Month: August 2024

You may not get too much out of this unless you speak Swedish, but Sveriges Radio posted a quick interview with Red Wings prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, who’s sticking with a simple message as he participates in Skelleftea AIK’s training camp: while he’s going to come over to the U.S. to take part in the Red Wings’ training camp and possibly the exhibition season, he’s hoping to return to Skelleftea for the upcoming season.

The super talent chooses Skelleftea over playing in the U.S.A.

Skelleftea AIK’s Michael Brandsegg-Nygard is one of the SHL’s most exciting new acquisitions. This week, the 18-year-old took part in his first on-ice training session with the team, which he thinks plays fun hockey. During this year, Brandsegg-Nygard will train with an NHL team, but he still aims to stay with Skelleftea for the rest of the season.

It’s hard to imagine that the Red Wings will keep Brandsegg-Nygard in North America unless he cracks the NHL team’s roster. For the present moment, he’s going to try to crack Skelleftea AIK’s SHL roster after a season spent in with Mora IK of the HockeyAllsvenskan, the Swedish second division.

That’s the natural progression for MBN, even with the Red Wings having signed him to an entry-level contract in order to control his playing future. He’ll play in Grand Rapids eventually, but perhaps for the 2025-2026 season instead of this one.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff continues the thread of comments from Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s appearance at the team’s “Summer Hockey in the D” event earlier this week. Duff notes that neither Raymond nor Seider should expect their respective workloads to get easier any time soon:

There’s no questioning how vital both Seider and Raymond are to the success of the Red Wings. Raymond was a 31-goal scorer last season. His 72 points were leading the team in scoring.

Seider led the Red Wings in time on ice (22:22) and shorthanded time on ice (2:33) per game. He’s logging those minutes in hard situations against the opposition’s best players.

“He’s going to be seeing that the rest of his career,” Lalonde said.

The big German defenseman also wound in a tie for eighth among NHL defensemen with 211 hits. He was second among NHL rearguards with 212 blocked shots.

While it might seem like the Red Wings are running out of time to get restricted free agents Seider and Raymond under contract, Lalonde is entirely confident that they will find common ground a get a deal done prior to the opening of training camp next month.

“I’m not worried,” Lalonde said. “It’s all part of it. I’ve had a little experience with this with past RFAs. I think it’s all part of the process.”

Continued; the deeper the Red Wings are on defense, the better-prepared they are to spell Seider from time to time. It may take until the trade deadline for the team to acquire a shut-down defenseman for the team’s second pair, presuming that Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson don’t take that workload on this season.

The Aspen Daily News’s Rich Allen reports that Red Wings assistant GM and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper found himself in Colorado this week, as part of a group of former NHL’ers challenging professional pickleball players:

Aspen Meadows transformed into a top-tier pickleball venue on Thursday, featuring some of the sport’s top players with a twist — some cream-of-the-crop hockey talent traded in their blades and twigs for tennis shoes and paddles.

In the first Pickle ‘n Pucks tournament, the worlds of Tom Dundon collided. Dundon is the owner of the Professional Pickleball League and the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, plus a businessman with Aspen ties. So, on National Pickleball Day he brought some of the top players from pickleball to Aspen to showcase their skills, inviting some of his well-known hockey connections and setting up the whole thing to be broadcast on ESPN2 to grab a larger audience.

“The crossover is the most beautiful part of pickleball,” AJ Koller, a PPA pro and former club hockey player at CU Boulder, said. “It’s not just a graveyard for tennis players or ex-tennis players. It really does let baseball guys, football guys, hockey guys find a new competitive spirit after they’re done playing pro. … So to get it on ESPN in a place like this, it’s a perfect marriage for showcasing.”

It turns out that Draper earned praise for both his pickleball skills–as he and Justin Williams beat pro pickleball players–and his drafting abilities, given that the Red Wings picked Carbondale, Colorado’s Fisher Scott with the 208th overall pick in last June’s NHL Draft:

Continue reading Kris Draper helps promote pickleball by beating pros (alongside Justin Williams) in Aspen, CO

NHL.com’s offering in-depth season preview packages for all its teams this month, and today, they discuss the Red Wings’ 2023-2024 season outlook.

Nicholas J. Cotsonika kicks us off with an article which summarizes Detroit’s hopes of earning a playoff spot this upcoming season:

“There’s definitely expectations going into this season, so that’s always a good thing,” said forward Patrick Kane, who signed a one-year contract June 30 instead of testing the free agent market. “You want those expectations. You want, whether it’s the fans or the media or just players in general, to expect the team and the organization to take the next step.”

