Author: George Malik

Per the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye:

(Toledo, OH) – Forward Brandon Kruse, who spent most of his first pro season in Newfoundland, has agreed to terms with the Toledo Walleye for the 2023-2024 season.

The native of nearby Saline, Michigan spent his first full professional season in the ECHL with Newfoundland where he posted 44 points (7G, 37A) in 69 games for the Growlers. Drafted by Las Vegas in the fifth round of the 2018 NHL draft, Kruse made his pro debut at the end of the 2021-2022 season with Henderson in the AHL. He appeared in three games with one assist.

Kruse spent four years with the Bowling Green Falcons before completing his college career with a season at Boston College. While with the Falcons, the 24-year-old skated in 151 games with 38 goals and 104 assists. His best season was 41 points (10G, 31A) in 41 contests during the 2018-2019 campaign, Kruse’s second at BGSU. During his final season (2020-2021), he led the Falcons in points (34) and had a team-best +29 rating. He was on the WCHA All-Rookie team in 2017-2018 and was First Team WCHA in 2020-2021.

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe also filed a report about Kruse’s signing:

Drafted by Las Vegas in the fifth round of the 2018 NHL draft, Kruse made his pro debut at the end of the 2021-22 season with Henderson in the American Hockey League. He appeared in three games with one assist.

At BGSU, Kruse finished with 38 goals and 104 assists. His most productive season came during the 2018-19 season, when Kruse had 41 points (10 G, 31 A) in 41 contests. During his final season, he led the Falcons with 34 points (11 G, 23 A) and had a team-best plus-29 rating.

The 5-foot-9 and 170-pound left winger was on the All-Western Conference Hockey Association first team in 2020-21.

The Walleye have now signed seven players: defensemen Thomas Farrell and Jake Willets and forwards Kruse, Brandon Hawkins, Conlan Keenan, Sam Craggs, and Mitchell Lewandowski.

The Hockey News’s Carol Schram posted an article in which she discusses 5 NHL teams which have the potential of making the 2023-2024 season’s playoff cut, and she named both the Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators to her list:

Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings made the playoffs for 25 consecutive seasons between 1991 and 2016 and won four Stanley Cups during that stretch. But when the streak ended, the playoff door slammed shut. Detroit now has the second-longest active playoff drought in the NHL, at seven years.

For all the praise that Steve Yzerman gets as a forward-thinking GM, the Red Wings failed to match the improving pace of the Sabres and the Ottawa Senators last season. They finished 12 points out of a playoff spot in the tough Atlantic Division.

But Yzerman made a splash this summer, acquiring scoring star and Michigan native Alex DeBrincat from the Senators. 

Yzerman was also one of the busiest GMs in the league on July 1. He added James Reimer and Alex Lyon to his goaltending group, signed defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere and Justin Holl, and added free-agent forwards J.T. Compher, Klim Kostin, Daniel Sprong and Christian Fischer.

Nearly half of the roster will be new faces when the Red Wings open their regular season in New Jersey on Oct. 12. They’ll be hoping that some of the Devils’ playoff mojo from last year rubs off on them. 

It’s time for Little Caesars Arena to host playoff games.

Continued; we can hope that the Red Wings’ depth affords them the ability to out-last the Sabres and Senators this upcoming season…

The Detroit Red Wings will have three representatives at the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, MI starting on Thursday in Trey Augustine, Axel Sandin Pellikka and Anton Johansson.

The Hockey News’s Tony Ferrari recommends that fans keep their eye on two of the Red Wings’ three prospects participating in the event:

Trey Augustine, G, USA Team White: The Americans turned to their youngest goalie last year at the world juniors, and he was a steadying force in the crease. He wasn’t able to dominate and push them to the gold medal game, but with a year of development, he could put them over the top this year. The Detroit second-round pick will look to keep his name atop the depth chart for the Americans with a solid performance at the showcase.

Axel Sandin Pellikka, D, Sweden: After growing into a bigger role by the end of last year’s tournament, Sandin Pellikka could be one of the Swedes’ best players. His ability to play at both ends of the ice at the U-20 level and bring a dynamic presence to the offensive side of the ice should give Sweden the high-end skill that any competitive team requires at the World Junior Championship. He will have his work cut out for him with some older veterans on the team, but the skill of A.S.P. should win out.

Continued with 10 more players to watch…

Red Wings prospect Marco Kasper spoke with Krone.at’s Marcel Santer regarding his on and off-ice training at home in Klagenfurt, Austria. Here’s a translation of the article:

I’m not a fan of “re-drafts.” Even the best prospect experts in the world can’t capture the developmental curves of 18-year-old hockey players–NHL teams certainly don’t have a magic formula to gain draft success with every pick, either–because hockey is such a difficult sport to predict in terms of individual players coming out of various junior leagues in unfinished forms.

All of that being said, The Athletic’s draft expert, Scott Wheeler, has “re-drafted” the 2020 NHL Draft class, and he at least gives Lucas Raymond’s high-end potential some significant praise while suggesting that Raymond should have been drafted by the Ottawa Senators instead of the Detroit Red Wings (presuming that Tim Stuetzle went 1st overall):

3. Ottawa Senators: RW Lucas Raymond

Actual draft pick: No. 4 (change: +1) to Detroit
My final ranking: No. 5 (change: +2)

The only non-Stützle player on this list with two seasons in an NHL top six already, and the second-most productive player in the draft to only Stützle so far, we all know what Raymond is: a 20-goal, 50-to-60-point guy. For him to stay here, he’ll probably have to become slightly more than that and establish himself as the Red Wings’ 1RW and a perennial 70-point guy. I think he gets there. No real notes in terms of my ranking and evaluation at the time on this one. I was aligned with the consensus on him in terms of ranking and evaluation/projection.

Continued (paywall); as far as I’m concerned, Raymond will probably top out around 25 goals and 65 points a season, just short of Wheeler’s projections, but that’s me being a little conservative. I do believe that he’ll eventually be the Red Wings’ first-line right winger.

According to Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff, Red Wings prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov may not know which team he’s playing for this upcoming season, but he will be spending August in Sochi, Russia, playing for the Russian Under-23 team:

Russia may still be banned from international hockey, but that won’t be preventing Detroit Red Wings draftee Dmitri Buchelnikov from representing his country.

Russia’s under-23 national team will be playing in the upcoming Sochi Tournament. The event is one of the biggest KHL preseason tourneys, often serving as a showcase for upcoming Russian talent. With the unveiling of the team selection earlier this week, Buchenikov’s name was on the list.

Buchelnikov, 19, also saw action in last season’s Sochi Tournament. Playing for the Russian U25 squad, he wound up collecting 3-2-5 totals through five games, earning him recognition as the top forward of the tournament. Two of his goals were game winners.

The player who Detroit made the 51st selection of the 2022 NHL entry draft is among nine SKA St. Petersburg players who were earning selection to the Russian U23 squad. The select team of young Russian stars will play games against Sochi (August 3), Admiral (August 5), Avangard (August 7) ​​and SKA (August 8).

Continued; the KHL basically plays a full month’s worth of preseason hockey in August, and, as Duff suggests, the Under-23 or Under-25 teams exist as a sort of equivalent to World Junior Championship-eligible teams.

Duff also notes that Buchelnikov’s future is somewhat murky; he’s under contract to SKA St. Petersburg, but he also played for the VHL’s SKA-Neva St. Petersburg (SKA’s roughly equivalent to a “second league” team) and the MHL’s SKA-1946 St. Petersburg (roughly equivalent to a Major Junior league team) last season.

He played in 10 games for the “big club” last season, but he only posted a goal and an assist, earning scant ice time.

His stats reflect not having any continuity last season, and it would be best for his development to be placed with one team this time around.

Three Red Wings prospects will be taking part in the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan this upcoming weekend and next week.

The WJSS is basically a summer start-up for prospective World Junior Championship participants from the United States, Finland and Sweden, who play in a 4-team format (with the U.S. team split up into “USA White” and “USA Blue“) for games on July 29th, 31st, and August 2nd and 4th (with tickets for the games available at USA Hockey Arena and online).

There are also morning practices from July 27th through August 4th that are open to the public, though there’s usually at least one day over the course of the 9-day period in which the teams agree to give their players a day off the ice.

Red Wings prospects Axel Sandin Pellikka, Anton Johansson (both playing defense for Sweden) and Trey Augustine (playing in goal for “USA White“) are all participating; as the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton notes, several top prospects for the 2024 NHL Draft are taking part as well.

I will be attending the tournament as accredited media, and while I may not make every practice, I’m definitely going to be there for every game, so I’m likely to start up a gas-and-snacks fund for the purposes of offsetting expenses. I hope that’s okay with all of you.

It’s a great event in terms of both getting to see some of the best 2023-drafted and 2024 (and 2025) NHL Draft prospects participate in competitive games at USA Hockey Arena, the tickets are insanely cheap, and it’s something of a sneak peek at some prospects who won’t be playing for the Red Wings at the fall prospect tournament due to their commitments elsewhere.

I will say this: you also get to “rub shoulders” with executives from the vast majority of the NHL’s 32 teams there as they’re scouting their drafted and potential prospects as well, and a lot of families from the 2023 U.S. Under-17 and Under-18 teams show up as well.

For example, Brady and Matthew Tkachuk and their dad, Keith, who scouts for the St. Louis Blues, were in attendance for every game at the 2021 WJSS, and they’d sign autographs and what-not while watching games. It’s a sort of informal setting, but as long as you approach your prospects politely, they’re likely to sign something or just talk for a bit.

I hope to see you there!

The Red Wings posted a lovely little Tweet of note regarding the Red Wings and the City of Detroit on its 322nd birthday:

All love on your birthday, @CityofDetroit. 👊@tracywolfson@alroker@rachaelray@craigmelvin pic.twitter.com/xSNMAfbLPc

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 24, 2023

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills filed a profile of Red Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa today:

Cossa spent most of his 2022-23 campaign with the Red Wings’ ECHL-affiliate Toledo Walleye, posting a 26-16-4 record with a 2.56 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and four shutouts in 46 regular-season games. The 20-year-old netminder also appeared in three games for Grand Rapids.

“I didn’t really know what to expect going down there,” said Cossa, who was Detroit’s 15th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. “It was tougher than what I thought. I had some ups and downs along the way but had a strong second half and a good push in the playoffs there.”

Cossa said a key part of his development will be learning how to use his 6-foot-6, 229-pound frame to his advantage.

“I’m a big guy,” he said. “Sometimes, I don’t have to be at the top of my crease to make saves. It’s more realizing the game and getting used to that level.”

The Fort McMurray, Alberta native also wants to increase his focus and ability to track pucks.

“Guys are bigger at the pro level and know how to use their body a little bit better,” Cossa said. “In the second half, I started to feel more comfortable and confident in it.”

Continued; Cossa is still a long-term project, but he’s one with a significant amount of “upside,” presuming that he continues to work on refining his game.

The Red Wings made a solid investment in Ville Husso last summer, but Sportsnet’s Sonny Sachdeva doesn’t seem to take the team in front of #35–or his lack of a viable goaltending partner–into account while ranking Husso’s acquisition and signing by Detroit as a “Big Money Meh“:

Ville Husso, Detroit Red Wings

Acquired by Detroit for a 2022 third-round pick, signed to three-year, $14.25-million deal

The Red Wings found themselves in a similar position as the young Devils — a growing core of young talent, incremental growth, but in need of a more substantial step forward. Also similar was their question mark in the crease, the club having bet on Calder Trophy finalist Alex Nedeljkovic and getting limited success in 2021-22. In Husso, they seemed to find the perfect do-over for that strategy, the Blues netminder breaking out with a .919 season in St. Louis, earning a Vezina vote, and seemingly setting himself up to be the biggest name on the goalie free-agent market before the Red Wings snagged him. But it didn’t necessarily all go to plan. While Husso looked strong for stretches in his first season as a Red Wing, he ultimately left more to be desired by season’s end. There’s no question the defensive strength of the group in front of him played a role, and that he could still thrive as that group improves. Still, given the numbers he put up previously, and the fact that Detroit gave him more money than the two goalies above, the first chapter of Husso’s Red Wings tenure finished as something of a disappointment.

Continued; Husso wore down because Alex Nedeljkovic, Magnus Hellberg and Victor Brattstrom were unable to stabilize the Red Wings’ goaltending, and Husso was tremendously over-worked by the 55-game mark, and his fundamentals broke down.

He finished the season with a 26-22-and-7 record, with a 3.11 GAA and an .896 save percentage, which is obviously not good enough for a team that hopes to contend for a playoff spot–or at least playoff relevance–this upcoming season.

That’s not to say that his first full season as a starting goaltender couldn’t have gone better–there’s no doubt that he needs to reinforce his fundamentals this summer, work on not flip-flopping from side to side in the crease, and squeezing closed a couple of holes between glove-and-blocker-and-body…

But James Reimer and Alex Lyon’s respective performances in the Red Wings’ crease will help tell the tale as to whether Husso can succeed as a late-blooming starting goaltender, as will the state of the Red Wings’ revamped defense.

There is no doubt that Husso played in at least a couple of his 56 appearances while playing through injuries, and he’s going to have to stay healthy this upcoming season…

But it’s hard to keep every squeaky goal out of the net when the season is winding down, the wheels have come off the playoff train, and you’re playing through pain because the coaching staff doesn’t trust your back-up goaltenders.