Month: September 2024

Tweet of note: PuckPedia reports Red Wings have $8.75 million in salary cap space left

Get Seider done, Mr. Yzerman.

Red Wings re-sign Lucas Raymond to 8-year contract at $8.075 million AAV

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS RE-SIGN LUCAS RAYMOND TO EIGHT-YEAR CONTRACT

  … Fourth Overall Pick in 2020 NHL Entry Draft Has Recorded 174 Points in 238 Games …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today re-signed right wing Lucas Raymond to an eight-year contract with an average annual value of $8.075 million.

Raymond, 22, skated in all 82 games with the Red Wings during the 2023-24 season and ranked among the team leaders with 31 goals (2nd), 41 assists (2nd), 72 points (1st), six power play goals (4th), 16 power play points (6th), three overtime goals (T1st), four game-winning goals (T3rd), 163 shots (3rd) and a 19.0 shooting percentage (1st). The 5-foot-11, 188-pound forward also paced the Red Wings with 21 multi-point games, including his second career hat trick on April 11 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Raymond became the first Detroit skater to lead the team in points at season’s end at age 22-or-younger since Dylan Larkin, who did so in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Additionally, Raymond is the fourth Red Wings player in the previous 30 years to score at least 30 goals in a season at age 22-or-younger, joining Larkin (32 in 2018-19), Vyacheslav Kozlov (34 in 1993-94) and Keith Primeau (31 in 1993-94).

Raymond showed a 27-point improvement from his sophomore campaign, when he recorded 45 points (17-28-45) and 24 penalty minutes in 74 games during the 2022-23 season. He was named the NHL’s Second Star for the week ending Jan. 15, 2023 after logging seven points (3-4-7) in a three-game span from Jan. 10-14. Raymond made his NHL debut in 2021-22, collecting 57 points (23-34-57) and 16 penalty minutes in 82 games en route to being selected to the All-Rookie Team and placing fourth in voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy, which was awarded to Red Wings teammate Moritz Seider. Raymond was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for November 2021 after leading all rookies in goals (5), assists (7) and points (12) in 14 games. Selected by Detroit in the first round (fourth overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Raymond became the Red Wings’ highest draft pick since the team chose Keith Primeau third overall in 1990. In total, Raymond has compiled 174 points (71-103-174) and 70 penalty minutes in 238 NHL games, which is the second-highest point total in his draft class behind Tim Stützle.

Prior to arriving in North America, Raymond played in parts of three seasons with Frölunda HC, based out of his hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden. Raymond made his professional debut in the Swedish Hockey League at age 16, notching 33 points (14-19-33), a plus-13 rating and 16 penalty minutes in 87 games from 2018-21. He also won back-to-back Champions Hockey League titles with Frölunda in 2019 and 2020. Raymond developed in Frölunda’s system, totaling 62 points (16-46-62) and 32 penalty minutes in 54 games with the under-20 team, adding 84 points (38-46-84) and 20 penalty minutes in 56 games with the under-18 squad and accumulating 151 points (71-80-151) and 60 penalty minutes over 72 games at the under-16 level.

On the international stage, Raymond won a bronze medal at the 2024 IIHF World Championship, recording nine points (4-5-9) in 10 games. Raymond also represented his country at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, tallying eight points (2-6-8) in eight appearances. He competed in back-to-back IIHF World Junior Championships in 2020 and 2021, earning a bronze medal at the 2020 tournament. Raymond led Sweden to a gold medal at the 2019 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, where he racked up eight points (4-4-8) in seven games, including a hat trick and overtime winner in the gold medal game against Russia. He captured a bronze medal at the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, registering seven points (4-3-7) in six games, and also won a silver medal at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup with a team-leading seven points (5-2-7) in five games.

When positional depth is a complicated thing

The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood attempts to break down the Red Wings’ goaltending depth throughout the organization this afternoon, and that isn’t an easy task.

Between Cam Talbot, Alex Lyon, Ville Husso, Sebastian Cossa, Jack Campbell, Carter Gylander, Gage Alexander and the AHL-contracted Jan Bednar, the Wings will bring at least eight goaltenders with them to Traverse City this Thursday, and the team is attempting to build enough developmental runway for at least Trey Augustine to join the organization in a couple of seasons.

Here’s what Connor has to say about the x-factor in oft-injured Ville Husso:

Ville Husso: After two lower body injuries last season, Husso appeared to be on the mend when he took on a conditioning stint in Grand Rapids last April. That lasted until warmups, when he tweaked an injury and had to leave the ice. That ended his season, but more importantly raised questions about his long term future. Going through so many injuries in one season is, frankly, scary.

After an offseason of getting his body right, Husso appears to be ready to go for the season. Yzerman and Lalonde have both maintained this offseason that Husso is 100%. More telling, Husso spent the summer working out with a group of elite NHLers in Plymouth this summer. Just a few of the names: Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Andrew Copp, Kyle Connor, Connor Hellebuyck, and all three Hughes brothers. You don’t face shots from NHL All-Stars if you aren’t fully healthy. Husso working out with that crew is as good a sign as any that he’s back to full health.

With health, where does Husso fit into the goalie room? He’s probably not getting his starting job right away with Talbot and Lyon in the mix, but he should be able to compete for the role. His starts, even when healthy, weren’t stellar in 2023-24, though nagging injuries may have played a part in that. Husso is starting on square one, in a way, though starting at all is a big win for him considering where he was five months ago.

Continued (at length);

At this point, the Wings’ goaltending situation looks like this:

Talbot-Lyon-Husso (NHL level), Cossa-Campbell-Gylander (AHL level) and Alexander-Bednar (ECHL level). That’s a complicated situation.

Duff on Ondrej Becher’s complicated situation

Red Wings 2024 draft pick Ondrej Becher missed the Red Wings’ Prospect Games with an ankle injury, and Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff explains why that’s important in a subscriber-only article.

Put bluntly (so I don’t swipe the whole article), Becher is 20 years old, and he played for the Prince George Cougars last season through his 20th birthday in February.

Once you turn 20, you’re considered an “overager,” and teams are only allowed to carry 3 players who are at or over 20 years of age, so it is completely uncertain as to whether Becher will play for Prince George again, whether he’ll be traded to another WHL team, or whether he’ll end up with the Toledo Walleye or even the Grand Rapids Griffins:

The optics of seeing a high draftee back for an overager junior season are not good. Secondly, Becher is coming off a 32-goal, 96-point campaign with the WHL Cougars. Would it be serving his development curve wisely to give him a third year of junior hockey against younger competition?

No, he needs to play pro. But where?

“It’s a great question,” Cleary frankly admitted. “Honestly, this certainly is not ideal. You know, the whole idea was, I guess, for him to come in and experience prospects, get into training camp.”

Before assigning the 6-foot-1, 1984-pound center a place to play, they’re going to need to see Becher play against other pros. Beyond that, they’ve also got to get his name on a contract.

So the Red Wings need Becher to get healthy, and they need to get him in some preseason games to determine whether they send him back to the WHL, whether they ink him to a pro deal and send him to Toledo, or whether he’s ready for Grand Rapids.

Tweet of note: PuckPedia reports Detroit has $16.8 million left to re-sign Raymond and Seider

Per PuckPedia on Twitter:

So Raymond and Seider’s contracts will have to come in at or around $8 million (or less).

Press release: Red Wings re-sign Jonatan Berggren to 1-year, $825,000 deal

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS RE-SIGN JONATAN BERGGREN TO ONE-YEAR CONTRACT

  … 2018 Second-Round Pick Has Recorded 34 Points in 79 Games with Detroit …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today re-signed right wing Jonatan Berggren to a one-year contract with an average annual value of $825,000.

Berggren, 24, skated in 12 games with the Red Wings during the 2023-24 season, recording six points (2-4-6) and two penalty minutes. The 5-foot-11, 194-pound forward also played in 53 games with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins in 2023-24 and ranked among the team leaders with 24 goals (1st), 32 assists (1st), 56 points (1st), 58 penalty minutes (T2nd), four power play goals (T3rd), 19 power play points (1st), four game-winning goals (T1st), 156 shots (2nd) and a 15.4 shooting percentage (1st), representing the club at the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic. Additionally, Berggren led the Griffins with 10 points (5-5-10) in nine postseason contests, including a pair of overtime goals in the Central Division Semifinals against the Rockford IceHogs. Berggren spent the majority of the 2022-23 season with the Red Wings and placed among the team leaders with 15 goals (5th), 28 points (9th), five power play goals (T4th), nine power play points (7th) and a 15.3 shooting percentage (1st) in 67 games. He also registered seven points (4-3-7) in seven appearances with the Griffins in 2022-23. Selected by the Red Wings in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Berggren has collected 34 points (17-17-34) and 18 penalty minutes in 79 career NHL games. He has also logged 127 points (49-78-127) and 84 penalty minutes in 130 AHL games with the Griffins since 2021-22.

Prior to arriving in North America, Berggren played for Skellefteå AIK in the Swedish Hockey League, tying for the team lead with 45 points (12-33-45) in 49 games during the 2020-21 campaign, in addition to four assists in 12 postseason contests. In all, Berggren notched 60 points (14-46-60), a plus-seven rating and 28 penalty minutes in 99 games with Skellefteå AIK in Sweden’s top professional league from 2017-21. Berggren also registered 69 points (24-45-69), a plus-19 rating and 42 penalty minutes in 67 career games for Skellefteå’s under-20 team from 2016-18. The Uppsala, Sweden, native represented his country at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, tallying seven points (2-5-7), a plus-five rating and two penalty minutes in eight games. Berggren earned a bronze medal at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, recording five points (1-4-5) in seven games. He captured a bronze medal with Sweden at the 2018 IIHF World Under-18 Championship after leading the team with 10 points (5-5-10) in seven games, and also won bronze after picking up five points (3-2-5) in five games at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Additionally, Berggren won a gold medal with Sweden during the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, tallying three points (2-1-3) in six games.

Praise for Carter Gylander

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen profiles Red Wings prospect goaltender Carter Gylander this morning:

Carter Gylander (pronounced GUY-Lander) stopped 29 of 30 shots (.967 save percentage) to help the Red Wings down the Dallas Stars twice in their NHL Prospect Series. The Alberta native owned a 0.67 goals-against average for 90-plus minutes of work in the series.

Here is the scoring summary for the two games of the series.

The Red Wings signed Gylander, 23, after he played four seasons at Colgate.  At 6-foot-5, 195 pounds, Gylander has a similar body type to Cossa. Both are tall and thin.

“I thought he had a great game and a half, to be honest with you,” the prospect team coach Dan Watson said. “He played aggressive (Sunday). He saw a lot more action to what he did last night. So for him to be able to put together four and a half really, really solid periods is good for him. You know, he got a little bit of a taste last year in the Grand Rapids, some practice time. So I think he was maybe a little bit ahead of the curve there. But I think overall very pleased with his outings. ”

Continued; Gylander has a ways to go, but his steady style and massive size are encouraging.

Some final Prospect Games thoughts

The Red Wings’ “Prospect Games” against the Dallas Stars are over, and, after issuing “Player Takes” regarding both Saturday’s 5-1 victory and Sunday’s 3-2 win over the Stars’ prospects, I’d like to wrap things up with a reassessment of my initial prospect games roster breakdown.

I need to qualify all of this with an obvious caveat: these observations are based upon only two games’ worth of prospect-vs-prospect games, and nothing more…


And one of the most painful parts of not being able to go to training camp is that I won’t be able to see which prospects continue to impress against NHL competition, and which prospects end up falling off the radar screen. It’s inevitable that some prospects will shine, and others will struggle, and witnessing that process in-person is a fascinating endeavor that will be sorely missed this year.

Life takes us in disparate directions, however, so here’s the best I can offer:

Continue reading Some final Prospect Games thoughts

Tweet for fun: a ‘buzz’ around Amadeus Lombardi

Amadeus Lombardi looks a little different this fall, and he explains why when asked by the Grand Rapids Griffins’ social media crew: