Author: George Malik

The AHL and the Grand Rapids Griffins have released their 2019-2020 regular season schedule today:

The Athletic’s Joe Smith posted a lengthy interview with Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik this afternoon, and Smith’s interview includes the following discussion of Steve Yzerman’s decision to step down as Tampa Bay’s GM and eventually rejoin the Red Wings:

Last summer, you said you were surprised Steve stepped down (as GM). I think everyone was. I don’t think many people are surprised that he ended up back in Detroit (as Red Wings GM). Is this what you expected to happen, too, or was there still hope he’d stay with the Lightning beyond this year?

I hoped he’d stay beyond this year. [GM] Julien [BriseBois] (did), too. Steve talked about how his family needed him in Detroit and still needs him there. That was the right decision for him. Certainly, in the back of my mind, I knew there’s a good chance he’d become the manager of the Wings. At the end, he was very respectful. He didn’t have conversations (with Detroit) until later into the season. I’m not sure that any of us were surprised. I wish him the best of luck being the second-best team in the NHL.

Have you spoken with Yzerman much since he left?

We sat in these two seats where we are now, had a conversation after the end of the season, spent three or four hours together. We were talking about the last eight or nine years, talking about the season, why we lost — just enjoying each other’s company. We had a great run together.

But he apologized: “Sorry I didn’t bring you the Stanley Cup.” That’s why Steve was here, and that was his main motive. We wanted sustained success, a chance to win each year. And a lot has to go right to win. But we didn’t. Every year that goes by, that becomes even more our focus.

Continued (paywall)

From the Detroit Red Wings:

2019 NHL Prospect Tournament and Training Camp return to Traverse City

21st Annual Prospect Tournament set for Sept. 6-10; Training Camp will run Sept. 13-16

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today announced that the team will return to Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich., to host their annual NHL Prospect Tournament and Training Camp, as well as the 21st Annual Training Camp Golf Classic at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Acme, Mich.

NHL PROSPECT TOURNAMENT

The NHL Prospect Tournament returns to Traverse City for its 21st season, running from Friday, Sept. 6 through Tuesday, Sept. 10. The eight-team field consists of prospects from the Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, the defending tournament-champion Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs, who will participate in the tournament for the first time, replacing the Carolina Hurricanes.

Of Twitter-related note this morning:

1. Via Expressen:

My heartfelt condolences go out to Greg Johnson’s family. What a great teammate. RIP— Nicklas Lidstrom (@NicklasLidstrom) July 10, 2019

Sad to hear about the passing of former Red Wing Greg Johnson. One of the nicest pro athletes I’ve ever met. He was a pleasure to interview and just a great guy to be around.— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) July 10, 2019

2. In the alumni department, via CapFriendly and the Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa:

NY #Islanders signed free agent G Jared Coreau to a 1 year/2-way contract.

NHL: $700,000
Minor: $225,000 ($275,000 gtee)

Coreau will be an Unrestricted Free Agent again next summer.https://t.co/DDJTQkwoGS pic.twitter.com/YI6oyvoC2k— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 10, 2019

3. In the charitable event category:

Hockeysverige.se’s Ronnie Ronnqvist posted an extensive interview with new Red Wings defenseman Patrik Nemeth today, and here’s a rough translation thereof:

Why the NHL Swede chose Detroit: “There needed an addition to the back of the defense”

He didn’t stay in Colorado–and landed a more lucrative contract in Detroit. To Hockeysverige.se, defenseman Patrik Nemeth tells about the years in Colorado and the left he hopes to earn with his new team.

“When you come to a new team, there are new eyes that see you and you really have the chance to make a [good] first impression,” he says.

Patrik Nemeth had a rather tough introduction to the NHL. He traveled over to join the Dallas organization in 2012. He played five seasons, but a nasty wrist injury yielded him not securing a position on the team. For the last two seasons, he’s been playing for Colorado, which was a boost for the 27-year-old from Kista. There he received a lot of playing time and good defensive responsibilities. Before the upcoming season, Nemeth became a free agent on July 1st, and it was Detroit that chose to sign him.

“It’s a process that you go through. The interview period starts a week before the first of July. It’s teams who interview and check your interest. then your agent asks the teams, ‘Where do you see him playing?’ In the end it sifted down to a handful of teams where everything felt more concrete and real,” says Nemeth when hockeysverige.se meets him for an interview on the Tyreso Strand.

MLives Ansar Khan profiles Red Wings prospect Ryan Kuffner this morning, noting that Kuffner chose to take part in the Wings’ summer development camp despite playing in 10 NHL games this past season:

Kuffner, 23, focused on individual skills during the Red Wings’ recent development camp.

“You’re playing against bigger guys,” Kuffner said. “It’s about spinning out in the corner and working on the stuff that you see on the ice, in-tight skills that are the difference-maker in the pros that so many of those guys do so well. I was able to witness it, but it’s just one thing I really have to work on.”

Another is lower-body strength.

“That’s pretty much in the corners, the tight spaces, because if you can be on the opposite side of the pushing around, that’s massive,” the 6-1, 195-pound Kuffner said. “Then it just opens up an extra second to make a play and that’s more than enough time to be able to make a difference. I think it’s strength, especially on the bottom, but working the whole body and just getting as strong as I can, not necessarily as big.”

