Month: September 2024

Training camp Tweets of note: it begins

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton reports that training camp has begun as Team Lindsay, which is constituted of amateur try-outs and a couple of the Wings’ goaltending prospects, is on the ice at Centre ICE Arena:

I’m going to try to keep this thread going with updates as the NHL groups–Team Delvecchio and Team Howe–hit the ice at 9:20 AM and 11:35 AM, respectively.

For what it’s worth, Team Lindsay always starts with video at 7:55 AM and a practice between 8:10 AM and 9:10 AM, so the Wings will rotate some youngsters in and out of the “early-morning unit.”

Teams Delvecchio and Howe practice for about 1 hour and 45 minutes, with a break for video in between two on-ice skates.

Continue reading Training camp Tweets of note: it begins

Morning news round-up: Training camp storylines

The Red Wings begin training camp around 8 AM this morning, and I’m not there for the first time since the last lockout. I’ve expressed my frustration about not being at what is essentially Christmas for Wings fans and correspondents, but the situation is what it is, so I’m going to do my best to give you what coverage I can over the next four days.

You’re also going to see some fundraising posts to plain old pay the bills, because I’m already pondering a paywall, but I want to keep this website reader-supported and ad-free but still free to peruse, so the NPR of blogs = the fundraising never ends.

Let’s begin with some content.

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. The Free Press’s Helene St. James posts her training camp preview this morning, discussing items of note as training camp begins in about an hour:

Second line option: Patrick Kane and newcomer Vladimir Tarasenko are familiar with one another from being teammates with the New York Rangers, albeit briefly. They’re both natural right wingers who shoot left, but during his time last season with the Ottawa Senators, Tarasenko played on the left wing, and in July, he didn’t sound averse to giving it another go: “It just took a little bit of time to understand the systems and if you know what you are doing on the ice, I don’t think there is a difference what wing you play.”

Putting Kane and Tarasenko on the same line, likely with J.T. Compher in the middle, would be worth exploring for the Wings. These next handful of days offer an opportunity for Kane and Tarasenko to work on their chemistry and see if they can be a fit together, behind what projects to be a top line of Dylan Larkin with Raymond and Alex DeBrincat.

Man advantages: No offseason departure may be felt more pointedly than that of Shayne Gostisbehere, who took his offensive expertise to the Carolina Hurricanes as a free agent. He led the Wings with 29 power play points while running the first unit. Seider played the point on the other unit, so as long as he remains absent, there’s an opportunity to audition two options. Newcomer Erik Gustafsson was brought in on the blue line via free agency (two years at $2 million per) partly in the expectation he could run one of the units. Jeff Petry has done it in the past, but this seems like a good opportunity to give Simon Edvinsson some looks in no-pressure situations.

After camp breaks, the Wings return to Detroit and begin an eight-game exhibition slate on Wednesday (in Chicago against the Blackhawks) that features home games against the Blackhawks (Sept. 27), Pittsburgh Penguins (Sept. 28), Toronto Maple Leafs (Oct. 3) and Ottawa Senators (Oct. 4).

Continued (paywall);

2. MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses five roster and/or position battles as training camp begins…

Continue reading Morning news round-up: Training camp storylines

NHL Network names Dylan Larkin the 42nd-best player in the NHL right now

The NHL Network is releasing its “Top 50 players right now” list, and Wednesday night’s #50-41 reveal includes someone who will probably be the Red Wings’ only participant:

42. Dylan Larkin, C, Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings captain scored an NHL career-high 33 goals and had 36 assists in 68 games last season, the fourth time in his career he’s scored at least 30 goals. The 28-year-old averaged more than a point per game (1.01) for the first time in nine NHL seasons, scored his 200th NHL goal Jan. 27 and got his 500th point April 11.

There’s a 3:04 video included in the story, in which Stu Grimson talks about Larkin’s attributes, but I can’t embed it as NHL.com no longer allows you to embed videos.

DHN’s Rasmussen posts his annual jersey number post, notes a 3rd pro try-out player on Wings’ roster

DetroitHockey.net’s Clark Rasmussen has posted his annual assessment of the Red Wings’ training camp jersey number changes:

Regarding jersey numbers, there aren’t a whole lot of surprises, either.

Two of my predictions came true.  With Cam Talbot having taken #39, Tim Gettinger has switched to #26.  Carter Mazur is also switching, giving up #32 (now assigned to Jack Campbell) for the #43 he had been assigned up until last season.

[Austin] Watson’s usual #51 is assigned to Eemil Viro, leaving Watson with #24.  Similarly, Talbot has [Alex] Chiasson’s usual #39 and the #48 he wore in his previous stint with the Wings now belongs to Jonatan Berggren so he’s wearing #79.  Both #24 and #79 were last assigned in this summer’s Development Camp, to Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Larry Keenan, respectively.

[Try-out Isaac] Ratcliffe has been given #76, worn in Development Camp by Cy LeClerc.

The only other number curiosity is Griffins’ captain Josiah Didier, who wore #84 in camp last year and is wearing #94 this year.  That switch was necessitated by William Lagesson signing in Detroit over the summer and taking #84.

Continued; kudos to Clark for spotting Isaac Ratcliffe on the roster. He’s a 25-year-old left wing who stands at 6’6″ and 225 pounds, and he spent last season playing for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, posting 10 points in 66 games (along with 60 penalty minutes).

I’d guess that Ratcliffe is being evaluated for a spot on the Grand Rapids Griffins’ roster.

