Month: October 2023

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe spoke with Toledo Walleye coach Pat Mikesch and several Walleye players as the Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate opened training camp with an open-to-the-public practice on Monday night at the Huntington Center:

Toledo opened training camp with 13 forwards, eight defensemen, and three goalies. The uptempo session lasted about an hour and a half.

“The whole purpose of it just was to get guys comfortable getting up on the ice and up to speed today,” Mikesch said. “[Speed] will be a major identity to our team. We wanted the fans to be able to kind of see the kind of energy we will have. Today was good for pace.”

Mikesch said the team’s quickness among his defensemen particularly stood out on day one.

“Even with good size, I like how well they move,” he said. “To be on the ice with them and to see how well our back end is gonna skate it was great to see.”

Among 13 players returning players from last season are forwards Brandon Hawkins and Conlan Keenan.

“It’s good to get back to see all the guys from last year and then meet all the new guys as well,” said Keenan, who had 30 points in 60 games last season. “Practice was fast-paced. We’re going to have a quick team. We’re going to be a very skilled offensive team.”

Continued

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a late-evening notebook which discusses the Red Wings’ experienced roster, the progression that still needs to be made by Jonatan Berggren and Simon Edvinsson, and coach Derek Lalonde’s advice to Red Wings prospect and Brandon Wheat Kings captain Nate Danielson as the Wings’ 9th overall draft pick in this past summer’s NHL Draft heads back to the WHL:

Lalonde said Danielson did not look out of place during his first NHL training camp and preseason.

“Really good conversation with him (Sunday),” Lalonde said. “He probably expected (to go back to juniors), but I also think he built some confidence through camp. He’s probably looking around, ‘I can fit in here. I’m very comfortable with the level of play here.’ My message was (to) want to get back here as quick as you can, judge yourself on yourself, get the most out of your experience,

“I expect him to play a big part of (Canada’s) World Junior team, which is always a good experience. He had a confidence about him, which I really liked. He almost asked what more could he have done. I love the fact that even as young as he is (turned 19 on Sept. 27), he came in with a ‘I want to make the team’ mentality, which is exciting for me.”

Continued, with the aforementioned topics. Lalonde’s remarks about Simon Edvinsson are telling.

ESPN’s Sean Allen and Victoria Matiash posted a set of fantasy hockey previews for the NHL’s 32 teams, and while their fantasy preview for the Red Wings is a little spare, I thought I’d share it with you:

Detroit Red Wings: Adding a weapon like Alex DeBrincat could unlock the next level for Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider, two already valuable fantasy commodities. DeBrincat brings some serious goal scoring to the power play. He was 18th overall for fantasy in the 2020-21 season.

Could that also help drive Lucas Raymond to the next level and a proper breakout for the third-year winger? If not, David Perron could be in for another sneaky, veteran fantasy season.

With an upgraded defense, Ville Husso is a candidate to rebound from a disappointing debut after the Red Wings invested in him last offseason.

Continued; the best part of the start of the new NHL season is hope. Everybody has a chance to win and everyone has a new start, with 82 games ahead of them as a blank slate. Here’s hoping the Wings fill out their season with wins.

Red Wings prospect and Michigan State University goaltender Trey Augustine won both of the games he started last weekend, and he spoke with WLNS’s Ian Kress about his 2023 NHL draft experience and more over the course of a 4-and-a-half minute interview:

Update: If that video doesn’t work for you, here’s the YouTube version:

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde addressed several important topics after Monday’s late-afternoon practice at the BELFOR Training Center under Little Caesars Arena,

The Free Press’s Helene St. James also posted a 4:52 clip of Lalonde’s remarks:

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a Monday evening notebook article, focusing on the Red Wings’ decision to start the 2023-2024 regular season with a roster comprised of 12 forwards, 7 defensemen and 3 goaltenders–a total of 22 players, one less than the NHL’s 23-man roster limit:

“Right now we don’t need it,” [Red Wings coach Derek] Lalonde said. “Right now, obviously knowing that 13th (forward) could be an easy callup anywhere (from Grand Rapids) and with the seven NHL caliber defensemen, if we get that odd morning or afternoon sickness or something happens in warmups, we have no problem with 11 (forwards) and seven (defensemen). But those will be the 12 (forwards) and I’m not opposed to 11 and seven on Thursday, also (in the season opener in New Jersey). It’s what we are right now post (training) camp.”