The Ottawa native is spending the summer in metro Detroit, living with Patrick Holway, a defenseman the Red Wings drafted in the sixth round in 2015, who’ll be attending Merrimack College in the fall. He’s skating three times a week and training with the likes of Dylan Larkin, Luke Glendening and Darren Helm.

“I think a big thing for me this summer is just being here, being with the guys, doing everything we can to make it a competitive environment because that’s only going to make us better,” Kuffner said.

Khan continues

On Monday, the Free Press’s Helene St. James submitted her best estimate of the Red Wings’ opening-night roster, and this morning, WDIV’s David Bartkowiak Jr. engages in a similar task.

Bartkowiak Jr. also takes note of some of the prospects in the Red Wings’ system who may make the team at some point during the 2019-2020 season (if not in 20-21), and I believe that he offers a good estimate of said prospects’ progress and relative worth:

Taro Hirose (LW): Hirose left Michigan State late last season and signed with the Red Wings. In his first 10 NHL games he scored a goal and 6 assists. He did not look like a rookie just out of college. He looked very ready for the pros. He’s 23 years old now, and he looks like a legitimate pro hockey player. He could be spending some time in Grand Rapids this year, but he appears to be the type of player who has the mind for the NHL. He is strong in all areas of the ice, responsible with the puck and, well, he’s a good freaking hockey player who didn’t get drafted due to his size — 5-10, 160 pounds. He put up 50 points in 36 games played with the Spartans last year.

Ryan Kuffner (LW): Kuffner, 23, also joined the Red Wings out of college this past season. The product of Princeton played in 10 games at the end of the season but didn’t record a point. He’s another guy who got passed up in the draft and came to Detroit for a chance to play. We shall see. He’s listed at 6-1, 195 pounds.

Joe Veleno (C): Fans want Veleno in the Red Wings lineup right now, but he hasn’t played a second of pro hockey. He will be in Grand Rapids at the start of this season — I think that’s a pretty safe bet. But everyone is so hyped about him because of the type of player he is. He also scored 104 points in 59 games played this past season in the QMJHL. He is a part of the future for Detroit, but right now Nielsen, Filppula and Glendening are in his way. And that’s OK. There is no real reason to rush him right now. He’s 19. Let him get used to a new level first. One step at a time.

Bartkowiak Jr. continues at length.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner posted a “By the Numbers” examination of Red Wings prospect Victor Brattstrom’s 2018-2019 season. Regner’s article includes both sets of statistics from the Swedish goaltender’s season and an assessment of the 22-year-old’s progress from Wings goaltending coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson:

” He got better this year in Timra, with a good goalie coach over in Sweden. Timra was deferred to the Allsvenskan league because they were a marginal team in the SHL, but it’ll be a really good situation for Victor because he’ll probably play 45-50 games, which he didn’t have that luxury last year because he was playing with Niklas Svedberg. The thing is, by the end of the year, he was outplaying Svedberg. One, due to his work ethic, and also the quality of starts he had.” – Brian Mahoney-Wilson, Red Wings goaltending development coach

Continued

Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff paid tribute to Greg Johnson, who passed away today at 48:

Johnson’s NHL days began with the Red Wings in 1993, and he quickly gave an indication of his character. During the 1993-94 season, he left the Wings to join Canada in time for the Winter Olympic Games, helping the Canadians win a silver medal.

By volunteering to join the Canadian squad, Johnson’s two-way NHL deal switched to a minor-league pact. His decision to live out the Olympic dream cost him $40,000 in salary.

It also cost him some blood. Johnson became a cult hero in his homeland in Canada’s quarter-final against the Czech Republic. Johnson took a slap shot in the nose during overtime, but remained on the bench while his now-broken nose was stitched up.

“The idea was that if they stitched me up on the bench, I could go right back out for my next shift,” Johnson recalled at the time, “but just as they finished, we scored.

“So the trainer looks at me and says, ‘Good, the game’s over. Now we can take those stitches out and put them in right.’”

Continued

It’s July 10th, so what is it time for? A nap, maybe? Nope. Instead, Sportsnet and ESPN have filed sets of power rankings and fantasy power rankings, respectively.

Sportsnet’s Luke Fox figures that it’s not too early to assess teams’ off-season moves…

18. Detroit Red Wings

Steve Yzerman has taken a more patient approach to his first summer with his new/old franchise than we imagined. His big free agency purchases were 35-year-old Valterri Filppula and 27-year-old Patrik Nemeth (two years, $6 million each). Eleven Red Wings are set to come off the books in 2020. That should be the Summer of Stevie, when the full-scale renovations begin.

(we’ll ignore the fact that Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Bertuzzi all require raises as restricted free agents in 2020)

And ESPN’s Sean Allen lists fantasy hockey player rankings–250 of them–via specific team-by-team criteria:

Detroit Red Wings: A patient rebuild will give emerging fantasy assets such as Anthony Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi and Andreas Athanasiou another chance to advance their position. The same is true for less-proven commodities like Filip Zadina, Michael Rasmussen and Evgeny Svechnikov. … Who is going to play the point on this power play? The Red Wings have no new options and Dennis Cholowski‘s nine power-play points topped the squad last season.

As such, Dylan Larkin cracks the top 50 player rankings at 41st overall, Anthony Mantha follows at 130th, Andreas Athanasiou is ranked 216th, Tyler Bertuzzi is ranked 226th, and Michael Rasmussen is ranked 238th.