Tweet of note: Measures great and small

Via The Athletic’s Max Bultman on Twitter, those of us who are sort of information junkies tend to peruse the Red Wings’ annual training camp rosters to see the players’ listed heights and weights. This year’s roster offers some surprises, as DobberProspects’ Jordan Harris noted:

A person’s weight tends to vary by a couple of pounds, but Mazur and Edvinsson have definitely bulked up at 6′ and 189 pounds for Mazur and 6’6″ and 225 pounds for Edvinsson; Finnie’s listed at 6’1″ and 190 pounds, and Danielson’s now at 6’1″ and 191 pounds.

A bit more from Lucas Raymond on his re-signing

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills offers a day-after article discussing the comments made by Lucas Raymond during yesterday’s press conference:

“I had great support from my side with [agents] J.P. Barry and Matt Williams, who guided me through it,” Raymond said. “It was all new to me, like I’ve never been in those kinds of situations, so it was a lot of new stuff. From the start, I think a big thing for me was that I wanted long-term. I’ve been pretty vocal about that – how much I like Detroit, how much I like the city, the team and the direction we’re heading.”

Raymond said he feels a weight has been taken off his shoulders now that he has clarity and stability.

“A lot of screen time during the summer and you spend a lot of time on the phone,” Raymond said. “So to get it done, you’ll be able to move on from that. I feel that’s a huge relief and then you can just focus on the Detroit Red Wings.”

A hard-working competitor who holds himself to a high standard, Raymond wants to keep maturing and growing as a player.

“I felt a huge difference coming into last year,” Raymond said. “Just the way you see the game, the way you handle yourself off the ice. On the ice as well, there’s areas I want to keep taking bigger strides, taking more responsibility and raising expectations for myself. That’s the goal.”

From the moment he made his NHL debut with the Red Wings in 2021, Raymond said the fanbase received him with open arms. The young forward takes great pride in playing for the city of Detroit and because he believes in the organization’s future, is motivated to help guide the Red Wings back into an extended era of success.

“The last stretch of (2023-24 season) was some of the most fun hockey I’ve ever played,” Raymond said. “Just seeing the way that the fans responded, the building was electric every night. You could just feel it around us as well. It’s amazing playing in front of that, and it gives you so much energy. It’s been like that since my first year. That’s the biggest thing I’ve noticed night in and night out. It’s unbelievable, so you want to give back to that. Hopefully, we can do that.”

Continued; now get Seider done, Mr. Yzerman.

Non-sequitur: When Lions coach Dan Campbell has to sell Igor Larionov’s house

Sports Illustrated’s Christian Booher reports something that is tangentially Red Wings-related…sort of…

Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell and his family are selling their home in Oakland County amidst security concerns, according to a report Wednesday.

Crain’s Detroit Business reported that Campbell listed his home on the market for an asking price of $4.5 million earlier in the week after concerns about the security of the home necessitated the move.

“There’s plenty of space, it’s on two acres, the home is beautiful,” Campbell told Crain’s. “It’s just that people figured out where we lived when we lost.”

Campbell reportedly bought the 7,800-square foot home, which was built in 2013, in 2021 for $3.5 million after being hired as the Lions’ head coach. According to the report, the house was marked as “pending” after 24 hours. The new buyers are reportedly big Lions fans.

“The couple ‘loved’ the house, but security concerns necessitated the move to somewhere more private, Dan Campbell told Crain’s on Wednesday morning,” wrote Nick Manes.

The house features five bedrooms and seven bathrooms and was originally built by Detroit Red Wings center and Hockey Hall of Famer Igor Larionov. Campbell and his family were represented by Ashley Crain, a realtor with Crain Holmes based in Birmingham.

Continued

Kulfan asks ’10 questions’ of the Red Wings, including replacing lost offense and a full season’s worth of Patrick Kane

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan asks 10 pertinent questions for the Red Wings ahead of training camp. Among them are the following:

▶ How will the Wings replace offense that departed this summer? Forwards David Perron, Daniel Sprong and Robby Fabbri, and defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere and Jake Walman, represent 75 goals that departed through free agency or trades, as Yzerman was strapped because of the salary cap.

How do you replace that much lost offense?

Yzerman pointed to the acquisition of Vladimir Tarasenko, a full season of Patrick Kane and Jonatan Berggren, Dylan Larkin healthy over 82 games, and continued improvement out of Raymond as some of the key ingredients.

That’s a lot of possibilities, but many are quite doable. Regardless, you see why the need for improved team defense is essential. The Wings may not score as many goals, so allowing fewer is important.

▶ What are the expectations out of a full season, healthy Kane? Fully healthy after rebounding from hip-resurfacing surgery the summer of 2023, Kane signed late with the Wings and had 47 points (20 goals) in 50 games.

Kane signed a one-year free agent contract with the Wings with incentives in the summer, backing up his talk about how much he enjoyed his time in Detroit.

Kane will be 36 in November, but showed absolutely no signs of slowing down, even after the intricate surgery. He added a subtle excitement to the roster and energized Little Caesars Arena with his play. The Wings need offense, and Kane appears capable of supplying his share.

Continued (paywall)

Tweet of note: The Griffins are teasing…Something…happening on 9/19/24

The Grand Rapids Griffins are teasing some sort of announcement for tomorrow, Thursday, September 19th, 2024.

Perhaps it’s a player signing? A new mascot? A bowling ball?