Month: July 2023

DHN’s Allen discusses Antti Tuomisto’s bet on himself

Red Wings prospect Antti Tuomisto “bet on himself” by exiting the University of Denver for a professional campaign played in Finland this past season, and the Red Wings were impressed enough by the 6’5,” 205-pound defenseman that they signed the 22-year-old to a 2-year entry-level contract this past spring.

This afternoon, Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses Tuomisto’s calculus in heading from NCAA Hockey to TPS Turku, one of Europe’s best organizations:

He was drafted 35th overall in 2019. But perhaps he has a special distinction because the Red Wings are looking forward to having a better read on Tuomisto’s potential. The 6-foot-5 Finn seemed like an ordinary prospect when he was playing college hockey at Denver in 2021-22. But the Red Wings were impressed with Tuomisto’s progress playing last season in Finland’s top pro league. Now, Tuomisto is a true curiosity.

His sole purpose of returning to Finland was to improve his NHL potential.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Tuomisto said. “Get a bigger role maybe than I had in Denver and also play with older guys, a little bigger guys in Finland.”

As a college player, Tuomisto looked like he was becoming a defense-first prospect. But he demonstrated more offensive potential for TPS Turku, totaling five goals and 20 points.  The Red Wings like his first-pass ability.

He received power play time in Finland.

“I got more ice time,” Tuomisto said. “That really helped me getting those reps. I want to use my shot. That’s something I worked on a lot with Sammy Salo, our D coach in Finland and Niklas Kronwall, we worked a lot on that. I think I got a lot better in that last season.”

Continued; the Red Wings are replete with defensive prospects at present, but they don’t have many big, physical righties on the blueline, and Tuomisto “fills a need.”

Roughly Translated: A summary of an interview with Marco Kasper

Red Wings top prospect Marco Kasper gave an interview to his hometown paper, Klagenfurt’s Kleine Zeitung this morning, but it’s stuck behind a paywall. He apparently discusses, “He talks about his journey, his role models and how to play with a broken knee” with Marco-William Ninaus.

Hockey-News.info posted a summary of the interview, and here’s a translation thereof:

Continue reading Roughly Translated: A summary of an interview with Marco Kasper

Tweets of note: Larkin turns 27, and Husso visits the Lions

Of Twitter-related note from the Red Wings:

The Wings’ captain turns 27 today…

And Ville Husso apparently visited the Detroit Lions’ training camp recently:

Talking mid-offseason offseason grades

Bleacher Report’s Adam Gretz posted a lengthy set of “offseason grades” for every NHL team today, and here’s what he has to say about the Red Wings’ offseason moves:

If the Red Wings don’t take a significant step forward this season, it might be time for general manager Steve Yzerman to start facing some pressure. And based on the way he has conducted the past two offseasons, he seems to know that.

While I am not a huge fan of J.T. Compher getting a five-year, $25 million contract in free agency, the trade for Alex DeBrincat, as well as getting him signed to a long-term deal, does seem like a pretty big win for the Red Wings. DeBrincat is one of the best goal scorers in the NHL and adds some much-needed firepower to the top of the Red Wings’ lineup.

His goal-scoring took a bit of a hit during his one year in Ottawa, but there are a lot of signs that he should be able to bounce back this season. His ability to generate shots and drive possession all remained consistent from his normal career averages, while he still demonstrated the same level of playmaking. The only thing that dropped was his goal-scoring due almost entirely to a drop in shooting percentage. If his shooting luck changes, there is a real chance he gets back to the 40-goal form he showed earlier in his career with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Adding to the forward depth was Daniel Sprong on a one-year deal after he wasn’t given a qualifying offer by Seattle. Sprong is not exactly the most complete player in the NHL and he’s not going to do much to help you away from the puck, but do you know where he is going to help? By scoring. He was one of the most efficient goal scorers in the league last season on a per-minute basis and combined with DeBrincat and Compher should balance out Detroit’s lineup.

They also added some scoring punch to their blue line with the addition of Shayne Gostisbehere. While he never became the top-pairing player the Flyers envisioned he would become, he does still bring some value as a power-play specialist and bottom-pairing defender that can produce when properly sheltered.

