Author: George Malik

It took joining a website’s free article service in German to find this one, but Moritz Seider spoke with Mannheim Morgen today to discuss his draft and development camp experiences, and here’s his conversation with Jan Kotulla, roughly translated from German:

Moritz Seider: “I only hoped that I wouldn’t trip”

Mortiz Seider will never forget the moment whe nhe received his Red Wings jersey from Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman at the draft.

Mannheim. On Monday, Moritz Seider returned from Detroit and is back in Mannheim–and what is the 18-year-old hockey whiz kid going to do? He’s planning on spending his summer training on the ice. This past weekend was one highlight after another for the defenseman of Adler Mannheim.

Pro Hockey Talk’s James O’Brien believes that the Red Wings and Senators are going about their rebuilding processes the wrong way, and as a result, O’Brien suggests some names that both teams might want to acquire to accelerate their rebuilding:

If you’re a fan of both hockey and team-building, the last few weeks have been Christmas in July. It might not be the most wonderful time of year if you demand smart team-building, though.

Plenty of teams have spent their money poorly lately, but at least two teams have really dropped the ball on boosting their rebuilds: the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators. Instead of seeing a blueprint in the Hurricanes creatively getting a first-round pick out of a Patrick Marleau trade and buyout, the Red Wings and Senators instead wasted their money on veterans who are unlikely to make much of a difference for their futures (Valtteri Filppula and Ron Hainsey, respectively).

The bad news is that Steve Yzerman and Pierre Dorion missed the boat at the most robust time. Jake Gardiner stands as a strong free agent option, yet the frenzy is now a dull rumble.

The good news is that there’s still time, as both teams have some space to take on Marleau-lite contracts, and there are contenders who need to make space. Before I list off some Marleau-lite contracts Detroit or Ottawa should consider absorbing, let’s summarize each team’s situations.

Bumpy road in Motor City: Filppula joins a bloated list of veteran supporting cast members who are clogging up Detroit’s cap, so it’s worth noting that the Red Wings only have about $5.284M in cap space, according to Cap Friendly.

The Red Wings have their normal array of picks for the next three years, along with an extra second in 2020, and also extra third-rounders in both 2020 and 2021. That’s decent, but why not buy more dart throws?

Continued with some trade-acquirable-names and UFA names of note…

And O’Brien dropped this doubt bomb on Twitter:

I’m not saying that Steve Yzerman was less shrewd, and more a figurehead, in Tampa Bay.

Definitely starting to wonder a bit, though.— James O’Brien ? (@cyclelikesedins) July 3, 2019

According to the Arab-American News’s Nick Meyer, Red Wings development camp participant and try-out goalie Robbie Beydoun, who hails from Plymouth Michigan, happens to be of Arabic descent:

Beydoun, a 5-foot-11, 22-year-old goaltender, previously played for Compuware amateur teams in Plymouth, which are known for churning out high quality prospects at all levels of hockey, as well as the Waterloo Black Hawks and Fargo Force of the USHL in the past two seasons.

A fierce competitor who relies on his athleticism but said he’s been learning the mental game better over the past few seasons, Beydoun had a a few difficulties settling into his part-time role last year with Michigan Tech, hoping to play in every game.

“I’m a pretty athletic goalie (and) that’s something I’m never going to take out of my game because I think that’s one of my biggest assets,” said Beydoun to the Daily Mining-Gazette of Houghton.

“The biggest thing for me was not over-relying on the athleticism. The big thing I did (prior to last year’s season) was slow things down, limit my movement, play controlled and just be more efficient.”

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From the Detroit Red Wings comes a note that Fox Sports Detroit will air a special tonight at 7 PM, in which the Red Wings’ 2019 draft picks will be profiled:

Tune in TONIGHT at 7:00pm on @FOXSportsDet as @KenKalDRW, @ArthurJRegner & Ken Daniels break down the newest #RedWings draft picks from this year’s #NHLDraft ‼️ pic.twitter.com/7UIgHSeAP9— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 3, 2019

The Detroit Red Wings posted a video chronicling some of the activities taking place at this summer’s Larkin Hockey School in Waterford, MI:

DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner filed a “Behind the Numbers” look at Red Wings prospect Alec Regula’s 2018-2019 season, and the profile includes an assessment of Regula’s development from Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff:

“I think Alec started off a little bit slow, he’ll tell you that much to his credit, but I thought he played much better in the second half. It was a little bit different for most of the second half, we saw him play net-front on the power play. Listen, when you’re a kid drafted in juniors you’re trying to develop all parts of your game, both offensive and defensive. They had a pretty stacked blueline power play-wise there in London and it was nice for him to get out there and play first PP.

“With Alec, we’ll just let him start the season and see how it goes. Steve (Yzerman) does things a little bit different, ultimately, it’s going to be up to his decision (to offer a contract), but there’s no pressure to sign these guys early, that’s something that’s kind of reserved for first-round draft picks. He (Steve) kind of explained to everyone that came in (for development camp) about that (playing for a contract). Steve told them to just go out there and play their game and that stuff will take care of it with time.

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MLive’s Ansar Khan profiles Red Wings prospect Gustav Lindstrom this morning. Lindstrom will join the Grand Rapids Griffins this season after winning an SHL championship with the Frolunda Indians this past season:

Lindstrom is a good-skating, puck-moving defenseman who likes to deliver hits – not the Niklas Kronwall-like crushing open-ice variety, but he makes his presence felt.

“That’s a big part of my game. I like to play aggressive and physical,” Lindstrom said. “When you get the chance, of course you want to hit like Kronwall, but that’s hard.”’

Lindstrom, 20, appeared in 40 games for Frolunda, which is known for player development and stresses puck possession and up-tempo play. The club won the Swedish championship. It should help him prepare for the AHL.

“It was really fun season, both for me and for the team,” Lindstrom said. “We had Joel Lundqvist as our captain (twin brother of Rangers’ goaltender Henrik). He’s won World Championships and the Swedish League four times and the European Cup three times. I learned a lot from him, the winning culture. It helped me to know what you have to do to win.

“I think I developed (well). I’ve grown as a person, too, off the ice. I think my physical game and my skating was better last year than the year before.”

Continued

Via Instagram, Nicklas Lidstrom and Mats Sundin will captain the teams participating in the Hockey Hall of Fame’s annual “Legends’ Classic”:

View this post on Instagram

Introducing our captains for the 2019 Haggar Hockey Hall of Fame Legends Classic! Legends Mats Sundin and Nicklas Lidstrom battle for bragging rights alongside two star-studded teams. For more information, see the link in bio #HHOF2019

A post shared by HHOF (@thehockeyhalloffame) on Jul 2, 2019 at 9:01am PDT

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. During last week’s summer development camp, Red Wings forward Taro Hirose spoke with the media regarding his decision to take part in said camp, as the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan noted:

“I’m trying to be a student of the game, and watch what the best players in the world are doing,” said Hirose last week during the Wings’ development camp. “Being able to pick their brains, guys on the team, and see what they’re seeing on plays and seeing things that maybe I don’t see, I’m trying to learn all the time. That’s a big part for me.”

Hirose, 23, was one of the older players at last week’s camp, and also had the edge of already played some NHL games.

His success the final weeks of the season was somewhat of a surprise, given he’s only listed at 5-foot-10, 160-pounds, and Hirose isn’t the fastest skater around.

But Hirose has utilized his hockey smarts to the best of his ability, consistently making plays and finding the best places to be on the ice.

“He showed when he came in last season he proved he could produce,” said Shawn Horcoff, the Wings’ director of player development. “He’s been training hard this offseason and he looks good right now.”

2. The New Haven Register’s Chip Malafronte spoke with development camp participant Keith Petruzzelli about his upcoming junior season at Quinnipiac:

InGoal Magazine’s Cat Silverman filed an impressive article discussing each and every one of the NHL’s free agency signings at the goaltending position, and Silverman has this to say about the Red Wings’ signing of Calvin Pickard:

The 2018-19 season was a disappointing one for Calvin Pickard, who Toronto had hoped to sneak through waivers and instead got scooped up to join the goaltending carousel in Philadelphia. Things didn’t work out there, and he was picked up by the Arizona Coyotes to help them with their own onslaught of goaltending injuries – and ultimately, he ended up going months at a time without sniffing NHL ice.

Pickard’s promising numbers with the Avalanche and AHL Marlies in the past, though, combine with one of the most highly-lauded locker room presences in the league. So the 27-year old Manitoban was picked up on a two-year deal by the Detroit Red Wings, who gave him a combined $1.5 million to both provide some guaranteed money for the player and a reasonable $750,000 cap hit for themselves. He’ll join the Red Wings to compete with backup Jonathan Bernier for the number two spot behind Jimmy Howard and provide some insurance in case the 35-year old Jimmy Howard suffers any kind of setbacks.

At best, Pickard has proven to be a phenomenal teammate and a positive practice goaltender, but the assumption is that the Red Wings will need to use him in some capacity during the year – so don’t expect to see him go through the kind of lengthy starting dry spells this time around.

Continued