Month: January 2025

Allen: Husso probably not on the move this season

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a subscriber-only article which discusses whether Ville Husso might be traded at some point this season:

In eight games for the Griffins, Husso has limited opponents to two or fewer goals seven times. He has two shutouts, and shows a 1.86 goals-against average and .935 save percentage. In four of his last five starts for Detroit before being sent down, his game save percentage was above .914.

With Cam Talbot (.303, .903) and Alex Lyon (2.83, .899) playing well enough in Detroit, Husso isn’t likely to be called up unless someone becomes injured.

The other way Husso could come back to Detroit is if the Red Wings trade a netminder.

Even if another NHL team liked how Husso is playing, his $4.75 million salary cap hit makes it unlikely any GM would seek him in a deal.

An NHL team looking for goaltending help would be more interested in Talbot ($2.5 million) for his history of dependability or Lyon ($900,000) for low cap hit. Lyon becomes a UFA this summer, and Talbot has another year left.

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Tweet of note: Larkin-and-Werenski interview teaser

FanDuel Sports Network Ohio’s Jody Shelley interviewed Dylan Larkin and Zach Werenski for the Columbus Blue Jackets’ pregame show, and this is what’s available from the interview:

Tweet of note: Superb Husso

Ville Husso is shining for the Grand Rapids Griffins right now. He posted a 31-save shutout and a 3-save shootout shutout as well as the Griffins won 1-0 over Cleveland last night, and the Griffins posted a highlight clip of Husso’s heroics:

Husso may eventually be moved, but for the present moment, he’s playing fantastic hockey for the Griffins, and that’s a good thing.

Trade, I mean re-sign, Kane!

The Hockey News’s Adam Proteau was trading Patrick Kane away from Detroit a week ago, but today, he’s suggesting that the Red Wings extend Kane’s contract for another season:

Patrick Kane, RW, Detroit Red Wings

If the Red Wings are intent on making the playoffs – a long shot for this season – they will need to keep Kane in the fold. Like most of the Wings, Kane has struggled this season, posting just seven goals and 17 points in 32 games. But he’s clearly bought into GM Steve Yzerman’s plan, and a decent contract extension shouldn’t be all that difficult for him to obtain. The 36-year-old is making $4 million, but he’s not looking to break the bank on a new contract. A slight raise should be able to keep him in the fold.

Continued; there have been a significant amount of trade proposals regarding Red Wings players over the past three weeks, mostly involving the Buffalo Sabres’ top players, but it’s a lot of fluffernutter.

I don’t see the Wings and Sabres making a significant trade unless “the stars line up” and both teams find good fits in terms of both salary and compensation, and that’s bloody difficult to do.

If the Red Wings do choose to “buy” or “sell,” it’s far more likely that they’ll stay out of their own division when doing so.

Trade Husso? I dunno.

After last night’s 1-0 shootout win, I was thinking that the Grand Rapids Griffins are doing a great job of making a 3-goaltender system work as all of Jack Campbell, Ville Husso and Sebastian Cossa are earning playing time and practice time…

But the Hockey News’s Caleb Kearney sees the glut of goaltenders in GR and says that it’s time for the Red Wings to trade Campbell or Husso:

Husso has been lights out with two shutouts in eight games. He currently holds a 6-1-0 record to go along with a 1.86 goals against average (GAA) and a .935 save percentage (SV%).

With 18 games played, Cossa has taken most of the year’s starts. He has a 10-5-3 record in those starts, a 2.31 GAA, a .919 SV%, and one shutout.

Campbell is starting to get his feet wet, with four games and a 2-2-0 record. Although this sample is small, he has a 2.02 GAA and a .924 SV%.

Having several goalies who perform well is not a bad thing. What is bad about this situation is that the veterans, Husso and Campbell, will take away Cossa’s starts.

While this might give Cossa a nice break in the short term, it’s not good for his long-term development. Having a break is one thing, but sitting too long can negatively impact goaltending performance. Therefore, one of Husso or Campbell must be traded.

Husso is probably the easiest of the two to visit the trade block. Campbell fell out of favor with NHL GMs last season and is still rebuilding his game to deliver consistent results.

Campbell’s contract is more digestible: He earned $775,000 this season. Husso, on the other hand, is in the last year of a three-year $4.75 million deal.

I’m going to have to disagree here. The Wings would have to eat half of Husso’s salary to trade him, and while it’s a nice thought to clear the Griffins’ logjam, right now, it’s working, and that matters more than one might think, especially with the possibility of an injury at the NHL level quite probable at some point this season.

Former Wing Frans Nielsen named to IIHF Hall of Fame

Do we count this as a Red Wings “Hall-Of-Famer?” This morning, the IIHF named former Islander and Red Wings forward Frans Nielsen, who was no doubt a Danish hockey pioneer, to its Hall of Fame class of 2024:

Frans Nielsen had an exceptional international career with Denmark and was just the second Dane to play in the NHL after Poul Popiel (who was born in Sollested but moved to Canada as a child). Nielsen made his national team debut in 2002, in Division I, and was part of the historic team that earned promotion to the top level for the first time since 1949. Thereafter, Nielsen played in nine top-level Men’s Worlds, accruing 26 points in 56 games between 2003 and 2022. Such was his reputation that even though he came from a small hockey country, the New York Islanders drafted him 87th overall in 2002. He remained in Europe a further four years, joining the Isles in 2006. Over the next 16 years, Nielsen played in 925 NHL games with the Islanders and Detroit, earning a reputation as one of the best defensive forwards and also as one of the most successful players in the newly-introduced shootout. Nielsen’s crowning glory was playing at the 2022 Olympics, the first time Denmark had ever qualified for the quadrennial event.

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Bring on the Jets…Yikes…

Per Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen:

New coach Todd McLellan said he didn’t have a “magic wand” to fix the Detroit Red Wings. But somehow the team owns a three-game winning streak heading into Saturday’s road game against the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets will provide the Detroit with its first major test: They boast the NHL’s best record (27-11-2) and goal-differential (+45). By contrast, after three wins a row, the Red Wings (16-18-4) are two wins below .500 and their differential is minus-21. The Jets are tied for second in scoring at 3.63 goals per game, while Detroit is 25th at 2.68. It’s as if Detroit starts the game down 1-0.

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Shapiro breaks down the Wings’ penalty-killing formation

EP Rinkside’s Sean Shapiro breaks down the Red Wings’ new penalty-killing “diamond” formation today on his Shap Shots blog, and it’s an interesting read, in no small part because Shapiro tells us that the Red Wings’ old PK was, well, getting old:

It’s easy to take pot shots at the old system once it’s been discarded, but multiple Red Wings told me in the past week that the old in-zone killing system was exhausting and frustrating for players. One Red Wings penalty killer told me it felt a bit juvenile and put Detroit in a spot where NHL-level players could simply expose Detroit.

Again, I don’t like taking pot shots as someone is out the door, but that’s what players told when breaking down the changes on the PK.

So [coach Todd] McLellan and [assistant coach Trent] Yawney came in and installed a passive diamond on the penalty kill, which looks just like it sounds, it’s a diamond that really doesn’t move too much.

In the version of the diamond the Red Wings are playing, each player is responsible for their quadrant, and one player said the coaching staff had explained it like rubber bands that give-and-take — players stretch into ares of their quadrant to defend, but always elastic back.

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Episode 17 of the Flying Octopus Podcast

Evan Sabourin, Tony Wolak, Devin Little and I discussed the Red Wings’ coaching change, the team’s winning streak as they “play effing hockey” and Joe Veleno’s status as a first-line forward (for now, anyway) on the latest episode of the Flying Octopus podcast.

This one was one of those podcasts where I’m afraid that I let loose with some word salad, but we had a good conversation going, and I had no idea that we were talking for 38 minutes when it was all over with!

All about Axel Sandin Pellikka

The Athletic’s Sarah Jean Maher wrote a superb article about Team Sweden captain and Red Wings prospect defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka, whose father, Janne, has made the trip to Ottawa to cheer on his son as Sweden aims to earn World Championship gold:

Sandin Pellikka is well on his way to repeating as the tournament’s top defenseman but says he isn’t interested in personal triumphs. He’s only focused on winning his country’s third-ever gold medal and first since 2012 — this time as captain, an “honor” he’s taking very seriously.

“I’m here to win a championship with the team. Nothing personal,” he said.

Sandin Pellikka loves to score goals and looks up to fellow Swedish defenseman and goal scorer Erik Karlsson, but Skelleftea general manager Erik Forssell has also seen firsthand how Sandin Pellikka’s defensive play one-on-one has improved over the past two seasons. He’s also taken note of how much his confidence has grown.

“When he came into the league two years ago, age 17,” Forssell said, “his skating and how he moves the puck, handles the puck, stood out right away, and that is obviously what makes him a very special player. But the last two years he has really improved that defensive play and now being one of the best.

“He’s confident and he believes in himself. And I think that’s a very valuable asset as a player in the team because when games are tough and tight, there’s a lot of pressure. Having players that can be confident is very, very important. “

Continued (paywall)