Month: September 2023

The Hockey News’s Stefan Rubino discusses six fantasy hockey defensemen who he believes “must be rostered in banger leagues” for their multiple statistical category dominance:

Moritz Seider, Red Wings

2022-2023 Stats: 82 GP, 5 G-37 A-42 Pts, +14, 42 PIM, 140 Shots, 207 Hits, 190 Blocks

Entering his third season, Seider has cemented himself as part of the Red Wings offense and become a menace on the physical side of the game. He’s recorded over 150 hits, 150 blocks and 140 shots on goal in each of his first two seasons, and his game continues to grow. 

Despite finishing with a lower point production in his sophomore year, the additions of Alex DeBrincat and J.T. Compher could see Seider set new highs. Combined with his physical play thanks to his big frame, we could potentially see him return to top-ten status.

Continued

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen took note of some of the comments made by Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman during yesterday morning’s press conference. Yzerman did address the concept that several of the team’s top prospects might “make a push” for a roster spot…

Even though Yzerman has plenty of veterans, he said Tuesday that he hopes some youngsters give him a reason to think long and hard about his opening day roster.

“Not necessarily gonna be specific,” he said, “but I’m expecting some of them to push.  We’ll see.”

The likely candidates to push are winger Soderblom, defensemen Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson, plus center Marco Kasper. The longer shots are forward Cross Hanas, defensemen William Wallinder and Antti Tuomisto.

And Allen noted that Yzerman was particularly effusive in his praise for Simon Edvinsson’s prospect tournament performance:

“The reason we brought him up there was because he was hurt and he missed a lot at the end of the season,” Yzerman said. “We just wanted to get him in some competition, get him banged around in games to prepare him for training camp. It turned out to be a great thing… he could of, if he’d wanted to, kind of floated through it a little bit. But he played really hard, he played really well. ”

Given the number of veterans Yzerman acquired this summer, it will be difficult for prospects to earn a spot on the Red Wings’ varsity. But Soderblom is, at the very least, off to a good start.

“We were really pleased with his performance and how hard he competed up there,” Yzerman said. “I think that bodes well for him here in the preseason, because he is one of those players that is competing to play for the Red Wings this year and he’s gonna have to really earn it. But it was a really positive weekend for him. We were really happy with his attitude and his performance.”

97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield weighs in on Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s press conference from yesterday morning:

“That desire to make that move or do something that puts you over the top as far as being a playoff team, I think there’s some judgement in when that time is,” Yzerman said. “There is something to that: being patient, honest and accurate in your assessment of your organization, and then doing what’s necessary at the appropriate time.”

The Wings’ newcomers this season will make them better. And continued growth from returners like Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider and Ville Husso will push their ceiling higher. That much is clear. As Yzerman said, the Red Wings “know what to expect” from most of the players on the roster “based on their careers.” It’s the players not (yet) on the roster who could change the course of the season. Ideally, Simon Edvinsson, Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur won’t just make the team. They’ll make their mark.

It might be too much to expect any of them to crack the Opening Night roster, especially with Edvinsson and Mazur recovering from injuries. And Kasper, 19, has played exactly one game in the NHL. But all of them will have a say, one way or another, in how this season plays out in Detroit. If they’re ready, they’ll play — and the Wings will benefit. If not, Yzerman is content to keep waiting. He has no interest in “just throwing them into the NHL and hoping we’re going to win games.”

“We’re still being patient,” he said. “I intend to hold into our draft picks for the foreseeable future and let them develop and again, try to add to that small core that we have that makes us a competitive team for a long stretch of time.”

Whenever the Red Wings return to the playoffs, the goal is to stay there. If simply getting there were the aim, Yzerman would have picked today over tomorrow a long time ago. This might be the year they put an end to the drought, but “not at the expense of the future,” Yzerman said.

Continued

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Continue reading Press release: Red Wings release training camp roster and schedule

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton offers three storylines to watch during training camp, and here’s one of his points of emphasis:

Upward Mobility Amongst Young Returning Forwards: In his pre-training camp press availability, Steve Yzerman spoke about his excitement for some of Detroit’s young players to push for greater roles in the coming season.

“Some of our younger players—we mentioned Joe Veleno, Michael Rasmussen—they want a bigger role, they want more ice time, they want to play on some of these special teams, they want to take face-offs in the last minute of a game. So there’s competition there,” Yzerman said. 

For the purposes of this conversation, I’d like to focus on the Red Wing forwards who are both young and returners to the NHL roster.  Youngsters trying to claim full-time roles for the first time (e.g. Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur) and players arriving to Detroit from elsewhere (e.g. Daniel Sprong and Klim Kostin) have their own unique challenges.

However, a step forward for Detroit in the standings will almost certainly have to coincide with growth from the Red Wings class of young but established forwards.  Here, I’m thinking of the two Yzerman cited (Veleno and Rasmussen) as well as Lucas Raymond and Jonatan Berggren.

Yzerman was explicit in his expectation for Veleno and Rasmussen’s growth—pushing for more minutes in higher leverage positions.  

Meanwhile, Raymond has already claimed a top six, top power play role, but his challenge will rest in bouncing back from a disappointing season.  Berggren has dabbled in those top-of-the-lineup spots, but he hasn’t solidified his place there.  In 2023-24, the young Swede will seek to leverage his mature and diverse offensive toolkit into becoming a fixture atop Detroit’s line-up.

Continued; the balance of young players with added veterans is something I’m certainly going to watch this upcoming season, starting tomorrow.

Sean Shapiro examines game footage to get a handle on Red Wings prospect Marco Kasper via Shapiro’s Substack this morning:

He had an OK tournament, there were some frustrating moments, especially as Detroit lost all three games, but he rebounded offensively with a pair of assists in the final game against the Toronto Maple Leafs prospects.

Despite not scoring a goal, he was tied for the team lead in shots over three games with Elmer Soderblom and Cross Hanas.

Remember that Kasper played one NHL game last season, but got hurt, and missed out on the opportunity to play more. Based off the Red Wings moves in free agency, he’s likely going to start this season in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins, but I do expect him to play some NHL games this season.

Anyways, let’s actually look at some film and what the Wings might have in store with the Austrian center who had 23 points in 52 SHL games last season with Rogle.

Continued (paywall)

Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen offers “one thing to remember” for every NHL team headed into training camp:

Detroit Red Wings: They’re the ultimate ‘I forgot that guy went there’ team

There was one, big-name addition to the Wings’ roster over the summer as they swept in to trade for Alex DeBrincat out of Ottawa. They’ll be looking for front-line minutes and a return to 40-goal status for him to move the needle for this team. Look beyond DeBrincat and you’ll see several other additions — some of whom you’ve probably forgotten about.

As Steve Yzerman takes an almost expansion team-like approach to building this roster, this time he’s added the likes of Klim Kostin (was a great fit in Edmonton), Daniel Sprong (under-the-radar 21-goal man for Seattle), Justin Holl (Leafs fans love him or hate him) and J.T. Compher (former middle-six centre in Colorado).

Continued; sometimes you have to tear down before you rebuild

ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton ask questions which “linger” for every one of the NHL’s 32 teams today, and Shilton believes that the Red Wings need to answer questions as to whether their power play has improved:

Detroit Red Wings

Big question: Has Detroit done enough to address its power-play problems?

There’s been a recurring theme for the Red Wings in recent season, and that’s a mediocre power play. Granted, Detroit improved with the extra man in 2022-23, when the team jumped from 16.3% to 21.1%. Still, that ranked just 17th in the league and wasn’t ultimately good enough to be a true factor in helping the Red Wings reach their full potential.

GM Steve Yzerman seemingly targeted players this offseason who could be difference-makers on special teams, including defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (a possible top-unit quarterback), sniper Alex DeBrincat and a potential second-unit stalwart in Daniel Sprong. Given the league’s increasing parity, it is the success (or failure) of a power play that can make or break a team’s playoff chances. Has Detroit finally found the right mix to elevate its man advantage?

Continued; the Wings will have to have great special teams play to remain playoff-relevant throughout the course of the 2023-2024 season.

There are a bunch of stories of Red Wings-related note on The Athletic this morning. I can’t share everything from the paywalled articles, but we’ll try to dig in nonetheless.

1. The Athletic’s Max Bultman offered questions for every Red Wings forward yesterday, and this morning, he asks questions of every Red Wings defenseman and goaltender:

Moritz Seider: Will he hold onto the top power play spot?

Sure, there’s probably a bigger-picture question here about whether he can take the next step and become not just Detroit’s No. 1 defenseman, but join the league’s upper echelon. But based on Seider’s trajectory, that feels more like a matter of time. And whether that time is this season could be dictated in part by whether he’s able to fend off Shayne Gostisbehere for top power-play responsibilities.

Gostisbehere might be the more natural option, as a true specialist power-play quarterback, but Seider’s continued development in that spot is probably the most important thing for the team’s big-picture. It’ll be fascinating to see which direction the Red Wings take.

…

Ville Husso: Can he shoulder the load?

You all knew this one was coming. It’s been one of the biggest storylines since late last season. Husso had a ton of strong showings last season for the Red Wings — enough that his .896 season-ending save percentage required a double take. But it was the reality, and it seemed to be mainly driven by fatigue (and, relatedly, playing through injury down the stretch). Now, all eyes will be on whether he’s ready to hold up for the whole season this time around.

Continued;

2. The Athletic’s Murat Ates is predicting the Red Wings to improve this upcoming season–but not hit .500:

Continue reading A quartet of Red Wings-related stories from The Athletic

Bleacher Report’s Sara Civian offers a single word “vibe” for every NHL team going into the 2023-2024 season, as well as a short explanation as to what she means by that word. Here’s what she has to say about the Red Wings:

Detroit Red Wings: Momentous

The Red Wings took the next step in the Yzerplan with a big (or perhaps, medium?) swing on scrappy hometown goal-scorer Alex DeBrincat. What an excellent deal for a 40-goal scorer looking to prove himself on a team ready to do the same. God, I love it. I won’t be as mad at the Red Wings as I will be at the Sabres if they don’t make the playoffs this season, but I need to see better out of Moritz Seider and a playoff-fringe performance to keep trusting in the Yzerplan.

Continued; belief is an interesting thing. Sometimes it requires proof of belief.