Lalonde is comfortable using the 11-7 lineup as it normally gives a team’s best forwards more ice time, and as far as defensemen, you can mix and match and manage their minutes better, along with using a defensemen in specialized roles.

….

“It’s a luxury of having seven NHL defensemen, which we haven’t had and many teams haven’t had,” Lalonde said. “Some guys may have to sit (eventually) and I’ll communicate it as best as I can. If someone has to be held accountable because of play, that’ll be easy to do. It’s just the reality of it and it’s a good problem to have.”

The Wings sent forwards Jonatan Berggren, Elmer Soderblom and Zack Aston-Reese (signed Sunday) to Grand Rapids along with defenseman Simon Edvinsson, while sending forward Nate Danielson back to his junior team in Brandon (WHL). Lalonde feels too much emphasis can be put into an opening night roster these days in the NHL.

“In today’s NHL, with the salary cap, your team is 15 forwards and eight or nine defensemen,” said Lalonde, of juggling players because of injuries and cap restrictions. “That’s just the reality of those guys in GR rather than being here and sitting in the press box.”

Continued

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen took note of Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s comments regarding Detroit’s opening-night roster:

The Red Wings have three goalies, one extra defenseman, but no extra forwards. Lalonde said there is no contemplation of calling up an extra forward and he’s even considering going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen on Thursday.

“Don’t need (13th forward) right now,” Lalonde said. “Obviously, knowing that the 13th could be an easy call up anywhere. With the seven NHL-caliber D, if we get that odd morning sickness, afternoon thing, or something happens in warmups, we have no problem with 7-11.”

Lalonde announced that Ville Husso will be the starting goalie. But he said he’s not quite sure how he will utilize the three goalies or who the No. 2 goalie is.

“Not yet,” Lalonde said. “The first challenge is practice, which I don’t think is an issue. We had some experience with it last year, even our goaltending coach Alex Westlund’s had some experience with it. You see the position, before and after ice is so valuable in their development, so I don’t think reps and development is gonna be an issue for those guys. Ville will be in on Thursday. We still envision Ville as our No. 1 guy, getting the majority of the workload. But we had three and I think all three are very capable. It’s gonna be a day-by-day, game-by-game situation with the goalies.”

Continued; David Perron also spoke with Allen regarding the Wings’ desire to get going:

“I just can’t wait for the first game to get the real feel,” Red Wings forward David Perron said. “To have wins, to have losses, to go through these moments where you know they’re important. We’ve had extremely good practices, good habits in camp but you can’t really get anything out of it much. You’re trying to, but it’s tough.”

If you haven’t seen Ville Husso’s new mask yet, Sean Shapiro Tweeted out a side-by-side comparison of Husso’s “Winged wheel” evolution. This year, it’s more about the wings than the wheels.

Ville Husso made slight tweaks to mask from last season. Still Vernon-esque tribute, just slightly simpler in paint job this year. Here they are side by side pic.twitter.com/pNmnFvW0yz

— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) October 9, 2023

Per the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe:

As training camp opens with a practice open to the public for the @ToledoWalleye, the team received several key players from Grand Rapids: Goalies John Lethemon and Jan Bednar and forwards Trenton Bliss and Alexandre Doucet. pic.twitter.com/nLVT4bqKiF

— Mark Monroe (@MonroeBlade) October 9, 2023

New ⁦@ToledoWalleye⁩ coach Pat Mikesch on the ice for his first practice. pic.twitter.com/vVnWP53sJw

— Mark Monroe (@MonroeBlade) October 9, 2023

Of Red Wings prospect-related note on Canadian Thanksgiving:

In the OHL, Tnias Mathurin finished at +2 with 3 shots in the North Bay Battalion’s 3-1 win over the Owen Sound Attack;

And Andrew Gibson finished even with 2 shots in the Soo Greyhounds’ 5-3 win over Windsor.