Author: George Malik

MLive’s Ansar Khan profiles new Red Wings defenseman Troy Stetcher. Stetcher isn’t big at 5’10,” but he brings a lot of grit and determination to the table:

“I pride myself in my work ethic, I try to lead by example in practice and throughout games,” Stecher said. “I know I’m not the biggest guy, but I definitely try to create a spark for my teammates through the (course) of a 60-minute game and I rely on my work ethic and skating.”

He also listed the areas he is looking to improve.

“Just boxing out in front is one of the bigger ones,” Stecher said. “Being a smaller guy, you need to find different leverage points. And then continuing to support the rush and having a good gap. I think it works both ways, offensively and defensively.”

The Canucks missed the playoffs four years in a row before making a nice run in the Edmonton bubble. They defeated Minnesota in the qualifying round and defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis in the first round before losing in seven games to Vegas in the second round. He is hoping to be part of a similar progression in Detroit.

“There’s been some challenging times,” Stecher said. “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and you just got to stay focused on what your process is and your goals are. I think the biggest thing is understanding it’s not going to happen overnight, it’s a process of getting there.”

Continued

Fox Sports Detroit will stream tonight’s “Celebrity Roast of Scotty Bowman” at 8 PM EDT tonight on their YouTube channel:

From the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers comes a profile of Red Wings 3rd round pick Dominic Sebrango, a rugged two-way defenseman who plays for Kitchener:

? “I’ve been lucky to be drafted to both Kitchener and @DetroitRedWings, I know I’ll be guided so I can turn into the best player I can be” – Donovan Sebrango (@D_sebrango3) on #NHLDraft Day

?: https://t.co/iEIBOrDgmK
 #RTown | #OHLRangers— Kitchener Rangers (@OHLRangers) October 14, 2020

Sportsnet’s Luke Fox examines the respective situations of his top 15 restricted free agents this morning, including Red Wings forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Anthony Mantha:

9. Tyler Bertuzzi
Age: 25
Position: Left wing
2019-20 salary cap hit: $1.4 million
Arbitration rights: Yes — and filed
Bargaining chips: Made first All-Star Game appearance. Back-to-back 21-goal, 47-point seasons. Skates nearly 20 minutes a night. Organization has invested seven years developing him into a first-line threat.

The latest: One of the few bright spots on a sad-sack Red Wings, Bertuzzi has over-delivered on his two-year, $2.8-million bridge pact signed back in 2018 and deserves a nice pay bump.

Of the three pending RFA forwards GM Steve Yzerman still must make decisions on, Bertuzzi is the most essential. Yzerman has been busy rebuilding his roster through smart, low-risk UFA signings, while clearing out veterans through buyout (Justin Abdelkader) or simply letting them walk (Jimmy Howard, Trevor Daley, Jonathan Ericsson).

Bertuzzi has 30-goal potential, brings grit to his game, and should be seen as a building block for a rebuild that needs as many as it can get.

Negotiations with Yzerman have begun as the sides try to work out a deal prior to arbitration Oct. 25.

Continued; Fox notes that Mantha has suggested that contract talks with the Wings won’t be easy, but we do know per Steve Yzerman’s conference calls that the talks with Mantha are a little further along than Bertuzzi’s negotiations.

NHL.com has posted a 2-and-a-half-minute long video of Dylan Larkin’s top 5 best plays from the 2019-2020 season:

Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Daniels appeared on “X’s and Bros” on the Michigan Sports Network this morning to discuss tonight’s “Celebrity Roast of Scotty Bowman” (8 PM EDT tonight on Fox Sports Detroit). Daniels appears at the 25-minute mark of the following clip, and he speaks until the 39-minute mark (i.e. the interview is 14 minutes long):

Long-time hockey scribe Kevin Allen has moved on from USA Today to write articles for several websites.

Today, Allen, writing for Hockeybuzz, praises both Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman and Colorado Avalanche GM Joe Sakic as NHL executives whose qualities off-ice moves have mirrored to their sterling on-ice reputations:

The Red Wings, the NHL’s worst team in 2019-20, were often unwatchable. Yzerman signaled his intention to address that when he completed a trade with the New York Rangers for defenseman Marc Staal.

Yzerman stayed true to his desire to build through the draft by picking up a second round pick in exchange for Staal’s hefty $5.7 million cap hit for one season. But Yzerman also liked the idea of adding a veteran defenseman to his lineup.

Picking No. 4 in the draft, Yzerman took Lucas Raymond, a slick Swedish sensation with the potential to be as good as anyone taken ahead of him. He also earned high praise for his second round pick of 6-foot-4 Swedish defenseman William Wallinder, said to be mobile and rich in offensive potential.

Yzerman was also active in the free agent market, adding forward Bobby Ryan, two more veteran defensemen in Troy Stecher and Jon Merrill, plus goalie Thomas Greiss and center-winger Vladislav Namestnikov. All of them will help make the Red Wings modestly better, and none of them received more than a two-year deal.

You never heard a single rumor about any of those moves until it was about to happen. That’s not how Yzerman operates.

Continued

The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler has released a list of his Top 50 NHL Prospects today, and Lucas Raymond checks in at #5 overall:

If [Cole] Perfetti is a problem avoider, the kind of player whose ability to anticipate helps him stay out of trouble, Raymond’s a problem solver. He’s the kind of player whose puck-dominant skill set can get him into trouble and tough spots. But he’s also uniquely equipped with escaping out of that trouble, whether that’s with a short three-foot pass through feet and sticks when he has pushed into traffic or a deceitful shoulder fake or foot adjustment to pull away. You almost want Raymond getting into trouble because it normally means he’s drawn two or three players to him and everyone else is open. And there’s a risk that comes with his game in that way, and in projecting players like him to the next level when everyone’s bigger and faster. But as Raymond’s opportunity at the pro level has grown to match his skill level, it has become increasingly clear that his poise and comfort when he’s under pressure should translate in the NHL, especially when he’s surrounded by better players. Then you added in a constant willingness to apply pressure and work to get the puck back when he doesn’t have it and an improved shot that he appears more willing to use, and suddenly you’ve got a unique and exciting player.

It has been a ton of fun to watch him look to pull the trigger a little more since returning to the ice for the 2020-21 season in August, because his ability to adjust his feet and his stick all elsewhere on the ice also help him deceive goalies with his shot when he wants to.

Continued (paywall); Moritz Seider checks in at #22 as well:

The Athletic’s Craig Custance asked anonymous NHL executives to weigh in regarding all 31 NHL teams’ free agency moves (or the lack thereof), and here are some of the execs’ takes on Steve Yzerman’s short-term deals (as one executive notes, the Wings’ moves aren’t Cup-winners, but that’s okay):

“To be honest, the Red Wings have done a good job,” said another executive. “They’ll be somewhat competitive. They brought in character and leadership. Stevie Y does a great job.”

“Detroit had a good offseason,” said a Western Conference exec. “Namestnikov for $2 million. Bobby Ryan for $1 million. It fits exactly what they’re doing. They’re not going long term with anybody. They’ve got some good, cheap players who will improve their team right away. They’ve got a couple more D. They got more assets for the deadline. They’re movable contracts.”

Multiple execs brought up the character element. All the players signed seem to be oozing in character.

“Stevie is very deliberate who he puts around his team,” said one. “If a player is not a culture guy or does not serve a specific purpose, they get shipped out pretty quick. I like Namestnikov. Bobby Ryan is fine. I like Stecher. I like Greiss. Those guys are pretty good.”

Continued (paywall)

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski and Emily Kaplan posted a lengthy article which discusses free agency “winners and losers” this morning, and Wyshynski deems Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s low-cost, short-term UFA deals to be “winners”:

Yzerman had a year to figure out a path forward for the Detroit Red Wings, and he made a series of smart decisions to help the team in the short and long term.

He signed forwards Vladislav Namestnikov (two years, $2 million AAV) and Bobby Ryan (one year, $1 million) at great bargains.

He inked defensemen Jon Merrill (one year, $925,000 AAV) and Troy Stecher (two years, $1.7 million AAV) to smart deals and replaced an ineffective Jimmy Howard with Thomas Greiss of the Islanders — a nice, German-born liaison for top defensive prospect Moritz Seider — at two years and $3.6 million AAV.

He picked up defenseman Marc Staal, along with a second-round pick from the Rangers, for the last year of his contract to help stabilize the blue line.

Finally, he bought out the rest of Justin Abdelkader‘s ill-fated contract.

The Wings have only eight players signed beyond this season, and they have six picks in the first three rounds of next year’s draft. Let’s go! — Wyshynski

Continued

Update: The Score’s John Matisz agrees with Wyshynski’s assessment: