Month: July 2024

This is a good one to add to the mix on a mid-July Wednesday night. The Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune’s Nicholas Huenefeld wrote an article about a member of the Junior Red Wings, who recently won the Brick Invitational hockey tournament in Edmonton…

But there’s a chunk of the article about former Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard, who coached the Junior Red Wings to the title:

The Jr. Red Wings are coached by former Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, who also has a son, Henry, on the team.

“I’m just so proud of these boys,” Howard told HNLive following the championship game win. “This is what it’s all about. This isn’t about me. It’s about them. They went out there and got the job done for all the people back in Detroit.

“These boys are with each other a lot. The majority of this team plays falls and winters together. I’m so proud of them. They worked so hard all week, and they deserved it.”

As for the Otsego, Ohio native who took part in the tournament for the Junior Red Wings, a team constituted of mostly Michigan-born players in the 9-10 age range…

Ten-year-old Haskins resident Carter Oney helped lead the Detroit Jr. Red Wings youth hockey team to a championship in the prestigious 35th Brick Invitational earlier this month.

A product of Otsego schools, Oney tallied one assist in each of his team’s first four round-robin games.

With his play, the Jr. Red Wings eventually finished with an 8-0 record in the seven-day tournament, which included a 5-2 win over the Boston Jr. Bruins in the semifinals and a 4-3 win over the Toronto Bulldogs in the championship.

Not bad, boys!

Yesterday night, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff discussed the Red Wings’ forward depth in a “State of the Red Wings” article, and this evening, Kevin Allen discusses the Red Wings’ defense, and the need for the team to reduce the number of goals they surrender to opponents via blueline improvements:

While [GM Steve] Yzerman appreciated how hard the Red Wings worked down the stretch to stay in the playoff race with come-from-behind and dramatic wins, he also understood the team was undermined by lack of consistency in defensive coverage. The Red Wings ranked 24th in goals-against average, and the bottom 10 teams in that category all missed the playoffs.

Yzerman wants his team’s defensive coverage to be more predictable, more dependable, more simplistic, maybe even boring. Teams that follow that script usually have a better chance of making the playoffs.

“It’s incumbent upon our coaching staff to instill or improve, continue to work on, whether it’s a different system or getting better in how we play and improving our players in the system,” Yzerman said. “It’s practice, practice, practice for me and get it over with.”

This certainly isn’t a new approach, also teams are probably talking more about blocking shots and denying shots more in recent years.

“Goals against is a challenge around the league,” Yzerman said. “It’s more of an offensive league. You’re seeing it in the scoring totals of the top players around the league. Goals-against averages for goaltenders is (up). It’s a difficult league to defend in right now. For whatever reason it’s become more offensive, and that’s entertaining and exciting, but the best teams in the league are probably somewhere in the top in goals against and defensive play, whether it’s the traditional stats or the underlying numbers. So collectively as a team we have to get better, that’s the No. 1 thing.”

Allen continues and discusses the Wings’ personnel changes on defense, and in goal, as they apply to the team-wide emphasis on shoring up their “D.”

The Detroit Red Wings have posted a 6-and-a-half minute-long video which offers a behind-the-scenes look at the team’s Summer Development Camp:

Via Paul Kukla of Kukla’s Korner and Abel to Yzerman, The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek answered questions from readers as part of a mailbag feature, and he shows the Red Wings no love for their offseason moves:

Who do you think did the most nothing this offseason? Lots of moves but ultimately you don’t believe it will amount to much on-ice change. — Patrick S.

It has to be Detroit. The expectation there must be that any improvement that happens next year comes from within. Vladimir Tarasenko essentially replaced David Perron on the payroll. I’d rather have Perron. Erik Gustafsson replaced Shayne Gostisbehere, I’d rather have Gostisbehere. Tyler Motte is a useful fourth liner but isn’t moving any needles. Cam Talbot and Jack Campbell, to supplement a goaltending crew that also includes Ville Husso and Alex Lyon, was a head-scratcher. It’s clear they’re buying time for Sebastian Cossa to be ready — maybe that’s when they believe they can collectively make that move up the standings. Getting Patrick Kane to re-sign on moderate terms was good business — but let’s call it a ground rule double, not a home run. But in Detroit, a lot of new faces were added and bodies shuffled, none that is likely to make a significant team-altering impact going into next year.

Continued (paywall); yes, the expectation is that improvement is going to come from within.

I believe that Tarasenko, even at 32, is an upgrade on Perron, who’s gotten painfully slow of late; Gustafsson is obviously a step back from “Ghost,” but there’s not much that the Red Wings could do about Gostisbehere’s desire to return to Carolina; Motte isn’t supposed to move any needles; and Talbot, should he continue to display the form he did for Los Angeles this past season, is an upgrade in terms of consistency over the Reimer-Husso-Lyon three-headed monster, with Campbell slated to help mentor Cossa.

And re-signing Kane was no “meh” move for a team that is still in the latter stages of what is probably a 10-to-12-year rebuild.

Plus and minus, the Red Wings added offense up front, they lost a little offense on defense, and their goaltending is marginally better and a lot deeper.

