Month: August 2024

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted an article in which Christian Fischer discusses the reasons why he re-signed with the Red Wings after briefly testing the unrestricted free agent marketplace.

Fischer explains his self-belief and his hopes that the Red Wings make the playoffs this upcoming season:

“I pride myself a lot with how I’ve gotten to where I am, how I got into this league and how I’ve sustained my career,” Fischer said. “A big emphasis is just playing the right way. I probably do it as a service to myself and I’m sure my agent would agree. Point total, that’s obviously a huge thing in contract stuff, but I pride myself on being a really good teammate, always showing up and working my ass off.”

That attitude is a big reason why the Red Wings re-signed Fischer, according to Executive Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman.

“He’s a very popular player on our team,” Yzerman said about Fischer. “He’s very versatile on the ice. His character, personality and the role he’s going to play on our team are the biggest factors in bringing him back.”

As outgoing as he is competitive, Fischer helped Detroit finish last season with its most wins (41) and points (91) since 2015-16. He said the Red Wings are more determined than ever to improve this season after just missing out on the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“I don’t think anyone was too happy with how things shook out (last season),” Fischer said. “As athletes and hockey players, every returning guy probably has a little bit more motivation this summer to take that next step. Whatever it may be, just to improve your game. It doesn’t get any closer than coming down to a tiebreaker.”

Continued; Fischer is far from a superstar player, but good foot soldiers are incredibly important to teams, too. Fischer fills an enthusiastic grinder’s spot while giving his best effort 100% of the time, and that level of commitment is necessary in order to build a winning team.

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the Red Wings’ decision to allow Axel Sandin Pellikka to develop at home in Sweden this upcoming season.

There’s a certain percentage of the fan base that’s pretty miffed that ASP will be spending another season with Skelleftea AIK, but the 19-year-old defenseman told Khan that he’s looking forward to spending one final season in the SHL…

“It’s nice to be home another year,” Sandin Pellikka said last month at Red Wings development camp. “I know the coaches well. I know my teammates well. We have a good team. We’re going to go for the gold next year (at the World Juniors) So, stay home and develop for another year.”

And Red Wings assistant director of player development Daniel Cleary explained why the team believes that Sandin Pellikka will benefit from playing with Skelleftea this upcoming season instead of attempting to break into the Grand Rapids Griffins’ stacked defense:

“Axel is probably one of Sweden’s most important players on defense,” Danny Cleary, Red Wings assistant director of player development, said. “It’s hard for a defenseman to play (in Grand Rapids). He’s going to play quite a bit in Skelleftea, they’re going to have a good team, he’s going to run the power play. He’s going to play quite a bit with the puck.

“Axel is a very smart player. He moves well. We just don’t see the harm in it (staying in Sweden). No sense rushing him. We got a pretty good D in Grand Rapids. Got a couple D graduating, but we have some good players still down there. Not to say Axe couldn’t come over and play in Grand Rapids, no problem, but Skelleftea is a real good development place, it’s a good league, it’s a good city, well run. Axe will be back in Ottawa at the World Juniors again (this year). He’s a really talented player.”

Continued (paywall); Sandin Pellikka will be developing under the watchful eyes of director of player development Niklas Kronwall, Vice-President of hockey operations Nicklas Lidstrom, and even Henrik Zetterberg, who works with the Red Wings from time to time in an informal capacity.

ASP really will run Skelleftea’s power play, he’s going to be playing for another season against men, and he’ll work on filling out that 5’11,” 185-pound frame. At this point, the pluses of spending one more season in Sweden out-weigh the pluses of ASP playing in North America. Sometimes the best road to the NHL isn’t a direct one.

The fact that ASP can develop alongside Michael Brandsegg-Nygard is just the cherry on top of the cake.

Alex Wood on YouTube posted a 36-minute clip which illustrates the 3-plus goal comebacks in which the Red Wings managed to earn a tie or an overtime loss.

It’s a follow-up to a video in which Wood posted the Red Wings’ wins in which they trailed by 3 or more goals.

The Kronen Zeitung out of Austria is usually paywalled, but MSN Start posted an article about Marco Kasper that snuck past the paywall. The article’s author, Marcel Santer, reports that Kasper has gained two kilograms’ worth of muscle mass–and that he’s going to participate in Olympic qualifying play for Austria at the end of this month.

Here’s a rough translation of the German-language article:

Two kilos more! Kasper works hard for his NHL Dream

Marco Kasper played in one NHL game for the Detroit Red Wings in April of 2023, but he spent the past season with the Grand Rapids Griffins farm team. In order to be able to show off in Detroit’s training cam pin September, the 20-year-old is training hard–and has already gained two kilos of muscle. Before that, however, he will take part in Olympic qualifying with Austria.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted an article which discusses the potential performances of three Red Wings who’ve scored 30-plus goals in the past. Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat and Vladimir Tarasenko have all exceeded the 30-goal mark in past campaigns, but none of the trio scored 30 this past season.

As such, Duff wonders aloud whether any or all of the veterans will hit 30+ this upcoming season, noting that Kane’s hip resurfacing surgery and Tarasenko’s status as a 32-year-old may diminish their chances of scoring as they once did:

Both captain Dylan Larkin (33 goals) and winger Lucas Raymond (31) topped the 30-goal plateau last season. Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko are the others to go over 30 goals during an NHL season. All of them have achieved this milestone several times.

The thing is, for all of them, it’s been a minute or so since it happened. That being the case, are the Red Wings putting too much hope into past performances?

Is it wise, or even likely for that matter, to be expecting Kane, DeBrincat and Tarasenko to return to what they once were in terms of goal scoring? And if they fail to bring that type of output back to the future, how might it impact the chances of the Red Wings ending their eight-season playoff drought?

Continued; I hate to count anybody out in terms of return-to-form performances. Is it possible that Kane and DeBrincat and Tarasenko all hit 30 goals, or score more than that?

Probably not, but explaining all the reasons why somebody won’t be able to do something makes me cringe a bit.

FloHockey.tv’s Chris Peters and the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton attended the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, MI last week.

Both Peters and Stockton offered post-event notebooks regarding the performances of the Team USA players (in Peters’ case) and Red Wings prospects (in Stockton’s case) who participated in the event.

Peters’ first notebook article focused on the forwards which Team USA Blue and Team USA White employed, including Red Wings 2024 draft pick Max Plante…

Max Plante, LW (DET): I thought Plante had a great camp and put himself on the map as a potential option. He was given looks with some of USA’s most skilled players on the power play, putting him in the bumper position. Plante was a natural and was able to facilitate from the middle of the ice. On top of that, I think Plante was moving with quickness and showed his smarts with the puck on his stick. He looks like he has a chance to be a secondary scoring and power-play option for USA at the World Juniors provided he keeps this going in the first half of the season at Minnesota Duluth.

Peters’ second notebook article focused on Team USA White and Team USA Blue’s defensemen and goaltenders, including Red Wings 2024 draft pick D John Whipple, and 2023 draft pick and goaltender Trey Augustine…

According to Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff, Red Wings prospect and Michigan State University goaltender Trey Augustine may earn the opportunity to earn 5 medals with US. national teams, which is quite the feat:

In the past two years, he’s backstopped the USA to a pair of medals in the IIHF World Junior Championship – bronze in 2023 and gold in 2024. He was adding those to the gleaming gold (2023) and silver (2022) medals he won playing in the World U18 Championship.

“For me there’s nothing better than putting on the nation’s colors and being able to represent the United States, so I always love those opportunities,” Augustine said.

He’ll be getting another one upcoming this season, as he looks to win an unprecedented third world junior medal for his country.

Were he to make that history, Augustine, still only 19, would be putting himself in select company, and in position to become the winningest performer in USA Hockey history in terms of medals earned.

