Month: December 2024

A bit of praise for Simon Edvinsson, statistically speaking

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn posted a set of “16 stats” of note prior to the NHL’s holiday break, and Luszczyszyn actually compliments a member of the Red Wings this morning:

Denied by Simon Edvinsson

I’ve always viewed Corey Sznajder’s tracking work as some of the most illuminating data in the public sphere and he’s started to share some of his tracked data for this season on his website All Three Zones. While it’s obviously important to be careful with small sample sizes, it’s still cool to take a look at some players standing out early.

One of those is Simon Edvinsson. In the last edition of 16 stats, I noted how strong Detroit’s top pair has looked defensively and one indicator of why that might be is Edvinsson being a potential neutral zone force. In the games Sznajder has tracked, Edvinsson stands alone in his ability to deny zone entries and force dump-ins — two keys to limiting offense. Last year, Brett Pesce, Devon Toews, MacKenzie Weegar, Jared Spurgeon and Gustav Forsling were among the league’s best. That’s good company to keep.

It’s still very early in the season and in Sznajder’s tracking process, but it’s something to keep an eye on with Edvinsson’s game going forward.

Continued; here’s hoping that Edvinsson’s going to be healthy going forward.

Morning news: On the Wings’ win over Philly, Simon Edvinsson’s injury and the Habs games to come

The Detroit Red Wings (and their fans) put up a fight against the Philadelphia Flyers last night, winning a 6-4 decision that was a little wild and woolly.

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton posted an overnight recap which emphasizes the “wild and woolly” aspects of the loosely-played game…

Patrick Kane scored the winner for the home side at the 7:22 mark of the third period, burying a wrist shot off a marvelous Moritz Seider stretch pass that led Kane seamlessly into the attacking third.  “Well last game I had a similar play, and I missed the net to the far side,” Kane said post-game, when asked about the sequence.  “I’ve come down that wing a few times in my career and scored going short side, so sometimes that play happens once or twice in a row and you get redemption the second time.”  Though he was only referring to a personal redemption, the notion applied just as well to his team’s second look at the Flyers in six days.

Even with six goals on the evening, the Red Wings have scored fewer goals than every other team in the Eastern Conference, but, per JT Compher (who scored Detroit’s first of the night on a first period power play), the early season offensive lethargy didn’t detract from confidence.  “In the room we know that we’re capable of scoring more,” Compher said.  

Coach Lalonde understood that the team didn’t play its best defensively…

Detroit’s performance wasn’t perfect. The Red Wings needed every last drop of rush offense they produced because, even after the initial sting of Konency’s goal, they couldn’t entirely cut out Philadelphia’s counter-attacks. As coach Derek Lalonde put it, “as a group, we probably could’ve managed our game a little better.” Nonetheless, Lalonde was pleased with his team’s overall effort, pointing to the way Detroit limited their guests’ offensive volume. “We had four shots we gave up in the first,” he noted. “We held them to under 20 shots. We’ll take that game any night. Obviously, we didn’t make it comfortable…but of course, we’ll take that game.”

But there was a big reason for that, and it was the loss of Simon Edvinsson to an “upper-body injury” in the 1st period. MLive’s Ansar Khan noted Lalonde’s remarks regarding his 5-man defensive corps, which mostly included a Ben Chiarot-Moritz Seider pairing and a Justin Holl-Jeff Petry pairing…

Continue reading Morning news: On the Wings’ win over Philly, Simon Edvinsson’s injury and the Habs games to come

Prospect round-up: Soo’s Miller wins, Griffins lose to Texas in OT

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in North America on Thursday:

In the OHL, Landon Miller stopped 31 of 32 shots as the Soo Greyhounds won 4-1 over the North Bay Battalion…

And in the AHL, the Grand Rapids Griffins earned 3 of a possible 4 points in a back-to-back set of games against the Texas Stars, dropping a 3-2 OT decision to Texas on Wednesday night. The Griffins’ website posted a recap, photo gallery and highlight clip:

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Soo’s Miller wins, Griffins lose to Texas in OT

Red Wings-Flyers wrap-up: on the Wings’ fight and the fans’ fight

The Detroit Red Wings won a slightly unorthodox 6-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena, but they also lost Simon Edvinsson to an upper-body injury in the process thereof.

For the Red Wings, winning a game as they prepare to play in 3 more games over the course of 4 pre-holiday-break nights (starting Friday evening vs. Montreal); for the Flyers, their second loss in a row can be assuaged tomorrow night when they host Los Angeles.

Coach John Tortorella told NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall that it was to the Flyers’ detriment to perhaps overlook the result of Wednesday night’s game:

“These times before holidays, the five, six, seven games, I think they’re really important points for the end of the year,” Tortorella said Tuesday. “Because I think sometimes players are packed and ready to go somewhere and they forget. We can’t forget. We’re not good enough. We need to grab as many points as we can before we have that Christmas break. We’ve got four games in six nights here, it’s a tough schedule. I’m just hoping we can get some points here, that you go home and you put them in the bank for March and April.”

