Month: July 2024

Three Red Wings-related ‘fantasy thoughts’

Three of Sportsnet’s Mike Amato’s “20 Fantasy Thoughts” discuss the Red Wings’ offseason machinations:

10. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Patrick Kane is back with the Detroit Red Wings, a place where he excelled a year ago and finally looked healthy again. Kane nearly posted a point per game and he really looked comfortable in Detroit’s top six. It wouldn’t shock me if Kane gets around 75 points once again, provided he avoids injury.

11. It feels like every season the Red Wings have the biggest logjam in goal and this year figures to be no different. Cam Talbot and Jack Campbell have joined Alex Lyon and Ville Husso to form what is the league’s most crowded crease. Lyon was pretty good last year but faded down the stretch and it seems like Detroit doesn’t fully trust him, while Husso struggled to stay healthy. Drafting either Talbot or Campbell also seems like a significant gamble. There’s probably a Zero G candidate in there somewhere as the Wings are a team on the rise, but good luck figuring out who it is.

12. Vladimir Tarasenko has scored 50 and 55 points respectively in the past two seasons, but now finds himself in a loaded Detroit top six. Does he become fantasy-relevant again?

Continued

Video: Red Wings to stream Summer Development Camp 3-on-3 tournament at 8:30 AM

Bright and early:

Update: Here are the four teams which are participating in the tournament:

Continue reading Video: Red Wings to stream Summer Development Camp 3-on-3 tournament at 8:30 AM

From St. Louis: Red Wings ship out (most of) their Blues connection

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeff Gordon took note of the fact that the Red Wings have traded Jake Walman and Robby Fabbri, and lost David Perron in free agency, thus becoming a team with fewer St. Louis Blues connections (though Ville Husso remains, and Vladimir Tarasenko joins the cause). Gordon was penning a survey of the free agency moves taking place over the past week, and he started her:

Former Blues star Vladimir Tarasenko makes his permanent home in South Florida these days. He bought a $5 million home on the ocean, then won a second Stanley Cup while toiling for the Florida Panthers.

But his hockey home shifts to Motown after he signed a two-year, $9.5 million deal with the Detroit Red Wings. He joins an offensive cast that includes Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond and Patrick Kane, his longtime Blackhawks rival who re-upped in the Motor City on a one-year deal.

Why did the Red Wings sign Tarasenko?

Continue reading From St. Louis: Red Wings ship out (most of) their Blues connection

Morning round-up: More on Steve Yzerman’s press conference

Most of the Red Wings’ press corps weighed in regarding GM Steve Yzerman’s press conference on Thursday, well, on Thursday, but this morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James has posted two articles discussing the GM’s remarks.

First, St. James addresses Yzerman’s remarks regarding the team’s outlook in general..

It has been a busy week — another busy week — for Yzerman, who had a plan heading into the start of free agency, changed course out of necessity, and emerged with a roster that begged the question: Does Yzerman feel pressure to make the playoffs?

“Yeah, a little bit, honestly,” Yzerman said. “Our fanbase wants to win. We came close last year to making the playoffs. The finish of our season was very dramatic. A little bit maybe misleading — like, we’ve got to really improve in some areas. We’ve got to get deeper.”

Over the past week, the Wings have signed, among others, top-six forwards Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko, defenseman Erik Gustafsson, and goaltender Cam Talbot. Yzerman said there was one top free agent the Wings targeted but it became clear as soon as the market opened that it was not realistic to pursue the player, given the fiscal maneuvering it would have taken to make a competitive offer. (Yzerman didn’t name names, but odds favor Steven Stamkos, given their shared history with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and because Stamkos is a top-line center. Stamkos got four years at an average annual value of $8 million from the Nashville Predators.)

“We had certain objectives at the opening of free agency that we hoped to accomplish and address,” Yzerman said. “We adjusted, or pivoted, and were able to bring in some players to replace some of the players we couldn’t bring back and address some areas of maybe weakness or concern with the players we brought in.”

St. James also discusses the shape of the Red Wings’ revised blueline…

Continue reading Morning round-up: More on Steve Yzerman’s press conference

Surveying the media’s takes on Steve Yzerman’s press conference

Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman spoke with the media earlier this afternoon, and the Red Wings’ press corps all posted articles about said press conference.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took note of the GM’s take on the Red Wings’ likely status as playing for a playoff spot down the stretch again…

“I don’t think it’s any different than I felt last year,” Yzerman said during Thursday’s media conference. “We’re in that group of teams that has a chance to compete for the playoffs if we stay healthy and if our goaltending is good and you get some, maybe unexpected production some players outplay your expectations, you might get in. Or you might miss by a point on the last game of the season. That’s the fine line of it all.”

The Wings have missed the playoffs the last eight seasons, including the last five with Yzerman managing the Wings. Yzerman admitted to feeling some pressure to get into the playoffs, but he’s not going to change his masterplan.

“Our fanbase wants to win and we came close last year in making the playoffs,” Yzerman said. “The finish of our season was very exciting and dramatic. Maybe a little misleading in that we have to really improve like we’ve talked in some areas, we have to get deeper. We’d love to make the playoffs this year and I’m hopeful, but we’ll continue to build a strong nucleus of players that will be around here. Pressure, whatever you want to call it, will not change what I’m trying to do.”

But Yzerman did suggest that he may yet make another addition, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen noted…

Continue reading Surveying the media’s takes on Steve Yzerman’s press conference

Press release: Red Wings sign defenseman Tory Dello to 1-year contract

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS SIGN DEFENSEMAN TORY DELLO TO ONE-YEAR, TWO-WAY CONTRACT

  … Blueliner Has Skated in 188 AHL Games with Grand Rapids, Laval and Chicago …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today signed defenseman Tory Dello to a one-year, two-way contract.

Dello, 27, split the entire 2023-24 season with the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves, recording 13 points (3-10-13) and 28 penalty minutes in 65 games. The 6-foot, 200-pound defenseman played the 2022-23 season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket, tallying 15 points (4-11-15), a plus-13 rating and 24 penalty minutes in 48 regular-season games. Originally signed by the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins to an amateur tryout on March 11, 2020, Dello picked up two assists, a plus-four rating and 14 penalty minutes in 20 games in parts of two seasons with the Griffins from 2019-21. In total, Dello has collected 48 points (12-36-48), a plus-42 rating and 112 penalty minutes in 188 AHL games with the Griffins, Rocket and Wolves.

Prior to turning professional, Dello played four seasons at the University of Notre Dame from 2016-20, logging 40 points (7-33-40), a plus-19 rating and 133 penalty minutes in 154 games. He helped the Fighting Irish win a Big Ten Conference championship in 2017-18, in addition to consecutive Big Ten Tournament titles in 2018 and 2019. Dello also picked up 36 points (7-29-36), a plus-22 rating and 186 penalty minutes in 152 games with the Tri-City Storm in the United States Hockey League from 2012-16, captaining the Storm to a Clark Cup championship in 2016. He was named the recipient of the 2016 Curt Hammer Award, presented annually to “the USHL player who distinguishes himself both on and off the ice by demonstrating outstanding performance skills, pride and determination.” The Lakewood, Ill., native won a bronze medal with Team USA at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, finishing with two assists and six penalty minutes in five games.

Video: Axel Sandin Pellikka and Shai Buium speak with the media at the Summer Development Camp

About 5 minutes’ worth of comments:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Xg3_KOz-fKw%3Fsi%3Dp3mnYZpBkRzfwYKq