Month: July 2023

Khan, Duff discuss Filip Zadina’s remarks as a Shark

MLive’s Ansar Khan and Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff both posted reports regarding the comments made by now-San Jose Sharks forward Filip Zadina during his media availability. Here’s Khan’s report..

“Last couple of seasons in Detroit I’ve been hurt all the time,” Zadina said. “It was tough mentally seeing other players playing and I was in the gym and watching those games from the stands and not really being a part of the game. When I wasn’t playing, the other guys who were getting a chance to play, they played well and they earned that spot and it was tough for me to start from the bottom every season. I would rather go somewhere else to get the opportunity and prove myself that I’m still a good player as I used to be.”

The sixth overall pick in 2018 has just 28 goals and 40 assists in 190 games over parts of five seasons. He missed eight weeks last season due to a broken leg and finished with three goals and four assists in 30 games.

He cleared waivers twice because teams did not want to assume the full value of his contract. He admitted he was nervous about his decision.

“I was actually a little scared that the interest is not going to be that high as I wanted,” Zadina said. “But it turned out a lot of teams had big interest to have me on their team. A lot of teams were asking. That was making my decision even harder because there were good teams I could go to. I spoke to a bunch of GMs, a bunch of coaches, a bunch of players called me from different teams. It was really a hard time to decide but I believe I did the right decision going to San Jose.”

And here’s Duff’s report:

Continue reading Khan, Duff discuss Filip Zadina’s remarks as a Shark

Alex DeBrincat might just ‘land on his feet’

The Hockey News’s Carol Schram posted a list of players who she believes will “bounce back” from difficult 2022-2023 campaigns, and she suggests that the Red Wings’ newest acquisition will step up his production:

Alex DeBrincat, Detroit Red Wings

Plenty of ink has been spilled about the Ottawa Senators’ disappointing return on their one-year investment in Alex DeBrincat. But when a player’s down year delivers 27 goals and 66 points, Red Wings fans should be excited about what the 25-year-old could bring now that he’s in his preferred situation.

The native of Farmington Hills, Mich., should be embraced by the fan base from the outset. And with an opportunity to slot straight onto Detroit’s top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond and get time on the Wings’ No. 1 power-play unit, DeBrincat could hit new highs in ice time while rebounding from last season’s unusually low shooting percentage of 10.6 percent. His career average is 14.4.

By next spring, expect to see DeBrincat back in the 40-goal range while the Red Wings make a push to get back into the playoffs for the first time in eight years.

Continued; I’m a little more conservative, thinking that DeBrincat will score about 35, but that’s just me.

Hello, Sandusky!

The Detroit Free Press posted a column from Matthew Horn of the Fremont News-Messenger, a rather small newspaper covering Sandusky, Ohio, this morning.

It’s a good column which discusses the Red Wings’ depth chart after the team’s free agency moves and the Klim Kostin and Alex DeBrincat trades, and its conclusion regarding the “State of the Yzerplan” (as it were) is an honest one, if optimistic:

Ken Holland waited too long to start the rebuild and Yzerman was left with bare cupboards.

The Red Wings were tied for the second playoff wild card in the Eastern Conference on February 25 last season. They were shut out by Tampa Bay and lost twice to DeBrincat’s Senators in demoralizing fashion.

Detroit suffered after trading defenseman Filip Hronek, Jakub Vrana and [Tyler] Bertuzzi. It missed the playoffs the last seven seasons.

[Alex] DeBrincat’s arrival can only mean Yzerman thinks Detroit is ready for a player with a paycheck to help it win. It’s the type of step you take with the postseason in mind.

Finally, the Yzer Plan includes such a venture. There are no guarantees the team wins more games.

Fans hope Yzerman knows who to trust to make it happen in Detroit again.

Continued; if I may be blunt, Yzerman surrounds himself with the best hockey minds that he can possibly find in people like Shawn Horcoff, Dan Cleary, Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Jiri Fischer and the pro and amateur scouts…

But the person he trusts the most to make moves is himself, and that’s important. As I said almost a week ago, the “Yzer-timeline” works at its own pace, patience of the fans and especially the press be damned.

He definitely had to tear down what was left of Ken Holland’s team to start from scratch prior to last season, too, so I’d argue that we are really only in year two of the “Yzerplan” as is fully visualized, despite the fact that Yzerman is in his fourth year as the Red Wings’ general manager.

