Month: September 2023

Khan discusses Cross Hanas’ long road back from shoulder surgery

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an article which discusses Cross Hanas’s strong performance at the Red Wings’ 2023 Prospect Tournament, which was a critical step on the road back from an undisclosed (shoulder) injury which cost him the vast majority of the 2022-2023 season. Hanas’ 4 goals and 2 assists in 3 games co-led the Wings’ prospects in scoring:

“The first couple of months were pretty tough,” Hanas said. “The rehab is no joke. It’s a lot of work, a lot of time. Probably the biggest thing you got to do is be patient, have a good work ethic. I can’t stand sitting out a game, so having to sit and watch every game the rest of the season was really tough. But it makes you just want to keep working and get your rehab done as fast as possible. Time is your best friend for injuries like this, just to let it heal.”

Hanas said it was the first time he’d ever been injured for any length of time.

“I’m a real big competitor and I want to be out there all the time,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you how bad it was killing me to sit up in the crowd every single time we were at home at the games and having to watch and feeling useless, kind of.”

Despite Hanas’ age and inexperience as a pro, only Taro Hirose and Austin Czarnik have played more games with the Griffins among forwards projected to start the season with the AHL club.

“We put him in a leadership role here for this tournament, which I think is important for his personal growth,” Watson said. “He’s very vocal, he plays with energy, just have to make sure he plays with emotion and not emotional. At times he can get too emotional about things and maybe his game goes off. That’s something we’re going to have to direct him to.”

Continued

Stockton on Amadeus Lombardi and Cross Hanas

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton weighs in on the Red Wings prospects’ 6-5 loss to Toronto yesterday at the 2023 Prospect Tournament, offering praise for the play of Amadeus Lombardi, junior hockey tendencies exempted, and Cross Hanas:

Throughout the weekend, Hanas’ goal scoring stood out above everything else, but it’s worth also appreciating the directness of his game.  Hanas is a direct, vertical player.  Where Lombardi enjoys a labyrinthine twirl through neutral ice to set up a rush chance, Hanas plays in straight lines, perpetually working his way to the net.

In this case, even though his chance is denied, Hanas’ direct route to the goal mouth leads straight to Lombardi’s tap-in for the rebound, Lombardi having also finished the play at the net.

Again, there’s preseason written all over the play in the two sides’ willingness to trade rush chances, but habits have to form somewhere, and it’s nice to see Hanas’ directness rubbing off a bit on Lombardi to their mutual benefit.

It was far from a banner tournament for the Red Wings, but that doesn’t mean it was without bright spots.  Lombardi and Hanas appear natural compliments to one another, and perhaps that chemistry will translate to the NHL level in Detroit before too long.

Continued; Hanas is establishing himself as an “under-the-radar” offensive prospect in my eyes, and Lombardi has a long way to go in terms of learning to put his Major Junior Hockey tendencies behind him, but I believe that he can simplify his game as time goes by.

Tweets of note: Wings to stream Sunday’s Red vs. White game; looking back on prospect tournament interviews; Scotty Bowman turns 90

Of Red Wings-related Twitter note this morning:

  1. Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Kal reports that the Red Wings will stream the Red vs. White game on Sunday at 12 PM:

2. Fellow broadcaster Daniella Bruce always does a great job during prospect tournaments and the main training camps, and she shared some highlights of the past weekend on Twitter/X:

3. And former Wings beat writer Keith Gave notes that today is a special day in the hockey world:

Next step for the Wings’ prospects: not falling off the face of the earth

I posted my final impressions from the Red Wings’ prospect tournament in the form of Detroit’s 6-5 loss to Toronto yesterday afternoon/evening, and, as the prospects take the day off to teach some Blair Elementary School kids how to play hockey today, it’s important to mention the following:

Now that the prospect tournament is over, the players re-set and attempt to make an impression and impact over the course of training camp and the exhibition season.

