Author: George Malik

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills discusses Jonatan Berggren’s desire to be a little more “selfish” in a good way this upcoming season:

“Last year, I was trying to pass more than shoot,” Berggren said Monday. “This summer, I worked on my shot. I feel like this season, I want to be more of a threat. Maybe a little bit selfish in some areas and shoot more.”

Berggren started last season with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins before making his NHL debut on Nov. 10. The 5-foot-11, 197-pound forward became a regular in the Detroit Red Wings’ lineup, recording 15 goals and 13 assists in 67 games.

“He was a great addition for us at times last year,” Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said about Berggren on Sept. 21. “We didn’t have a lot of what he was. He was making plays. We went through some of those games where we were looking for some offense. He was one of the guys who could create some offense.”

Berggren said he learned a lot about himself during his debut season in Detroit and understands what he must improve on to continue his development.

“It felt like I had a great start,” Berggren said. “Then after a while, I felt a little dip in the middle of the season. But overall, I had an okay season. I created more chances than I scored. If I have a little bit more edge on it, I can be a real offensive player in this league.”

Continued; I remember when the Red Wings drafted Berggren. He was 5’9,” 150 pounds, and couldn’t kill a fly. He stands at 5’11” and 197 pounds now, and the little guy who is not so little any more seems driven as heck to self-improve.

Self-improvers are the type of players who succeed at the pro level, be it in the NHL or elsewhere. You always have to try to get better if you want to continue to earn your job.

Red Wings prospect and 2023 9th overall draft pick Nate Danielson turns 19 today, and after last night’s 2-assist performance in the Red Wings’ preseason opener, the Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses Danielson’s potential:

The Wings drafted Danielson out of the Western Hockey League at No. 9 overall. General manager Steve Yzerman said, “we like all parts of his game. He’s got pretty good size, he’s a good skater, he’s got good skills, he’s a good two-way centerman, so there’s a lot to like about him. He’s just a solid all-around prospect.”

Michael Rasmussen, himself a No. 9 overall pick from 2017, shared his thoughts on Danielson’s early showings.

“He’s impressive,” Rasmussen said. “He’s really poised, just goes about his business, good attitude. Works hard. It’s nice to see him get rewarded. Besides the goal I thought he played really well, too. I just think he handles himself really well — hockey sense, skill, patience. He seems like he’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

The Wings have seven exhibition games left, starting with Thursday at the Washington Capitals. They play back-to-back games at home this weekend, and then have three in three days next week. That kind of glut scheduling is conducive to getting a young player multiple looks. Danielson’s first showing certainly warrants giving him five or six games, if possible.

Continued; I hate early predictions being made after the first preseason game, but I said throughout training camp that I was impressed by Danielson’s overall skating and especially his level of self-belief. You don’t captain the Brandon Wheat Kings as a 17-year-old if you don’t believe in yourself, and Danielson’s quietly confident in all best senses of the term.

The Detroit Red Wings face a stiff task in attempting to earn a playoff spot in the stacked Atlantic Division, but Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde made it very clear this Monday that his team has to “shut out the noise” of media types predicting the Red Wings’ early demise. The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan notes that the Red Wings’ GM echoed Lalonde’s remarks when Yzerman spoke with the media last week, too:

“You try to push the noise away and that’s the media,” Lalonde said. “I stopped reading because it’s so negative on us. Some people have us no chance at making the playoffs. The highest (most optimistic) article I read is a 14% chance of us making the playoffs. Everyone is writing us off. I get it, it’s not a knock on our guys. It’s just the reality of the division, the conference.”

Yzerman, in his preseason interview with the media, also alluded to the strong Atlantic Division. Yzerman wants to see the Wings go through the opening weeks of the regular season before forming an opinion on his team.

“I look at our division and I’m not sure what to expect from some teams that continue to get better and teams that lost players,” Yzerman said. “We’ll get into the season and see how we match up, how we do through the first quarter of the season and then kind of have a better idea of where we’re at. I’d like to think we’re a better team, that we’re a more competitive team. We’ll see if that puts us in a position to compete for a playoff spot.”

The talk of playoffs, or bettering what the Wings accomplished last season, has been discussed said captain Dylan Larkin.

“Going into this season, I know Steve and Newsie (Lalonde) have not really set an expectation,” Larkin said. “The guys in the room, we talked about it last year, we want more. There are guys coming in (this season) that have been on teams that have been locks for the playoffs. Veteran players, guys going into contract years. I like the dynamic of everyone’s situation and we’re going to rely on each other.”

Continued; I promised coach Lalonde that there might be 5% of the media that still believes the Wings can compete for a spot, but that might have been optimistic.

The Detroit Red Wings will play the Washington Capitals tomorrow night in Washington, DC (7 PM start on the NHL Network and Monumental Sports), and the Hockey News’s Sammi Silber reports that Alex Ovechkin will be part of a very NHL-ready lineup for the Caps:

Ovechkin and Miroshnichenko are expected to play on the first line together with Nicklas Backstrom at center. Evgeny Kuznetsov was centering the second line with Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson.

Here are the projected lines based on Wednesday’s group combos:

Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-Ivan Miroshnichenko

Connor McMichael-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson

Joe Snively-Nic Dowd-T.J. Oshie

Andrew Cristall-Mike Sgarbossa-Pierrick Dube/Alexander Suzdalev

Rasmus Sandin-John Carlson

Hardy Haman Aktell-Alex Alexeyev

Lucas Johansen-Vincent Iorio

Charlie Lindgren

Expect either Pierrick Dube or Alexander Suzdalev to sit up front, while Nick Leivermann and Logan Day figure to be the extra defensive pairing. Hunter Shepard will back up Lindgren.

MLive’s Ansar Khan’s off-day notebook focuses on Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen’s likely resurgence this upcoming season after recovering from a season-ending knee injury last February:

“I’ve been bumping [in practice] for a while,” Rasmussen said. “It’s nice to kind of be able to let loose in that way and not be too scared to hit your teammates or all that in camp. Nice to get some bumps, nice to be bumped.”

The 6-6 forward quickly re-established the chemistry he had with linemates Andrew Copp and David Perron.

“It’s pretty easy with two guys like that, two good players and easy players to play with,” Rasmussen said. “Just their hockey minds. They know the game really well and know the spots to be in. They know our systems really well, so it’s easy for me to kind of know where they’re going to be, whether it’s in coverage or offensive zone stuff. Good puck-movers and they have good wall play.”

The Red Wings drafted Rasmussen ninth overall in 2017 envisioning him as a future second- or third-line center. He has frequently switched between center and wing the past couple of seasons, but Lalonde said Rasmussen was a “completely different player on the wing” last year.

“In the underlying numbers, he drove some offense,” Lalonde said. “When he’s on the wing, he seems a lot more productive and can drive some lines a little bit. We would trust him at center. I think being on the wing frees him up a little more to maybe establish a forecheck, to play a little more north-south game, which I thought suited him.”

Continued; I’m very relieved that Rasmussen feels like himself again.

From the Grand Rapids Griffins comes a behind-the-scenes Tweet of the Griffins’ ice crew painting the frozen playing surface at Van Andel Arena:

Wake up & Zen out with this ⬇️ 🧊🫠 #GoGRG pic.twitter.com/am4DwbVLqy

— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) September 27, 2023

The Hockey News’s Tony Ferrari lists a slate of young players who might “break out” during the preseason, and he includes Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond on his list:

Lucas Raymond, RW, Detroit Red Wings: Sophomore slumps suck. Lucas Raymond would agree with that, as the Red Wings’ burgeoning star had an up-and-down year last year. He started slow and then got back to playing his game before falling off again and repeating that trend throughout the year. 

The tough part of playing in the NHL, especially as a sophomore who made a big impact as a rookie, is that opposing players in the league get the notebook on your game, and it’s on you to diversify and adjust your game accordingly.

Raymond looks poised to ride shotgun with team captain Dylan Larkin once again, but they will be adding an elite goal-scorer to the opposite wing as Alex DeBrincat joins the Wings. With Raymond freed up a bit more, some added strength to his frame from a good off-season, and some maturity coming into his third NHL season, we could see the 21-year-old Red Wing ascend to star status.

Continued

Of Red Wings prospect-related note today:

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Liam Dower Nilsson had an assist, finishing even with 2 shots in 14:13 of ice time as IF Bjorkoven won 4-1 over AIK;

In the DEL, Kevin Bicker blocked 2 shots in 7:16 played during the Frankfurt Lowen’s 2-0 loss to the Straubing Tigers. I’m starting to wonder whether they’re going to place Bicker in a lower league (the Germans have an under-20 league for youngsters) to give him more playing time;

In the VHL, Dmitri Buchelnikov had an assist, finishing at +1 with 4 shots in 19:04 played as SKA Neva St. Petersburg won 5-4 in a shootout over Ryazan;

And in the WHL, Nate Danielson’s Brandon Wheat Kings will battle the Prince Albert Raiders later tonight.

Update: Brandon won 4-3 over Prince Albert.

The Red Wings gave Sherbrooke Phoenix forward Israel Mianscum a try-out invite to the prospect tournament and training camp, and while Mianscum did not stand out, he tells La Tribune’s Jerome Gaudreau that he had a positive experience. What follows is roughly translated from French:

Mianscum returns from Red Wings camp

Rubbing shoulders with Dylan Larkin, meeting Alex DeBrincat at the gym, finding yourself in the entire world of the Detroit Red Wings. The experience for Phoenix forward Israel Mianscum over the past few days will remain etched in his memory. His next goal: taking part in a preseason game during his next visit to a main NHL camp, and, who knows, maybe even signing a first professional contract.

Returning to Sherbrooke at the start of the week, Israel Mianscum finds himself returning to the Phoenix lineup this Friday after missing the first two games.

The 20-year-old had good reasons to explain his absence: after taking part in the rookie tournament in the company of Sherbrooke native Alexandre Doucet, Mianscum joined the veterans without having the opportunity to find himself on the same rink.

Of Red Wings-related note this morning, regarding last night’s 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins:

1. The Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses Red Wings prospect Nate Danielson’s pro hockey debut this morning…

Danielson scored a goal in Tuesday’s opener, a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena. Danielson played nearly 17 minutes, including three minutes of power play time, and he was out in the last minute of the game, when the Penguins had pulled their goaltender and the Wings were protecting a one-goal lead.

“It’s very valuable,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “He’s building off a good rookie tournament, good camp in Traverse City. He was good tonight. We’d like to get him back in there soon.”

The Wings drafted Danielson at No. 9. General manager Steve Yzerman said that, “we like all parts of his game. He’s got pretty good size, he’s a good skater, he’s got good skills, he’s a good two-way centerman, so there’s a lot to like about him. He’s just a solid all-around prospect.”

Michael Rasmussen, himself a No. 9 pick from 2017, shared his thoughts on Danielson’s early showings.

“He’s impressive,” Rasmussen said. “He’s really poised, just goes about his business, good attitude. Works hard. It’s nice to see him get rewarded. Besides the goal I thought he played really well, too. I just think he handles himself really well — hockey sense, skill, patience. He seems like he’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

2. Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff also discussed Danielson’s strong self-belief…