The only noteworthy move from the Red Wings was acquiring Klim Kostin and Kailer Yamamoto from the Edmonton Oilers, which was promptly followed by buying Yamamoto’s contract. Do they like Kostin so much that is worth taking on a $500,000 empty cap hit the next two years to get him? Questionable. But not so questionable that erases everything else that was done.

Grade: B+

Continued; the more I consider what the Red Wings did, I believe that Yzerman and the Red Wings’ management felt that their changes made to the 2022-2023 team’s roster weren’t enough, and they doubled down on personnel turnover in order to bring in depth (and, in DeBrincat’s case, depth of scoring).

Will the Wings’ rather significant offseason changes yield a playoff run? I’m not certain, but I do believe that the Red Wings will be more competitive on more nights this season, and, given the relative thinness of the free agent marketplace this summer, Yzerman did all he could to improve the team as he was able.

Impressions from Day 3 at the World Junior Summer Showcase: games get underway, with Sweden and Finland prevailing over the U.S. teams

The first day’s worth of games at the World Junior Summer Showcase were a bit of a disappointment if you’re a Team USA fan.

In the 1 PM game, Team Sweden defeated Team USA Blue 7-0, with Red Wings prospect Anton Johansson scoring a goal for Sweden.

Axel Sandin Pellikka was kept out of the game, according to Swedish coach Magnus Havelid, so that he could work out in the gym, per the recommendation of Skelleftea AIK’s GM; coach Havelid said that ASP is not injured and will play in the next three games.

In the 4 PM game, Team Finland defeated Team USA White 4-2, with the Finns scoring an empty-net goal to seal the deal. Red Wings prospect goaltender Trey Augustine stopped 16 of 18 shots against in 28:30 of play.

It was very hard to get a read on Augustine’s game by watching him play half of a game that Finland really took to the Americans in a way that Sweden didn’t, with detail work and a lot of gritty play determining the outcome.

Tomorrow, the teams will practice at USA Hockey Arena on Sunday morning, and then they’ll get together again for games scheduled for Monday at 4 PM (USA Blue vs. Finland) and 7 PM (USA White vs. Sweden).

Continue reading Impressions from Day 3 at the World Junior Summer Showcase: games get underway, with Sweden and Finland prevailing over the U.S. teams

DHN’s Robinson speaks with Anton Johansson at the WJSS

Detroit Hockey Now’s Tim Robinson spoke with Red Wings prospect and Team Sweden defenseman Anton Johansson as part of a profile piece anchored by Johansson’s goal-scoring performance today at the World Junior Summer Showcase:

Prospect Anton Johansson checks all of the boxes for what the Detroit Red Wings want in their prospect defensemen these days. He’s 6-foot-4, a right shot and Swedish.

But Johansson made himself stand out even more Saturday when he scored Sweden’s first goal in a 7-0 blanking of Team USA Blue in the opening game at the 2023 World Junior Summer Showcase at USA Hockey Arena.

“I think that was my best game,”said the 188-pound Johansson, a fourth-round pick from 2022. “It’s good to have a start like this.”

His coach, Magnus Havelid, was more conservative with his assessment.

“It’s just the first game,” he said, chuckling. “we’re going to wait and see as a coaching staff. Let’s see what we say after the fourth game.”

Continued

WJSS: Finland wins 4-2 over USA White, including audio of USA coach David Carle and goaltender Trey Augustine

Team Finland won a 4-2 decision over Team USA White today at the World Junior Summer Showcase, so the Americans went 0-for-2 on the day.

Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine split time with Tyler Muszelik in goal, stopping 16 of 18 shots in 28:30 of play. Augustine gave one goal up via the 5-hole, and then, on a breakaway, an “under the blocker and over the pad,” to Finland’s Tommi Mannisto, but in all honesty, Augustine did the very best he could given that even Team USA White was playing too fine and making too many mistakes.

After the game, coach David Carle discussed both games, suggesting that the Americans had a fair set of “first steps” while shaking up the lineup a bit to see new combinations, and he felt that today’s losses needed to be taken in context of the three more games to come (for both USA Blue and USA White):

Continue reading WJSS: Finland wins 4-2 over USA White, including audio of USA coach David Carle and goaltender Trey Augustine

WJSS: Sweden wins 7-0 over USA Blue, including audio of Anton Johansson and coach Magnus Havelid

At the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Team Sweden opened their tournament on a high note, defeating Team USA Blue 7-0.