It’s hard to be patient at this point, with the Wings having missed the playoffs for seven straight seasons…

But the “Yzer-timeline” is still in its early stages, in terms of the GM having both the coach behind the bench and player personnel on the ice, so we Red Wings partisans have to remember that it takes time to both tear down and to rebuild.

I’m not saying that the concept that Yzerman’s rebuild is still “nascent,” i.e. just beginning in terms of realizing its full potential, makes it any easier to wait for the team to be competitive, but it at least makes what Steve is doing more understandable.

HSJ in the morning: Regarding Simon Edvinsson’s potential to upend the depth chart

The Free Press’s Helene St. James has authored a morning column which discusses the probability of Simon Edvinsson making the Red Wings’ 2023-2024 roster.

It’s going to be very difficult for Edvinsson to make the Wings out of training camp due to the current shape of Detroit’s blueline, but I’ve learned over my years as a Red Wings blogger to never underestimate the ability of young players to steal a job.

Anyway, here’s Ms. St. James’ wise take on Edvinsson’s situation:

Continue reading HSJ in the morning: Regarding Simon Edvinsson’s potential to upend the depth chart

Press release: Grand Rapids Griffins re-sign C Trenton Bliss to 1-year contract

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRAND RAPIDS RE-SIGNS TRENTON BLISS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday re-signed forward Trenton Bliss to a one-year contract for the 2023-24 season.

Bliss has seen action in 33 games with the Griffins since the 2021-22 campaign, making his pro debut with Grand Rapids on April 1, 2022 against the Texas Stars. During the 2022-23 season, the 25-year-old accumulated four points (1-3—4) in 30 games with the Griffins and added 40 points (16-24—40) and a plus-27 rating in 38 regular-season games for the Toledo Walleye (ECHL). The Appleton, Wisc., native registered 14 points (5-9—14) in 13 games with the Walleye during the 2023 postseason, reaching the ECHL’s Western Conference Finals. Bliss was named the ECHL Rookie of the Month in January when he enjoyed 18 points (7-11—18) in 13 appearances.

Prior to turning pro, Bliss spent four seasons at Michigan Tech University and served as its alternate captain during his junior and senior campaigns. With the Huskies from 2018-22, Bliss tallied 42 goals, 65 assists and a plus-14 rating in 138 contests. The 6-foot-1 forward competed with the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL during his junior career from 2016-18, collecting 56 points (21-35—56) in 84 games. Bliss also played high school hockey in Wisconsin for Appleton from 2012-16 and posted 1.93 points-per-game, scoring 174 times (91-83—174) in just 90 contests.

Press release: Red Wings sign D Jared McIsaac to 1-year, 2-way contract

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS RE-SIGN DEFENSEMAN JARED MCISAAC TO ONE-YEAR CONTRACT

  … 2018 Second-Round Pick Has Skated in 141 Games With AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today re-signed defenseman Jared McIsaac to a one-year, two-way contract.

McIsaac, 23, played the entire 2022-23 season with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins, recording 22 points (3-19-22) and 30 penalty minutes in 61 games. The 6-foot-1, 197-pound defenseman also spent the 2021-22 campaign with the Griffins, logging a career-high 24 points (5-19-24) and 34 penalty minutes in 70 games. He made his AHL debut with Grand Rapids in 2020-21, dishing out two assists and two penalty minutes in 10 contests. McIsaac made his professional debut with HPK in Finland’s SM-Liiga, appearing in one game on loan before the start of the 2020-21 AHL season. Originally selected by the Red Wings in the second round (36th overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, McIsaac has totaled 48 points (8-40-48) and 66 penalty minutes in 141 games with the Griffins.

A native of Truro, Nova Scotia, McIsaac played four seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Halifax Mooseheads and Moncton Wildcats from 2016-20 prior to turning professional. In all, McIsaac compiled 160 points (33-127-160), a plus-89 rating and 248 penalty minutes in 205 QMJHL games, in addition to 20 points (2-18-20) and 48 penalty minutes in 36 postseason contests. In 2018-19, McIsaac was selected to the QMJHL Second All-Star Team after notching 62 points (16-46-62), a plus-33 rating and 56 penalty minutes in 53 games, along with 16 points (2-14-16) and 38 penalty minutes in 22 playoff matchups. McIsaac was also named to the QMJHL All-Rookie Team in 2016-17 and captured the Raymond Lagacé Trophy as the league’s Defensive Rookie of the Year. On the international stage, McIsaac helped Team Canada win a gold medal at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, tallying four points (1-3-4), a plus-four rating and eight penalty minutes in seven games. He also represented his country at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship, collecting one assist, a plus-four rating and four penalty minutes in four appearances. McIsaac competed at back-to-back IIHF World Under-18 Championships in 2017 and 2018, contributing five points (1-4-5), a plus-five rating and eight penalty minutes in 10 games. McIsaac previously earned a gold medal at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, adding three points (1-2-3) and four penalty minutes in five games.

