Author: George Malik

Two hockey publications discuss the exploits of the Red Wings’ Swedish prospects this morning.

1. Dobber Hockey’s Pat Quinn offers assessments of 2020 draft-eligible Swedish players, Swedish players that have been drafted by NHL teams, players loaned to Swedish teams, and a couple of “dark horses.”

Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren is mentioned in the “drafted prospects” category…

The Detroit Red Wings posted a press release this morning in which the team announced that both the Wings and the Detroit Tigers are going to provide assistance for the upcoming 2020 election by 1) training poll workers and 2) offering a drop-off location for absentee/mail-in ballots.

I’m posting this because it may be relevant to you, and I’m posting this because I think that it’s pretty cool that the Red Wings and Tigers are stepping up to help a city that had serious problems counting absentee ballots during this summer’s primary elections.

Voting is the foundation of our legislative republic, regardless of whatever side or sides one supports when one exercises their civic duty to vote, and it’s good to see the city receiving aid from a pair of teams who’ve built partially publicly-subsidized sports facilities:

The Detroit News, to its credit, is rolling out a significant amount of subscriber-only content to push their (and the Detroit Free Press’s) attempts to promote a paywall. Mark Falkner’s talked with agent Dan Milstein at length, Wings beat writer Ted Kulfan’s spoke with Manny Legace about his second career as the Blue Jackets’ goaltending coach, and, this morning, Kulfan speaks with Wings coach Jeff Blashill about the pandemic-lengthened offseason, which will see Detroit’s players and coaches off the ice from March to mid-November (at the very earliest).

In that vein, Blashill discusses the weirdness that is attempting to prepare both coaches and players for playing after an eight-and-a-half-month break…

►Q: How difficult is the uncertainty right now – not knowing when camp will begin, when you’ll start playing games?

►A: “Uncertainty is tough in life, it’s just reality. Uncertainty causes angst among people and causes stress and there’s no doubt uncertainty in these times, probably at an unprecedented high for everybody. With that said, pertaining to our situation, I’ve heard the dates floated about, but certainly there’s nothing written in stone and one of the things the NHL has done in their original Return to Play is not committing to anything before knowing it was really possible. So, right now, from a planning perspective, we have to make sure we’re prepared for the earliest possible start and if that gets delayed, at least we’re prepared, and that’s how we’ll go about it.”

And Blashill addresses the New York Post’s Larry Brooks’ report that the NHL teams that weren’t invited to “The Bubble” (see finishers 25 through 31) want to hold early camps and a mini-tournament to address comparative rust that they’ll be feeling, as compared with the teams that have skated in July, August and September:

Very briefly: Here’s a neat little story about a charitable donation made by the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, from NBC 24 in Toledo, Ohio:

Thanks to funds provided by the Toledo Walleye, local American Heart Association representatives made a potentially life-saving donation to two Toledo Public Schools Tuesday morning.

The Association delivered CPR in Schools Training Kits to Woodward High School and Start High School allowing students to learn CPR, AED use and choking relief in one class period.

The kit can train 10 to 20 students at a time and lasts for enough uses to train hundreds of people.

“I’ve been talking to our health teacher quite a bit and she’s gonna have it as part of the curriculum so yeah, every student that she sees that’s part of her health class will be able to be trained to use the CPR equipment,” said Joe Jablonski, a nurse at Woodward.

Each kit is valued at roughly $650.

Red Wings TV play-by-play announcer appeared on the Red Wings’ weekly web series, “The Word on Woodward,” which yo can watch here…

And Daniels was promoting both the Jamie Daniels Foundation and the JDF’s roast of Scotty Bowman:

Established in 2019, the Jamie Daniels Foundation Celebrity Roast was an evening full of laughs and entertainment, but more importantly – it was opportunity to raise awareness and funds to provide solutions for those suffering from Substance Use Disorder.

This year, the comedic enjoyment will be televised for more people to enjoy as we roast the greatest NHL coach of all time, Scotty Bowman!  Tune in for star-studded appearances from professional athletes, celebrities and comedians.

Tune into FOX Sports Detroit on Wednesday, October 14 at 8 p.m. for The Celebrity Roast of Scotty Bowman presented by Delta Dental of Michigan. More details to follow.

The Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate, the Toledo Walleye, have had a busy summer, signing half-a-roster’s worth of Minor Pro free agents as the team attempts to replenish its roster.

Due to the level of roster turnover in the ECHL, combined with the uncertainty as to when the ECHL season will start, the Walleye have lost players like ECHL MVP Josh Kestner (who signed in Europe), so the team has had to display resiliency in inking undersized prospects and a couple of Ohio natives.

Today, the Walleye signed two players in defenseman Ryker Killins and forward Keeghan Howedeshell, as noted by the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe:

The Walleye signed Michigan native Keeghan Howdeshell, a forward, and Ontario native Ryker Killins, a defenseman, on Tuesday. Both players are entering their second seasons as pros and both played last season for the ECHL’s Rapid City Rush.

Howdeshell, a native of Brighton, Mich., produced 37 points in 47 games at the ECHL level. The 6-foot-2 and 209-pound forward scored 13 goals to go along with 24 assists for Rapid City.

Howdeshell, 22, also played in one game for the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League.

Walleye coach Dan Watson called Howdeshell a big, powerful forward who possesses good vision.