The Flyers are 1-1-0 against the Red Wings (13-14-4). They beat Detroit, 4-1, six days ago. The clubs meet once more Jan. 21 in Philadelphia.

Tortorella continued while speaking with NHL.com’s Dave Hogg…

Continue reading Red Wings-Flyers wrap-up: on the Wings’ fight and the fans’ fight

Wings lose Simon Edvinsson to an upper-body injury

With the holiday roster freeze in effect, but Ville Husso still on the roster as Cam Talbot is still on the IR, it will be interesting to see whether the Wings call anyone up.

Anyway, per the Free Press’s Helene St. James, the Red Wings suffered an injury of significance during the 6-4 win over Philadelphia:

Simon Edvinsson did not return after the first period because of what the team called an upper-body injury. The Red Wings announced the move on social media after the first period.

Edvinsson only played 5:36 in the first period. That forced the coaching to scramble the other pairings, and Ben Chiarot instead was out on the ice with Edvinsson’s usual partner, Moritz Seider.

Edvinsson, 21, is in his first full season with the Wings, although having played 25 games over the previous two seasons, he is not considered a rookie. The 6-foot-6 Swede quickly worked his way up to the top pairing, where he and Seider (6 feet 3) give the Wings a formidable pairing with enormous reach.

Edvinsson has also helped contribute offensively, with three goals and 10 assists, in 30 games.

Also of note from Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen:

Continue reading Wings lose Simon Edvinsson to an upper-body injury

Red Wings-Flyers quick take: Wings win a wild one, but lose Edvinsson

The Detroit Red Wings hoped to avenge a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers last week as the Wings hosted the 14-13-and-4 Flyers at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday evening.

Detroit hoped to build upon Saturday’s win against Toronto as it kick-started a slate of 4 games to be played over the course of the next 6 nights.

On Wednesday night, the Red Wings won a weird one. Detroit surrendered a breakaway goal to Travis Konecny only 1:06 in. Detroit rallied to take a 2-1 lead, surrendered a 2-2 goal, rallied for a 4-2 lead coming out of the 2nd period, surrendered 2 goals over the course of the early 3rd period to tie the game 4-4, and Patrick Kane scored the gamer at 7:22 of the 3rd, with Lucas Raymond’s empty-netter sealing a 6-4 victory.

Alex Lyon gave up 4 goals on only 19 shots against, and the Wings lost Simon Edvinsson to an upper-body injury only 5:36 into the 1st, so Detroit was a little hamstrung defensively…

But Raymond, Compher and Kane all had a goal and an assist, Larkin had 2 assists, birthday boy Alex DeBrincat scored a goal, and Moritz Seider and Ben Chiarot played 27:04 and 28:16, respectively.

Continue reading Red Wings-Flyers quick take: Wings win a wild one, but lose Edvinsson

Tweets of note: Archie DeBrincat says, ‘Happy Birthday’ to dad

Via NHL.com’s Anna Kulesa come the following Birthday Tweets for Alex DeBrincat, starring Archie DeBrincat:

A bit about Trey Augustine and Max Plante at the U.S. World Junior selection camp

The Detroit News’s Connor Eargood spoke with Team USA World Junior team coach David Carle and Team USA GM John Vanbiesbrouck regarding the outlook for the U.S. 2026 World Junior Championship team.

Both Carle and Vanbiesbrouck spoke about Red Wings prospects, with Carle weighing in regarding MSU goaltender Trey Augustine…

Any team with Augustine in net has a shot at a gold medal. His technical excellence has made him one of the best junior goaltenders in the sport, and a top prospect of the Detroit Red Wings that picked him in the second round of the 2023 draft. Already backstopping Team USA to bronze and gold the past two seasons, Augustine wants to add one more medal in his World Junior swan song.

“You look at him in goal and I just see a stronger, more mature body,” Carle said Monday. “Allows his movement to be even cleaner and crisper than it was even a year ago. So it’s impressive that he’s continuing to even improve upon his strengths.”

And there’s this from Vanbiesbrouck regarding University of Minnesota-Duluth forward and 2024 Wings draft pick Max Plante:

Finally, Team USA has decisions to make about rostering some power-play role players, including Austin Burnevik, Trevor Connelly and Red Wings second-round pick Max Plante, who was a late add to camp after returning to action from a wrist injury.

“He was just too good to leave out of our group,” Vanbiesbrouck said. “… When somebody’s wearing a splint, it’s kind of hard, but he’s just playing too good so we got to give him that shot. And he deserves to be here.”

Continued (paywall)

Prospect round-up: LDN’s at least playing a lot of hockey

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in Europe today:

In the Finnish Liiga, Jesse Kiiskinen missed HPK Hameenlinna’s 3-0 win over Assat Pori due to being with the Finnish World Junior Championship team;

And in the Swedish Allsvenskan, Maximilian Kilpinen didn’t play in Ostersunds IK’s 3-2 loss to Sodertalje SK;

And Liam Dower Nilsson finished even with a shot on goal and a minor penalty taken in 19:18 of ice time as IF Bjorkloven lost 4-1 to Mora IK.