Three things: an ‘interesting’ Danielson, potential playoff returnees and Rychlovsky discusses his trajectory

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman posted a list of 32 teams’ “most interesting” prospects heading into training camps:

Detroit Red Wings: Nate Danielson, 19, C

Danielson’s WHL season wasn’t amazing, but he ended on a very strong note after being traded to Portland, especially in the playoffs. He is a talented center with size, speed, skill and a strong two-way game. He’s likely going to the AHL, but on a Detroit roster that needs more talent up front and especially down the middle, I could see Danielson make his status a debate during Red Wings camp.

Danielson posted 41 points in 28 games for the Portland Winterhawks after being traded from Brandon of the WHL, and then he posted 24 playoff points in 18 games. That’s a “strong note,” indeed.

2. MLive’s Ansar Khan essentially answered a reader poll from ProHockeyRumors.com this morning, discussing which Eastern Conference teams which missed the playoff cut last season might make the cut this upcoming season:

Prohockeyrumors.com posed the question in a reader poll this week and the New Jersey Devils were the overwhelming favorites to return to the postseason after missing out by 10 points last season, when they experienced a 31-point decline.

The Devils shored up their goaltending by acquiring Jakob Markstrom and their defense by signing Brett Pesche and Brenden Dillon. They join a strong group of forwards led by first overall picks Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier as well as Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt.

New Jersey, under former Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, is a solid pick to make the field.

The Red Wings were the second choice from prohockeyreumors.com readers to make the playoffs among teams that didn’t get in last year, ahead of Pittsburgh, Ottawa and Buffalo.

The Red Wings had an eight-point lead in the playoff race in late February before a seven-game losing streak led to a late-season collapse and the ultimately lost out to the Capitals on a tie-breaker.

They’ll need to recoup some lost offense (David Perron, Daniel Sprong, Robby Fabbri, Shayne Gostisbehere, Jake Walman) and cut down on goals against (ranked 24th at 3.33 per game).

3. Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses the iDnes.cz article in which Red Wings free agent signing Jakub Rychlovsky spoke with Michael Havlen about his summertime training and his preparations for training camp with the Red Wings.

I posted a rough translation of the article a couple of days ago, and here’s the conclusion thereof:

He will have to fight hard for his place in the best league in the world. The path for him will probably lead through the farm team, the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL. “I think the farm will definitely not miss me in the beginning. If you look at the history of how Detroit has handled players, they’ve mostly sent them to the farm team. So my journey will probably lead there, too. But anything can happen,” Rychlovsky says.

The advice of the White Tigers’ biggest summer signing, former Grand Rapids Griffin Radim Simek, also helped him orientate himself in the new environment. The experienced defender ended his overseas career before returning to Liberec in Detroit’s farm team. “We had daily debates about how everything goes on there, so that at the beginning, I would at least have some information that would make it easier for me. I am very grateful to Radim for that, I value his advice very much, and I will certainly draw upon that,” says Rychlovsky.

He went overseas alone without his partner, who is waiting for the last year of her university studies. “She’ll definitely come see me a few times though. After the season, we’ll see whether I continue in North America or return to Europe. It’s all in the stars.”