Changes still need to be made–a second-pair, shut-down defenseman is necessary, the goaltending situation needs to be hammered out, and Seider and Raymond need to be re-signed, but the Red Wings got into a situation in free agency where the “big fish” were gobbled up by Nashville, their “own fish” left for greener pastures and/or more money than the team was comfortable giving out to veteran players, and the team had to make some painful cuts (Jake Walman, for example) just to make things work with an eye toward a future where Raymond, Seider, Larkin and now Edvinsson and Johansson start to move the needle their own damn selves.

It’s a B-ish offseason grade from me. But I’m biased.

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRAND RAPIDS SIGNS CHAZ REDDEKOPP TO ONE-YEAR CONTRACT

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins signed defenseman Chaz Reddekopp (REH-deh-kawp) to a one-year, two-way contract for the upcoming 2024-25 season.

Reddekopp, the former 187th pick by the Los Angeles Kings in 2015, totaled career-high numbers with the Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL) last season in games played (67), goals (5), points (15) and penalty minutes (194). Last year, the 27-year-old ranked second in the ECHL with 194 penalty minutes. During the 2022-23 campaign with the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL), Reddekopp notched a career-best 13 assists in 51 games to go along with his 14 points (1-13—14), 109 penalty minutes and a plus-12 rating. The 6-foot-3 defenseman has spent the majority of his career in the ECHL from 2018-24, totaling 46 points (8-38—46), 340 penalty minutes and a plus-six rating in 172 appearances.

Reddekopp last competed in the AHL during the 2021-22 season with the Belleville Senators and Tucson Roadrunners, recording a combined two assists in 14 outings. The West Kelowna, British Columbia, native saw his most action in the AHL in 2018-19 with the Ontario Reign when he registered 10 points (1-9—10) and 101 penalty minutes in 40 games. He made his pro debut with Ontario on April 12, 2017 at the Stockton Heat. In the AHL with Ontario (2016-17; 2018-20), San Jose (2020-21), Belleville (2021-22) and Tucson (2021-22), Reddekopp has a combined 13 points (1-12—13) and 191 penalty minutes in 92 contests.

Prior to turning pro, Reddekopp spent six seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Victoria Royals. From 2012-18, he amassed 134 points (27-107—134), 293 penalty minutes and a plus-58 rating in 280 regular-season games. Reddekopp had his best junior season in 2016-17 when he logged a career-high 43 points (10-33—43) in 51 contests. In 2013-14, Reddekopp claimed a silver medal with Canada Pacific U17 at the U17 World Hockey Challenge.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills has written an article which discusses the assets which free agent signing Vladimir Tarasenko this morning. Mills discusses the fact that Tarasenko asked former New York Rangers teammate Patrick Kane for some intelligence about the Metro Detroit area before signing with the Wings three days into free agency:

“I liked the way the team played last year,” Tarasenko said in an introductory Zoom call with the media on July 8. “I decided with the family this is the best decision for us moving forward. We are really excited about it. It’s a new chapter for us. We can’t wait to get to Detroit, get settled and start Training Camp.”

Tarasenko split last season between the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers, recording 55 points (23 goals, 32 assists) in 76 regular-season games. He also earned nine points (five goals, four assists) in 24 postseason games with Florida, helping the club win its first-ever Stanley Cup championship.

Originally selected by St. Louis with the 16th overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, Tarasenko has 629 points (293 goals, 336 assists) in 751 games with the Blues, Rangers, Senators and Panthers.

“I think he is going to be so good for the group,” Kane said about Tarasenko. “He’s a proven winner. The way he plays, how hard he plays – I think a lot of players in general, not just young guys, will see how hard he works and how much effort he gives every shift. That’s why he has a couple Stanley Cups to his name too.”

Red Wings Executive Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman said Tarasenko will boost Detroit’s offense.

“A little bit different type of player than our wingers Lucas (Raymond), Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat,” Yzerman said about Tarasenko on July 4. “A left-shot who will fill out that top-six, top-nine group. A scorer and straight-ahead guy who is big, strong and will go to the net. We feel that’s a really good addition.”

Continued; Tarasenko doesn’t have the blazing speed he possessed in his 20’s, and his backchecking isn’t elegant, but he’s a true sniper with a really stocky build who takes no shit from his opponents. He’s good for 25 goals and 50+ points a season, and as Yzerman says, he’ll play the kind of north-south hockey that coach Lalonde has been pressing his team to play.

I stumbled onto an interesting article by SimpleFlying.com’s Justin Foster yesterday afternoon, and it’s one of those articles that you’re only going to find interesting if you’re an aviation nerd, or really want to know very specific things about the team.

It turns out that the Ilitches have bought the Red Wings and Tigers a newer Boeing 737, which is a bigger, wider-body plane than their old MD-88. N313TR will replace N682RW, most likely, and give the Wings much more comfort and room to stretch out (and accommodate a few more people on board the plane).

They’ve probably got WiFi in the plane, too, which would be a big step forward, and a better kitchen, which means better food for the players.

The article is particularly critical of the Tigers’ performance over the past…long time…and very technical, but it’s kind of cool to know that the Ilitches are still spending money trying to make sure that their players in both the Tigers and Red Wings’ organizations have the best that money can buy.

I want to take the time to apologize for not getting my post-development camp “impressions” as to where all 40 of the Red Wings’ Summer Development campers need to take the “next step” in their journeys toward becoming professional hockey players.

I said I’d get ‘er done last week, but Aunt Annie and I got sick this past weekend, and caregiving and taking care of some annoying household projects have gotten in the way.

For example, we had to get our new air conditioner inspected yesterday, and it took six hours’ of work time to wait for a five-minute appointment with South Lyon building inspectors. Getting up at 7 AM for a 1 PM appointment isn’t pleasant!

The realities of my “new life” post-Aunt Annie’s-hip-surgery sometimes get in the way of original stuff, and that’s my fault, of course, but I have to put taking care of my 82-year-old aunt ahead of the blog, at least for now. She’s doing very well at the three-month mark after her double hip replacement, and she’s working really hard at physical therapy, so all of that is very good.

The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler discusses his top 20 NHL-drafted goaltending prospects, this morning, following his ranking of the 100 best NHL-drafted skaters yesterday at this time.

Five Red Wings skaters cracked Wheeler’s Top 100, and today, he ranks Sebastian Cossa as the 7th-best goaltending prospect, and Trey Augustine 8th:

Cossa had a really positive season in Grand Rapids last year, making important progress in some important areas. He’s a huge (6-foot-6), powerful, athletic goalie, and those last two things don’t always come with the first. He’s also a fiery, confident, talkative competitor who doesn’t like to get beat (which contrasts with the stoic demeanor we see in many goalies) and wants to command the net and the room. Bigger goalies often struggle with their movements and their recoveries, but neither is an issue for Cossa. His positioning (he does a really good job holding his outside edges to be patient on shots) and reflexes (he’s got great hands up high) help him block and grab a lot of pucks. But it’s his ability to bounce back into his stance or change directions with passes that separates him. His power through his pushes gives him rare side-to-side ability for a goalie that big as well.

…

The definition of calm, cool, and collected, Augustine is the best goalie prospect to come through the national program since Spencer Knight (I like him more now than I liked Blackhawks goalie prospect Drew Commesso at the same age, for example). I’ve seen him play a ton over the years and I’ve always been impressed by his composure and the consistency of his play, whether that was in Plymouth with the program, Germany and Switzerland at two U18 worlds, Halifax and Gothenburg at two world juniors, or a trip last fall to East Lansing to see him beat the then-top-ranked team in the country, Wisconsin.

Continued (paywall); goaltending development is rarely a linear affair, so it’s not surprising that Jesper Wallstedt of the Minnesota Wild and Yaroslav Askarov of the Nashville Predators rank ahead of Cossa and Augustine right now.

Wheeler’s ranking–and insistence upon ranking goaltenders by tiers–doesn’t necessarily mean that the Red Wings prospects’ developmental “ceilings” are somehow limited in a way that the Wallstedts and Askarovs of the world are not.

Right now, it looks like the polished Wallstedt and dramatic Askarov are on a higher plane, but we’ll see where things shake out in five years.

MLive’s Ansar Khan shares comments made by Red Wings goaltending prospect Trey Augustine–and fellow Michigan State University teammate Red Savage, Wings goalie Alex Lyon, and assistant director of player development Dan Cleary–over the course of the Wings’ Summer Development Camp.

In a subscriber-only article, Khan notes that the MSU goalie heads into his sophomore season having played 35 games for Michigan State, 4 games for Team USA at the World Junior Championships, and parts of 4 games for the U.S. men’s World Championship team:

“I’ve had some unbelievable opportunities and super thankful for everyone that’s helped me get to this position I am today,” Augustine said. “It’s super-cool and I’m looking to have some more cool ones in the future.”

Augustine, selected 41st overall in 2023, was named second-team All-Big Ten after going 23-9-2 with a 2.96 goals-against average and .915 save percentage. He was the Big Ten Tournament MVP, leading the Spartans to the NCAA Tournament before they lost to Michigan in the quarterfinals.

“I think we’re going to be gunned for this upcoming year and it’ll be fun,” Augustine said. “We got a lot of returners, we’re going to have a really good team, so I’m just super-excited to get playing again.”

His season earned him a spot on the U.S. World Championship team, where he was pressed into service after Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon suffered a hand injury. Augustine played in three games, going 1-1 with a 1.37 GAA and .929 save percentage.

“It was an unreal opportunity to go there and be with a lot of professional players,” Augustine said. “Just taking a lot of advice from them and enjoy the moment as well. Just being around a team like that and seeing how those individuals prepare on a daily basis is really cool and special.”

Continued; goaltending prospects are no sure thing, but Augustine, who Red Savage describes as a rink rat known as “Gramps,” has a great attitude and a strong work ethic, and those aspects of his game may help him overcome what is slightly below-average size by today’s oversized NHL standards (Augustine is 6’1″ and 185 pounds).

He’s just rock-solid steady at 19, calm in the net, he works hard and he’s got a professional mindset.

Here’s hoping!