The Red Wings have progressed steadily since [GM Steve] Yzerman took over April 19, 2019. After bottoming out with 39 points in 71 games (.275 points percentage) in his first season, they had 48 points in 56 games (.429) in 2020-21, 74 in 82 (.451) in 2021-22, 80 in 82 (.488) in 2022-23 and 91 in 82 (.555) last season.

They failed to qualify for the playoffs last season because they lost the tiebreaker to the Washington Capitals, who earned the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with the same number of points but more regulation wins (32-27). Detroit’s playoff drought stretched to eight seasons, the longest in the team’s 98-year history.

Asked if he feels more pressure to make the playoffs as the years go by, Yzerman said with a laugh, “Um, yeah, a little bit, honestly. Our fan base wants to win. We came close last year to making the playoffs. Still … the finish of our season was very exciting and dramatic. It’s a little bit maybe misleading. We’ve got to really improve, as we talk about, in some areas.”

Cotsonika’s first article continues, and he then asks three important questions of this year’s team. I’m going to go with his second question as the most important one, even though the team’s goaltending situation is question #1 on just about every Wings fan’s mind:

Continue reading NHL.com’s ’32 in 32′ series previews the Detroit Red Wings

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a subscriber-only article discussing five storylines worth watching over the course of the Red Wings’ upcoming training camp and exhibition season, and I actually think that Allen’s last topic is the most intriguing to discuss on a Friday night in August:

Searching for New Czarnik: The Red Wings liked Austin Czarnik because he could shuttle between Detroit and Grand Rapids and do what was needed in either place . They trusted him because he was a two-way player with NHL experience.

However, he will play in Switzerland this season. Who replaces him as the first forward call-up? The preseason will help [GM Steve] Yzerman sort that out. The logical choice is center Sheldon Dries. He scored 11 goals for the Vancouver Canucks in 2022-23. Like Czarnik, Dries is considered a pro’s pro.

But let’s not forget Elmer Soderblom is still trying to earn his way back to Detroit. The 6-foot-8 forward tallied 13 goals in 68 games last season in Grand Rapids. The Red Wings could use his size, even though he’s not true physical player.

The other question is whether the Red Wings are intrigued enough with [Marco] Kasper to fast-track him. If they have a long-term injury at center, you can’t rule that out.

Continued (paywall); the Red Wings may also lean on Nate Danielson, Carter Mazur and William Lagesson as first call-ups if the team runs into an injury bug, which seems an inevitable eventuality.

We’ve been following the media’s coverage of Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s appearance at the team’s “Summer Hockey in the D” event, and the coach’s comments regarding his team’s offseason additions, the state of the team’s defense and goaltending, and the need to re-sign Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider before training camp begins in a month.

This evening, DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills ties a bow on the coverage with a from-the-team article discussing Lalonde’s remarks, including the following comments:

“I think we did a good job addressing some holes,” Lalonde said. “It feels like guys may be slotted going into the year a little bit. I think we did a good job addressing some offense, which is very important. It’s just exciting. All I’ve known since coming here is progression.”

Lalonde said expectations have been raised after Detroit just missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.

“This is all part of the process,” Lalonde said. “Expectations have changed because we flirted with getting there — 91 points. We just want a little bit more from everyone. It’s going to be all about a good start.”

For the Red Wings to take another step forward this season, Lalonde said every player must be committed to improving their defensive game.

“We made strides last year,” Lalonde said. “A lot of that was because we were able to find some goals, but obviously I think the numbers speak for themselves. We were a top-10 team in goals scored but bottom-10 in goals against, so we’d love to improve that goals against.”

Detroit added to its blue-line depth this offseason by signing Erik Gustafsson to a two-year free-agent contract and William Lagesson to a one-year free-agent contract on July 1. And prospect Albert Johansson, who inked a one-year, two-way deal on June 19, is expected to compete for a Red Wings roster spot during Training Camp next month.

“I think we were very fortunate last year in staying healthy on the back end, but we’ll need that depth,” Lalonde said. “All eight (defensemen) are very capable. I’m very excited about Simon (Edvinsson). His play towards the end of the year last year was exciting.”

Continued; here’s hoping that we can now move on to the next thing.

Of brief Red Wings-related note on a Friday afternoon:

1. Daily Faceoff’s Mike Gould posted a list of “under-the-radar” prospects who may play for each of the Atlantic Division teams this upcoming season, and Gould makes a safe bet for the Red Wings in Carter Mazur:

Detroit Red Wings: Carter Mazur, LW

The Red Wings surprised some onlookers by taking overage forward Carter Mazur in the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft, but the Jackson, Michigan-born winger has done nearly everything possible to prove them right in the years since. Mazur enjoyed two highly productive seasons at the University of Denver immediately after being drafted and subsequently finished second on the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in scoring as a first-year pro.