“Keeghan has the ability to score goals in tight … and can make plays under pressure,” Watson said. “We are happy to have Keeghan join the Walleye and continue to develop his skills to help grow his game.”

Continued…

The Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy frames NHL teams’ decisions to send some of their top prospects over to European pro leagues as the NHL, AHL and ECHL deferred their 2020-2021 season starts to December 1st at the earliest. Kennedy kicks his column off by noting that the Red Wings have sent Moritz Seider to Adler Mannheim of the DEL, and Filip Zadina to Ocelari Trinec of the Czech Extraliga.

As you know by now, Filip Hronek (HK Mountfield), Gustav Lindstrom (Almtuna IS), Mattias Brome (Orebro HK) and Albin Grewe (Djurgardens IF) are the other Wings prospects playing in Europe instead of North America.

Kennedy focuses on the players with AHL experience who’ve been assigned to European teams, noting that the team

The important aspect of this shift overseas is that both Seider and Zadina have already played in North America. Zadina was over here the longest, having come over to playing junior in the QMJHL with Halifax as an import before graduating to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins last year. The talented winger has also seen some time up with Detroit both this season and last, so he is well on his way to becoming a top-six NHLer. Seider was a rookie with Grand Rapids this season, but as one of the Griffins’ top blueline scorers, proved he could handle himself on North American ice.

And there is an adjustment period for many Europeans. Not only are their cultural barriers to overcome off the ice (learning the language, getting a driver’s license and so forth), but the smaller ice surfaces in North American rinks has quite the impact on game play: over here, players have less time and space to make decisions with the puck and the game tends to be a lot more physical.

As such…

Of brief Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

1. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Joe Starkey answered reader questions today, and one of those questions involved a hypothetical trade between the Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford and the Detroit Red Wings:

Dave Ryckman, @dryckman_13: With GMJR including a first rounder in [Kasperi] Kapanen trade I’m inclined to believe he feels he can get a first in a deal for [goaltender Matt[ Murray. Do you see a team out there willing to part with their pick to land him? Quite a few teams need a No. 1 goalie. Need to hit home run with that move imo!

Starkey: I’ll take a double, Dr. Ryckman. I’m not sure there are a ton of teams willing to part with something significant (such as a first-round pick) for Murray. Kevin Allen of USA Today recently told me he believes the Detroit Red Wings would be interested, but not at that price.

Might the Minnesota Wild and GM Bill Guerin be interested? I think that’s a distinct possibility. Carolina, Calgary or Edmonton might see Murray as a guy who could put them over the top in big games. All it takes is one. I’m just not convinced there is one — at least not at the price of a first-round pick.

At this point, the Red Wings don’t need to invest a first-round pick in a starting goalie. No way, no how.

2. DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examined Frans Nielsen’s 2019-2020 season “By the Numbers” today, so this is your friendly reminder that Nielsen is signed for 2 more seasons at $5.25 million:

Earlier this summer, Red Wings prospect Albin Grewe “crossed the pond,” signing with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit after the Canadian Hockey League’s import draft.

Grewe, a physical forward, hoped to play much more regularly than he did as a member of Djurgardens IF in Sweden.

Grewe had some harsh words for Djurgardens because he felt that he was unable to earn a regular shift with the team during the 2019-2020 season; instead, Grewe often played on the SHL team’s fourth line, as a 13th forward, or he played in the Under-20 league.

As it turns out, the OHL’s decision to not start their 2020-2021 season until December has Grewe looking for a little redemption with the team he “dissed.”

Hockeysverge.se’s Mans Karlsson reports that Grewe is walking back his harsher remarks as he prepares to spend a couple of months skating his way toward regular playing time. What follows is a rough translation of Karlsson’s article:

Prospect guru Corey Pronman is working his way through the developmental systems of the NHL’s 31 teams at present.

This morning, Pronman ranks the Red Wings as having the 18th-best prospect pipeline in the NHL, based upon his ranking of the Wings’ top 11 (and, ultimately, 17 total) prospects.

Pronman’s assessment of Moritz Seider leads off his excellent article:

1. Moritz Seider, D, Grand Rapids-AHL

April 6, 2001 | 6-foot-4 | 207 pounds

Tier: High-end NHL player

Skating: 55
Puck Skills: 55
Physical Game: 70
Hockey Sense: 55

Seider had a great first season in North America, playing big minutes for Grand Rapids as a teenager and was one of the top defensemen at the world juniors. Seider isn’t a flashy player but he’s very well-rounded. He’s a 6-foot-4 defenseman who is highly mobile for his size, can move the puck well and is a top-end defender. His wingspan, great mobility and elite physicality allow him to make so many stops and project as a tough minutes defenseman in the NHL. Seider can move the puck, although I don’t ever see him as a big offensive player, as there will be stretches he can be quite bland with the puck. There are stretches he makes a very nice outlet pass with pace as well.

Continued (Paywall). I’ve got no problem with Pronman’s overall ranking of the Red Wings as having dropped from 13th to 18th overall in prospect rankings this season, but it shouldn’t surprise you that I’m a little more bullish on the Wings’ youngsters.

Here’s hoping that the Red Wings snag more NHL-caliber players during this fall’s NHL Draft. Perhaps that may move Pronman’s needle in a more positive direction.