Of Red Wings-related note this evening:
- Among the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan’s expansive evening notes:
Is there going to be enough playing time this exhibition season for goaltenders Ville Husso, Alex Lyon, Cam Talbot and Jack Campbell, along with prospect Sebastian Cossa?
[Red Wings coach Derek] Lalonde insists there will be, with eight exhibition games and numerous practices in the next two weeks.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Lalonde said. “We have a lot of goalies in camp here. Even in practice it’s going to be hard to get reps. (But) all the goalies should get some looks in the exhibitions. There will be a purpose with those looks with who and when. In today’s age in the NHL, with specialized goalie coaches, we’ll get those reps within and before and after practice.
“It’s definitely a challenge but I do think there will be enough reps to go around.”
Heading into the preseason, Lalonde doesn’t have a depth chart in his mind.
“It’s a clean slate, a true clean slate,” Lalonde said. “Over the last two years all three of those goalies (Husso, Lyon and Talbot) have really had nice stretches in this league and proven they can win in this league. Jack has done that also. It’s a healthy competition and wide open.”
2. The Detroit News’s David Guralnick posted a 68-image photo gallery from today’s training camp practices;
3. The Traverse City Record-Eagle’s Brendan Quealy discussed the Red Wings’ takes on their particularly long summer…
“Last summer was too long. Definitely don’t want to do that again,” Compher said. “It was definitely a longer summer. I didn’t really like it, to be honest. I want to play hockey. I’m more than willing to train for however long I have to train. I want to be playing playoff hockey.”
And Compher is far from the only one on the roster with playoff aspirations as Detroit wrapped up the second day of training camp at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City on Friday.
“The intensity is maybe a little bit higher. We’re all focused on reaching that goal, getting better, playing more as a team,” second-year Red Wing Alex Debrincat said. “We all have that bitter taste in our mouth from last year. … Every time you’re out there, do whatever you can for the team and we’ll win some games.”
Shaking off the disappointment of getting so close to the postseason but still being in the same spot as the worst team in the NHL — at home — was no easy task after last season.
“It’s one of those things that sticks with you through the whole offseason,” Debrincat said. “Guys started training early and working to get back and feel good for this year. At the end of the season, I wasn’t necessarily ready to stop playing hockey. All of us are ready to go. We’re ready to be here and excited to be back as a team.”
That team again includes Debrincat’s former Chicago Blackhawks teammate, Patrick Kane.
“We were talking most of the summer, and he didn’t necessarily know what he was going to do,” Debrincat said about Kane, who re-signed with the Red Wings at the end of June. “At the end of the day, he liked playing here. He loved the fans. He loved the team. Just loved being a Red Wing. Him coming back was huge for our team.”
4. The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton posted an article which discusses Simon Edvinsson’s role on this upcoming season’s team…
In his first press availability of the season, Simon Edvinsson started out with a simple question to answer: what is it like to go into training camp assured of a roster spot? Edvinsson paused for a moment, then politely contradicted the initial assertion. “I don’t think like that, actually,” he said. “It’s a training camp where we come from a season where we didn’t reach playoffs by one point, and I think my main focus has been just to be as good as possible and as ready as possible for the start of the season. Nothing has changed with my focus from there.” Edvinsson might be just 21 years old with 25 NHL games under his belt, but his words suggest an approach to camp and a clarity of purpose beyond his years.
“A lot happened,” Edvinsson said of the final two months of the season. “I know how hard it is to grab a playoff spot,” he added. “I know what is needed from the whole team and me personally to grab that extra point [in the standings]…That’s the biggest takeaway.”
As far as individual lessons from the Red Wings painfully close playoff push, Edvinsson explained, “Don’t try to be the hero of the game,” Edvinsson said of what he took from last season. “Opportunities will come to you. As a defenseman, I have to play strong defense and if the opportunity to go forward and [be] offensive, I will take it. That was the main thing I took [from last season].”
It was that propensity for heroism that Detroit coach Derek Lalonde saw Edvinsson overcome on his way to earning supreme trust, and Lalonde expects that to pick straight up where it left off a year ago. “I foresee him being in our top four to start the season,” Lalonde said of Edvinsson. “His overall play from Grand Rapids last year to what he gave us down the stretch, where he slotted with our push at the end of the year, we foresee him in a similar role and kind of let it play out from there.” “We might be a little fluid with our top four…If he earns more minutes, he’ll get more minutes,” he adds.
5. Both Edvinsson and coach Lalonde discussed the positive impact of #77’s partner, one Jeff Petry…
“He’s a great guy,” Edvinsson praised Friday. “We have a really good connection, both on the ice and off the ice. Of course, it’s more to build on, but I feel we can get a really, really good connection between us two and complement each other pretty good.”
Petry has taken Edvinsson under his wing both on and off the ice. After playing together last training camp, the two united in Edvinsson’s 14-game call-up to end last season. They’ve also gone to dinner together, and of course, they’re going fishing together.
Those opportunities all allow Petry to mentor his defense partner, which is something Detroit coach Derek Lalonde wants to see.
“Jeff’s seen everything and then some, every situation” Lalonde said Friday. “He could be a perfect mentor in that relationship.”
But Petry and Edvinsson’s relationship isn’t defined as the dynamic of a teacher and student. Rather, they’re two teammates and friends who happen to have a lot of similar thoughts on the game, at least according to Edvinsson. And in those moments where the two connect, Edvinsson benefits from all the advice and experience of his defense partner.
“It’s just those small things that give you good connection with your partner,” Edvinsson said. “I think, of course we talk a lot on the ice — what we can do better, what we can do different. We don’t seek it, we just feel the same thing, and that’s what good to have.”
6. The Athletic’s Max Bultman ponders whether any of the Red Wings’ young forwards might be able to make the team’s opening-night lineup…
As the Red Wings open camp, there are three young forwards all looking to make a surprise push to Detroit: Carter Mazur, Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson.
And while Detroit’s roster — as usual — does not currently have an obvious spot up for grabs, the Red Wings are openly hoping that at least one of those players can force them into a tough decision.
“We want a push,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “I would like those guys obviously to be respectful to the veterans, but to be fighting for their spot. That’s the reality of growing. We want that push from them. And it’s only two days in, but a lot of positives.”
The first name Lalonde pointed to matched my observations from the first two days: “I would say Marco’s had two very strong days,” Lalonde said. “Danielson, Carter very similar.”
Kasper caught my eye from Day 1 in practice, looking bigger and more powerful than he did a year ago. My first note of camp was an impressive shot Kasper buried (albeit on a three-on-zero drill), and he kept catching my eye during a battle drill soon after, holding onto a puck against Danielson head-to-head in one rep, drawing even on another, and with the two splitting a pair of reps when the drill expanded to two-on-two (Danielson with Alexandre Doucet, Kasper with Michael Brandsegg-Nygård).
“We were talking in the room yesterday, he doesn’t even look like the same athlete as last year at this time in camp,” Lalonde said. “He built some confidence from his growth in (Grand Rapids) last year, and I think that playoff run was very valuable for him. He’s got some attitude into camp this year, which is certainly a positive.”
7. Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen focuses on two players in try-outs Austin Watson and Isaac Ratcliffe…
Derek Lalonde would rather that his Detroit Red Wings had some more bite. So he’s considering a switch.
Two forwards in Red Wings training camp are players who would bring that element to the lineup. Austin Watson and Isaac Ratcliffe are in Traverse City on Professional Tryout Offers (PTO). They are promised nothing beyond a chance to show what they’ve got.
…
“Obviously, we have some skill,” Lalonde said. “We would like that skill to be comfortable in the way they play, and that can look different at times. So, of course, I think we would love that element if it’s the right fit.”
Along with bringing an element of toughness, in today’s game, rugged players must deliver more that just fistic punches. They need to add something else to the lineup.
Watson has certainly proven to be a player of that ilk during his 10 NHL seasons.
“I think he brings that nasty element,” DeBrincat said. “He’s so hard on the forecheck. He plays maybe not too many minutes, but he’s playing those minutes hard, and he’s crushing their D and getting them tired for the rest of the game. So, he’d be a great addition to this team.”
8. And finally, the Red Wings posted the following on Twitter this evening:
Lock screen reveals 📲😅 pic.twitter.com/5SDEeVJexT
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 20, 2024