The 22-year-old Mazur is a tenacious forward who relentlessly attacks opponents on the forecheck, wins most of his puck battles, and puts up points at a pretty impressive rate. Although he likely won’t play on the Red Wings’ top two lines once he makes the jump into the NHL, Mazur is a pretty safe bet to become one heck of a bottom-six forward if and when he does make it into Detroit’s lineup. He plays a style that should easily translate to the next level and it’s easy to imagine him popping off for a 20-goal season or two.

2. And while the majority of the Kleine Zeitung’s Martin Quendler’s interview with Marco Kasper is behind a paywall, there’s a full paragraph’s worth of German-language discussion of Kasper’s workouts with KAC Klagenfurt this August:

Continue reading Two things: On Carter Mazur’s likelihood of playing for the Wings this year, and a bit about Marco Kasper’s summertime training

The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood discusses a good question today, wondering aloud where and whether rookie defenseman Albert Johansson fits into Detroit’s lineup this upcoming season:

When Johansson does get into NHL games, Detroit will probably try to put him next to a more experienced player. That’s what Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde did with Edvinsson last season, placing him alongside Petry during a 14-game call-up to end the season. It’s a way to give young players stability while they square up to the NHL. Either a veteran like Petry, or even a top pairing defenseman like Moritz Seider could provide that support for Johansson during his adjustment period.

Out of all the players available, the most likely course of action seems to be playing Johansson alongside Petry or Maatta on the third pairing. Those proven defenders have the experience to support him, while sheltered bottom pairing minutes allow Johansson to acclimate at a comfortable pace.

Of course, this is the situation before the season — before preseason, even. Johansson could come out swinging and prove he’s an NHL defenseman when he gets a chance this fall. It’s an idyllic expectation, but it’s entirely on the table. He could also come out flat, which would leave the Red Wings with tougher questions to answer than just his role.

Because of Johansson’s contract status, Detroit is in a bind to play him while also playing to win. Figuring out how exactly it should do that is a crucial question this season.

Continued; Johansson’s an unknown quantity until he gets some games under his belt, and he’s probably going to have to wait for a spot in the lineup to open up via injuries or trades…But when he does get into the lineup, he’ll have to steal somebody’s job to earn regular playing time.

It’s the fate of just about every player who runs out of waiver-exempt status and becomes an NHL rookie by default.

We’ve talked about big defenseman Brady Cleveland’s decision to leave his home-state University of Wisconsin Badgers to transfer to Colorado College for this upcoming season; today, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses Cleveland’s decision-making process:

“The way things went at Wisconsin, I looked at it that I needed to go somewhere where I could play a lot of minutes,” Cleveland said last month during the Wings’ development camp. “A lot of minutes is going to lead to better development for myself as a player. I’m excited to play a bigger role on the team. Everything happens for a reason. It’s not always going to be a smooth journey, and I understood that. I’m going to take the lessons I’ve learned so far, move forward with them and try to be a better hockey player.”

Cleveland, 19, was limited to 17 games on the veteran-dominated Badgers, which was part of the frustration. Still, Cleveland appreciated the experience at Wisconsin and felt he progressed as a player.

“I got a lot stronger,” Cleveland said. “Just conditioning on the ice, the practices are tough at Wisconsin and that helped me. We had a really good team (at Wisconsin) and just going against those guys every day made me a better player, even if I wasn’t playing in every single game. I appreciate that.

“Off the ice, I learned a lot about myself and how much I am willing to overcome. Learning to play the game, for the love of the game and digging deep to find that, I found that.”

Continued (with a profile of Austin Baker); sometimes things don’t work out for players attempting to crack an NCAA Division I team’s lineup, and in Cleveland’s case, he had the transfer portal to utilize to earn a better chance at becoming a regular lineup player.

MLive’s Ansar Khan answered two subscriber-only questions in a summertime mailbag feature, and both questions involved trade scenarios:

Q: Columbus looking to unload Patick Laine. Could be a good reclamation project. Any possibility? – Chris

A: Doubtful. The Blue Jackets probably will need to retain 50 percent of his salary or close to it to move him (two years remaining at an $8.7 million AAV). If the Red Wings were to somehow make a huge move it would probably be for a center rather than a right wing like Laine.

Laine is only 26 but hasn’t been the same since his second season in 2017-18, when he produced career highs with 44 goals and 70 points. He hasn’t played more than 56 games in any of the past four seasons due to injuries and last season a stint in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.

The Red Wings would be better off keeping any tradeable assets for a higher upside return.

Continued (paywall); at this point, Laine’s commitment to playing is a little questionable, frankly, and while I hope that he’s going to rebound after getting the help he needed from the NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program, I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole.