Author: George Malik

The Hockey News’s Adam Proteau predicts the order in which the NHL’s Atlantic Division teams will finish this upcoming season, and he’s predicting that the Red Wings will finish 7th, behind the Boston Bruins:

Why they’re picked in this position: We don’t believe the Red Wings will be closer to the bottom of the Atlantic than the fourth or fifth spot in the division, but the truth is, many of the moves Detroit GM Steve Yzerman has made in the off-season don’t strike us as being moves that can push them back into the post-season for the first time since 2015-16. 

In particular, the free-agent signings of Compher, Holl, Petry and Reimer aren’t needle-movers in a positive sense. We do like the acquisitions of DeBrincat, Sprong, Fischer and Gostisbehere, but there’s so much competition in the division and only four or five playoff spots to be had. The question becomes, which team above Detroit in last season’s standings will be worse than them this year? The answer to that is not many at all.

We don’t want to count out the Wings altogether – if starting goalie Ville Husso posts a strong season, Detroit could nip at the heels of teams like the Sabres, Senators and Bruins and squeeze out a playoff berth. However, Detroit doesn’t have enough generational talents to keep up with the Joneses in the Atlantic, and that may prove to be the reason why they wind up on the outside of the playoff picture this year.

Should that prove to be their fate, Yzerman will be facing heavy criticism for the first time in his tenure as the Wings’ GM. But that’s what’s going to happen to an organization that, for years and years, was the gold standard for being a playoff team and a genuine Cup threat. Detroit’s players need to justify Yzerman’s investment in them, or more consequential moves could be made next summer.

Continued; we shall find out whether the Red Wings are able to battle their way up the Atlantic Division standings shortly.

Daily Faceoff’s Mike Gould posted a 2023-2024 season preview for the Detroit Red Wings today, assessing the team’s offense, defense, goaltending, coaching and top prospects, all before asking the following “burning questions”:

1. Can Dylan Larkin find another level? Larkin has yet to score 80 points in a single season. He’s never been a point-per-game player in the NHL, although he’s come extremely close the last two years. Now that Alex DeBrincat is in the fold, there’s no reason why the Red Wings shouldn’t be able to trot out a top line that can dominate in the offensive zone. Larkin is extremely talented — 85 or even 90 points shouldn’t be out of the question. If he can get there, the Red Wings should be in good shape.

2. Is Moritz Seider truly the guy? Seider endured some serious growing pains as a sophomore, although a significant chunk of that can be attributed to the team’s inexplicable acquisition and deployment of Ben Chiarot. Seider was a force to be reckoned with in his rookie season and he has all the tools to be a franchise defenseman in the NHL. If Jake Walman truly is his natural partner, Seider should be able to take off in a full season alongside him. But if that magic starts to wear off, the Red Wings are light on potential replacements.

3. Who will lock down the 2C role? Andrew Copp scored nine goals last year. He makes $5.625 million through 2027. Copp and J.T. Compher will likely duke it out for that 2C role during training camp and throughout the season, but it’s difficult to pencil either in as a bona fide top-six center until one of them proves he can handle the responsibility. Copp really only has one strong playoff run with the New York Rangers to hang his hat on, while Compher has always been insulated within the Colorado Avalanche system.

Continued;

I’m of the opinion that Larkin doesn’t need to find “another level” as much as he needs to continue driving play with his puck possession and speed while skating with DeBrincat; I’m just not worried about Moritz Seider’s long-term development; and I will admit that I am curious and/or concerned as to whether Copp, Compher or Kasper will emerge as the Wings’ 2nd line center.

Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond spoke with NHL.com’s Dan Rosen about his outlook and his team’s outlook for the 2023-2024 season, suggesting that both he and the Red Wings need to take a step forward this upcoming season:

“Last season, I think we took a step as a team, moved in the right direction, and coming into this season we’re taking an even bigger step,” Raymond said. “Expectations are getting higher for the team but also for myself, which is a lot of fun.”

Raymond seemed to hit a conditioning wall about halfway through his sophomore season, but he insists that the 12-point drop in point production should rectify itself due to an accumulation of experience:

“I feel like when you first get in, you’re young and you think you know everything,” Raymond said. “It’s like that when you’re 15 too and you’re like, ‘Oh, I got this.’ But then the next year you’re like, ‘Oh, I wish I knew this,’ and the next year it’s the same. So next year I’ll probably have that again, ‘Oh, I learned this, but I wish I knew it before.’ As long as you want to learn and you want to develop I think that’s the biggest asset you can have.”

Raymond has that. 

He said he has spent the offseason training his 5-foot-11, 176-pound body to better handle the physical rigors of the NHL.

“I’m still 21 and my body is developing so to gain that physical advantage that’s been a big focus,” Raymond said. “You want to develop yourself, have that drive and good things come with that.”

He knows he’s still young but is also aware that he can’t use that as an excuse anymore, not when he has played 156 NHL games.

“Whether you’re young, old or in the middle, it doesn’t really matter, you play the same game, you’re on the same ice,” Raymond said. “I am young, but I’m in it. The first year everything is new, everything is exciting. The second year you’re getting a bit more feel of it. Coming into my third year, now I have more experience and I know how to deal with certain situations I get put in. I’m excited for it.”

Continued; I have faith that Raymond will rebound from a middling second half of last season. He’s still growing into his body, developing endurance, and improving his skating, and he should continue to develop going forward.

Via Detroit Sports Nation’s W.G. Brady, take this rumor from the Chicago Daily Herald’s John Dietz with some fine Detroit rock salt:

Watch for Patrick Kane to sign with the Detroit Red Wings. Someone who knows Kane very well said Kane told him he wanted to follow Alex DeBrincat if/when he was able. Of course there has to be mutual interest, so we'll see if Detroit extends an olive branch … https://t.co/4qk4lEASPM

— John Dietz (@JDietzSports) September 3, 2023

I’d still imagine that Kane wants to sign with a Stanley Cup contender, but if the interest is mutual, we shall see. Kane did play for Detroit Honeybaked and the NTDP.

If you hadn’t heard, the Edmonton Oilers replaced Tyler Wright as their director of amateur scouting this past week, bringing in Avs head scout Rick Pracey as their new director of amateur scouting.

Wright was replaced by Kris Draper after Steve Yzerman’s first draft with the Red Wings, and, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses today (in a subscriber-only article), the final years of GM Ken Holland’s administration included more than a few whiffs at the draft table:

A review of the last five seasons of Ken Holland regime drafts shows Detroit made 46 draft picks and managed to find 11 players who have logged 67 or more NHL games.

Joe Veleno (2018), Jonathan Berggren (2018), Michael Rasmussen (2017) and Dylan Larkin (2014) are the only four players drafted by the Red Wings from 2014-2018 that are still on the roster.

The 11-for-46 success rate for draft picks during that period represents a .239 batting average for hitting on a draft pick. If you lower the success standard to any draftee who played at least one game, the Red Wings improve to 12-for-46 for 2014-2018 drafts. (Chase Pearson played three NHL games). That’s a 26% success rate.

The league success rate for that period is roughly 45 percent (with success defined as a draftee playing only one NHL game). The Red Wings were well below the league average.

Continued (paywall); for better or worse, Yzerman came to Detroit with all but an empty cupboard in terms of the prospect department, and his administration, under Kris Draper’s leadership, has built up a very solid stable of prospect players.

It is, of course, the job of both those players, and the Wings’ player development staff, to ensure that Draper’s faith in those players is proved correct.

Of prospect-related note today:

In the Champions Hockey League, Axel Sandin Pellikka had 2 shots and blocked 2 shots, finishing even in 19:54 of ice time in Skelleftea AIK’s 4-3 loss to Dynamo Pardubice.

IceHockeyGifs posted a quick clip of ASP doing his thing:

Skellefteå lost their 2nd CHL game 4-3 against Pardubice. Sandin Pellikka played 19:54 with 2 shots on goal #lgrw pic.twitter.com/MjMLfipYQO

— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) September 3, 2023

And in the VHL, Dmitri Buchelnikov made his regular season debut, posting two assists in 16:08 played as SKA Neva St. Petersburg won 5-1 over Zvezda Moscow.

We’ve talked about Red Wings prospect defenseman Antti Tuomisto several times this summer, discussing the fact that the hulking defender chose an unconventional path to “bet on himself” last year.

He left the University of Denver after two seasons spent in North America to head back to Europe, playing in 60 games for TPS Turku of the Finnish Liiga.

Quite a few people wrote Tuomisto off as a prospect who succumbed to homesickness (and earning a quick buck), but the truth was that he played so well as a first-year professional that the Red Wings chose to sign the 6’5,” 205-pound right shooter to an entry-level contract.

This morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James adds her voice to the chorus, discussing the remarks that Tuomisto made at the Red Wings’ summer development camp:

Pro Hockey Rumors is really an unfortunately-named website, because they offer much more content than they do rumors, and their fantasy hockey and general news coverage is superb.

Tonight, Ethan Hetu posted a “summer synopsis” for the Red Wings, assessing the Wings’ draft class, trade acquisitions, free agent signings, departures, and questions for the upcoming season. We’ll examine Hetu’s questions here:

Who will be the Red Wings’ second-line center?: This question isn’t exactly the right one, as we know who will start the year as Detroit’s second-line center: either Copp or Compher. But the important question is who will end up claiming that role moving into the future, seeing as the Red Wings have two quality center prospects in their pipeline in Kasper and Danielson. Will Compher reward Yzerman’s faith and his $5.1MM price tag? Will Copp improve on a first year in Detroit that saw him score only nine goals? Or will both veterans falter as the team pivots towards Kasper or eventually Danielson as Dylan Larkin’s long-term understudy?

Who claims the backup goalie role?: A 475-game NHL veteran, Reimer is undoubtedly the front-runner here. But after posting an .890 save percentage last season, he’s vulnerable. Alex Lyon has largely been a third goalie throughout his pro career. Will that finally change this season in Detroit?

Continued; in both situations, the front office’s answer to the questions as to who plays behind Dylan Larkin and who tends goal behind Ville Husso seems to be the same: “Add depth and see how things shake out.”

In both cases, the Red Wings have two options, whether it’s Andrew Copp and J.T. Compher, with Kasper waiting in the wings (so to speak), or James Reimer and Alex Lyon, who are both viable options in goal.

With the free agent class not offering many high-end offerings in terms of available game-changing talent, the Wings chose to over-build their middle ice position, and begin to establish some depth in front of Sebastian Cossa in Grand Rapids and John Lethemon in Toledo.

I’m not expecting Nate Danielson to enter into the equation as to the Red Wings’ second-line center’s job for a couple of years, mostly because he’s playing Major Junior hockey with the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings this upcoming season, but one never knows with goaltending and injuries, so don’t count Cossa’s NHL debut out until the 24-25 season. We may see him in the NHL this season.

I wasn’t expecting Dmitri Buchelnikov to play in Saturday’s SKA St. Petersburg KHL game, and Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff confirms that Buchelnikov did not play today, nor did Philadelphia Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov.

SKA is really the KHL’s flagship franchise, and their roster remains almost perpetually stacked, so it’s hard for younger players to earn regular ice time. As Duff suggests, as KHL teams can dress 20 skaters, their youngest players usually earn time as the 13th forward or 7th defenseman.

Right now, Duff wonders whether Buchenlnikov’s time in St. Petersburg will be short:

Buchelnikov’s name is not currently showing on the list of players populating the SKA St. Petersburg roster on the KHL website and there are 20 forwards included on that list. If Buchelnikov is in fact that far down the SKA depth chart, there certainly remains the chance that he will be going on loan to another KHL club. That’s what SKA did last season with the highly-touted Michkov, sending him to play with HC Sochi. Offseason reports from the Russian media have also been linking Buchelnikov with a move to that club.

Last season, Buchelnikov was posting 1-1-2 totals in 10 KHL games for SKA St. Petersburg. He was playing all but two of those 10 games during the first month of the season. He spent the majority of the 2022-23 campaign with SKA-Neva in the VHL, the Russian second division. Buchelnikov was also seeing some time with SKA-1946 in the MHL, the Russian junior league.

The 19-year-old left-winger was the 52nd overall choice Detroit in the 2022 NHL entry draft. He’s under contract with SKA St. Petersburg until the conclusion of the 2024-25 season. He put his name to a two-year extension with the club last season.

My best guess right now is that we ought to check SKA Neva St. Petersburg’s box scores to see whether Buchelnikov earns ice time there.

My aunt is, for better or worse, usually right when she makes observations, and as we talked about fundraising yesterday, AA suggested that the mysterious benefactor’s $2,000 donation might actually make raising funds for the Traverse City trip more difficult, because people might think that those kinds of donations happen all the time.

She’s not wrong; over the past two days, we’ve raised about $50, and the GoFundMe has stagnated.

We’ve also been discussing the state of our 17-year-old Chrysler Pacifica, whose power steering is acting weird, whose right rear passenger side brake whines, and which needs an oil change rather desperately after spending so much time on the road due to Aunt Annie’s hospitalizations over the past year.

I’ve got to get my Pacifica into Norm’s Total Auto for a once-over before I leave, and it’s not going to be cheap, no matter how little we ask him to actually fix.

But there’s something that I want to address on a larger level, too.

After spending much of yesterday with the covers pulled over my head due to an anxiety attack, I got up and wrote a sprawling explanation of the fact that Aunt Annie and I live a spartan life, and that we really are absolutely blessed by a once-in-a-lifetime gesture by our mysterious benefactor.