For the Red Wings’ prospects, that includes “not falling off the face of the earth.” By that, I mean that there are always prospects who use their “runway” provided by the prospect tournament to excel in training camp, and there are always players (both draft picks and free agent try-outs) whose play drops off significantly when the NHL players come to town.

Sometimes they rebound from getting lost in the shuffle of 50+ players participating in training camp; sometimes they’re never to be seen from again, even in an era where the line between prospect tournament try-outs’ skill levels and the skill levels of the Red Wings’ own draft picks has become narrower and narrower.

I’m not just interested to see how William Wallinder, Antti Tuomisto, Marco Kasper, Elmer Soderblom, Cross Hanas and Sebastian Cossa do during training camp; I’m also going to be keeping an eye on the free agent try-outs who made hay, like Nic Sima, Jackson DeSouza and Lukas Matecha. We’ll see which players “rise to the top,” and which players just plain old fall off in terms of their pace of play.

Again, the prospect tournament and training camp are not the be-all-end-all, but they begin to establish a “pecking order” for the Red Wings’ prospects, especially given that the Grand Rapids Griffins’ coaching staff and Toledo Walleye’s coaching staff are both at least partially new from the head coach on down this upcoming season.

From the Grand Rapids Griffins-contracted Riley Sawchuk to the Kaspers, Soderbloms and Wallinders of the world, the Red Wings’ prospects are looking to earn AHL spots on a crowded Grand Rapids Griffins roster, and it’s not going to be easy for all of them to succeed.

It all starts (again) on Thursday.

Shapiro on 38 prospect tournament players

Sean Shapiro took in every game at the Red Wings’ 2023 Prospect Tournament, and this morning, on his Substack, he offers scouting reports on 38 of the prospects who attended the tournament. He’s not particularly bullish on any of the Wings’ top prospects:

Marco Kasper — There were some frustrating moments for Kasper in this tournament, he was constantly a target for opponents, and probably should have had more than just two assists — he didn’t get some of the finishing to match his setups.

…

Elmer Soderblom — Truthfully, I’m not sure why he played in this showcase. He was in the NHL last season, and while he has some flaws, this prospect tournament felt like it should have been a step below him. And he played that way. Yes, he scored in each game, but for a player with NHL experience and his size, he needed to have a larger impact.

William Wallinder — Detroit didn’t win a game, but they were the better team for most of the tournament when Wallinder was on the ice. That’s one of the biggest compliments I can give to the defenseman, who played a quiet, but effective game throughout the tournament. There were times I would have like to see him seize an offensive opportunity, but that is nitpicking.

Continued (paywall)

THW’s Wolak talks player expectations for the Wings’ new additions

The Hockey Writers’ Tony Wolak offers expectations for each and every one of the Red Wings’ roster additions this morning. His expectations for Alex DeBrincat are realistic….

Alex DeBrincat – RW

Contract: Four years – $7.875 million AAV

Role(s): DeBrincat will be a top-six forward for the Red Wings, with a majority of his time spent on the top line. He’ll also man the left flank on the top power play unit, where he’ll be the primary shooter.

Value/Production Expectations: It will be interesting to see how DeBrincat—who has historically thrived with elite playmakers—meshes with Detroit’s top forwards. Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond are dual threats – solid playmakers and shooters, and David Perron is more of a shooter than a passer. Andrew Copp has decent playmaking skills as well. None are elite, though. 

All of this to say, I don’t think 40 goals is likely. DeBrincat scoring 30 is much more probable. Either way, he gives the Red Wings a sorely needed scoring boost and adds a ton of value to the power play.

But I think that he under-sells Jeff Petry a bit, given his power play aplomb:

Jeff Petry – RD

Contract: Two years – $2,343,750 AAV

Role(s): If Gostisbehere leans offense, and Holl leans defense, then Petry is the bridge between the two as an all-situations defender within the bottom four. He could see some time on the second power play—either as the quarterback or on the left flank—and will likely have a minor role on the penalty kill. In addition, Petry is likely the first choice for top-pairing duties if Moritz Seider or Jake Walman miss time.

Value/Production Expectations: Historically, Petry has been a strong offensive contributor. He also turns 36 midway through the season and is joining a new team. Expect Petry’s offensive numbers to decline a little bit – 15-20 points in 60-plus games is a fair projection.

I know it’s “root for the old guys” syndrome, but I hope that Petry can post in excess of 30 points this upcoming season.

Continued; Tony asked to be featured here on TMR, and I agreed that his work merits sharing.

Video: Burchfield and Wojnowski discuss training camp questions on Fox 2’s SportsWorks

97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield and the Detroit News’s Bob Wojnowski spoke with Fox 2’s Dan Miller on yesterday night’s SportsWorks, and they discuss the Red Wings from the 14-minute mark until the 16:20 mark of the video, discussing their expectations for the Red Wings to remain relevant to playoff discussion, whether the Wings will be “buyers” or “sellers” at the trade deadline, and lingering questions about Ville Husso and Lucas Raymond:

That pesky puck-in-the-netting rule gets ‘tweaked’

Daily Faceoff’s Vasili Gianarankos reports that the 2023-2024 season finds tweaks to several NHL rules via a post from Scouting the Refs, including an infamous rule for Red Wings fans with long memories:

Puck-in-Netting Challenges Clarified (Rule 38.2)

The coach’s challenge rule regarding missed stoppages has been updated to specify the eligible situations for a challenge when the puck contacts the spectator netting. Such plays are eligible for a challenge no matter the team that caused the puck to go up into the netting.  This update is consistent with how the rule was applied in the 2022-23 season. “A play that results in a “GOAL” call on the ice where the defending team claims that the play should have been stopped by reason of any play occurring in the offensive zone that should have resulted in a play stoppage caused by the attacking team but did not. The one exception to this provision is when the puck strikes the spectator netting caused by either team and goes unnoticed by the on-ice officials.“

Continued, with more tweaks as provided by Scouting the Refs; the Red Wings have scored a couple of goals that shouldn’t have counted due to pucks in the netting, and have had more than a few goals against due to missed calls in that regard. It appears that any “unnoticed” play is now legal.

The Athletic’s Bultman on Big Elmer and more from Traverse City

The Athletic’s Max Bultman offers “6 Thoughts” regarding the Red Wings’ prospect tournament play in Traverse City. Among them:

The Red Wings’ best player over the weekend was probably Elmer Söderblom. And he should have been. At a tournament composed mainly of players looking to make the NHL — and many of those knowing they won’t have a real chance for a couple years — Söderblom has already played in the world’s best league. You wanted to see him look like a man against boys, and he did. So that’s a good sign for him heading into camp — he seems ready to go.

Two things in particular stood out to me. The first was that while Söderblom’s length has always been obvious, I felt like I saw him using it more to extend possessions at this tournament. He was swatting pucks out of the air, and just generally disrupting exit attempts in a way that earned the Red Wings extra time with the puck in the attacking end. That’s great to see, and it’s something he can use to separate himself if he can carry it over into the preseason.

The second was I want to see him use his weapon of a shot more. His hands are the reason he’s become such a tantalizing prospect at 6-foot-8, but that body also equates to a rocket of a shot when he gets his weight behind it, and I was encouraged to see him utilize that shot a few times at this tournament. I still want to see it more though, especially in stride on the rush. Obviously, his sublime puckhandling will continue to be a huge part of his game, but his shot stands out as a tool that can help him really maximize his potential.

Continued; Soderblom definitely looks more comfortable using his tremendous puck-handling skills to create time and space for himself, but his shot seems to be a work in progress. He likes to defer to others via passes on the rush, and worry about shooting closer to the net, but I’d imagine that he’s got a great slapper as well as strong one-timer and wrist shots.