Update: Per CapFriendly:

DHN’s Allen on Daniel Sprong’s ‘fit’

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses Red Wings free agent signing Daniel Sprong will fit in Detroit’s lineup:

The big question for Detroit coach Derek Lalonde is deciding what how to use Sprong. Even though he played fourth line last season, he has never been known as a strong two-way player.

Could Lalonde give him a shot on the second line with JT Compher as his center, or maybe on a middle six line with Michigan Rasmussen and Andrew Copp? Or does Detroit use him like Seattle did — perhaps going with a scoring fourth line with Jonatan Berggren and Joe Veleno?

The Sprong decision could be impacted on how Lalonde decides to use big and versatile forward Klim Kostin.

It probably makes the most sense to give him a shot initially on a scoring line, because Sprong did score 15 even-strength goals. That’s the same number that Dylan Larkin scored in 2022-23. The Red Wings signed Sprong for his scoring touch.

All we know for sure is that Sprong will [get] power power play time. He had six power play goals last [season].

Continued

The Hockey News’s Stockton discusses the Red Wings’ opening-night lineup

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton punctuates this somewhat sleepy Saturday afternoon with an analysis of what the Red Wings’ 2023-2024 opening night lineup might look like:

Line One: Alex DeBrincat-Dylan Larkin-Michael Rasmussen

One line in and we’ve arrived at two more significant questions: which side will Alex DeBrincat play on, and just how loaded do Steve Yzerman, Derek Lalonde, and the rest of the Red Wings’ brain trust want the top line to be?

To open the season, there can be little doubt that both Larkin and DeBrincat will comprise two-thirds of Detroit’s top line.  Larkin is the franchise centerman upon whom the entire project rests, and DeBrincat is the shiny new toy meant to provide a spark to the Red Wing attack.  Maybe a time will come over the course of the season when Lalonde decides to break the two up to better disperse his top scoring options, but for night one, a DeBrincat-Larkin partnership on the top line looks like a certainty.

On his official roster page, DeBrincat is listed at right wing, but he spent most of last season playing on the left wing with Shane Pinto and Drake Batherson in Ottawa.  During his Chicago days, DeBrincat typically featured on the left wing on the same line as Patrick Kane, who would man the right flank.  With that in mind, I suspect DeBrincat begins his tenure in Detroit on the left.

That brings us to the second question: Just how offensive do the Red Wings want this line to be?

Continued

DHN’s Duff on the Dower Nilsson brothers

Red Wings draft picks Liam Dower Nilsson and his younger brother, Noah are two very different players–Liam is a 20-year-old play-maker, while Noah is more of a sniper–but, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes, the Dower Nilsson brothers have a simple goal in playing in the NHL together:

“I think we have some same (similarities) the way we play the game but I’m a more offensive winger,” Noah said. “Liam is more a two-way center. I learned a lot from him through this year. We always compete against each other.”

That figures to again be the case in 2023-24. The two did get some ice time together in the SHL last season with Frolunda. This season, while Noah will remain with Frolunda, Liam is joining Bjorkloven of the Allsvenskan, the second tier of Swedish hockey.

“I’m trying to get a bigger role there and play my game and focus on my things to get better and try to come back to be the player I was in junior,” Liam explained as the reason behind the move. “I feel I have a more offensive mindset and game to show that I haven’t really shown these two years and especially this year. It’s going to be good for me.”

Detroit ws selecting Liam 134th overall selection in 2021. That year, the entire NHL entry draft was being conducted via Zoom calls. This year in Nashville, the entire Dower Nilsson family was on hand to share the moment with Noah as he was taken with the 73rd overall pick.

“It was unbelievable,” Liam said. “Never really dared to think that’s going to happen. It was an amazing feeling for me and my dad and grandpa, who was there, and for Noah.”

Continued