Month: July 2024

Vladimir Tarasenko, ‘brick house’

The Red Wings aren’t getting the same Vladimir Tarasenko that the Russian forward was when he was 25, but the 32-year-old winger provides thick body at 6’1″ and 219 pounds, and he possesses a wee bit of a mean streak, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes:

“For sure,” Detroit GM Steve Yzerman said, acknowledging the uniqueness of Tarasenko on his club’s roster. “A left-shot winger, a bigger body, a different-type player than our other wingers like Lucas (Raymond), Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat. He’s a scorer, a straight-ahead guy who’s big and strong and will go to the net. We feel it’s a really good addition.”

There are different methods through which a bigger player can utilize their body to bring successful outcomes on the ice. Tarasenko isn’t a Brendan Shanhan type. He’s not going to be banging bodies, dropping the mitts and collecting Gordie Howe hat-tricks.

Nor is he James van Riemsdyk. Tarasenko won’t be camping out at the net front, tipping home pucks and knocking in rebounds.

His big game is more about maximizing his frame to get and maintain possession of the puck in the offensive zone.

“He’s obviously a skilled guy, a great shooter, but he works so hard,” said Kane, Tarasenko’s teammate with the New York Rangers in 2022-23. “He’s hard on pucks. He wins a lot of pucks back, and he’s got a great knack for getting open as well, so I think it’d be a good fit.”

Continued

A bit about Ondrej Becher

This evening, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses the Red Wings’ decision to draft 20-year-old center Ondrej Becher with the 80th overall pick in this past June’s NHL Draft.

“It just looked like everything potentially that he had as a 17-, or 18-year-old kind of hit as a 19-year-old,” said Kris Draper, the Wings’ director of amateur scouting/assistant general manager, after the draft. “He got a great opportunity and took advantage of it and was comfortable in it. He certainly put up great numbers. His skating is something that when you watch him play, he has that extra gear. He’s just sort of starting to come into his own and starting to feel comfortable about the type of player that he could possibly be.”

Becher realizes there’s plenty of more work ahead.

“I have to work hard every day, more than even before,” Becher said at the conclusion of the Wings’ development camp earlier this month.

Becher exploded for 96 points (32 goals, 64 assists) for Prince George (WHL) last season, and also had an impressive world junior championship for his native Czechia, with 10 points (seven assists) in seven games.

Considering Becher had 38 points for Prince George the season before, it was a monumental offensive improvement for a 6-foot-1, 184-pound center who many scouts actually grade out better defensively. Becher felt concentrating on the defensive end this past season helped him achieve success all over the ice.

“I start(ed) playing more defensively, so I become two-way player now,” Becher said. “I wasn’t a two-way player before. I try to improve in defensive zone, and I did. That’s why I am here now.”

Continued; as Kulfan notes, the Red Wings aren’t quite sure where Becher will play this upcoming season. The WHL’s Prince George Cougars can only have 3 20-year-old players on their roster, so Becher may be traded to another WHL team, or he may end up playing for Grand Rapids or Toledo.

Be aggressive, b-e agressive…or not?

The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood asks, “How long until the Red Wings get aggressive in their rebuild?” today, and I’m afraid that the answer is “they won’t.” I don’t expect Steve Yzerman to be anything less than methodical and patient with the Red Wings’ slow-but-steady growth as a team, regardless of how much cap space he has to play with.

Here’s Eargood’s argument:

The 2026 offseason projects to see a paradigm shift for the Red Wings’ approach. In that offseason, Yzerman has set himself up with a blank canvas on his cap sheet with a number of prospects ready to join the fold as NHLers. The table is set for this offseason to be the one where Detroit can swing for the fences, where the rebuild shifts into the contention window.

The biggest reason 2026 is the turning point is sheer cap flexibility. Just five current forwards — Larkin, DeBrincat, Copp, Compher and Rasmussen — will still be under contract by then, while RFA Lucas Raymond is likely to join them with his upcoming extension. On the blue line, the only defensemen under contract will be Moritz Seider on his upcoming extension and Simon Edvinsson as an RFA that offseason. In net, Yzerman doesn’t have a single contract extending past 2026.

Such a clear cutoff date for so many contracts might point to instability in the long term. Having a cohort of just six to eight players under contract for more than two seasons shows a lack of longevity for the current roster, a sign of immense change to come. But that’s all fine and well for Detroit, because the current roster isn’t one it’s planning to rely on down the road. The open contract situations of 2026 lend themselves to the construction of a more long term roster, where the Red Wings can pick and choose who they want to keep around to surround the arrival of some high-upside prospects to the NHL fold.

he maturation of prospects by 2026 projects to fill a lot of the open roster slots, if all goes according to plan. By leaving so many spots open, Yzerman has left paths for prospects like Jonatan Berggren, Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur to become contributors and earn their place by unseating established veterans. The Red Wings should also get more recent picks like Nate Danielson, Axel Sandin Pellikka and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard into the lineup by 2026, too, again bringing them along on their own timeline by forcing players to beat out established vets. In net, goaltender Sebastian Cossa should be in position to play NHL games by then, and the lack of goalies under contract allows Yzerman to decide whether to make him the starter or bring in some help.

Continued; I won’t deny that a $92 million-estimated salary cap will help the Red Wings, as will the maturation of their top prospects…

But I don’t see the Red Wings’ management stopping adding veterans who they believe are necessary to the rebuilding process just because 2026 seems like the date by which most of the Wings’ prospects will fold into the NHL roster.

For better or worse, Yzerman gets a little overly aggressive when free agency hits, sometimes to roster flexibility’s detriment, and until we know who’s available to “swing for” in the summer of 2025, and whether the Wings land their big fish or have to move on to Plans B or C, like they did this summer…

I’m not willing to make the kind of admirable predictions that Eargood is willing to suggest. I’m more conservative about that sort of thing, and that’s just me.

Three things: on the fourth line, MBN training in Sweden and Veleno’s worth

Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

First and foremost, the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton posted an article which discusses the state of the Red Wings’ fourth line:

With the bulk of the offseason’s reshuffling done, the Red Wings’ fourth line is taking on new character from the one it occupied a year ago.  Daniel Sprong and Robby Fabbri are out.  Joe Veleno and Christian Fischer are re-signed.  Tyler Motte has joined the effort.  And some combination of Nate Danielson, Jonatan Berggren, Carter Mazur, and Marco Kasper are lurking in the wings.

A year ago, Sprong and Fabbri spent a significant portion of the season as Detroit’s fourth line wingers, often with Veleno between them.  Neither player was a conventional fourth liner.  Both made their living on scoring.  They weren’t penalty killers by trade; they helped out on the power play.  At times, it served the Red Wings well.  At others, their willingness to trade offense for defense was exploited.

This year, with players like Fischer and Motte likely to wind up the two fourth line wingers (at least to open the year), Detroit will be adopting a more traditional approach to its last forward line, in keeping with an offseason’s objective of defensive tightening.

“We scored a ton more goals this year,” coach Derek Lalonde said at his end-of-season press conference. “We went from 26th to 13th in goals for. Those goals helped us, but we want to keep pushing, and you hope to get over that line. I still think it’s team defense and keeping it out of your net.”

Stockton continues…

Second, Norran’s Johanna Salo posted an article about Red Wings first-round draft pick Michael Brandsegg-Nygard training with Skelleftea AIK this summer, and while I cannot punch past the paywall to share the article, I can share a positive picture (and I can tell you that MBN tells Ms. Salo that he’s preparing to play for Skelleftea this upcoming season):

Third and finally, EP Rinkside’s Ryan Lambert posted his weekly “What We Learned” article, and let’s all be surprised that he believes the Red Wings overpaid Joe Veleno:

Detroit Red Wings: Doesn’t this contract seem like a lot? It does, doesn’t it?

I’m not dancing naked in the street about the Red Wings paying Veleno $2.275 million for 2 years as a 24-year-old 3rd or 4th-line center, but that’s market value. Bashing Steve Yzerman’s every move is very much so in fashion right now, especially for anti-Wings folks like Lambert, but he made an expedient signing.

Veleno’s 24, he had arbitration rights, and he posted 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points this past season, his 3rd full season in the NHL. For better or worse, that’s a $2 million player in today’s NHL.

Three Tweets of note: 80 days, Walleye signings and NTDP single-game tix on sale

Of Twitter/X-related note this afternoon:

First, from the Red Wings:

Second, per the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe:

And third, from the U.S. National Team Development Program in Plymouth, MI:

On Cam Talbot’s ‘fit’ with the Red Wings

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills wrote an article which discusses Red Wings free agent signing Max Talbot’s remarks regarding joining the team as a 37-year-old goaltender:

While weighing his options during 2024 NHL free agency, goalie Cam Talbot considered his role for each potential team, but the 37-year-old largely focused on what opportunity made the most sense off the ice for his family.

That’s why Talbot was happy he found an ideal fit with the Detroit Red Wings, who signed the netminder to a two-year free-agent contract on July 1.

“I seem to be part of (free agency) every summer,” Talbot said in his introductory Zoom call with the media on July 2. “You never really get used to it, especially with kids and family now. There’s a lot more to think about – situations, term, length, all that stuff. Detroit really checked a lot of boxes for me.”

…

Adjusting to a different system is the biggest challenge a goalie faces when joining a new club, according to Talbot.

“I usually come to the city three to four weeks before camp to try to skate with the guys as much as possible, get to know them as much as I can,” Talbot said. “Figure out certain tendencies that the team has and that I can work my way into before camp even starts.”

Talbot said he’s excited to familiarize himself with the Detroit area, where his wife, Kelly, grew up until she was a teenager.

“She’s got some family in the area, which we’ve never had on any of the teams I’ve been part of,” Talbot said. “It will be nice to be close to family.”

Continued; this is a good place for a veteran player to put down roots. Many, many NHL’ers who finished their careers with the Red Wings have chosen to remain in Metro Detroit for their retirement because Detroit’s suburbs are so well-regarded.

A bit about the Red Wings’ Johanssons (plural)

The Red Wings have a pair of Swedish defensive prospects with the last name Johansson: there’s Albert Johansson, 23, who will make his Red Wings debut this fall, and Anton Johansson, 20, who’s playing for Leksands IF of the SHL.

The Red Wings’ Johanssons are unrelated, but Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff discusses big Anton, who’s 6’4″ and 196 pounds:

Playing his first full SHL campaign in 2023-24, the 20-year-old Johansson was good for 3-5-8 totals during 46 regular-season games. In the playoffs, he would ramp up his production, collecting two goals and two assists in seven games.

“I did a good job in the playoffs,” Johansson said. However, it wasn’t his offensive output that he was most proud about during his first pro season.

“I think the defensive part,” was his answer about which aspect of his game was showing the most progression. “I’m gonna still work on that and try to keep up my offense.”

Of note to Red Wings fans, the 6-foot-4, 172-pound Johansson was also displaying an edge to his game while playing for Sweden at the IIHF World Junior Championship. Against Canada, he was dishing out a devastating hit on Easton Cowan.

Continued; it is entirely possible that the Red Wings have two A. Johansson’s on the roster at some point over the next four years. Anton is a shut-down defenseman with a physical edge, and Albert is a freewheeling defenseman who makes great plays.

The next steps for the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp participants

The annual impressions from the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp equals a labor of love, and a lot of labor at that. Trying to cover 40 prospects in a comprehensive manner is no easy task, and it takes a while to get ‘er done.

That’s been the case for what follows: a post-Development Camp assessment as to what the Red Wings’ prospects (as well as the free agent try-outs) need to do next to continue ascending toward pro hockey success.

The idea here is to try to discern a “recipe” of sorts for everybody who participated in the development camp, from the Wings’ brightest prospects to the guys for whom development camp may be the best moment of their hockey careers.

The truth of the matter is that the vast majority of the Wings’ Summer Development Camp participants don’t end up making the Red Wings, but I have found that many players do land professional hockey jobs somewhere, and there’s no shame in earning money playing hockey for a living.

So, with an eye toward the future, and an eye toward “what happens next,” here are my takes on the Wings’ Summer Development Campers’ next steps forward:

Next Steps for the Red Wings’ Summer Development Campers

FORWARDS:

#11 Kienan Draper: Kienan Draper’s next steps forward involve simply playing more in terms of ice time and playing more regularly for the University of Michigan. Draper is only coming into his junior season at 22 years of age, so the fourth-line grinder has some room to “grow his role” in terms of playing time, but he’s really had to fight for ice time thus far, and I’m not expecting that to change at U of M.

Draper’s also got to get a little bigger, a little stronger, and he needs to get better in terms of his puck-handling skills. He stands 6’2″ and 205 pounds, which is good, but he can still put on 5-10 more pounds of muscle…

And, if I may be blunt, Draper sometimes makes some tremendous plays with the puck, and sometimes pucks bounce off his stick, roll off his stick blade, or he fans on shots. He’s not as good a skater as his father was, either, and he’s not quite consistent enough in terms of his stick skills for me, so I think that he needs to continue to develop his skills there. Those things can be taught and learned over time.

The Red Wings’ developmental system is full of promising grinding forwards, however, so Draper has two more collegiate seasons’ worth of development with which to stand out from the crowd.

That’s his imperative right now–not to score a bunch of points or somehow earn a promotion to the first line, but instead, to prove he’s worth his weight as a consistent grinding forward.

Continue reading The next steps for the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp participants