Red Wings prospect Anton Johansson scored the game’s first goal on a bit of a knuckler, and Johansson played very well overall, displaying spare, smart two-way form;

Axel Sandin Pellikka did not play, but Sweden’s coach, Magnus Havelid, told the assembled media that everybody would play in 3 games, and that ASP had to spend a day in the gym lest his club team GM in Skelleftea get pissed off if Axel doesn’t work out hard enough. He’s not hobbled in any way presently.

Here are interviews with Johansson, who was happy with his game but understandably less than exalted after his team’s dominating one-game effort:

Continue reading WJSS: Sweden wins 7-0 over USA Blue, including audio of Anton Johansson and coach Magnus Havelid

Just call them the Underdog Wings

The Hockey News’s Adam Proteau weighs in as to whether any of the three Atlantic Division upstarts–the Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators and of course the Detroit Red Wings–might be able to sneak into an Eastern Conference playoff spot this upcoming season, and he’s not giving the Wings much of a chance:

The Ottawa Senators made a big splash on the free agent market on Thursday, signing star winger Vladimir Tarasenko to a one-year, $5-million contract. Adding the six-time 30-goal scorer gives the Sens one of the best top six forwards in the NHL, but does it make Ottawa the Atlantic Division’s best up-and-coming team? We don’t think so.

From this writer’s perspective, of the three Atlantic teams battling to make the playoffs this coming season – the Senators, Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings – the Sabers have the best shot at qualifying for the post-season. The Sens would be second on that list, followed by the Red Wings. Why? Well, because Buffalo’s top six forwards had four players who scored at least 31 goals last season (Ottawa had three), and because Buffalo has two of the best three defensemen (Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin) among the Sens, Wings and Sabres (Detroit’s Moritz Seider being the other).

The deciding factor in the race to win a playoff spot could be goaltending. In that regard, the Sabres could struggle if rookie Devon Levi doesn’t take the No. 1 job and make it his own. The Sens added veteran Joonas Korpisalo, and Detroit is depending on veteran Ville Husso, but all-in-all, Buffalo’s abundance of talent beyond goaltending is the deepest group of the three playoff-hungry teams.

Tarasenko’s arrival in Ottawa makes the Senators a frightening opponent for any other franchise, but the Sabres were frightening enough in 2022-23, and their top players are just coming into their own. If we were betting on it today, we’d bet Buffalo slides into one of the two wild-card berths this year, but it’s shaping up to be an extremely tight race.

Continued; I have all the respect in the world for Mr. Proteau, and I know that the odds are stacked against the Wings surpassing the Sabres or Senators this upcoming season, but we can always hope, folks.

Morning news: Today at the World Junior Summer Showcase; more about the ‘All in 4 ALS’ game; ‘offseason winners’ and Ted Lindsay’s birthday

Of brief Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. Taking place today:

At the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan, two games are taking place: Team USA Blue will battle Axel Sandin Pellikka, Anton Johansson and Team Sweden today at 1 PM EDT.*

USA Hockey Arena is selling tickets to the game for $10 or a week-long pass for $30;

At 4 PM EDT, Trey Augustine’s Team USA White will battle Finland, with tickets for the game also on sale at USA Hockey Arena’s website.

The games are also being broadcast on USAHockeyTV.com for $30 for the week.

The games’ box scores will be available here. I’ve already got the USA Blue-Sweden and USA White-Finland box scores teed up.

*For what it’s worth, Sweden doesn’t traditionally have player names on the backs of their jerseys, so ASP is wearing #4, and Johansson #6 (both are right shots). Augustine wears #1 for Team USA.

2. Taking place soon:

As Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes, on Saturday, August 12th (two weeks from today), Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Michael Rasmussen, Robby Fabbri, Andrew Copp and Jake Walman will all be taking part in the “All In 4 ALS” game at Windsor’s WFCU Centre, home of the Windsor Spitfires.

Tickets range between $15 and $35 Canadian.

The game will raise funds for Ottawa Senators assistant coach Bob Jones, who’s recently been diagnosed with ALS. The game starts at 2 PM EDT.

Other NHL stars are taking part, as Duff notes:

Continue reading Morning news: Today at the World Junior Summer Showcase; more about the ‘All in 4 ALS’ game; ‘offseason winners’ and Ted Lindsay’s birthday