We’ll wrap up our Monday night survey of Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s press conference at the 2023 Summer Development Camp with this assessment of the Red Wings’ non-J.T. Compher free agent signings, via the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:
Signing [Christian] Fischer and acquiring forward Klim Kostin in a trade could potentially shore up the size and grit the Wings were looking for, while also help the team in other areas.
“They’re young guys and have upside,” Yzerman said. “They can still grow. Fischer, a right winger, a bigger guy and a good penalty killer. Klim is an evolving player, a highly touted junior who was an offensive guy, and he’s evolving into a big, strong guy who can shoot the puck into the net. His role is growing.
“They make us a bigger team and add a dimension of shooting the puck into the net. Each player has room to grow as hockey players and they make us a little bigger for sure.”
The arrival of [Justin] Holl and [Shayne] Gostisbehere, and re-signing restricted free agent Gustav Lindstrom, likely ensures prospect Simon Edvinsson begins next season in Grand Rapids.
“We have high hopes for Simon, but I’m not prepared to put him on the team in a top-six role,” Yzerman said. “Certainly I don’t think it’s beyond a possibility that Simon comes in and has an outstanding training camp, and outstanding pre-season and simply forces his way into the lineup, and if that happens, that’s great, we’ll figure it out.
“But at this stage, to say we’re going to put him in the top-six, I’m not prepared to say that and I don’t want to do that. It’s not fair to him and it’s not fair for any of our young players, or the team itself. He’s an excellent young prospect and we saw a lot of good things in the nine games he played at the end of last season (with the Wings). If he’s ready to play and he earns a spot on the team, we’ll figure it out.”
