Author: George Malik

The ECHL’s Toledo Walleye signed All-Star defenseman Jalen Smereck today, bolstering the Walleye’s attack going into the 2024-2025 season. According to the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe, the 27-year-old Smereck signed with the Walleye for two reasons–for winning’s sake, and for family:

The 27-year-old Detroit native played for one of Toledo’s rivals, the Cincinnati Cyclones, last season. Smereck led all ECHL defensemen in scoring with 70 points in 71 games. Smereck also had the second most assists (57) among all ECHL players.

Smereck also had the most shots on goal (216) and shorthanded points (4) among all ECHL defensemen.

The 6-foot and 190-pound defenseman led the Cyclones in scoring and also had 84 penalty minutes. Smereck earned a spot on the ECHL All-Star team and was named to the All-ECHL first team.

“I’m excited. It’s going to be great,” Smereck said. “Playing in the arena there, it gets loud and crazy, which is great. I can’t wait for that first home game and to get that first fish on the ice. I have night one marked on my calendar. I can’t wait to get going in the fish tank.”

…

Smereck said he has known Walleye star forward Brandon Hawkins since he was 9 and reunited with him when they both made the ECHL all-star team in January. He also played with Walleye forward Mitch Lewandowski and defenseman Grant Gabriele growing up in Michigan.

“With that connection there, they told me it’s an unreal organization,” Smereck said. “They treat you well. The city and the fans are great. The facilities are top-notch. They told me I’d love it here. Toledo is so close to home and I wanted to be closer to my kids and family,” said Smereck, who grew up and lives in east Detroit. “Family is everything to me.”

Continued

The World Junior Summer Showcase will take place at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan starting on Friday, and Team USA GM John Vanbiesbrouck sat down with Sean Shapiro to discuss the event for USAHockey.com:

The summer showcase will take place July 26 through Aug. 3, and the Americans will have two teams, a blue and white squad, that will play separate games the first two days before narrowing down the U.S. roster for games against Finland, Sweden, and Canada. All games will be available to watch on USAHockeyTV.com.

For the United States, the Showcase is also about building toward potential history. 

The U.S. will enter the 2025 World Juniors in Ottawa as the defending champion and no doubt a medal contender. The Americans, who along with 10 potential returning players as well as their entire coaching staff, have never won back-to-back titles.

“I would say we have a foundation that has to be tweaked over the next four or five months,” Vanbiesbrouck said. “I think we are blessed with such great depth that the people that help us, our scouts and our coaching staff, has a really good beat on the heartbeat of this team from this point on when we start the Summer Showcase.”

While Will Smith likely won’t be back to defend a medal after signing with the San Jose Sharks, the Americans could have a leadership core built around Ryan Leonard, Oliver Moore, Gabe Perrault, Zeev Buium and Trey Augustine.

“We kind of want to see them grow as leaders. You aren’t going to learn much about them as players, we know all of that, but we get to see how this age group, the 2005s, steps in and leads the team,” Vanbiesbrouck said. “And then we get to see some of the other competitions coming up as well from the 2006s and 2007s.”

Continued

Red Wings assistant GM and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper spoke with Hockey Canada’s Jason LaRose regarding the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which is taking place in Edmonton, Alberta this August:

HGC: Why is the Hlinka Gretzky Cup an important event for scouts?

KD: Every director of amateur scouting is there, tons of scouts, and there are a lot of general managers. When you go to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, it’s a great way to start the scouting season. You get to see the players, you get to see where they’re going to be playing [in the lineup] and you get an opportunity to know which prospects you’re going to be chasing in the upcoming season. It’s always a lot of fun to watch these kids.

It’s a great opportunity for Canada to send their best, because it’s different for Canada at the U18 Worlds [in the spring], because the CHL playoffs are going on. So that’s not always an opportunity to see Canada’s top, top players play in an international event, but at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup you do, and that’s something that you enjoy going to see [as a scout].

HGC: Most of these players are the best on their club teams, so how important is it to see how players fit in different roles and different situations?

KD: You get to see how these players respond moving up and down the lineup. And chances are some of these prospects will be playing different positions as well. They might be a natural centre, and with the depth of centre at international events, they might have to move to the wing. So you get to see the versatility of some of these prospects, which is great.

HGC: As a scout, how important to set a baseline for the upcoming season?

KD: It’s one tournament in August, so it’s certainly not going to make or break a prospect. But these players want to have a great showing. They know the Hlinka Gretzky Cup is watched by every single organization. They know that general managers are there, assistant general managers, amateur scouting directors, a lot of scouts. So, it’s a great opportunity for them right off the bat to show who they are and what they’re made of. For us, it’s just seeing what they’re all about, seeing how they play, how they compete. And then from there, you start tracking them come fall in September.

