Author: George Malik

This one is worth your time:

Red Wings alumnus Marty Pavelich passed away at 96 years of age this past June due to complications from ALS. We’ve talked about his legacy through NHL.com’s Dave Stubbs’ “in memoriam” piece, as well as a Sault Star interview with his nephew, Burnie Thorpe…

And today, the Globe and Mail’s Tom Hawthorn posted a tremendously thorough obituary of the player who may have been the Red Wings’ first Kris Draper:

For hockey stars of the 1950s, the only thing clingier than their hockey sweater was Marty Pavelich.

Mr. Pavelich, who has died at 96, was regarded as one of the best checking forwards of his era, an energetic and fast-skating left winger whose assignment it was to keep rivals off the scoresheet.

The forward won four Stanley Cup championships with a Detroit Red Wings dynasty remembered for the scoring of Gordie Howe, the defensive play of Red Kelly and the goaltending of Terry Sawchuk.

While Mr. Pavelich was overshadowed by teammates, he revelled in his role as a shadow of opposing scorers, most notably as an ardent foe of Maurice (Rocket) Richard of the Montreal Canadiens. The pair – a little-known role player versus hockey’s most dynamic player – conducted a long-running feud. The checker knew he faced a determined scorer in the Rocket.

“He had arms and forearms on him like steel and his eyes flashed when he streaked to the net,” Mr. Pavelich told Tom Keenan of the Sault Star newspaper in 2010. “It was my job to stop him, and I worked all my life to hone my skills.”

A top goal scorer himself in junior hockey, Mr. Pavelich was assigned checking duties when promoted to the Red Wings during the 1947-48 season. He quit after 10 seasons when management threatened a demotion to the minors as part of a purge of players seen to be in favour of a union. Mr. Pavelich then went on to have success as a supplier of plastic products to the automotive industry in the Motor City.

Continued; give this one a read. It’s a fantastically-written obituary.

Per the Hockey News’s Rowan McCarthy, the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit are bringing their Memorial Cup championship trophy to fans on Wednesday, July 24th:

The Saginaw Spirit announced yesterday, that fans are invited to join the team at the Dow Event Center for a free screening of the Memorial Cup Final on July 24. 

Season ticket holders will be able to interact with players and get their autographs at a 6:00 PM on the arena floor. Meanwhile the rest of the public will be allowed to enter at 7:00 PM. 

While the event is free, fans will be able to purchase refreshments at a cash bar throughout the night. 

At 7:15 PM, there will be a jersey presentation for the players followed by the screening of the game which will include live commentary from players and coaches. The Memorial Cup will also be present at the event.

The Spirit won their first Memorial Cup in style. Not only did they defeat the London Knights, who beat them in six games in the Western Conference Final of the OHL playoffs, but they did it on home ice. They became the 13th team to win the Memorial Cup while hosting the tournament.

Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin attempts to discern the “Stanley Cup windows” of the Eastern Conference’s teams today, and he suggests that the Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators are rebuilding teams with a “foggy window” ahead:

Detroit Red Wings: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Wings GM Steve Yzerman made his move too early in the rebuild, before he’d assembled enough true star-grade prospects, and has painted himself into a corner now. It started in summer 2022 when he signed Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot and David Perron. It continued the next summer with the big contract for J.T. Compher. All those moves made Detroit better – but only enough to push them to the playoff bubble while taking them out of the running for Draft lottery picks.

Now you have a strange hybrid operation in which the Wings have built around Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat and Moritz Seider but are supported by a brigade of modest-ceiling veterans, including Kane, Compher, Copp and new additions Vladimir Tarasenko, Erik Gustafsson and Cam Talbot. If you look at Detroit’s incoming prospects, there are plenty of good ones, from Marco Kasper to Nate Danielson up front to to Simon Edvinsson on defense to goaltenders Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine. But there is no future scoring champion in that group. Detroit became a middle of the road team a bit too early, and I’m not convinced it’s good enough to escape that tier.

Continued; I would like to see the Wings play with a younger and leaner roster, but I just don’t think that the Wings are as screwed as Larkin suggests.

I understand that the Wings have had to rebuild their prospect pool as well as their roster, and while yes, Yzerman has been too aggressive in signing veterans in 2022 and 2023, this summer’s signings were more judicious, despite the players’ ages, and I think that the Red Wings are indeed in the “mushy middle”…

But it’s up to the team to get out of it by incorporating younger players and continuing to improve the roster via trades and free agency as the team slowly builds its way back to playoff contention.

In the interim, it’s going to take the Red Wings proving a lot of people wrong, as they did in 2023-2024, to make progress in the eyes of pundits.

The Detroit News is promoting its “OctoPulse” podcast, in which Dearborn Heights native Mike Leone discusses his rise among the coaching ranks to the coach of the AHL’s Rochester Americans this upcoming season…

And Detroit News Red Wings scribe Ted Kulfan discusses the fact that the Red Wings added older players in free agency, bringing the team’s composite age up to 28.5 years of age, which will make the Wings one of the oldest teams in the league on average.

Here’s a bit of what Kulfan has to say about the Wings’ “treading water” in free agency:

“In some ways, I do think it’s about a wash,” Kulfan said. “You have Vladimir Tarasenko replacing David Perron. You probably lose a little bit defensively but Tarasenko is capable of scoring more goals. Defensively, you wonder if that’s going to be a significant loss there, losing Shayne Gostisbehere. He really seemed to inject some life into the power play. He’s kind of a wizard with the puck. I’ve always liked Gustafsson. He’s a fine player but I’m not quite sure he’s Gostisbehere. You’ll have Edvinsson for a whole season, so that will help.

“Cam Talbot has had some good years but he’s 37 and kind of slumped the second half of last season. I’m not sure if that’s a huge upgrade over what they already have. You haven’t replaced Daniel Sprong’s 18 goals. It’s still such a competitive division. Doesn’t seem like those four teams ahead of them (Florida, Tampa Bay, Boston, Toronto) have slipped that much and Ottawa and Buffalo are nipping at their teams. If Tarasenko and Kane slump and don’t reach the levels they’re kind of expected, it’s going to be a tough road to hoe.”

Continued; I’m not too concerned about the Wings’ situation, though I do believe that they need to add a two-way, right-handed defenseman to bolster the right side of the blueline.

To me, Tarasenko’s lack of defensive prowess is worth adjusting to if he doesn’t take the kinds of ill-timed penalties that Perron did; I agree with Kulfan that the combination of Edvinsson and Gustafsson (and Johansson) will have to make up for Gostisbehere’s decision to chase a Cup with Carolina; and I’m just not worried about Talbot’s age–he’s been durable for a long time now, and if last year’s playoff run with LA was an anomaly, then he posted a near-Vezina-worthy regular season’s worth of stats, and that should help stabilize the Wings’ crease.

Sure, the Wings have some goals to make up for, and they need to tighten up defensively, but we already knew that they weren’t going to be able to keep everybody, and that they were going to have to improve their defensive game to compete in the tightly-packed Atlantic Division.

The Red Wings’ signing of Michael Brandsegg-Nygard to an entry-level contract doesn’t mean that they want to bring him over and have him play in the NHL; it means that the Red Wings want to have a measure of control over his playing situation in Sweden.

As such, via Red Wings Prospects on Twitter, Hockeysverige’s Simon Eid reports that Skelleftea AIK’s GM is a little concerned about what happens next for MBN:

Skelleftea’s answer: it means that Brandsegg-Nygard has signed an NHL contract

Being drafted in this year’s NHL draft and now signed by Detroit through a rookie contract, what does Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s new situation mean for Skelleftea [where he will play this upcoming season]?

“Now it’s Detroit, and not us, who decides, says Erik Forssell to Norran.

Overnight on Friday, the news was released by the Detroit Red Wings. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard has signed his first NHL contract with the team, only two weeks after being selected in the NHL draft. It comes as a reward after a strong season in the HockeyAllsvenskan, but at the same time, it means uncertainty for Skelleftea and sporting director Erik Forssell.

“It’s not really surprising that they chose to sign him when they chose him as the 15th player in the draft. Good for Michael and proof that he has done good things, he tells Norran.

Hoping for games in the SHL

The 18-year-old Norwegian was presented as a Skelleftea player in May, but has since been part of a few eventful weeks, where he participated in Detroit’s development camp, among other things. Whether Skelleftea will even get him back is not non entirely certain, but Forssell is positive.

“I don’t think that the contract makes that much of a difference for us, but I both believe and hope that he will play for us next season. There are the indications that we’ve received as well.”

Long story long, again, the entry-level contract gives the Red Wings control over MBN’s playing situation, and if they have to formally loan him to Skelleftea AIK, they’ll do so. For the present moment, learning to play at Sweden’s highest professional level is important for him, and is perhaps the ideal place for him to develop (alongside fellow Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka).

Update: For what it’s worth, Norway’s TV2’s Mina Finsted Berg wrote an article which ostensibly discusses Michael Bransegg-Nygard and Stian Solberg being drafted this past month in Las Vegas by Deroit and Anaheim, respectively…

But the article is really about the “Mats Zuccarello effect” upon developing Norwegian hockey players in Oslo, the capital of Norway.

Finsted Berg does mention that MBN’s father, Kjell Richard Nygard, was a legend for the Norwegian team Valerenga, playing over 400 games for the team, but that’s about all the substantive stuff on MBN’s situation.

I’ve been a bit busy this week between covering the Red Wings’ news cycle and doing caregiving stuff, but I’ve had this idea that it might be interesting for you to read a follow-up to my development camp impressions.

I’d like to discuss the probable trajectories of the prospects we discussed last week, and I’m checking in to see whether this sounds good to you, or whether too much time has passed since development camp, and it’s time to move on to the next thing.

Please let me know, because I’d really like to dig in and write the follow-up, but this blog’s direction is about what my community wants, too.

The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood discusses the potential improvements in the Red Wings’ power play this morning, via a lengthy, thorough article.

Eargood discusses the Wings’ personnel changes as they apply to scoring goals on the man advantage, the potential that internal improvements may help, and he wonders aloud whether the Wings’ power play can be as good as this past year’s unit:

The Red Wings aren’t without some useful pieces, but replacing so much power play scoring is tricky business. There’s still a lot for Detroit to sort out with chemistry and roles, and we still haven’t seen this team even take the ice for a practice yet.

Setting a quiet goal for a top five unit is the kind of ambitious goal-setting that a hungry team should be doing this time of year, but putting plans into practice might reveal limitations that aren’t readily apparent. In the very same way, next season might reveal even greater performances from the Red Wings’ power play producers.

To perform at a top-five rate, Detroit probably needs big production from [Patrick] Kane, just like he labeled himself. A healthy [Dylan] Larkin could really kick the Red Wings into overdrive compared to where they left off last season. Not to be ignored, a confident top-unit quarterback — whether [Erik] Gustafsson or [Moritz] Seider — is an absolute necessity. If Detroit can get the best of those three areas, then there might be a conceivable path to a top-five unit.

It’s always important to note with offseason aspirations that every other team is trying to grow, too. The Red Wings are going to have to outpace other improvers who might be right on their heels, not just maintain their past production. If Detroit finds a way to make up its 40% power play production loss and stay around ninth place in the NHL, that alone would be a major coup. Any improvements would be monumental.

The Red Wings’ power play won’t look the same next season, but that hasn’t changed their expectations. In fact, they’ve only risen. And now it’s on Detroit to make good on its hopes.

Continued; good article, very thorough.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff profiles Red Wings 2024 draft pick Ondrej Becher today. The Red Wings drafted Becher as a 20-year-old after a 64-assists, 96-point season with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, but Duff notes that Becher believes it’s his defensive play that paved the way for his dominant offensive season:

On the surface, people are looking at Becher’s 32 goals and 96 points for the Cougars last season as the reason an NHL team was was finally calling his name on draft day.

He’ll tell you something completely different.

“I think I started to play more defensively, so I became a two-way player now,” Becher said. “I wasn’t a two-way player before. So I try to improve in the defensive zone and I think I did. I think that’s why I’m here now.”

As Duff notes, Becher’s immediate future is unclear. The 80th overall draft pick is an “overager” at the WHL level of play, which means that he can be one of a maximum of 3 20-year-olds playing on Prince George’s roster; the fact that he’s 20 also means that he’s eligible to play for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL or the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL, too:

If he goes back to junior, Becher, 20, would be an overager. Were he to be sent to the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins, he might have to adjust to playing on the wing. In Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson and Amadeus Lombardi, the Griffins figure to be deep down the middle.

“He’s a little bit older, a fun guy,” Red Wings director of player development Dan Cleary said. “He’s got skills. It was nice to watch him play. We’ll see what transpires here in terms of where he’s going to play.”

Continued; one way or another, Becher should be playing a starring role regardless of where he ends up this upcoming season.

PuckPedia posted the details of Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s entry-level contract with Detroit, signed just before 7 PM on a Thursday night in July:

The #LGRW signed '24 #15 pick Brandsegg-Nygard to 3 year Entry Level Deal

NHL Salary 877.5K
Signing Bonus 97.5K
"A" Performance Bonuses $500K

Cap Hit 975K, AAV $1.475M

Rep'd by @BartlettHockey https://t.co/PZUNVs3JTT

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 12, 2024

The fact that the Wings signed MBN doesn’t mean that he’s going to skip playing for Skelleftea AIK of the SHL this upcoming season. This just gives the Red Wings more control over MBN’s status, and as it’s an entry-level contract, the 3-year term can “slide” for a year or two if he doesn’t play in 10 or more NHL games.

The Wings have to pay him that $97,500 signing bonus now, but the rest of the contract doesn’t apply until he makes the jump to North America.

I believe that, at this point, the Wings will let the “power shooter” mature in Sweden until he’s at least AHL-ready.

Given the Wings’ crunch of prospects who are developing up front (see: Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson and Carter Mazur, to name a few), and given that Brandsegg-Nygard won’t even turn 19 until October, the Wings don’t need to rush him at all.

Ideally, the big boy continues to develop physically, learns to play against professionals on a full-time basis in Sweden, and he goes upward from there.