Only eight American players have earned more than four medals from major international hockey events.

Continued

NHL.com’s Dave Hogg posted a profile of Red Wings prospect Nate Danielson on Saturday night, discussing Danielson’s strong performance during Detroit’s Summer Development Camp as something of tone-setting event as Danielson looks to make the Wings’ roster out of training camp and the exhibition season:

“He had a tremendous season, and he tested No. 1 here (in conditioning tests),” Red Wings assistant director of player development Dan Cleary said. “Nate is a serious, driven kid, and he’s starting to come out of his shell. He works hard and he looks good — there’s not much else to say.”

Danielson is coming off his fourth season in the Western Hockey League, where he had 67 points (24 goals, 43 assists) in 54 games with Brandon and Portland, and 24 points (seven goals, 17 points) in 18 playoff games to help Portland reach the WHL final. He also had three points (one goal, two assists) in five games for Canada in the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Most notable were the two American Hockey League playoff games he got into with Grand Rapids, his first taste of playing as a pro.

“That was good experience for me,” Danielson said during developmental camp. “Making that jump to pro next year, I know the speed of the game. Everyone is older, bigger and stronger, so knowing what to expect definitely helps.”

…

“Every year, you try to improve,” he said. “I’ve improved since (last year) as a person and as a player with all of the new experiences I’ve had.”

At 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, he could benefit from a full season in the Red Wings strength program, and a full season in the AHL would provide experience he couldn’t get in the WHL. But Danielson said his sights are set even higher.

“I believe in myself,” he said. “I think I can make it.”

Continued; if anything, Danielson, who will turn pro with the Grand Rapids Griffins this upcoming season, has a ton of self-belief, and a professional athlete needs to be borderline arrogant to make it.

Gamer/streamer/YouTuber “Ninja,” a Michigan native, visited Little Caesars Arena and the Red Wings’ BELFOR Training Center recently. If you’re a fan, you may enjoy this hype video from the Red Wings:

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan wonders aloud whether Red Wings prospect and Jackson, MI native Carter Mazur might crack Detroit’s roster out of training camp, utilizing GM Steve Yzerman and Wings assistant director of player development Dan Cleary’s comments about Mazur as a guide:

“He’s got a real good feel for the game,” Yzerman said at his season-ending press conference. “He knows how to get open, he knows to work, where to go. He goes to all the hard areas and he gets a puck on his stick and off the stick. It’s a little bit like the (Alex) DeBrincat shot. He shoots the puck and it’s a threat to go in. He’s got that every time he shoots — it’s a scoring chance.”

There was a smattering of disappointment among Wings fans on social media regarding the inability of Mazur and [Marco] Kasper (14 goals, 35 points in 71 games) to dominate in the AHL. But Yzerman was pleased with the steady progress both prospects made in Grand Rapids.

“Both are really good prospects for us, with good attitudes,” Yzerman said. “Their numbers weren’t off the charts in the minors this year, but if you watch their progression, at the end of the season you’re like, ‘These two kids are really good prospects.'”

A key question regarding Mazur, 22, will be his frame and strength. At 6-feet and 175 pounds, he is a willing and agitating player who enjoys frustrating opponents. But whether Mazur could sustain that level of difficult play over a long NHL season, at this point of his career, is a legitimate question.

Given Mazur’s age and experience level, he wasn’t at the Wings’ development camp last month. But Dan Cleary, Detroit’s assistant director of player development, also was pleased with Mazur’s development.

“Maze gets hurt right away and it took a little while to come back,” Cleary said. “They (Griffins coach Dan Watson and his staff) kept growing him and by the end of the year, they (Mazur and Kasper) were our best players in the most pivotal games.”

Continued; as Kulfan suggests, it’s going to take Mazur, Kasper or Nate Danielson pushing someone on the roster out of their job in order to make the team out of training camp.