Month: August 2023

MLive’s Ansar Khan profiles Red Wings free agent signing Alexandre Doucet this morning. The 21-year-old winger had a dominant season in the QMJHL this past year, posting 58 goals and 115 points. The Red Wings believe that the 6,’ 187-pound winger will be more than simply a Major Junior scoring phenomenon:

“He’s a fit kid, he’s strong on his skates,” Red Wings assistant general manager Kris Draper said. “He put up some good numbers on a very good team. We really liked his consistency of how he played. You watch him play and you could see there were some pro tendencies in his game right now, with opportunities to continue to improve.”

Doucet (6-0, 187) continued to flourish after signing. He led the league with 14 playoff goals and tied for first with 31 postseason points, helping Halifax reach the QMJHL finals, where it lost to Quebec.

Doucet, who participated in Red Wings development camp last month at Little Caesars Arena, said of his strengths: “I think I’m smart, I’m good in front of the net. I work hard in my battles, I’m good on both sides of the ice.”

Doucet admittedly did not warrant being drafted during his first two seasons in juniors, producing only 17 goals and 57 points in 98 games. He broke out his final two years, collecting 91 goals and 190 points in 138 games.

“Even my draft year I knew I wasn’t going to get drafted, so it’s more like not being drafted is motivation,” Doucet said. “I had a great year last year as a 20-year-old. A couple of teams saw that and the Red Wings, too.”

Continued; as Draper says later in Khan’s article, the Red Wings will be interested to see what Doucet can bring to the table during the prospect tournament and training camp next month.

As Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff suggests, Red Wings prospect goaltender Trey Augustine is particularly even-keeled, even by goaltender’s standards. It’s evident when talking to the affable young man that he’s trying to “go with the flow,” positionally speaking:

“I just kind of take it one play at a time,” Augustine explained of his netminding style. “You can’t really control what’s going to happen out there. I think that’s a big part of what I’m trying to do. Just focus on the next play, the next opportunity that I have to make a positive impact on the game.”

On those occasions when the outcome of the play doesn’t go his way, don’t be expecting an explosion of emotion from Augustine. He’s not one to splinter his goal stick over the crossbar. He simply hits reset and gets prepared to make the next save.

“Being level headed just kind of helps me stay even keel throughout the whole game,” Augustine said.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Augustine isn’t a determined competitor. Behind his calm exterior is a burning desire to excel. He’s driven to stop the puck and it’s that drive which was encouraging the Red Wings to make the USNTDP Under-18 goalie who is heading to the Michigan State Spartans the 41st overall pick of the 2023 NHL entry draft.

“Very competitive goalie,” Detroit GM Steve Yzerman said. “It kind of sounds silly, but he looks really good in the net. He moves well, his positioning is good. He’s a competitive kid.”

Continued;

The White Bear Lake, Minnesota Press Publications’ Bruce Strand spoke with Red Wings/Grand Rapids Griffins defenseman Wyatt Newpower about the big defender’s decision to re-sign with the Wings this summer:

“You’re always one injury away from getting called up, or one stretch of good hockey, so consistency is arguably the most important skill in hockey,” said the 25-year-old defenseman from White Bear Lake. “I feel good about the foundation I have built for myself over the last three seasons. I have been able to grow into a role that I feel I can succeed in and I enjoy.”

Newpower signed his fourth one-year, two-way minor league contract with the Red Wings in mid-July. Two-way means the salary is based on what level the player is assigned to play. The money’s not bad, even in the minor leagues; according to hockey-reference.com, he made $70,000 last season.

Signed after his college career at Connecticut, Newpower has played one season with the Cleveland Monsters, then two seasons with Grand Rapids (Michigan) Griffins, both in  the American Hockey League. In 138 games in the AHL, he has compiled 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) and a plus six rating. He’s likely to return to Grand Rapids this season.

“I have had a blast my first three years professionally, I just got married two weeks ago and having my wife Catherine with me along on the ride has been so much fun,” Newpower said. “Along with the crazy amount of great hockey players there are out there, I’ve met some lifelong friends already. It’s a lot of fun getting to travel all over the country and meet people from all over the world.”

Continued; at 6’3″ and 207 pounds, Newpower is a defensive defenseman who can “keep the flies” (and instigators) off the Wings’ top defensive prospects. And it’s hard to not root for the kind of player who sacrifices personal statistics for the team’s bottom line.

I’ve weighed in on my takes from the third “game day” of the World Junior Summer Showcase, where Axel Sandin Pellikka and Anton Johansson of Sweden were superb performers, as has Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis, and now, FloHockey’s Chris Peters weighs in with his player notes from Sweden’s 3-2 win over Finland and USA White’s 7-3 win over USA Blue:

Axel Sandin Pellikka, D (Detroit Red Wings): After a so-so performance in his first game of the event Monday, Sandin Pellikka was on his game Wednesday. He scored a goal on a tremendous rush and move to the inside before unleashing a quick shot past the goaltender. He played with pace, directed a ton of pucks to the net and was strong on his skates in his own zone. He’s excellent at getting pucks up ice. His skating ability and strength on his feet make him a much more forceful player despite being below-average in size for defensemen. He was a factor throughout the game.

Continued

Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis posted a set of impressive performers from Day 7 at the World Junior Summer Showcase, and two Red Wings prospects made his cut:

#4 Axel Sandin Pellikka, D (Detroit Red Wings): ASP had a rough start to the tournament, and he was the man that got beat on Lane Hutson’s incredible goal on Monday. But Sandin Pellikka played more like the guy we saw at the U-18 World Championship, campaigning a strong, two-way game. His goal was one of the best of the tournament.

#6 Anton Johansson, D (Detroit Red Wings): Johansson has been the most consistently impressive defenseman on Sweden for me. He’s involved offensively, has gotten physical and is blocking shots and clearing the puck out of the zone. Just… everything you’d want a defenseman to do. Simple, solid hockey.

Continued

Wednesday’s second-to-last set of games taking place at the World Junior Summer Showcase were perhaps the most important in terms of promoting international rivalries, as Finland took on Sweden and Team USA Blue battled its sibling team, Team USA White.

Ultimately, Sweden defeated Finland 3 to 2 in the 1 PM game, with Axel Sandin Pellikka scoring the Swedes’ final goal, assisted by Anton Johansson (who has 2 goals and 1 assist over the course of 3 games played).

Axel Sandin Pellikka just scored one of the best goals of the World Junior Summer Showcase. 3-1 Sweden. #WJSS #LGRW pic.twitter.com/sNuujSOv4y

— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) August 2, 2023

And USA White defeated USA Blue 7 to 3 in the 4 PM game, with. Trey Augustine took a seat for this one, watching his USA Hockey teammates battle each other from the stands. Former Red Wings development camper Andrew Oke started for USA Blue and stopped 24 of 29 shots over 40 minutes’ worth of play, and fellow development camper and now-Philadelphia Flyers prospect Cole Knuble had 2 goals for USA White.

Three of the four teams will practice on Thursday at USA Hockey Arena (Finland’s taking the day off), and then Friday’s games between USA Blue and Sweden at 1 PM EDT, and USA White vs. Finland at 4 PM.

Continue reading Impressions from Day 7 at the World Junior Summer Showcase

I’ve got a whole new set of impressions from today’s games at the World Junior Summer Showcase set to hit the wire in 24:25 of playing time (Team USA White and Team USA Blue are still battling here at the World Junior Summer Showcase).

In the interim, Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted an article about Axel Sandin Pellikka’s performance in Sweden’s 3-2 win over Finland, in which ASP scored the game-winning goal:

Detroit fans got their first look at Sandin Pellikka’s offensive knack Wednesday when he scored a third-period game-winning goal in a 3-2 Sweden win over Finland at the World Junior Summer Showcase tournament.

“I just took the puck. I saw the defender and he kind of went to the boards,” Sandin Pellikka said. “So I kind of cut to the middle and it worked this time.”

The Red Wings like the way he reads plays and they appreciate his instincts. This is a young defenseman who posted 16 goals and 36 points in 31 junior games last season. He didn’t turn 18 until March and still had five points playing 22 more games in the Swedish Hockey League.

Was his goal against Sweden a read or an instinctual play?  “It’s both,” he said. “I saw that defender — he thought I was going to go to the boards and he cheated a little bit. I saw the opportunity to take it inside.”

Continued; here’s the goal:

Axel Sandin Pellikka with a nice goal in today's #WJSS game against Finland #LGRW pic.twitter.com/y3GhHR6cWp

— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) August 2, 2023

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills “wraps up” Michael Rasmussen’s 2022-2023 season today:

Michael Rasmussen was understandably frustrated.

Through 55 games in the 2022-23 season, Rasmussen owned NHL career highs in assists (19) and points (29). But after blocking a shot against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 25, the Detroit Red Wings forward was placed on injured reserve on March 2.

“Tough with where things were at with the team and how well everyone was playing,” Rasmussen said in his end-of-season media session. “To get removed from that was really tough and something I haven’t experienced for a while, so it was upsetting to watch and not be out there with the guys.”

Despite the injury, the 24-year-old forward feels he made encouraging progress in his fourth campaign with the Red Wings.

“I think it was a positive year for me,” said Rasmussen, who was Detroit’s ninth overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. “Definitely improved on things in the summer, took it into the season and just got to a point in my game where I felt confident in how I was contributing.”

Continued

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan profiles Red Wings forward Daniel Sprong this morning:

Armed with one of the best shots in the NHL, Sprong had six goals and 14 points on the power play, where his hard shot can create havoc and is a valuable option.

In all, Sprong could prove to be an interesting addition for coach Derek Lalonde to utilize.

“We think he can contribute goal scoring, and potentially at a good age that he can continue to grow,” Yzerman said. “I like his scoring ability, size and offensive ability. He fits a real need for us.”

Sprong, who signed a one-year contract worth $2 million, was excited about landing with the Wings.

“It will be a good fit for both sides,” Sprong said after signing with the Wings. “Something Detroit was lacking last year was scoring. They’re an up-and-coming team. I thought it would be a good fit to be there and help with the scoring and grow with the guys there and be part of the organization.”

Continued

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted an early-evening column which cites Andrew Copp, Lucas Raymond and Joe Veleno as three Red Wings forwards who need to score more regularly for the Red Wings to succeed this upcoming season.

There’s no doubt that Lucas Raymond hit the wall as his sophomore season progressed, but that doesn’t mean that he’s hit a wall as a player:

Lucas Raymond: The prevailing wisdom around the Red Wings was that Lucas Raymond wasn’t as effective as he was a rookie. Call it a sophomore slump. His scoring went down from 23 to 17. The Red Wings were hoping it was going to go up.

As a rookie, Raymond looked like a natural scorer. This past season, he didn’t seem to have the same drive.

Hope for Raymond in 2023-24: The Red Wings would like 25 from Raymond in his third NHL season. He’s only 21. Maybe that’s asking too much. But this is a very talented forward.

Continued; Raymond can hit 25 if he’s worked on his conditioning and strength during the offseason, because he’s definitely a marked man when it comes to opposing defenses and opposing players trying to mess with a smaller forward in a physical manner.