. He tallied 27 goals – including a career-high 11 on the power play – and 30 assists in 67 games last season with the Blues. He will provide secondary scoring, possibly on a with Andrew Copp and Jakub Vrana.

“For me at the stage of my career I’m at I want to be a difference-maker on the ice,” Perron said. “Also, leadership-wise, being an extension of the coaching staff, preaching the right stuff in the room.”

Continued

Here’s coach Derek Lalonde’s final training camp presser, all 13:19 of it: