Author: George Malik

The Red Wings’ media corps spoke with turning-pro goaltender Filip Larsson today, and both MLive’s Ansar Khan and the Free Press’s Helene St. James filed articles regarding Larsson’s career path.

The former Djurgardens IF and Tri-City Storm goaltender hopes to earn a starting job with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins after a season spent at the University of Denver, but Larsson readily admitted that he’s not counting himself the Griffins’ starter just yet. Khan duly noted that Larsson is taking things a moment at a time…

Could Larsson reach Detroit in 2020-21? Starter Jimmy Howard, 35, signed a one-year contract in March and his performance will dictate whether he is extended for another season. Backup Jonathan Bernier, 30, has two years remaining on his deal.

Larsson realizes a large portion of the fan base hopes he is on the fast track to the NHL.

“Yeah, I get some stuff on social media, but I’m not that updated there,” Larsson said. “Sometimes I get a message or something. I know about it. It’s fun to see. For me, I want to play games at the next level.”

By next level, he was referring to the AHL, and he isn’t even taking for granted that he has a job with the Griffins, saying he’s going to “try to get that spot.”

He will, and the only question is how many games he will play. The Red Wings have only one other goalie under contract, prospect Kaden Fulcher, who played for the ECHL Toledo Walleye last season. The Griffins on Thursday signed Pat Nagle to a one-year contract after he helped Toledo reach the Kelly Cup Finals.

Khan continues, noting that the Wings submitted a qualifying offer to Patrik Rybar, who may or may not play in North America this upcoming season.

Larsson suggested that the Griffins will probably bring in a veteran netminder to utilize as their starter…

And the Free Press’s St. James pointed out that the Wings have a fair amount of faith in Larsson’s potential:

I know it’s a good opportunity,” Larsson said. “There are still two great guys up there but they’re getting older. But I’m not looking at NHL next year – for me, I want to make that AHL team and I want to get as many games as possible to develop and in a future years maybe get that (NHL) opportunity.”

The Wings had the 35th overall pick and could have drafted any of two highly rated goaltenders, Pyotr Kochetkov and Mads Sogaard, who went, respectively, 36th and 37th (the Wings opted for another right-shot defenseman, Antti Tuomisto). They’re likely to add a goaltender for Grand Rapids via free agency. 

The Wings drafted Larsson, who turns 21 in August, in the sixth round, 167th overall, three years ago. His numbers (3.86 goals-against average and .872 save percentage in 19 games for Djurgarden junior team) were unimpressive, but he’d struggled with injuries. Last summer, he missed development camp because he was still recovering from an injury suffered in February 2018 (his groin moved 11 millimeters off the pubic bone). He had surgery last September.  

Larsson plans to go back to Sweden after development camp wraps Saturday, and then return in a month to train with Red Wings goaltending development coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson, focusing on preparing Larsson for a better quality of shots. There hasn’t been a lot of that this week.

“It’s not a lot of goalie practicing here,” Larsson aid. “It’s mostly just being out there with the other guys. It’s two hours for us goalies. It’s tough. It’s just grinding.”

Asked if anyone’s shot stands out, Larsson smiled. “I haven’t noticed. It’s hard to watch the other guys. I just try to stop the pucks.”

Both Khan and St. James posted videos of Larsson’s remarks…

Shifting gears, Michigan Hockey’s Michael Caples spoke with a pair of Michigan natives who are trying to impress anyone who’s watching the Red Wings’ summer development camp.

Fenton, MI’s Drew DeRidder played in 17 games for the Michigan State University Spartans this past season, and the 5’10” goaltender is living out a dream by playing for the Wings:

“This is awesome, this is a dream of mine,” the netminder said. “I grew up a Red Wings fan, I grew up coming to the games, I’ve always dreamt of this and it’s coming true. It’s a great opportunity and I just have to take advantage of it.”

DeRidder said that while he’s in front of the Wings’ staff, he wants to show he’s capable of a professional hockey career.

“I just want to prove to myself and everyone else that I deserve to be here,” the 5-foot-10, 167-pound goaltender said. “I guess that’s kind of my goal, and I thought today was a good start.”

Helping him navigate the crease this week are a few familiar faces, notably fellow Michigan-born goaltender Robbie Beydoun (more on that later) and former Michigan State teammate Taro Hirose, who signed with the Red Wings at the conclusion of the college hockey season.

“I have,” DeRidder said when asked if he crossed paths with the former Hobey Baker candidate. “I met up with him a little bit last night, that’s nice, it’s good to have a guy that you know pretty well here.”

Caples continues, and Plymouth, MI’s Robbie Beydoun tells Caples a similar story:

“Oh it’s a huge honor,” Beydoun said. “Growing up rooting for the Red Wings, watching games, all my favorite goalies played for the Red Wings, so, throwing on that jersey and seeing my name on it was pretty cool.”

Beydoun, a Compuware alum about to start his third season with Michigan Tech, said he got a call from Red Wings goaltending coach Jeff Salajko inviting him to this year’s camp.

“He knows I’m a local guy and he’s seen me play a couple times; he thought I could add some competition to the camp here,” Beydoun said.

He has earned his spot; last year, Beydoun recorded a 1.98 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 12 outings with the Huskies. The invite was unexpected, however.

“It hit me kind of by surprise. I wasn’t really expecting it. Right when I got the call, I was super pumped, told my family and since I’m local, they’re all trying to come out and watch me, hopefully they can.”

Again, Caples continues, and the Michigan natives in net have acquitted themselves well.

The Red Wings archived their hour-long YouTube stream from the third day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp:

The Detroit News’s Charles E. Ramirez notes that Joe Louis Arena’s demolition is coming along, and two of the cranes being used to demolish the facility are adorned with Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman’s names and jersey numbers:

“It’s a tribute to those two gentlemen,” said Nick Straub, general manager of Homrich, the company hired to take down the metal panels from the arena’s exterior. Based in Carleton, Homrich is demolition, remediation, and environmental contractor.

The company started the job about a week ago, according to city officials.

“It was put together by J.J. Curran,” Straub said. “We’re renting the cranes from them. It was done prior to us getting on the project, but it was done just for the work at the Joe.”   

Based in Detroit, the J.J. Curran Crane Company has been renting crane equipment since 1950.

Company officials couldn’t be immediately reached for comment Thursday.City officials said the removal of the panels at the Joe Louis Arena could take a couple of months. Once they’re down, demolition of the remaining structure will begin, which may be at the end of July or the beginning of August, they said. Detroit-based Adamo Group was hired for the project. 

Continued

FYI, per the Red Wings’ Twitter account:

GOOD NEWS, #HOCKEYTOWN!

Additional tickets have just been released for tomorrow’s #DRWDC three-on-three tournament AND Red & White Game on Saturday at @LCArena_Detroit.

Get ’em now → https://t.co/pNDGE5VMPQ pic.twitter.com/EUKV1TRsPF— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 27, 2019

The Grand Rapids Griffins have re-signed Toledo Walleye starting netminder Pat Nagle to a 2-way AHL/ECHL contract:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Thursday re-signed goaltender Pat Nagle to a one-year contract.

A native of Bloomfield, Mich., Nagle spent majority of the 2018-19 campaign with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye and helped backstop the club to their first-ever appearance in the Kelly Cup Finals before falling in Game 6 to the Newfoundland Growlers. In 24 postseason games, Nagle compiled a 14-10 record, a 2.03 goals against average, a 0.931 save percentage and one shutout. He paced the ECHL in postseason minutes (1481), saves (679) and games played, while ranking second in both wins and GAA, and fourth in save percentage. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound netminder’s playoff run came on the heels of a regular season during which he was among the league’s leaders with 22 wins (T10th), a 2.81 GAA (17th), a 0.910 save mark (T16th), three shutouts (T7th), 41 games played (T10th) and 2411 minutes (11th).

The Red Wings made four players available during the afternoon session at the summer development camp, and the players’ scrum interviews are as follows:

Taro Hirose, the poster boy for college try-out success, said that he hasn’t actually talked to many of the Wings’ NCAA try-outs save Odeen Tufto and Alex Limoges, but Hirose did say that he’s going to spend the summer in Detroit, and he’s working hard to get stronger while continuing to focus on being a shifty player that anticipates his opponents’ moves so as to maximize his small size:

Jack Adams had a tremendously difficult season off the ice as his older brother passed away, and Adams reflected upon some of his difficulties while discussing his attempts to get his 6’6,” 204-pound frame back to normal as he used hockey as a coping skill. Adams also discussed his current events major:

Filip Larsson is hard to get a a quote out of sometimes, and the “elusive goalie” spent half of his interview shrugging off questions with “maybes,” “probably’s,” and, “I think so’s,” but when he was engaged, he was refreshingly honest about not taking an AHL spot with the Grand Rapids Griffins for granted, and he really remains “in the moment” in a big way as he prepares to climb the professional ropes:

Finally, Malte Setkov, who now stands at 6’7,” spoke in his ever-easy-going manner about the advantages of being a large defenseman, his relative satisfaction with his past season in the Swedish Allsvenskan and his desire to continue building his strength as he tries to play full-time at the SHL level:

Red Wings prospect Filip Zadina has returned from an injured hamstring muscle:

.@filip_zadina now on the ice at #DRWDC after missing the first two days with a tweaked hamstring. pic.twitter.com/yzYJ3a2LSI— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 27, 2019

Update: Zadina didn’t take part in all the drills. He was out for about half an hour.

The Red Wings made three defensemen available for interview on Thursday morning, and Gustav Lindstrom led the trio.

Lindstrom discussed his decision to come to North America, his fondness for the “smaller rink,” his goals for the upcoming season and the lessons he learned while playing for the Frolunda Indians, who won the SHL championship:

Defenseman Alec Regula, who played for the London Knights this past season, is trying to nurse a sore knee back to health without surgery. Regula both worked on the powerhouse London Knights’ blueline and skated for the Grand Rapids Griffins as a black ace, but he admitted that being unable to do more than work out right now has been the most frustrating part of his career thus far:

Seth Barton also spoke with the media corps today, and the 6’3,” 174-pound UMass-Lowell defenseman discussed his attempts to get bigger and stronger as he reflected upon the lessons he’s learning at development camp:

The Detroit Red Wings are streaming Art Regner and Ken Kal’s broadcast from the third day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp:

Red Wings draft pick Ethan Phillips stands at 5’9″ and 146 pounds, but the Red Wings thought highly enough of the diminutive forward to pick him with the 97th overall pick in this year’s draft.

This morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses the winding developmental path that Phillips has taken thus far, as well as some of his future goals as he prepares to play for Boston College this fall:

Phillips produced 31 goals and 33 assists in 45 games in 2017-18 with the U16 Selects team. He entered the program in 2016.

“The whole development program they had there seemed to be the best spot for me,” Phillips said. “Playing against my own age group at the time made sense because I was very undersized. Having the skills coaches there, and the ice and gym is always there for you, was really big.

“I left because I went up to Sioux Falls in October and things went really well, I played four games and started talking with the coaches at Selects Academy and Sioux Falls to see if maybe it was the right move for me to jump to the USHL, especially with it being my draft year.  I got a lot of support from the coaches at Selects – they want to move guys on, so they are happy to see that, that I have the opportunity.”

Phillips’ next move is to Boston University (also home to Wings prospects Kasper Kotkansalo and newcomer Robert Mastrosimone), where he’ll work on balancing hockey and an education. It’s an ideal path for a guy who at 5-foot-9 weighs just 145 pounds.

“It’s definitely not as much of a demanding schedule as some of the junior leagues where you’re playing 70, 80 games a year,” Phillips said. “You’re playing 40, 45 games a year in college and you’re not playing throughout the week. You get to take advantage of that time in the rink, in the gym; your body gets to recover more. That’s a big thing for me.”

Continued