Month: December 2024

The Athletic’s Corey Pronman asks five “Big Questions” regarding the World Junior Championship’s participating teams this morning, and one of his questions involves Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka:

Will Sweden’s blue line carry them to a big win?

The strength of Sweden’s team will come from their defense. Theo Lindstein (St. Louis) and Axel Sandin Pellikka (Detroit) were among the best defensemen in last year’s tournament. ASP and Tom Willander (Vancouver) were arguably the two top defensemen at their U18 World Championships as well. Sweden has a path to beating the U.S. As they did 18 months ago, they could match Lindstein/Willander up against USA’s top line to try to neutralize them as much as possible. Their forward group is very good, but not outstanding, so whether they can roll lines with Canada is to be determined. If ASP can provide a lot of offense as he has versus men in the SHL, he could be a variable that puts Sweden over the top.

Continued (paywall); ASP will serve as the Swedish team’s captain this upcoming season, and there’s a ton of pressure on him to perform at the kind of point-per-game basis that he has at the SHL level.

MLive’s Ansar Khan looks at the performances of the players that the Red Wings have yet to truly replace this season, offering the following assessments of the following Red Wings alumni:

Shayne Gostisbehere, Carolina: A power-play specialist who drives offense from the back end, he’s the player the Red Wings miss the most after signing for three years at a modest $3.2 million average annual value with the Hurricanes. He has six goals, and his 27 points rank seventh among NHL defensemen. Gostisbehere’s 29 power-play points last season were the most by a Detroit defenseman since Nicklas Lidstrom in 2010-11 (39).

David Perron, Ottawa: The Red Wings wanted to re-sign this 36-year-old right wing for his production and leadership, but the Senators made a better offer (two years at an AAV of $4 million). It’s been a difficult season on and off the ice. He had taken an extended leave of absence earlier due to a medical scare involving his newborn daughter. He hasn’t played since Nov. 23. He has no points in nine games after tallying 17 goals and 30 assists last season.

…

Jake Walman, San Jose: Trading Walman has backfired on multiple levels. He is tied for 12th among NHL defensemen with 25 points and reached 20 assists faster than any other D-man at the start of his tenure with the Sharks. To shed the final two years of his contract ($3.4 million AAV), the Red Wings needed to acquire a second-round pick from Nashville and include it in the deal. That cost them defense prospect Andrew Gibson. Instead of having Walman fill Gostisbehere’s void as the left-shooting power-play point man they wanted, the Red Wings signed Gustafsson for two years at a $2 million AAV and he has no goals and five assists, has been a defensive liability and an occasional healthy scratch.

Gostisbehere left Detroit for less money than the Wings were offering, while Perron got a second year’s worth of contract length from Ottawa.

I think that we’re all still scratching our heads about the Walman trade, as well as the failed experiment that was signing Gustafsson, but there’s very little that the Red Wings’ management group can do with it other than admit that it was a move that didn’t work out, and then supplant Gustafsson with a more effective offensive defenseman via the trade route.

The one part of the trade(s) I don’t have a problem with is sending Gibson to Nashville for Jesse Kiiskinen. Gibson is a big, tough defenseman, but Kiiskinen has become a strong scorer and scrappy player for HPK Hameenlinna in the Finnish Liiga.

The Canadian Press is already looking forward to the Red Wings’ match-up with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday (7 PM EST on FanDuel Sportsnet Detroit/Sportsnet Ontario/TVA Sports/97.1 FM), offering a brief preview of the two teams’ respective steads:

BOTTOM LINE: The Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Detroit Red Wings after John Tavares’ two-goal game against the Winnipeg Jets in the Maple Leafs’ 5-2 loss.

Detroit is 3-6-1 against the Atlantic Division and 13-17-4 overall. The Red Wings have a 3-6-2 record in games they serve more penalty minutes than their opponents.

Toronto has gone 21-12-2 overall with a 7-4-1 record in Atlantic Division games. The Maple Leafs have conceded 98 goals while scoring 108 for a +10 scoring differential.

Friday’s game is the third time these teams square off this season. The Red Wings won the previous matchup 4-2. Jeff Petry scored two goals in the victory.

TOP PERFORMERS: Dylan Larkin has 12 goals and 14 assists for the Red Wings. Lucas Raymond has six goals and two assists over the past 10 games.

Mitchell Marner has 10 goals and 36 assists for the Maple Leafs. William Nylander has scored seven goals with six assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Wings: 3-6-1, averaging 2.4 goals, 3.7 assists, 3.1 penalties and 6.2 penalty minutes while giving up 3.2 goals per game.

Maple Leafs: 5-5-0, averaging 3.1 goals, 5.4 assists, 3.1 penalties and 6.8 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James asked Patrick Kane, Joe Veleno, Ville Husso, Marco Kasper, Simon Edvinsson and Ben Chiarot about their Christmas traditions and “Holiday Break” plans:

In his native Austria, Marco Kasper relished the backdrop of the Alps all the more during yuletide.

“For me it’s when we get together and play pond hockey,” he said. “That’s something I always enjoyed as a young kid. We celebrate on the 24th and get everyone together and have a good time.”

Further north, in Sweden, Simon Edvinsson has an indoor tradition he cherishes.

“In my family on Christmas eve we always had this show we watched, Kalle Anke,” Edvinsson said. “My whole family would sit by the TV and watch that.”

Kalle Anke is the Swedish version of Disney’s Donald Duck. Across the Atlantic Ocean, Canadian Ben Chiarot and his wife have their own entertainment they enjoy with their young children.

“The night before Christmas, we like everyone being together and watching a movie,” Chiarot said. “We’ve started the Polar Express, so we watch that with our kids.” 

St. James also posted a video of the aforementioned Wings players discussing their Christmas traditions:

In Red Wings prospect-related news, I missed sharing Vityaz Moscow Region’s 2-0 win over Dynamo Moscow yesterday in the KHL, and that was a bad idea.

Dmitri Buchelnikov scored a goal on 2 shots on goal in 17:49 played, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes:

It was a Detroit Red Wings prospect filling the role of Santa Claus in KHL action on Christmas Day. Dmitri Buchelnikov’s goal with just 1:21 left in regulation time was snapping a scoreless tie and propeling Vityaz to a 2-0 victory over Moscow Dynamo in KHL action on December 25.

Perhaps the goal will help snap Buchelnikov out of his recent scoring slump. At one stage about a month ago, he was sitting just a solitary point out of the KHL scoring lead.

Since then, the player chosen 52nd overall by Detroit in the 2022 NHL entry draft has accounted for a mere two assists over the next six games prior to his goal on Tuesday. That’s seen him slipping to 13th overall in the KHL scoring race. Buchelnikov is showing 9-22-31 totals through 35 games. The 21-year-old right-shot winger is leading Vityaz in scoring.

With 36 points from 37 games, Vityaz sits ninth in the KHL’s Western Conference. They are one place out of a playoff position.

Here’s Buchelnikov’s goal:

Absolute laser and game-winner by Dmitry Buchelnikov with 81 seconds left! pic.twitter.com/C9m09QThxc

— KHL (@khl_eng) December 25, 2024

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan and Mark Falkner interviewed former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin as part of Sundin’s release of his memoir, “”Mats Sundin: Home and Away,” and Sundin has revealed that Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom tried to recruit the long-time Leafs forward for the Red Wings’ 2008 Cup run:

They combined for one of the greatest goals in Swedish hockey history, and they almost wound up doing the same thing with the Detroit Red Wings. 

In Mats Sundin’s book, “Mats Sundin: Home and Away,” the former Toronto Maple Leafs captain revealed for the first time that Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom recruited him with a phone call in February of 2008.

Teammates with the Swedish national team at the 2006 Olympic Games, where Lidstrom scored the winning goal on a drop pass from Sundin for a 3-2 victory in the final against Finland in Turin, Italy, Lidstrom asked Sundin if he would waive his no-trade clause and consider joining the Red Wings at the trade deadline.

