Author: George Malik

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects were just a little too fancy and just a little too fine on Friday night, going 1-for-8 on the power play and losing 4-2 to the Minnesota Wild’s prospects.

The Wings started strong and their top players were good-to-great, but the Wings’ prospects seemed to be missing a little cohesion and a lot of net-front drive, and between getting out of flow due to the 12 special teams situations (8 PP’s and 4 PK’s) and the loss of Vili Saarijarvi (undisclosed) for the third period, the Wings were just unnerved enough to be kept on their heels by an opportunistic Wild team.

Continue reading Audio from the Red Wings prospects’ 4-2 loss to Minnesota at the prospect tournament ’18

According to the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan, Martin Frk aims to earn a roster spot for the second straight season as Frk finds himself among stiff competition for one of the last spots on the Wings’ forward lines:

“I have to show them I deserve to be here,” said Frk on Friday, after another informal team workout. “I worked real hard in the summer to make sure I’m ready for this season. I was kind of in this spot last year. I had to come in here and earn a spot, and I stayed the whole year.

“I don’t think I have a spot here. I have to work real hard for it and make sure I show them I can play here. I want to do everything I can for it to make sure I start the season here.”

The fact Henrik Zetterberg (back) will not start the season — Zetterberg’s career could be in jeopardy — gives Frk a better chance of landing a roster spot that is suddenly open.

But forwards Evgeny Svechnikov and Dominic Turgeon are looking for NHL jobs. Then there is Luke Witkowski, who is a versatile player and can play either forward or defense. He’s also the team’s physical presence and Witkowski’s spot is uncertain.

Continued

Ahead of tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild, the Red Wings posted a prospect tournament “morning skate report”…

Zadina is 6-feet, 196 pounds, with speed, skill and a spectacular finish around the net.

Rasmussen is 6-foot-6, 221 pounds, with fantastic hand-eye coordination and a willingness to park in front of the net.

Smith is 6-foot-2, 206 pounds, with the ability to take whatever spot he wants on the ice and a relentlessness in his game.

“You go to the draft and you see their names called and you meet these kids a little bit and you see highlights. You’re excited,” Grand Rapids coach Ben Simon said. “It’s great for the organization, you see how talented they are. It’s a great glimmer of hope with what’s coming up the pipeline for Detroit. To be able to kind of get these guys for a week and see what they can do and get them off on the right foot so they’re going to camp on a positive is huge. These kids are excited. This is their first camp, their first opportunity to really leave a good impression or start with a good impression off Day 1 so it is exciting.”

Wakiji continues…

From the Toledo Walleye:

Mackenze Stewart joins the Walleye ranks

(Toledo, OH) – Defenseman Mackenze Stewart has agreed to terms for the 2018-19 season with the Toledo Walleye.

Stewart, a native of Calgary, Alberta, appeared in 56 games last season with the Kalamazoo Wings, scoring four goals with eight assists and 55 penalty minutes. He also appeared in a pair of games for Utica in the AHL with five penalty minutes. The 6’4”, 215 pound defenseman spent his first pro season in Alaska in 2016-17 where he posted 13 points (6G, 7A), 117 penalty minutes and was a plus six.

“Big, powerful defenseman is the best way to describe Mackenze,” said Head Coach Dan Watson. “We witnessed his abilities last season in Kalamazoo and feel like he will be a tremendous fit to our defensive unit.”

The 23-year-old was drafted by Vancouver in the 7th round of the 2014 NHL Draft while he playing for the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL. Over 163 career WHL contests, Stewart scored 15 times with 16 assists and 230 penalty minutes. His final WHL season was in the 2015-16 season with Tri-City when Stewart collected 47 penalty minutes and 11 points (5G, 6A) in just 36 contests. The defenseman made his pro debut during that season with six games in Kalamazoo and four more in Utica.

 

MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with forward Dominic Turgeon regarding his recovery from a “thoracic outlet syndrome” blood clot that required the removal of a rib, as well as Turgeon’s goals for an upcoming (and hopefully healthy) season:

“My mindset is to come into camp and be strong in what I can bring to hockey,” Turgeon said. “Being a strong two-way player, being good on face-offs, being good on the penalty kill, and also provide some offense.”

Turgeon’s season ended abruptly on April 11, when he underwent surgery in Round Rock, Texas. The Griffins were on a road trip when Turgeon was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome. After the clot was removed, he flew to Tampa, where a rib was removed from his right side.

“It definitely was scary,” Turgeon, Detroit’s second pick (63^rd overall) in 2014, said. “I didn’t know much of it at the time, but stuff happens in life. Thankfully, the recovery went well.”

How he developed the condition remains a mystery.

“One day my arm just kind of got swollen, kind of got big,” Turgeon said. “I thought it was from an elbow problem at first. It never really went away. Eventually I got it checked out and I needed surgery right away. They said a lot of pitchers or even tennis players get it, but it’s very rare for hockey players.”

Khan continues…

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects participated in a morning skate ahead of tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild’s prospects at Centre ICE Arena (7:30 PM EDT on Fox Sports GO and the Red Wings’ website).

As noted in the audio post, the Wings’ prospects worked on breakouts, both in possession of the puck and via dump-in retrievals by goaltenders or defensemen, and they also engaged in some power play/PK drills.

Continue reading Impressions from Friday’s morning skate at the Red Wings’ prospect tournament ’18

WDIV’s David Bartkowiak Jr. posted a list of 5 “must-watch” Red Wings games during the 2018-19 season, and I personally dig this one:

Oct. 11 — Maple Leafs at Red Wings

Of course, the bad blood between these Atlantic Division rivals goes back decades. But now that they’re back in the same division with former Red Wings forward Brendan Shanahan and former Red Wings coach Mike Babcock running things for the boys in blue, the Maple Leafs and Red Wings rivalry is in full force. At least one of the teams is a contender this year — you can guess which one.

On Oct. 11, fans at Little Caesars Arena will get a look at John Tavares and Auston Matthews up close. Thanks to the Tavares signing, the anticipation for this Maple Leafs season is as big as it has ever been in the history of the Toronto franchise. It’s the perfect time to see the Red Wings upset them early in the season — it may be the only shot they have at beating Toronto this year, no joke.

Honestly, a Wings-Leafs game in Detroit is way worth the ticket. The Toronto fans will show up in droves, and there will be animosity in the stands. Hopefully no ginger ales get thrown — not saying that’s ever happened before.

Bartkowiak Jr. continues…

MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Mike Green regarding his recovery from neck surgery this past spring:

“It’s night and day,” Green said. “It’s been a long summer recovering, but I feel pretty prepared.”

Green will go to New York next week to see the doctor that performed the surgery. He expects to be cleared for contact. He might be limited in training camp, which starts next Friday in Traverse City, but he expects to be ready for the season-opener on Oct. 4.

Green missed seven games after hit from Tampa Bay’s Adam Erne on Feb. 15. He wasn’t the same when he returned. The injury prevented the Red Wings from trading him at the deadline for a draft pick.

He was finally shut down for the remainder of the season (final nine games) in late March.

“It’s just one of those things that was going on for a long time,” Green said. “Basically, I was playing not to get hit and you can’t play the game effective like that.”

Continued

Khan also posted a video of Green’s remarks:

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects held a morning skate ahead of tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild’s prospects (7:30 PM EDT on FSD GO and the Red Wings’ website), mostly focusing on power play work and breakouts.

Coach Ben Simon has a bit of a battle on his hands trying to teach players who are used to deferring on power play shots and skating in the “outside lane” in breakouts to move the puck up the middle and drive to the net, so it made a lot of sense to work on systems play that emphasizes driving the middle from net to net.

It appears that Patrik Rybar will start (barring a sore groin), and the Wings’ power play units will include a 4-forward group of Filip Zadina, Michael Rasmussen, Givani Smith, Joe Veleno and Dennis Cholowski on the first unit, with Axel Holmstrom, Christoffer Ehn and David Pope working with Vili Saarijarvi and Jared McIsaac.

After practice, I took part in the media scrums for Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina, both of whom are looking forward to the tournament (though Zadina has heard less about the WJC-like level of play in Traverse City)…

Continue reading Audio from the morning skate at the Red Wings’ prospect tournament ’18

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a video in which she speaks with Libor Sulak and Filip Hronek:

Hronek is coming off a standout first season of pro hockey, producing 11 goals and 28 assists for 39 points in 67 with the Grand Rapids Griffins, where he also ran one of the power plays. Sulak spent 2017-18 in Finland, where he had nine goals and 23 assists in 42 games and played in every situation with the Lahti Pelicans. One Wings veteran, having seen little of Sulak before this week’s informal skates, sounded excited.

“I think he’s a sleeper in the race, to be honest with you,” Niklas Kronwall said. “Great skater. Likes to join the rush. Seems like a good defender.”

In addition to his skating, Sulak’s assets include his shot. His focus as he prepares for his second camp with the Wings are to play “good defense, have a good gap, support forwards and throw pucks at the net.” Sulak represented the Czech Republic at the 2018 World Championship, where he was partnered with former NHL defenseman Radko Gudas. Sulak had three points in eight games.

“It is good experience for me to play against the U.S., and some guys who play in the NHL,” Sulak said. “It help me. I have to do a good job in here now.”

Likewise, Hronek finished 2018 Worlds with three points in eight games.

“I was playing against good players from NHL, so it helped me a lot,” Hronek said. “I have to work hard here and then we will see what happens.”