Author: George Malik

Bleacher Report’s Lyle Richardson suggests that 5 NHL teams “need a front office overhaul,” including the Red Wings, and as you know by now, I disagree with this theory:

DETROIT RED WINGS: Steve Yzerman was one of the greatest players in Detroit Red Wings history, leading them to three Stanley Cups in one of the most successful eras in franchise history. As general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, he laid the foundation for their back-to-back championships in 2020 and 2021.

Yzerman missed those Stanley Cup parades in Tampa Bay, returning to Detroit to become the Red Wings’ GM in 2019. The Wings were at their nadir after missing the playoffs for three straight years and were rebuilding in earnest when he took over.

During his introductory press conference, Yzerman forewarned Red Wings fans there was a lot of work to do, telling them it would take time to turn this team into a Cup contender again. The denizens of Hockeytown bought in, remaining patient with the rebuilding process.

The Wings came tantalizingly close to reaching the playoffs in 2023-24, prompting anticipation they were poised for their long-awaited breakout campaign. This season, they’re jockeying with several teams for a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

However, Max Bultman of The Athletic conducted a poll last August showing Red Wings fans were losing faith in their front office. Confidence in their roster building, salary-cap management, drafting, trading, free-agent signings and vision for the future was down compared to the previous season.

Yzerman will remain a beloved figure among Red Wings fans and in Detroit’s sports history. Nevertheless, another missed postseason will make it nine straight, far exceeding the previous franchise-worst of seven in the 1970s. That could prompt ownership to consider front-office changes, beginning with the general manager.

Continued; again, Yzerman and the Wings’ management team do not have a perfect record in terms of their free agency decisions, and every Red Wings fan feels that it’s been far too long since the team made the playoff cut…

But we all know that as long as Mrs. Ilitch and Chris Ilitch are in charge of the team, Steve Yzerman can consider himself the Red Wings’ GM for as long as he wants to work in that role.

So you look at the good and the bad of Yzerman’s tenure with the Red Wings, you assess whether his belief that the Red Wings are in the middle of a 10-to-12-year rebuild is correct (and it is), and here we are, halfway through the rebuild.

That’s just where we are, and it makes us all frustrated, from GM SY on down, but we have every right as the paying public to expect more, and we’re seeing that “more” through coach Todd McLellan.

For now, the Red Wings are still in their rebuilding phase, and it may take a little while longer before we can count upon the team to make the playoffs on a regular basis. But between the draft picks, the few free agency hits and the new coach, there is finally promise in the team as far as its performance is concerned, and that’s progress enough for me, especially from a GM-for-life.

The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler ranks the Detroit Red Wings as the 5th-best group of prospects in the NHL, despite his suggestion that the Red Wings have no “true star forward prospect.” Wheeler lists his top 15 Red Wings prospects and he goes in-depth in discussing each player this morning:

The Red Wings have a pretty unique pool in that the pools that typically rank in this range have a true star forward prospect; they have several very good ones but none that project to play on a first line. Instead, their star prospects are on defense and in net, with one of the top D prospects in the sport and two of the top goalie prospects in the sport supporting strong depth up front.

Axel Sandin Pellikka’s emergence as a potential top offensive defenseman moved the Red Wings from more of a top-10 pool to No. 5 for me.

2024 prospect pool rank: No. 2 (change: -3)

1. Axel Sandin Pellikka, RHD, 19 (Skellefteå AIK)

Sandin Pellikka has had a brilliant run in the SHL the last two seasons, producing at near-historic rates as a teenager in both, winning an SHL title, winning back-to-back directorate awards as the top defenseman at the World Juniors (he was Sweden’s youngest defenseman the first time he did, too) and emerging this season to play 20 minutes per game and become one of the league’s most productive defensemen regardless of age.

Sandin Pellikka is an individually talented, competitive 5-foot-11 defenseman with natural scoring instincts and the tools to execute. He’s got really good edges and mobility and has shown improved speed in straight lines to pull away from chasers (with more room for growth there still). He walks the line to get shots through at a high level, wants the puck in the offensive zone and has the skill and shot to make things happen when teammates find him off the point or as the trailer off the rush (which he often activates into). He keeps his head up in the neutral and defensive zones and is a confident puck carrier on exits and entries. Though he’s not big, he’s athletic and he plays hard and physical and engages in battles in the defensive zone with some sneaky strength. He’s got a good stick. He does a good job maintaining gaps and matching opposing forwards step for step skating backward and times his close-outs and pinches effectively. He can really shoot it with a pinpoint accurate shot, a wrister that comes off hard and an eagerness to put pucks on net from the point. He’s got comfortable handles. He walks the line looking for his shot and chances to take space off it to attack into better spots, but he’ll find open teammates cross-ice through seams as well and is seeing the ice better and better. There are times when he can wait too long to make his decisions and I wouldn’t call him super creative or a highlight reel type, but he’s very talented, he makes good choices more often than he’s careless and he has progressed really rapidly.

He projects as a high-end offensive defenseman and defensively capable second-pairing one at five-on-five. When he’s on, he can control the game in all three zones and really drive shot creation.

Continued (paywall)

The Free Press’s Helene St. James examines some of the reasons why the Red Wings have gone 14-4-and-1 under coach Todd McLellan:

“I’ve been trying to tell them, focus one day at a time, but they know where we are and they know what they’ve done to climb back in,” coach Todd McLellan said. “But by no means are we going to walk into the locker room tomorrow and say, ‘look where we are and what we’ve done.’ We’re going to focus on rest, we’re going to focus on getting better and prepare to play against Seattle, and we’re not looking any further than that.”

McLellan was speaking shortly after the Wings rallied Sunday to defeat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 in overtime, banking a pair of points for a third straight time on this trip, which concludes Tuesday against the Kraken.

The Wings (27-21-5) have banked 29 points in 19 games (14-4-1) since McLellan’s arrival, one below the 30 in 34 games they had when general manager Steve Yzerman made the coaching change on Dec. 26.

“I think we did a good job of taking it a day at a time,” Patrick Kane said. “Even looking back at that Toronto game (on Dec 27), down 5-0, we score two in the third. Take the positives from that game, all of a sudden you’re building. We won seven in a row at one point. We’re at six now. We’re stringing them together and you need to have those types of streaks. Still, can’t look too far ahead, just take it a day at a time and keep building.”

Continued; the Red Wings most likely expect to win 8 straight before the Four Nations break, with tonight’s game against Seattle and Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay left to go. That’s very different from the level of expectations before December 26th.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that one Nicklas Lidstrom believes that Dominik Hasek is the best goaltender he ever played in front of:

Detroit Red Wings seven-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom was the greatest defenseman of his generation. If you are ready to debate that statement, you are what we like to call wrong.

Maybe you can debate the greatest goaltender of Lidstrom’s NHL generation. Some might vote for Patrick Roy. Others will lean toward Martin Brodeur.

Lidstrom has his choice in this debate and it’s none of the above.

His ballot is cast towards his old Red Wings teammate Dominik Hasek.

“Yes. Dom is the best goalie I’ve ever been on a team with,” Lidstrom told Czech website isport.cz. “I have to say, he had an incredible competitive spirit. And he had a unique style. All he cared about was stopping the puck. He subordinated everything to that.”

Continued; in terms of one game’s worth of play, I’d pick Hasek over Roy and Brodeur. Hasek never had the durability of the Canadian goaltenders, but for one game, or a playoff series, nobody dominated like the Dominator.

From Sportsnet:

What a turnaround in Hockeytown 🐙 pic.twitter.com/2W8Ck9k1aJ

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 3, 2025

Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis discusses 10 NHL prospects who are playing well in the KHL, and he includes Red Wings prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov on his list;

Dmitri Buchelnikov, LW, 21 (Detroit Red Wings)

When Buchelnikov is thriving, so is his Vityaz KHL squad. He’s on pace for 55 points this year, which would be one of the most productive U-22 seasons in KHL history. The 5-foot-10 forward has always been a bit underrated due to his smaller frame, but he’s quick, skilled, and does excellent work with the puck. His lack of size will likely be an issue in the NHL, but Buchelnikov has boosted his draft stock in such a big way as a playmaker. Scouts are still a little mixed on him, but I like where Buchelnikov’s game is right now.

Continued

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed an afternoon notebook article in which he discusses the Red Wings’ in-the-playoff-picture status:

The Wings are now 14-4-1 under McLellan since he arrived Dec. 26. They are six games above NHL .500 (27-21-5) and with 59 points, are only one point from third-place Ottawa in the Atlantic Division. Don’t expect the attitude to change in the locker room despite the surge up the standings, [coach Todd] McLellan said.

“They’ll know that,” McLellan said of the Wings’ place in the standings. “I’ve been trying to get them to focus on one day at a time, but they know where they are and they know what they’ve done to climb back in. But by no means are we going to walk into the locker room (Tuesday) and say, Look where we are and what we’ve done’. We’re going to focus on rest, getting better and getting prepared to play against Seattle and not looking further than that.”

…

The contributions of young players such Marco Kasper, Albert Johansson, Simon Edvinsson, Jonatan Berggren and Elmer Soderblom during this win streak, and the for the past month, has been eye-opening. They’ve seamlessly entered the lineup, and the Wings have become the better for it.

All the while, veterans such Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, Moritz Seider, DeBrincat and goaltenders Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon have thrived.

“The youth has invigorated the older players, and the older players have embraced the youth,” McLellan said. “That doesn’t always happen on teams. They can be divided at times. But as long as the youthful group continues to provide what they have, and it keeps the older ones honest, it’s a real good mix right now.”

Coach McLellan lauded the Wings’ embrace of their goaltenders as well:

“And you need two in the NHL to win, you can’t just ride one,” McLellan said. “The games are too intense and there’s (high) volume shooting, and the travel. You can see what we’re going through right now (on a long road trip). To have both of them playing the way they are is a good thing. But often that’s a reflection of the group, too. The team around them is doing things they need to do, whether it’s sacrificing around the net, or blocking shots or whatever it may be. It’s usually a group effort. I like the way the group is complementing each other.”

Continued (paywall)

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the Red Wings’ hot streak under coach Todd McLellan from a “belief” perspective:

This team already has risen to the challenge many times under McLellan, with winning streaks of seven and six games and road wins against elite teams Winnipeg, Florida and Edmonton.

McLellan said everyone around the team has a sense of belief, from the front office to the coaches to the players.

“When you come in and try to create an environment and try to introduce new concepts for the players, they’re either going to accept them and make it work or poke holes in them and basically say it doesn’t work,” he told media after Sunday’s game. “All of our players have chosen to try and make it work and the longer it goes the more they believe.”

Alex DeBrincat, who scored two goals Sunday including the overtime tally, said players always believed they were better than what their record indicated (13-17-4 before Christmas).

“Needed a bit of a fresh start, kind of a restart,” DeBrincat told reporters. “It feels like a new season and we’re winning games when maybe we haven’t played our best and that’s what good teams do, and we got to keep that up.”

Patrick Kane, who returned to the lineup Sunday after missing five games with an upper-body injury, said: “That’s how you get yourself back in the picture. You string wins together and you win games that maybe you shouldn’t. Obviously, we’ve had great goaltending, some timely goals, a lot of our top players have been really good through this stretch.”

Continued (paywall)

The Hockey Writers’ Tony Wolak posted an article about the fact that the NHL’s salary cap is supposed to rise to $95.5 million in 2025-2026, $104 million in 26-27, and $113.5 million in 27-28.

As it currently stands, the Red Wings have nine forwards, five defensemen, and one goalie signed for the 2025-26 season. If you throw in new deals for Albert Johansson, Jonatan Berggren, and Elmer Soderblom—and add in Sebastian Cossa—Detroit is left with roughly $19.8 million in cap space to address their remaining needs.

That means the Red Wings have flexibility to go big-game hunting this offseason if they so please. Elias Pettersson? Yep, they can definitely afford him. The same goes for Mikko Rantanen and Mitch Marner if they make it to free agency. 

Yes, all teams will get an extra $7.5 million in cap space to work with this summer. The point is that the Red Wings will have plenty of cap space at their disposal if they want to use the 2025 offseason as a springboard to contention.

The one caveat here is that Detroit should be conscious of what Simon Edvinsson’s next contract could look like. He’s the only Red Wings player who will be due for a significant pay raise in the next couple years. As one of the team’s most promising young defensemen, Edvinsson is expected to transition into a top-pairing role, solidifying himself as a cornerstone of Detroit’s blue line. With his current entry-level contract set to expire in 2026, his next deal will likely reflect his growing impact, especially if he continues to develop into the elite two-way defenseman the Red Wings envision.

It’s still going to take winning to make Detroit a destination for free agents again, and that’s going to take time. I’m not anticipating the Red Wings to contend for marquee free agents for a couple of years yet, honestly…

And this is the most important part of Wolak’s article: what happens to the Red Wings’ “internal cap” figure as the salary cap rises dramatically?

One thing I’m curious about, though, is how the organization will manage their internal cap. No player has a higher cap hit than Larkin[‘s $8.75 million contract]. Will that continue to be the unspoken rule moving into the future? Or will the Red Wings be comfortable throwing higher dollar amounts at other players? My guess is the latter, especially as Larkin approaches his 30s.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen lists “five factors” that have been less than vividly apparent over the course of the Red Wings’ six-game winning streak:

Elmer Soderstrom Makes a Statement

The 6-foot-8 forward has a four-game points streak (one goal and three assists) and has shown that he has learned to use his size and reach more effectively.

Coaches seem to like the idea of playing Soderblom with 6-foot-6 Michael Rasmussen. That’s a load for any opponent to handle.

“He looks like he belongs more and more every night,”  coach Todd McLellan said. “The size, the reach, but then the silkiness of his hands, the ability to make some plays. I have a lot of confidence in putting him on the ice right now. I’m not afraid or trying to hide him, or anything like that. He’s one of many that just come in and want to learn. He’s asking questions, he wants to get better and he works hard. ”

Albert Johansson Dependability Helps

Johansson played 22:08 against Vancouver. He played more than Simon Edvinsson and almost as much as Ben Chiarot. The trust in his smart defensive play is growing. He has averaged more than 20 minutes per game for the past five games. He’s plus-five in those games.

Give Trent Yawney, McLellan’s right-hand man, credit for deciding that the history of Edvinsson and Johansson playing together in Grand Rapids made them ideal candidates to play together in Detroit.

Johansson shows that he is crafty, one-on-one defender and an above average transition defenseman. Watch how he moves the puck out of his zone with purpose.

Continued; Johansson’s steadiness is the revelation of the second half of the season for me. He’s still a 6,’ 160-pound fellow, but he knows what he’s doing out there, and he makes himself effective, to the point that in Calgary, the Red Wings’ coaches placed Johansson out with Seider to shut down the Flames’ attempts at a comeback. He’s been fantastic of late.