Sundin was 36 at the time and at the end of his 18-year NHL career, but the 6-foot-5, 225-pound center still produced a 76-point season in 2008, which would’ve put him third with the Red Wings behind Pavel Datsyuk (97 points) and Henrik Zetterberg (92).

“I was very honored to have Nicklas call me,” Sundin said on The Detroit News/Detroit Red Wings podcast, OctoPulse. “He knew me so well, what kind of player I was and he knew if I was going to join Detroit, he understood what value I would bring to the table. I felt very comfortable with that.

“But for me and remembering my feelings at the time, I spent so much time in Toronto and the fans hadn’t won a Cup since 1967, that was the purpose that drove me getting ready for a new season. Even though we were in a rebuild mode, I wanted to win a championship with the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

Continued; here’s the podcast…

And if you recall, there was a rumored trade for Sergei Fedorov from the Washington Capitals in the works at the trade deadline, too, but it was quashed by the front office.

Good morning. I’m a bit tired and grumpy this Christmas day morning, so I’m going to post this morning’s Red Wings-related articles in digest form:

1. MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a critique of the Red Wings last night, concluding that a coaching change would not help the Wings turn around their season as much as an influx of talent might change Detroit’s equation:

Aside from Dylan Larkin, Michael Rasmussen, Jonatan Berggren and Joe Veleno, this team consists almost entirely of players drafted under Yzerman or acquired by him through free agency or trade.

They have fared well at the top of the draft with Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson, while Marco Kasper and prospects Sebastian Cossa, Nate Danielson, Axel Sandin Pellikka and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard offer hope.

They have yet to land an impactful player after the first round, however.

Yzerman’s trades have been a mixed bag. Picks acquired for Anthony Mantha, Filip Hronek and Tyler Bertuzzi eventually landed them Cossa, Sandin Pellikka and Alex DeBrincat, who might not return to his 40-goal form but has provided some much-needed offense.

Sending Jake Walman to San Jose to clear cap space – and needing to attach a second-round pick – has backfired. Walman has a career-high 25 points (five goals, 20 assists), tied for 12th among NHL defensemen.

The Red Wings haven’t gotten enough production from many of Yzerman’s free-agent signings – including Andrew Copp and J.T. Compher and especially Vladimir Tarasenko and Erik Gustafsson.

Whether Yzerman changes coaches midseason or after the season won’t matter until the talent level is upgraded.

The Red Wings do have mid-round picks in the prospect pool now, but few of them are NHL-ready.

2. Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted an article about an article that I honestly chose to ignore:

Continue reading Morning mishmash: Criticizing the Wings’ talent base, bashing Lidstrom and World Junior Championship previews

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, a Joyous Kwanzaa, a belated Prosperous Festivus, Happy Saturnalia…

Whatever you might celebrate, have a lovely day, from me to you.

EliteProspects’ staff writes posted a set of previews of this year’s World Junior Championship teams, offering profiles of every player on the respective participating countries’ rosters.

Here are their takes on the Red Wings’ 2025 WJC participants.

Mitch Brown discusses Team USA…

Max Plante, LW, Minnesota-Duluth (NCAA)

Detroit Red Wings, 2024 NHL Draft, second round, 47th overall

Healthy just in time, Max Plante could be an x-factor for this team. A defensively responsible playmaking winger, he’s has the skills to thrive in this setting. He never stops battling, creates chances from the areas of the rink, and then sprints back into the play to prevent chances the other way. On a team with plenty of play-drivers, he’ll likely find success in a complementary role. 

…

Trey Augustine, G, Michigan State (NCAA)

Detroit Red Wings, 2023 NHL Draft, second round, 41st overall

The starting goalie for Team USA for the third straight World Junior, Trey Augustine is making his final appearance in this tournament and has been one of the best goalies in college hockey at Michigan State the past two seasons. Augustine will play the big games, and it’s more of a question of who will dress as his back-up. 

Lassi Alanen offers an assessment of the Finnish Lions…

Jesse Kiiskinen, RW, HPK (Liiga)

Detroit Red Wings (via trade), 2023 NHL Draft, third round, 68th overall

Jesse Kiiskinen‘s move to a smaller Liiga team last summer has proven to be the right call. Having the highest points-per-game mark among all U20 skaters in the league, he thrives in creating rush chances from counter-attacks and brings a lot of energy and pace to the lineup. Playmaking isn’t his strongest suit, but improvements are made little by little. Another gifted finisher, he’ll be competing with Hemming for a spot on the left flank of the second power play unit. 

And Jimmy Hamrin offers an assessment of the Tre Kronor, a.k.a. the Swedish “Three Crowns“:

Axel Sandin-Pellikka – D, Skellefteå (SHL)

Detroit Red Wings, 2023 Draft, first round, 17th overall

Axel Sandin-Pellikka is one of the biggest stars going into the tournament and undoubtedly the best player on this team. He has dominated at the SHL level and his offensive skills are elite. His fantastic four-way mobility, puck handling and shot will be a dominant factor for Sweden’s offense. It will be interesting to see how he handles forechecking pressure on smaller ice as that might be a key on how fast he can step in at the NHL once he moves to North America. He can be prone to make mistakes there at the SHL level. His all-around defensive game is solid though and he plays with aggression and timing. I would be surprised if he isn’t an All-Star team selected defenseman at the end of the tournament.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted an off-day notebook which discusses the frustration which the Red Wings conveyed to the media corps after the team’s 4-0 loss to St. Louis on Monday night, noting that the Wings aren’t giving up on their season just yet…

“There’s care in the group,” [Coach Derek] Lalonde said. “(The Wings need) being connected, get some rhythm in our game. We’d get a good shift from one line (Monday) and then we’d lose the shift on the next line.”

The Wings were without defensemen Simon Edvinsson and Ben Chiarot — both out due to upper-body injuries but are expected to return Friday against Toronto — but Lalonde felt the Wings’ defense played fine. That wasn’t the main issue in Monday’s loss.

“Our D gave us a really good game, considering where it’s at (decimated with injuries),” Lalonde said. “Any team loses two top left shot (defensemen), it’s going to look like that. But our D, our young guys are guys that aren’t even NHL everyday guys, but everyone elevated, they did their job.”

Now, the rest of the lineup has to match that.

“We got to show up to play and we don’t have enough guys doing that right now, myself included,” Larkin said. “We have to be ready to compete and we’re not doing that. I never really think our work ethic is poor. We have a bunch of guys who work hard. But we’re working hard and not accomplishing anything.”

Larkin agreed with Lalonde in that this three-day NHL break was arriving at a good time for the Wings. A do-over is definitely what this team needs.

“Reset and get away, get time to spend with your families and try to come back refreshed,” Larkin said. “It’s been difficult to come to the rink and continue to build yourself up and then have games and performances like (Monday). Get away, spend time with your family and when we come back, we have to push before another break (two-week 4-Nations Face-off tournament break). It’s a lot of games and we have to get something going. I hope the guys take advantage of the rest.”

And Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen offered, well, gloom and doom:

Detroit’s record now leaves the team eight points out of a playoff spot. The Red Wings’ .441 points percentage is the second worst in the Eastern Conference.

How bad is the situation?

Over the past 10 games, the Red Wings are 2-for-26 on the power play.

Captain Dylan Larkin has gone 13 games without a goal. He’s minus-6 in his past six games.

Vladimir Tarasenko is on place for a 10-goal season. He’s gone 10 games without a goal.   is minus-6 in his past eight game. His failure to clear a puck out of the Detroit zone led to the Blues’ first goal Monday.

Detroit is one of three teams with a penalty killing percentage below 72%. Their 68.8% efficiency ranks 31st out of 32 teams.

The Motown offense  is 29th at 2.56 goals per game. Detroit’s defense, giving up 3.26 goals per game, is 25th.

It’s easy to complain at this point. I have a list of 25 players from whom I want to see better performances. But the Red Wings are where they are at, and they can only take care of the present and the future now.