Per “Da Beauty League,” a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based summer league for pro players, Red Wings defenseman Justin Holl made his debut yesterday night:

Anders Lee and Justin Holl will be making their 2024 Da Beauty League debut tonight 👀 pic.twitter.com/I6VJSgpvco

— Da Beauty League (@DaBeautyLeague) July 24, 2024

The games are streamed for free on YouTube.

The World Junior Summer Showcase takes place in Plymouth, Michigan at USA Hockey Arena from July 26th to August 4th. The ticketed event will place two Canadian teams vs. USA Blue, USA White, Finland and Sweden.

Red Wings prospects Jesse Kiiskinen (Finland), Trey Augustine, John Whipple and Max Plante (Team USA) will all be taking part in the Showcase, and yesterday, Team USA posted a Q and A with GM John Vanbiesbrouck about the purpose of the event.

As the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton explains, given the fact that so many NCAA-playing prospects come into the event for Team USA, and players for Finland and Sweden will be playing games for their club and pro teams come mid-September, this is a necessary “first tune-up” for the World Junior Championship:

The WJSS is an annual summer tune-up for the December/January World Junior (this year’s will be held in Ottawa). The pandemic shook up the event’s timing and format for several years, but, by now, the event is back in its usual rhythm, and Hockey Canada has decided to rejoin the proceedings for the first time since the onset of COVID. Canada will join two U.S. teams (designated as “Blue” and “White”), Sweden, and Finland. Since the WJC is an under 20 tournament, this event is mostly composed of players from the 2023 and 2024 draft classes, but there are a few prominent 2025 draft eligibles, most notably prospective number one overall pick James Hagens (a slick but diminutive forward from Long Island, slated to begin his NCAA career at Boston College in the fall). The event allows the teams and coaching staffs to gather as one before they reconvene (in reduced numbers) in December. The event is at once educational and evaluative: inform players of the desired style of play and assess which will be the right ones to bring to the real deal.

Continued; Stockton notes that while Axel Sandin Pellikka isn’t in Plymouth this and next week, he’s going to be participating at the WJC for Sweden.

According to Pet Age, well…

Whisker, a Michigan-based, international leader in connected pet care and maker of the Litter-Robot, recently announced its first sports partnerships today with the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Lions. Whisker is now an official partner of the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Lions and the first official litter box of any professional sports team. Litter-Robot makes cat ownership even more enjoyable by eliminating the need to scoop and litter box odors.

Founded and headquartered in Michigan, Whisker’s Litter-Robot is the leading automatic, self-cleaning litter box in the United States. Since 1999, Whisker has remained committed to innovation and economic development in the State, making its products in Wisconsin for more than 20 years.

“We are proud of Whisker’s deep roots in Detroit, so naturally we wanted to partner with our hometown teams to celebrate and promote the spirit of our city,” said Jacob Zuppke, President and CEO of Whisker. “A partnership with two big cat teams, and the Red Wings, just makes sense given what we do here at Whisker. The Whisker Team is incredibly excited for this partnership, and we look forward to many great seasons ahead!”

Continued; you can’t make this stuff up.

The Hockey News’s Carol Schram suggests that Red Wings forward Patrick Kane should return to point-per-game form via a “bounce-back season” in 2024-2025:

Patrick Kane, Detroit Red Wings

Last season, most NHL teams balked at trusting Kane to come back at his old level after undergoing a serious hip-resurfacing procedure. But ‘Showtime’ was in full effect once Kane got his feet under him in Detroit. 

He put up 47 points in 50 games and came within a hair’s breadth of pushing the Red Wings back into the post-season while serving up some of the most exciting on-ice moments that Hockeytown has seen since Little Caesars Arena opened in 2017.

After a full summer of training rather than rehab, and on a 35-plus one-year ‘prove it’ deal with a base salary of $4 million plus another $2.5 million in achievable performance bonuses, look for Kane to take his game up another notch this fall. 

As a longtime stalwart of USA Hockey, he’ll also be aiming to prove that he shouldn’t be overlooked when it’s time to assemble the final rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Olympics.

Continued; the Red Wings are probably hoping for about 60 points out of Kane this season, but he may produce more. He is 35, and he’s got a resurfaced hip, but he’s still Patrick Kane.

I get tired of this kind of mid-summer stuff, but here we are with me having the responsibility of bringing it to you, so:

1. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler “redid” his 2021 NHL Draft, and he argues that Simon Edvinsson should actually have been drafted 9th overall instead of 7th overall. In Wheeler’s re-draft, he has the Wings drafting Los Angeles Kings prospect Brandt Clarke instead:

Arizona Coyotes: LHD Simon Edvinsson

Actual draft pick: No. 6 (change: -3) to Detroit
My final ranking: No. 11 (change: +2)

As with [Matty] Beniers, despite the fact that I finished lower on Edvinsson than where he got picked I was actually early onto him in the range that he eventually went, slotting him No. 2 on my preseason list after he blew me away on tape. I expect him to play a full-time top-six role for the Red Wings next year and while I don’t think he’s going to have as much offense as I thought he might at one point in time (I initially fell in love with his ability to handle the puck at 6-foot-6), his defensive ceiling is high and I think I landed in more or less the right spot on him in the end that year.

Continued (paywall); [sarcasm] yup, that Edvinsson, “selling” even the best draft experts on his talent because he skates so damn well, even though he may not develop into a Norris Trophy-winning, 70-points-a-season player… [/sarcasm]

2. And you will be equally shocked to find that The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn says that the Red Wings’ “contract efficiency” isn’t very good:

Continue reading Talkin’ about ‘re-drafts’ and ‘contract efficiencies’

The Athletic’s Max Bultman offered answers to mailbag questions yesterday morning, and today, he offers more points of discussion in another mailbag feature. I have to roll my eyes at this question:

We don’t get high draft picks anymore, we haven’t made splashy trades for elite players, and we don’t seem to want to pay top-of-market in free agency. How do we get out of purgatory? — Jeff Z.

The toughest factor is that there aren’t many truly “elite” players that come available in the NHL. The Red Wings did make a splashy trade last summer for Alex DeBrincat, and as discussed above, I think it’s entirely possible they make more moves like that chasing higher-impact players if they come available via trade or free agency.

But the “purgatory” question is a real one. Right now, Detroit doesn’t look like a slam-dunk playoff team, but for as good as its farm system is, they also don’t have any bona fide superstars yet. It’s still possible that players like Raymond or Moritz Seider can become that, and I think players like Danielson and Edvinsson will be very valuable pieces when they mature, but the path from where they are now to being a legit Stanley Cup contender is going to take some real player development and scouting wins, and some luck. In some ways, that’s true of all teams, but it’s not a comfortable position to be in this deep into a rebuild.

I wouldn’t completely rule out getting any more high draft picks (though I guess it depends on what you define as high), but the Red Wings certainly have their work cut out for them.

Continued;

The truth of the matter for most NHL teams in a rebuild is this: they don’t get draft lottery luck, so they have to draft as many good-to-great prospects as they possibly can with the assets they possess–and then develop those prospects into NHL players;

They don’t get the elite free agents to sign with their teams (with few exceptions, like Patrick Kane);

And they don’t begin their rebuilds with the greatest NHL rosters, so the fans of these teams have to deal with a lot of roster turnover before “their team” starts to stabilize after some successes and some failures in the team-building department.

The “mushy middle” theory is real for sure, but well-run teams who make some good picks and develop their young players eventually turn the ship around, even though it tends to take longer than both fans and management want (as Steve Yzerman himself has said).

There’s nothing to really panic about in terms of the Red Wings’ status as battling their way up the NHL standings while skating uphill. It’s really how most rebuilding teams rebuild, and there will be bumps in the road in terms of signing free agents that miss (see: Andrew Copp) and drafting prospects who don’t become NHL players…

But most teams have to endure this kind of rebuild. The smartest teams have management groups who play the “long game” in terms of player personnel, player development and coaching decisions.

We can only hope that Yzerman and his compatriots in the Wings’ front office earn a little luck and build the kind of team that eventually emerges from the “mushy middle” because it’s been properly built.

The Red Wings are admittedly leaving Axel Sandin Pellikka in Sweden for one more season for a simple reason: he’s going to play significant minutes for his SHL team (Skelleftea AIK) this upcoming season, which might not have been the case if he joined the defensive logjam in Grand Rapids.

This morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James profiles Sandin Pellikka, letting his comments from the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp last month speak for him:

“It’s nice to be home another year,” the Detroit Red Wings’ first-round pick from 2023 said. “I know the coaches well and I know my teammates well. We have a good team, too. So, just stay home and develop for another year.”

Sandin Pellikka explained his decision while at development camp in early July at Little Caesars Arena. It was his second time at the annual event, following his debut last summer, days after the Wings chose the Swedish defenseman at No. 17 overall in the NHL draft. (The Wings chose forward Nate Danielson with their first pick, at No. 9.)

…

The road for now keeps Sandin Pellikka in Sweden, and that suits the Wings. Seider and 2020 first-round pick Lucas Raymond both developed there, as did 2022 first-round pick Marco Kasper. The SHL is an elite league, loaded with skilled veterans, including former NHLers. Sandin Pellikka, 19, already showed his comfortability with the league by posting 18 points in 39 games with Skellefteå AIK in 2023-24, then went on to help his club win the SHL championship. He also starred for Sweden on the international stage.

“Axel was one of Sweden’s most important players on defense,” assistant director of player development Dan Cleary said. “He’s going to play quite a bit in Skellefteå, they’re going to have a good team. He’s going to run the power play, going to play quite a bit with the puck. Axel is a really smart player, moves well. We just don’t see the harm in it. No sense rushing him.”

Continued (paywall); as St. James notes, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard will be playing alongside Sandin Pellikka this upcoming season…

And between Niklas Kronwall (director of European player development) and Nicklas Lidstrom (vice president of hockey operations), the Red Wings will have a pair of pretty good defensemen who represent the Red Wings watching him.

Henrik Zetterberg isn’t officially with the Red Wings right now, but he’s seen with Kronwall watching SHL games from time to time, too, so he’ll be watching Sandin Pellikka when Skelleftea comes to southern Sweden (where Zetterberg lives).

As noted yesterday (with details here), the World Junior Summer Showcase starts tomorrow at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan.

Red Wings prospects Trey Augustine, Max Plante, John Whipple (all for Team USA) and Jesse Kiiskinen (Finland) are going to take part as Canada, Team USA Blue, Team USA White, Finland and Sweden battle for summer hockey supremacy.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff profiled Augustine, Plante and Kiiskinen a little earlier this morning. Here’s his profile of Plante:

[Augustine was] taken 41st overall in the 2023 NHL entry draft, joining Augustine on the USA roster will be a pair of 2024 selections, forward Max Plante (47th overall) and defenseman John Whipple (144th overall).

Plante is the son of former NHL forward Derek Plante. Not surprisingly, growing up in a hockey environment, Plante’s hockey IQ is off the charts.

“Max is one of the smartest players I’ve ever played with,” said fellow Red Wings draftee Austin Baker. “His vision is really good. Super poised with the puck.”

Baker was teammates with both Plante and Whipple in the USNTDP, so he’s well-versed in the capabilities of both players.

“John’s a super strong kid, super hard to play against when going against him in practice,” Baker said of Whipple. “Seeing him in games, he’ll crush people. I definitely wouldn’t want to go against him on the other team.”

Continued;

I don’t want to blow the Traverse City budget, so I may not be able to attend the WJSS sans a rental car, but I hope that you can get to Plymouth. The hockey is great and it’s going to be buzzing with Canada taking part in the tournament.

It’s been about four weeks since the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp ended, and I have tried really, really hard to not burden you down with mid-summer fundraising.

Regrettably, the realities of having to pay a server bill, having to raise funds to get that $5,000 trip to Traverse City for training camp (with Aunt Annie in tow as I am her primary caregiver) covered, and having to do simple things like buy a printer and make money from working on my website, even if it’s a couple hundred bucks a month, all equal one simple solution staring me in the face:

It’s time to start fundraising again. I don’t like doing it, but without donations, TMR doesn’t exist.

Bluntly, I’ve been informed by Bluehost that I have to upgrade my server plan as we hover around the 5,000-entry mark because we need more server space, so it’s going to cost more like $400 than $300 to raise funds to renew Bluehost, Jetpack and the rest of what I use to provide this site to you.

Continue reading It’s time to get back to the fundraising grind

The road deck of the Gordie Howe International Bridge has been completed, and the bridge crews from the U.S. and Canada celebrated the occasion today on the bridge. According to WXYZ’s Sarah Michals and Chad Britton, Gordie’s sons, Mark and Marty, were there to witness the celebration, as was grandson Dr. Murray Howe:

“They called when they first had the idea of doing this and they said ‘Would it be alright to use Gordie’s name?’ I said ‘Are you kidding me? Of course.'” Marty Howe told our team.

Murray Howe said, “Our dad would be so proud of this moment. It’s just so exciting to see.”

“It’s one thing looking at it from the road here, but when you look at it from the bridge here, it’s amazing,” Marty Howe said. “You look up and you have to keep going like that. I was almost scared I was going to pass out.”

The historic bridge will support movement of millions of people and goods for economic growth. And even more than that, it’s purposed to be a symbol of friendship between Detroit and Windsor, much like Gordie Howe himself.

When asked what he’d like drivers to feel as they cross the bridge for the first time, Murray Howe replied: “I would like to just have them feel the joy and freedom we have to cross over to these two countries and celebrate all that is the United States and all that is Canada.”

“I’ll be happy to get across and not wait so long to do it,” Marty Howe said.

May Matty Moroun be rolling over in his grave. And you can watch the video on YouTube here (no embedding allowed by WXYZ, sorry).