There is no Matthew Wuest Trophy at stake and no three-games-in-four-nights schedule now that the Red Wings’ Prospect Tournament has become a two-game exhibition against the Dallas Stars…
But that doesn’t mean that the Red Wings’ prospect team will take 2-game exhibition series (8 PM EDT on Saturday night on DetroitRedWings.com/Victory+ and 7 PM Sunday night on DetroitRedWings.com/Victory+) will take the set any less seriously.
Before heading down to Frisco, Texas, DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills spoke with Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson about the importance of the tournament for the Wings’ prospects and free agent tryouts*…
“We want to see players on a team that competes and works really hard,” Watson told DetroitRedWings.com on Friday afternoon. “We gave them a ton of information, so we’re going to see how much that sticks. Sometimes, you can see how a player understands the information given, so that’s another part of it. We just want them to go out and play. They’re all here for a reason, so go be the best version of yourself and show why you are here. It’s also the first impression for management to see what the guys’ summers looked like. And for us as a staff, it’s a great opportunity to get back to presenting to teams and coaching on the bench. There’s a lot that goes into this weekend versus just seeing it as two games.”
All the action from Comerica Center will be streamed live on DetroitRedWings.com and the Detroit Red Wings App. A full roster and schedule can also be viewed here.
“Everybody is going to be competing this weekend,” forward prospect Alexandre Doucet said. “There’s going to be a lot of eyes on us. It’s a good way to show what we’re capable of.”
Parallel to Doucet’s approach heading into the two-game series, helping the players continue to grow their game is important to Watson.
“There’s going to be some guys playing different positions so we can see how they perform, whether it’s a center playing wing or wing having to play center,” Watson said. “The same goes with the defensemen too – some guys are going to be playing their off hand. It’s giving guys opportunities to play different roles within the lineup that maybe they aren’t going to play this winter and to keep developing them.”
The emphasis for the prospects is always to give them a running start ahead of training camp instead of throwing them to the wolves when the NHL players show up, affording the “kids” the opportunity to play players of their general age range and play games at prospect speed ahead of training camp.
It also helps the players to come together and have to gel in a short-tournament environment, as Watson told Mills:
“All of this is great,” Watson said. “Whether it’s going north to Traverse City or south to Frisco, it’s an opportunity for these guys to be together. Whether it’s at the hotel or on the flight, they’re all going to be together. Hopefully, they’re playing together at some point in time too, whether it’s in Grand Rapids or in Detroit. They can really gel…And for the staff, this is a great opportunity for us to come back together. We can see each other face-to-face, meet face-to-face and really talk about what we want to do and how we want to achieve a successful weekend.”
Continued; the Red Wings’ prospects and coaching staff will watch and learn this weekend, and we’ll do the same.
*Just as an FYI, the prospects who are invited to the tournament as try-outs or Grand Rapids Griffins-contracted players attend training camp as well (for the most part).
