Month: September 2023

Khan on Danielson’s preseason debut

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses Nate Danielson’s preseason debut tonight vs. Pittsburgh (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit Extra/WWJ 950 AM/PittsburghPenguins.com):

“I’m sure there will be a little bit of nerves before the game,” Danielson, who turns 19 on Wednesday, said. “Just pretty excited right now to have the first one.”

Danielson impressed [coach Derek] Lalonde with his 200-foot game in Traverse City during the Prospects Tournament and training camp.

“A lot of the times you’re teaching some of that 200-foot game,” Lalonde said. “I’m told he’s a 200-foot player. You see clips. But pleasantly for me he seems to have a little more offense, a little more deception to his game, his shot, he can make some plays, which is exciting.”

Danielson it not being overwhelmed by instruction.

“At the end of the day, they just want me to go out and play hockey and play the way I can,” he said. “There’s little details that they try to help me with.”

Naturally, the size, strength and skill level of the competition is the biggest difference. The margin for error also is much slimmer.

“You make a mistake it’s probably going to end up in the back of your net,” Danielson said.

Continued

Stockton reviews training camp

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton posted a training camp wrap-up, including this summary of yesterday’s activities:

On the final day of camp, the Red Wings announced three more cuts.  Emmitt Finnie, Detroit’s 2023 seventh rounder, was sent back to the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, while Dean Loukas and Nic Sima were released from their try-out deals.

“We have some good teaching from everything we covered yesterday, and it’ll be a good step into our game tomorrow,” said Lalonde to open his final press availability of camp.

“Even in the Red & White game yesterday, you could see a little more organization with our structure,” Lalonde added of his team’s progress through the five days.  “It’s a small thing, but even our sets and our face-offs, guys were on the same page.  It looked organized; it looked detailed.”

Lalonde noted that experimentation with line combinations and competition for roster spots will continue throughout the eight pre-season games and that the organization would “probably like to have our group by that last exhibition game on that Saturday.”

The second-year head coach also spoke about his not-so-pleasant experience reading some preseason prognostications.

“I’ve stopped reading media because it’s so negative on us,” Lalonde said, setting an us against the world tone to Detroit’s 2023-24 season.  “I think the highest article I read is a 14% chance to make the playoffs.  Everyone’s writing us off, and…it’s not a knock on our guys, it’s just the reality of the division and the conference that we’re in.  We’ll knock the noise away.  It’ll be about our process, just doing things correctly.”

Continued

Mills previews the preseason

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted something of a pre-game set-up ahead of tonight’s game vs. Pittsburgh (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit Extra/950 AM/Pittsburgh Penguins’ website):

The Red Wings will play eight preseason games, featuring two contests each against the Penguins, Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Second-year head coach Derek Lalonde said the home-and-home sets are opportunities for players to prove they belong on Detroit’s Opening Night roster.

“Everyone is going to get plenty of game time,” Lalonde said. “Some more than others, obviously. There will be a purpose to that.”

Overall, Lalonde said he likes the way camp played out.

“Even in the Red & White game, you could see a little more organization with our structure,” Lalonde said. “I know it’s a small thing, but even our sets and face-offs guys were on the same page. It looked organized and detailed. It’s still a huge work in progress.”

Applying lessons learned in Traverse City is what the Red Wings aim to “rinse and repeat” throughout the preseason, according to Lalonde.

“You’re just working off your process of improving from the games and holes within your game,” Lalonde said. “Even from our Red & White game, we’ll be making some improvements, enhancements and where we want to be into Pittsburgh.”

Continued

Red Wings-Penguins morning skate Tweets: Lines, lineups and quotes

Detroit plays Pittsburgh tonight at 7 PM (Bally Sports Detroit Extra/WWJ; streamed on PittsburghPenguins.com). Here’s the Wings’ roster…

And the Penguins’ roster:

Of Twitter-related note from the Wings’ beat writers:

Continue reading Red Wings-Penguins morning skate Tweets: Lines, lineups and quotes

Tweets of note: Red Wings post roster, broadcast information for tonight’s game

From the Red Wings:

Shapiro: Jake Walman’s a successful disciple of famed NHL trainer Matt Nichol

Sean Shapiro discusses Red Wings defenseman Jake Walman’s offseason training regimen on his Substack today:

Matt Nichol started to notice Jake Walman’s NHL potential in the summer of 2014.

Walman had been recently drafted by the St. Louis Blues, 82nd overall in the third round, and he was prepping for his freshman season at Providence College when he started offseason training with Nichol in Toronto.

“I remember specifically, Hal Gil was a client of mine for a while and that summer he had retired and was working with me as a coach that summer,” Nichol said. “He pulled me aside and said, ‘Watch this kid. Watch how he walks the line out there, watch his poise, watch how he skates, watch his ability. This guy is going to be a really good NHL player.’”

Like most prophecies, it took some time.

Continued (paywall)

ESPN believes the Red Wings will fare fairly well in NHL ‘future power rankings’

ESPN’s hockey staff attempted to discern where NHL teams will find themselves three years from now, and they concluded that the Red Wings will be a “B” level franchise going forward:

4. Detroit Red Wings
Overall score: 83.0

Why they’re here: The Yzer-plan has produced a bounty of prospects — although not a franchise pillar — which earned the Red Wings sixth in that category. But it’s GM Steve Yzerman’s cap management that impressed the panel even more, ranking third overall after signing Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat in the past few months. Yzerman, coach Derek Lalonde and the Ilitch family earned 12th overall, while the current Detroit roster came in 18th. –– [Greg] Wyshynski

Points of concern: Even with an aggressive offseason, the Red Wings still made the sort of moves that do not appear to jeopardize their future. CapFriendly projects they will have more than $30 million in available space next offseason, which is also the same summer in which Jonatan Berggren, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider are pending RFAs. Blending that level of cap management with a farm system that’s considered to be among the best in the NHL only adds to the expectations that the Red Wings could have everything needed to be a long-term presence in the Eastern Conference playoff landscape. But making those financial calls could get tricky if every prospect and young player hits. — [Ryan S.] Clark

Reason for hope: The Red Wings have been brimming with potential for a while; now they have the personnel to regain their previous playoff experience. Yzerman added scoring threat Alex DeBrincat to make Detroit more dangerous up front, Shayne Gostisbehere should be a strong addition to the top power-play unit and those exciting young players — namely Raymond and Seider — project to bounce back from slumping sophomore seasons and keep blossoming into NHL stalwarts. Detroit has been patient in the rebuilding process and this is when it can be rewarded. — [Kristen] Shilton

Continued (paywall)

Duff on Michael Rasmussen’s move to the wing

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff discusses the Red Wings’ decision to move Michael Rasmussen to wing this season:

That’s a lot of depth down the middle. But it isn’t so much that Rasmussen lost out at center as it his value as a winger is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds. With 10 goals in 56 games, he was on his way to a career season when a leg injury suffered while blocking a shot was scuttling Rasmussen’s season.

“Completely different player on the wing last year,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said of Rasmussen. “In the underlying numbers, he drove some offense. When he’s on the wing, he seems a lot more productive and can drive some lines a little bit.”

At 6-foot-6 and 211 pounds, Rasmussen can also drive some opposing players into the boards with authority. As for what drives him, it’s doing whatever is required in order to help the team win.

“I think it’s obviously a team sport,” Rasmussen explained. “It’s good wherever I slide in there. It pretty much goes for all of us if the team’s doing well, you’ll probably do well. I guess it’s like a cliche but I just try to do whatever’s asked of me. I think that goes for a lot of us.”

Continued