Continued; I know that TSN will cover the Hlinka Gretzky Cup starting on August 5th, and the NHL Network will air some of it.

It’s one of those long days for me as a caregiver today. My aunt’s been up since 4 AM with acid reflux and bad body aches. I’m not feeling spectacular myself. It’s a gloomy day outside and my progress in terms of getting stuff done, be that in terms of phone calls I have to make or blog content, is slow and unsteady at best.

So I’m cranky, and when Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen offered this perfectly innocuous Tweet from the Hockey News’s Jacob Stoller, I all but audibly growled:

Hearing that the Toronto Marlies have re-signed Robert Mastrosimone to an AHL contract.

The 23-year-old recorded stellar underlying numbers in a bottom-six role as a rookie.

Mastrosimone was drafted 54th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 2019. DET opted not to sign him. pic.twitter.com/nydLYa8dSZ

— Jacob Stoller (@JLStoller) July 23, 2024

With no disrespect involved toward Mr. Stoller, who I respect greatly…

Mastrosimone was the one who opted to hold out until the Red Wings’ rights to him expired on August 15th after his graduation year, not the other way around.

The Red Wings wanted to sign the 5’10,” 170-pound forward to an NHL contract and place the plucky little forward in Grand Rapids.

It was Mastrosimone and his advisor/agent who sent out smoke signals that they didn’t feel that the Red Wings were a good fit for him, and that they were going to test the open market, even as early as March of 2023. I remember the college hockey insiders writing columns and posting Tweets/X posts saying, “Yeah, he’s not going to sign with Detroit.”

Teams own the rights to drafted players who play in NCAA hockey until August 15th after their graduation year, and some players always hold out to test the marketplace as unrestricted free agents. The 23-year-old Mastrosimone was the one who chose to explore the market, not the other way around.

And it’s obviously annoyed this tired blogger on a Wednesday afternoon in late July.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills reports that Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde took part in a Q and A session with Ilitch Sports + Entertainment employees recently. Lalonde and Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Daniels discussed the direction of the team:

“Coming to the arena late in the season, those butterflies, you could feel the tension in the room because it mattered,” Lalonde said. “We’re methodically going in the right direction. To see some of the growth in those guys, yes it translates to wins, but it’s very rewarding as a coach.”

In 2023-24, his second season behind Detroit’s bench, Lalonde guided the club to its most wins (41) and points (91) since the 2015-16 campaign. And for the Red Wings to build on that success, the 51-year-old head coach said every player must be more committed to team defense.

“We’re going to ask the group for a little more this year,” Lalonde said. “Those teams that end up at the very end, the experience I had winning Stanley Cups, there was still an emphasis about keeping it out of the net.”

The Red Wings will open their 2024-25 regular-season schedule on Oct. 10 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena. Lalonde said he’s excited about the potential of Detroit’s roster, expressing an eagerness to see how Patrick Kane performs after a full, healthy offseason.  

Kane recorded 47 points (20 goals, 27 assists) in 50 games last season after signing a one-year contract with the Red Wings on Nov. 28, following hip resurfacing surgery on June 1, 2023.

“First and foremost, I think it says something about Patrick Kane that he wanted to be here,” Lalonde said about Kane signing a one-year contract extension. “I think he was very clear in the process that he probably had — and obviously I wasn’t involved in those meetings but talking with Patrick after — better opportunity, more term and probably more money (in NHL free agency), but he felt part of something here last year.”

Continued

From Fox 28 in Columbus, Ohio:

The 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series game at the Ohio Stadium in March has been highly anticipated for months.

Presale tickets will be made available on July 30 for Blue Jackets 2024-25 Season Ticket Holders, with tickets for the general public going on sale later this year.

Another presale opportunity is for fans with partial ticket packages, including half and quarter-season packages, on Aug. 6.

At the game, the Columbus Blue Jackets will be facing off against the Detroit Red Wings as part of their historic rivalry.

The game is expected to bring over 122,000 people to The Shoe.

Anyone with ticket questions can visit this website. All other information about the NHL Stadium Series can be found here.

Here’s a bit more from the Blue Jackets’ website:

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton posted this Tweet from the KHL’s English-language account, which shows Red Wings prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov scoring a shootout goal last season, when he played for Admiral Vladivostok:

Sheesh, Dmitry Buchelnikov#KHLMoments pic.twitter.com/KRjFyOSBaq

— KHL (@khl_eng) July 23, 2024

Buchelnikov was loaned to Vladivostok by SKA St. Petersburg last season, and SKA traded his rights to Vityaz Moscow Region this summer. He’s 20 years old, he stands at 5’10” and 170 pounds (per EliteProspects), and he just signed a 2-year contract with Vityaz after posting 13 goals and 19 assists for 32 points in 55 KHL games last season.

Because the Red Wings’ management can’t get into Russia right now, they lean on European scouts and video to watch Buchelnikov. He may not come over until his contract with Vityaz is up, but Detroit wants him out of Russia and in their own developmental system as soon as possible.

We’ve discussed two Norwegian-language articles on Nitten.no in which Red Wings prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygard told Wegard Bakkehaug that signing an entry-level contract with the Red Wings means that he may play for Skelleftea AIK of the SHL, the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL or the Red Wings, should he earn a spot in Detroit’s lineup out of training camp.

Then Bakkeheug spoke with Brandsegg-Nygard and Stian Solberg’s GM for the Norwegian “parent club,” Valerenga, and Anders Myrvold (a former Red Wing!) suggested to Bakkehaug that it will be best for MBN to play for Skelleftea after playing a level below for Mora of the Allsvenskan this past season.

Yesterday, we discussed an article in which MBN spoke witth Norran—behind a paywall–indicating that he’s training with Skelleftea this offseason, expecting to play there…

And this morning, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff discusses the first article from Nitten.no, as well as the behind-the-paywall article form Norren as they apply to Brandsegg-Nygard’s playing future:

I’m a little shocked to report that The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, Jesse Granger and Sean McIndoe rank the Red Wings as having the 18th-best overall goaltending situation in the NHL, when “current goaltending,” “future prospects” and teams’ “cap and contracts” are taken into account. They aren’t a fan of the Red Wings’ current goaltending situation, however (shockingly, I say, with sarcasm intended):

18. Detroit Red Wings

Current: 32

Granger: The Red Wings enter 2024-25 with four different goalies with extensive NHL experience. Cam Talbot is coming off a strong statistical season, but he did it behind a staunch Kings defense that tends to inflate goaltending numbers (just ask Ottawa how signing Joonas Korpisalo went). Detroit has some incredibly exciting goalie prospects, but the current situation doesn’t inspire that same excitement.

Future: 1

Wheeler: The Red Wings are the only team in the league with two goalies I believe are both top-10 goalie prospects in the sport. They’re also two very different goalies, with Sebastian Cossa’s size, fire, athleticism and raw potential contrasted against Trey Augustine’s stoic, cerebral calm and control. I’d be surprised if both don’t become 1A/1B types and the Red Wings don’t eventually have a tough decision to make on whether or not to turn over the net to two young goalies. Colgate’s Carter Gylander and 2024 fourth-rounder Landon Miller could give them some organizational depth as well. (I don’t see the recently acquired Gage Alexander as much.)

Cap: 11

McIndoe: The Wings have four veterans under contract for a total of $8.8 million this year, although a chunk of that will be buried in the AHL. Only Talbot is signed past this coming season; his $2.5 million deal is for two years, but otherwise, the plan seems to be to clear the deck and reassess in a year, which is probably smart. One question for then will be whether the team wants to recommit to Ville Husso, who’s been just OK on a $4.75 million AAV deal that expires next summer.

Bottom line: You have to love a team covering both ends of the current/future spectrum. For a franchise undergoing an ultra-patient rebuild, the future is probably still the priority, but the current situation will make a playoff run tougher than it probably should be unless one of those veterans steps up.

Continued (paywall); the whole point of having a five-goaltender platoon is to ensure that one of those vets do exactly that.

The Netflix film Axel F, a Beverly Hills Cop sequel, begins with a scene in which the Red Wings’ locker room at Little Caesars Arena is supposedly being robbed, and one Axel Foley, a.k.a. Eddie Murphy, has to foil the caper.

According to NHL.com’s William Douglas, Murphy nailed the scene–in no small part due to the fact that a “hockey guy” wrote the jokes:

Grant Fuhr gave the scene in “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” five stars. In the new Netflix film, wisecracking detective Axel Foley, played by Eddie Murphy, tells a band of thieves that he’s the Detroit Red Wings’ new goalie as they attempt to rob the team’s dressing room at Little Caesars Arena.

“I am a five-time recipient of the Stanley Cup,” Foley says. “… I just want my goalie pads.”

Fuhr, the only Black goalie to win the Stanley Cup five times — with the Edmonton Oilers (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990) — loved the bit.

“I thought it was pretty funny,” he said. “I had a bunch of friends call me and they were like, ‘Hey, you got to see this.’ I’m, like, ‘Why? I’ve seen all the “Beverly Hills Cop” (movies).’ They’re, like, ‘No, no, you need to see this one.’ I think it’s awesome and a great honor.”

The goalie line in the opening moments of the hit action-comedy sequel is one of several that give a nod to Black hockey history.

They are the work of Kevin Etten, the self-described “hockey guy” on the writing staff of “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.” Will Beall, along with Etten and his partner Tom Gormican, wrote the screenplay.

Continued; here’s the trailer: