Month: September 2023

From the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS, BALLY SPORTS DETROIT AND AUDACY ANNOUNCE BROADCAST SCHEDULE FOR 2023-24 SEASON

  … Bally Sports Detroit to Air 69 Regular-Season Games; 97.1 FM Continues as Radio Home of Red Wings …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings, in conjunction with Bally Sports Detroit and Audacy, today announced the Red Wings local television and radio schedules for the 2023-24 season. 

Bally Sports Detroit (BSD) continues its award-winning production and carriage of Red Wings games by airing a total of 69 regular-season contests with 58 games slated for BSD, 10 on Bally Sports Detroit Extra (BSD EXTRA) and one (Monday, April 1 at Tampa Bay) to be determined.

The popular announcer team of Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond return to call the action, while Bally Sports Detroit’s comprehensive coverage also includes pregame and postgame editions of RED WINGS LIVE. In addition to live reports from Little Caesars Arena, studio portions of RED WINGS LIVE will originate from Bally Sports Detroit’s studios at its Southfield headquarters.

A total of 13 Red Wings regular-season games will be nationally exclusive broadcasts on TNT, ABC, ESPN and ESPN+/Hulu.

Additionally, 97.1 FM continues as the radio flagship home of the Red Wings, voiced by the longtime team of Ken Kal and Paul Woods. This season, Kal and Woods will be joined by reporter Daniella Bruce throughout broadcasts, including in pre- and post-game segments along with in-game updates about the team. Games with programming conflicts will air on 950 AM.

You can find the full schedule here.

The Score’s John Matisz is ranking all 32 NHL teams by tiers, and today, he suggests that the Red Wings belong in “Standings Purgatory” (tier 5 of 8), a tier in which a team has playoff chances, but only when presuming that “the stars align” in a team’s favor:

Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings went on a spending spree in the offseason, acquiring Alex DeBrincat and Jeff Petry via trade, and signing free agents J.T. Compher, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Justin Holl, among others. General manager Steve Yzerman was similarly busy in the summer of 2022.

All of this activity raised Detroit’s floor. They are no longer the club trying to move on from the glory years of a 25-year playoff run.

The Red Wings still need at least two more offensive drivers, as the drop-off from catalysts Dylan Larkin and DeBrincat to Lucas Raymond, Compher, Andrew Copp, and David Perron is, frankly, too steep. Meanwhile, the efficacy of the blue line is still to be determined. Moritz Seider and Jake Walman should be terrific again, but none of the others – Gostisbehere, Petry, Holl, Ben Chiarot, and Olli Maatta – instill a ton of confidence. As for the tandem behind them, well, Ville Husso with James Reimer is fine but nothing special.

Detroit will continue to climb the standings but it likely won’t be enough for the playoffs.

Continued; I won’t disagree that the Red Wings need more “drivers of play,” but I wonder whether those players might exist within the organization as prospects.

We shall find out soon.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills looks back at Moritz Seider’s sophomore NHL campaign this morning:

After winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 2021-22, Seider led all defensemen 22 years old or younger in games played (82), assists (37), points (42), hits (207) and blocks (190) last season. Additionally, Seider’s 207 hits tied the Red Wings franchise record originally set by Justin Abdelkader in 2015-16, while his 190 blocks were the most by any Detroit skater in a single campaign.

“Overall I think I’m in a really good place,” Seider said in his end-of-season media session. “I found my stride during the season. I got shots better on net, so I was happy with that. I’m a better defender now than I was (in 2021-22). I’m doing a good job of trying to shut down the best lines on a daily basis. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

But Seider’s statistics do not tell the whole story, according to fellow defenseman Jake Walman. He said that Seider can impact a game even without the puck.

“He’s a beast out there,” Walman said about Seider in April. “He can do it all. He can do everything by himself.”

Seider said he felt an increased comfort level with the Red Wings in 2022-23, helping the former sixth overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft gain more confidence in his own game.

