Author: George Malik

The Free Press’s Helene St. James asked Patrick Kane, Joe Veleno, Ville Husso, Marco Kasper, Simon Edvinsson and Ben Chiarot about their Christmas traditions and “Holiday Break” plans:

In his native Austria, Marco Kasper relished the backdrop of the Alps all the more during yuletide.

“For me it’s when we get together and play pond hockey,” he said. “That’s something I always enjoyed as a young kid. We celebrate on the 24th and get everyone together and have a good time.”

Further north, in Sweden, Simon Edvinsson has an indoor tradition he cherishes.

“In my family on Christmas eve we always had this show we watched, Kalle Anke,” Edvinsson said. “My whole family would sit by the TV and watch that.”

Kalle Anke is the Swedish version of Disney’s Donald Duck. Across the Atlantic Ocean, Canadian Ben Chiarot and his wife have their own entertainment they enjoy with their young children.

“The night before Christmas, we like everyone being together and watching a movie,” Chiarot said. “We’ve started the Polar Express, so we watch that with our kids.” 

St. James also posted a video of the aforementioned Wings players discussing their Christmas traditions:

In Red Wings prospect-related news, I missed sharing Vityaz Moscow Region’s 2-0 win over Dynamo Moscow yesterday in the KHL, and that was a bad idea.

Dmitri Buchelnikov scored a goal on 2 shots on goal in 17:49 played, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes:

It was a Detroit Red Wings prospect filling the role of Santa Claus in KHL action on Christmas Day. Dmitri Buchelnikov’s goal with just 1:21 left in regulation time was snapping a scoreless tie and propeling Vityaz to a 2-0 victory over Moscow Dynamo in KHL action on December 25.

Perhaps the goal will help snap Buchelnikov out of his recent scoring slump. At one stage about a month ago, he was sitting just a solitary point out of the KHL scoring lead.

Since then, the player chosen 52nd overall by Detroit in the 2022 NHL entry draft has accounted for a mere two assists over the next six games prior to his goal on Tuesday. That’s seen him slipping to 13th overall in the KHL scoring race. Buchelnikov is showing 9-22-31 totals through 35 games. The 21-year-old right-shot winger is leading Vityaz in scoring.

With 36 points from 37 games, Vityaz sits ninth in the KHL’s Western Conference. They are one place out of a playoff position.

Here’s Buchelnikov’s goal:

Absolute laser and game-winner by Dmitry Buchelnikov with 81 seconds left! pic.twitter.com/C9m09QThxc

— KHL (@khl_eng) December 25, 2024

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan and Mark Falkner interviewed former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin as part of Sundin’s release of his memoir, “”Mats Sundin: Home and Away,” and Sundin has revealed that Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom tried to recruit the long-time Leafs forward for the Red Wings’ 2008 Cup run:

They combined for one of the greatest goals in Swedish hockey history, and they almost wound up doing the same thing with the Detroit Red Wings. 

In Mats Sundin’s book, “Mats Sundin: Home and Away,” the former Toronto Maple Leafs captain revealed for the first time that Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom recruited him with a phone call in February of 2008.

Teammates with the Swedish national team at the 2006 Olympic Games, where Lidstrom scored the winning goal on a drop pass from Sundin for a 3-2 victory in the final against Finland in Turin, Italy, Lidstrom asked Sundin if he would waive his no-trade clause and consider joining the Red Wings at the trade deadline.

Sundin was 36 at the time and at the end of his 18-year NHL career, but the 6-foot-5, 225-pound center still produced a 76-point season in 2008, which would’ve put him third with the Red Wings behind Pavel Datsyuk (97 points) and Henrik Zetterberg (92).

“I was very honored to have Nicklas call me,” Sundin said on The Detroit News/Detroit Red Wings podcast, OctoPulse. “He knew me so well, what kind of player I was and he knew if I was going to join Detroit, he understood what value I would bring to the table. I felt very comfortable with that.

“But for me and remembering my feelings at the time, I spent so much time in Toronto and the fans hadn’t won a Cup since 1967, that was the purpose that drove me getting ready for a new season. Even though we were in a rebuild mode, I wanted to win a championship with the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

Continued; here’s the podcast…

And if you recall, there was a rumored trade for Sergei Fedorov from the Washington Capitals in the works at the trade deadline, too, but it was quashed by the front office.

Good morning. I’m a bit tired and grumpy this Christmas day morning, so I’m going to post this morning’s Red Wings-related articles in digest form:

1. MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a critique of the Red Wings last night, concluding that a coaching change would not help the Wings turn around their season as much as an influx of talent might change Detroit’s equation:

Aside from Dylan Larkin, Michael Rasmussen, Jonatan Berggren and Joe Veleno, this team consists almost entirely of players drafted under Yzerman or acquired by him through free agency or trade.

They have fared well at the top of the draft with Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson, while Marco Kasper and prospects Sebastian Cossa, Nate Danielson, Axel Sandin Pellikka and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard offer hope.

They have yet to land an impactful player after the first round, however.

Yzerman’s trades have been a mixed bag. Picks acquired for Anthony Mantha, Filip Hronek and Tyler Bertuzzi eventually landed them Cossa, Sandin Pellikka and Alex DeBrincat, who might not return to his 40-goal form but has provided some much-needed offense.

Sending Jake Walman to San Jose to clear cap space – and needing to attach a second-round pick – has backfired. Walman has a career-high 25 points (five goals, 20 assists), tied for 12th among NHL defensemen.

The Red Wings haven’t gotten enough production from many of Yzerman’s free-agent signings – including Andrew Copp and J.T. Compher and especially Vladimir Tarasenko and Erik Gustafsson.

Whether Yzerman changes coaches midseason or after the season won’t matter until the talent level is upgraded.

The Red Wings do have mid-round picks in the prospect pool now, but few of them are NHL-ready.

2. Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted an article about an article that I honestly chose to ignore:

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, a Joyous Kwanzaa, a belated Prosperous Festivus, Happy Saturnalia…

Whatever you might celebrate, have a lovely day, from me to you.

EliteProspects’ staff writes posted a set of previews of this year’s World Junior Championship teams, offering profiles of every player on the respective participating countries’ rosters.

Here are their takes on the Red Wings’ 2025 WJC participants.

Mitch Brown discusses Team USA…

Max Plante, LW, Minnesota-Duluth (NCAA)

Detroit Red Wings, 2024 NHL Draft, second round, 47th overall

Healthy just in time, Max Plante could be an x-factor for this team. A defensively responsible playmaking winger, he’s has the skills to thrive in this setting. He never stops battling, creates chances from the areas of the rink, and then sprints back into the play to prevent chances the other way. On a team with plenty of play-drivers, he’ll likely find success in a complementary role. 

…

Trey Augustine, G, Michigan State (NCAA)

Detroit Red Wings, 2023 NHL Draft, second round, 41st overall

The starting goalie for Team USA for the third straight World Junior, Trey Augustine is making his final appearance in this tournament and has been one of the best goalies in college hockey at Michigan State the past two seasons. Augustine will play the big games, and it’s more of a question of who will dress as his back-up. 

Lassi Alanen offers an assessment of the Finnish Lions…

Jesse Kiiskinen, RW, HPK (Liiga)

Detroit Red Wings (via trade), 2023 NHL Draft, third round, 68th overall

Jesse Kiiskinen‘s move to a smaller Liiga team last summer has proven to be the right call. Having the highest points-per-game mark among all U20 skaters in the league, he thrives in creating rush chances from counter-attacks and brings a lot of energy and pace to the lineup. Playmaking isn’t his strongest suit, but improvements are made little by little. Another gifted finisher, he’ll be competing with Hemming for a spot on the left flank of the second power play unit. 

And Jimmy Hamrin offers an assessment of the Tre Kronor, a.k.a. the Swedish “Three Crowns“:

Axel Sandin-Pellikka – D, Skellefteå (SHL)

Detroit Red Wings, 2023 Draft, first round, 17th overall

Axel Sandin-Pellikka is one of the biggest stars going into the tournament and undoubtedly the best player on this team. He has dominated at the SHL level and his offensive skills are elite. His fantastic four-way mobility, puck handling and shot will be a dominant factor for Sweden’s offense. It will be interesting to see how he handles forechecking pressure on smaller ice as that might be a key on how fast he can step in at the NHL once he moves to North America. He can be prone to make mistakes there at the SHL level. His all-around defensive game is solid though and he plays with aggression and timing. I would be surprised if he isn’t an All-Star team selected defenseman at the end of the tournament.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted an off-day notebook which discusses the frustration which the Red Wings conveyed to the media corps after the team’s 4-0 loss to St. Louis on Monday night, noting that the Wings aren’t giving up on their season just yet…

“There’s care in the group,” [Coach Derek] Lalonde said. “(The Wings need) being connected, get some rhythm in our game. We’d get a good shift from one line (Monday) and then we’d lose the shift on the next line.”

The Wings were without defensemen Simon Edvinsson and Ben Chiarot — both out due to upper-body injuries but are expected to return Friday against Toronto — but Lalonde felt the Wings’ defense played fine. That wasn’t the main issue in Monday’s loss.

“Our D gave us a really good game, considering where it’s at (decimated with injuries),” Lalonde said. “Any team loses two top left shot (defensemen), it’s going to look like that. But our D, our young guys are guys that aren’t even NHL everyday guys, but everyone elevated, they did their job.”

Now, the rest of the lineup has to match that.

“We got to show up to play and we don’t have enough guys doing that right now, myself included,” Larkin said. “We have to be ready to compete and we’re not doing that. I never really think our work ethic is poor. We have a bunch of guys who work hard. But we’re working hard and not accomplishing anything.”

Larkin agreed with Lalonde in that this three-day NHL break was arriving at a good time for the Wings. A do-over is definitely what this team needs.

“Reset and get away, get time to spend with your families and try to come back refreshed,” Larkin said. “It’s been difficult to come to the rink and continue to build yourself up and then have games and performances like (Monday). Get away, spend time with your family and when we come back, we have to push before another break (two-week 4-Nations Face-off tournament break). It’s a lot of games and we have to get something going. I hope the guys take advantage of the rest.”

And Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen offered, well, gloom and doom:

Detroit’s record now leaves the team eight points out of a playoff spot. The Red Wings’ .441 points percentage is the second worst in the Eastern Conference.

How bad is the situation?

Over the past 10 games, the Red Wings are 2-for-26 on the power play.

Captain Dylan Larkin has gone 13 games without a goal. He’s minus-6 in his past six games.

Vladimir Tarasenko is on place for a 10-goal season. He’s gone 10 games without a goal.   is minus-6 in his past eight game. His failure to clear a puck out of the Detroit zone led to the Blues’ first goal Monday.

Detroit is one of three teams with a penalty killing percentage below 72%. Their 68.8% efficiency ranks 31st out of 32 teams.

The Motown offense  is 29th at 2.56 goals per game. Detroit’s defense, giving up 3.26 goals per game, is 25th.

It’s easy to complain at this point. I have a list of 25 players from whom I want to see better performances. But the Red Wings are where they are at, and they can only take care of the present and the future now.

Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino offers a list of 3 players to watch on every team participating in the World Junior Championship, which begins on Thursday, and one Red Wings prospect (of the 4 prospects participating in the tournament) makes Cosentino’s list:

Axel Sandin-Pellikka, D
Club team: Skelleftea AIK (SHL)
NHL Draft: First round, 17th overall (2023) by Detroit Red Wings

Sandin-Pellikka has been riding a steep developmental curve since his draft year. An excellent skater with high-end offensive instincts, he should be the centrepiece of Sweden’s first power-play unit. Named the top defenceman in this event last year with a six-point performance, he should be able to perform at that level again, based on his SHL numbers this season, which have him at just under a point per game pace. Sandin-Pellikka is also a capable defender and an excellent puck mover. Fun player to watch.

Continued

Daily Faceoff’s staff issues “Christmas presents” for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams, and I audibly said, “Bitch and moan!” when I read Hunter Crowther’s take on the Red Wings’ requirement in the “Lump of Coal” department:

Detroit Red Wings: The neuralyzer from Men in Black

Do you remember the neuralyzer? The device from the Men in Black film series that would erase the memory of anyone it was used on? If there was a way to use it to forget Steve Yzerman’s time as general manager of the Red Wings, it would do Hockeytown a lot of good. There’s another universe where Yzerman — who captained the Red Wings to three Stanley Cup championships and is one of the greatest players in hockey history — never leaves the Lightning and earns another two rings. Instead, he rejoined the Red Wings as general manager in 2019, and his ‘Yzerplan’ has yet to yield a coherent roster, much less a playoff appearance. Seventh in the Atlantic Division going into the Christmas break, the 13-16-4 Wings don’t look like they’ll break their cold snap this season. Perhaps it’s best if Yzerman, Detroit and the rest of the hockey universe just pretends this never happened. -Hunter

Boo hoo. Yzerman didn’t drive the team into the ground. Ken Holland and the horrific drafting of Tyler Wright did, and Yzerman has been slowly and methodically–arguably too slowly and too methodically–rebuilding the team after having to tear down the remnants of the late Holland regime.

It’s taken a lot longer than Wings fans have hoped to turn the team around, and Yzerman’s had more misses than hits in terms of free agents–which isn’t acceptable, of course, but is understandable–and the Red Wings’ “incoherence” has as much to do with the present players under-performing and the coaching staff not doing its job as it does with the GM’s player personnel decisions.

Blaming one person for the mess the Red Wings find themselves in is short-sighted, and bashing the so-called “Yzerplan” alone is taking the easy way out.

The Red Wings can’t simply undo what’s happened to the team and hope for the best. They’ve got to deal with the reality of their situation and adjust as necessary.

Any other suggestion is just clickbait at this point, and there is a shit ton of clickbait out there right now, in written, audio and visual forms.

Anyway, long story long, I really despise the concept of denial. When shit hits the fan, you curse, complain, and then you grab a mop and get to work. Reality is not always pleasant, but it’s usually the best thing to deal with.

Via Red Wings Prospects on Twitter, FloHockey’s Chris Peters posted an article which describes Team USA goaltender and Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine as the “x-factor” for the Americans’ World Junior Championship team:

At last year’s World Juniors, he made four starts and won each of them, while competing for reps with Jacob Fowler. When it came to the final two games of the tournament, Augustine got the nod and delivered exceptional performances, including 19 saves in a tight 3-2 win over Finland in the semis and 24 saves in a 6-2 win in the gold-medal game.

What is scarier for opposing teams is that Augustine is playing some of the best hockey of his career this year.

After an exceptional freshman season at Michigan State, helping the Spartans win the Big Ten tournament and reestablish itself as an elite program, Augustine has been even better as a sophomore.

In 14 games with the Spartans this season, he has won 11 games, posted two shutouts and owns a sparkling .930 save percentage. Michigan State has been among the top teams in college hockey this season and looks like a legitimate threat to compete for the national title.

Augustine has not allowed more than three goals in any game this season and has faced his fair share of shots. In the biggest games of the Spartans season so far, against Boston College and Minnesota, Augustine went 2-1-1.

He is as dialed in as we’ve seen him, which is an especially high bar to clear considering Augustine’s mental preparation and on-ice demeanor have become hallmarks of his game.

Continued; great stuff from Peters as usual.