“I think I’m not caught out of position that often anymore,” Seider said. “I matured on the PK to just block more shots. Another full 82-game season helped me to mature as well.”

Continued; the Wings hope that Seider will grow into a Norris Trophy-caliber defenseman, and I don’t think that’s unrealistic over the course of the next couple of seasons.

Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis posted his top 20 candidates (it’s actually 21) to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie player this morning, and Ellis included one Simon Edvinsson in his list, at #12:

12. Simon Edvinsson, D (Detroit Red Wings): After an excellent season in the SHL, the team could have rushed Edvinsson to the NHL for 2022-23. But they didn’t. They let him simmer with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, where he was one of the best players on a weak team. He had some solid moments down the stretch with the Red Wings, showing he was ready for a much bigger workload in 2023-24. Along with Seider, Edvinsson looks to be a huge piece of Detroit’s future. And that’s also literal, given he’s 6-foot-6.

Continued; Edvinsson does skate like the wind for a 6’6″ player, but we’ll have to see whether his defensive acumen has improved over the course of training camp and the exhibition season.

Injuries or the lack thereof will play into his potential 2023-2024 playing time as well. The Wings aren’t going to keep him around as a #7 defenseman.

FYI from Detroit Hockey Now’s Tim Robinson: three of the four teams participating in the Red Wings’ 2023 prospect tournament have posted their rosters:

The rosters for three of the four teams participating in this week’s prospects tournament have been announced. Dallas, Columbus  and Toronto prospects will compete against the Red Wings in three games.

Toronto, as of Monday night, has yet to announce which players will be spending the weekend looking to make a lasting impression.

The Blue Jackets will send their last four first-round picks to Traverse City, where they are competing for the 21st year.

Dallas is sending three former first-rounders to Traverse City. Lian Bischel, Dallas’ top pick in 2022, will make his North American debut after signing with Dallas over the summer. Another, Logan Stankoven, is considered a candidate to make the Stars out of training camp. Michigan native — forward Antonio Stranges (Plymouth) also is on the Dallas roster,

Red Wings prospects to watch include Carter Mazur, Elmer Soderholm and Amadeus Lombardi, all of whom hope to build on  impressive 2022-23  seasons.

Continued; I posted a sort of “getting to know you” article about the Red Wings’ prospect tournament participants yesterday.

I don’t believe that Patrick Kane will sign with the Red Wings when he recovers from hip resurfacing surgery, plain and simple.

I believe that Kane has better options in terms of sliding into the middle of a Cup contender’s lineup, and that playing for a winning team is his priority, not reuniting with former linemate and Detroit forward Alex DeBrincat.

The Kane rumors were a a fun end-of-summer remembrance of the days when the Red Wings could pick and choose their free agent signings from the “pick of the litter,” but they were never realistic.

This morning, Bleacher Report’s Sara Civian examines the “Pros and Cons” of a scenario in which Patrick Kane actually does sign with the Red Wings, and while stranger things have happened, I’m 99% certain that I can guarantee that Kane won’t be signing with the Wings:

Pro: It’s a low-risk, high-reward move

Kane to the Red Wings would be a low-risk move on several fronts.

First, raise your hand if you expect Detroit to hoist the Cup next season. No one? A handful of you at best. Good coaches hate viewing just making the playoffs as a success, so expect Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde to say otherwise. But truthfully, the next stop on the general manager Steve Yzerman’s Yzerplan train is the Wings simply making it to the playoffs in the ridiculous East. It’s hardly the end of the world if the Red Wings sign Kane for a mostly off-ice benefit.

Next, we can’t imagine Kane’s contract costing a fortune, especially with particularly hard salary-cap constraints this year, and Kane’s eagerness to be a part of another winning team (which, yes, could be the Red Wings).

Best-case scenario, he has some second wind-y, bounce-back season where he finds a groove and hovers around his career numbers one more time (indulge in the delusion). Worst-case scenario, he’s cheap and still usable on the power play. Not much to lose, here.

Civian lists three “pros” and two “cons” as to whether Kane might sign with Detroit, and her bottom line is a really good one:

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a behind-the-paywall article this morning which discusses the 40 Red Wings alumni, past and present, who were born in Michigan:

It’s no secret that Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman gains his motivation from winning. Stevie Y is driven is driven to succeed.

That being the case, you shouldn’t be thinking that Yzerman isn’t in possession of a strong understanding of Michigan’s hockey heritage and the role the Red Wings play in that lore.

The club goes to training camp later this month in Traverse City, Michigan. When they do so, the Red Wings will be listing no less than seven Michigan-born among their training camp roster. Four of them figure to be key figures in Detroit’s fortunes during the 2023-24 NHL season.

That list begins with captain Dylan Larkin (Waterford). Forward Andrew Copp (Ann Arbor) is back for his second year with the Red Wings, while winter Alex DeBrincat (Farmington Hills) and defenseman Jeff Petry (Ann Arbor) were offseason additions via trade.

Continued (paywall), with a list of the 40 Michigan-born Wings who’ve played in the NHL, from 1935-36 onward.

This is a fun article to read to learn about Red Wings history!

The Athletic’s Harman Dayal posted an article which discusses “tanking” this morning, separating teams into two categories: those who are “ready to graduate from the basement” and a top five list of teams that are still well-positioned to win the 2024 NHL Draft lottery.

Surprisingly, Dayal says that the Red Wings are “ready to graduate from the basement”:

Detroit Red Wings

2022-23 finish: 24th

Key acquisitions: Alex DeBrincat, J.T. Compher, Jeff Petry, Daniel Sprong, Shayne Gostisbehere, Justin Holl

Key departures: Dominik Kubalik, Pius Suter

Steve Yzerman’s aggressive offseason has positioned the Red Wings to take a meaningful step this season. There were a couple of questionable contracts handed out in free agency, but there’s no denying that the club is significantly deeper. DeBrincat gives them a new top-of-the-lineup scorer, Compher solidifies the top-nine center situation and Sprong will inject crucial secondary scoring. On the back end, Petry, Gostisbehere and Holl will offer more stability behind the solid top pair of Moritz Seider and Jake Walman.

Lucas Raymond is expected to take a big step in Year 3, while you could continue seeing progress from the likes of Jonatan Berggren and Michael Rasmussen.

Put it all together and you have a team that’s much more likely to contend for a playoff spot than a prime lottery position.

Continued (paywall); that’s probably the most optimistic outlook for the Wings that I’ve read this offseason.

Ideally, the Red Wings are in the mix for a playoff spot throughout the 2023-2024 season. That’s my hope.

Per the ECHL:

The ECHL announced on Monday that eight ECHL on-ice officials, along with Manager of Officiating Riley Yerkovich, will work the 2023 NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan from Sept. 14-17. This marks the 11th consecutive tournament that ECHL officials have worked games.

Debuting in 1988, the NHL Prospects Tournament will feature four clubs this year – Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Yerkovich will be responsible for the selection and scheduling of the officials for each game of the tournament and will assist any playing or rule situation that takes place during the tournament. The officiating staff for the tournament includes four referees and four linesmen.

“The ECHL Officiating Team would like to thank the NHL, Detroit Red Wings and participating teams for hosting one of the best off-season events in hockey,” Yerkovich said. “The Traverse City Prospects Tournament allows our officials to officiate high-caliber hockey and is incredibly important to the development of our on-ice staff. Furthermore, the ECHL Officiating Team would like to thank the support staff for all teams and Centre Ice Arena. Our officials always feel welcome at the event, and it is a highlight of many of their careers.”

ECHL officials who will work during the Prospects Tournament include referees Chad Ingalls, David Lilly, Hunter Mottinger and Brendan Schreider along with linespeople Zach Carson, Luke Pye, Tyler Willie and Kirsten Welsh.

Here’s a video of Lucas Raymond speaking with Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman for 10 minutes, as part of their “32 Thoughts” podcast. This was filmed during the NHL’s European Media Tour: