Author: George Malik

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen offered the following comment from Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman in the DHN “Daily“:

Given the excitement level over the Alex DeBrincat acquisition, it’s important to remember that center JT Compher’s success level will be just as important as DeBrincat’s. For the Red Wings to compete for the playoffs, Compher needs have a strong season.

“He’s a very good athlete,” General manager Steve Yzerman. “He’s 28 years old, has remained relatively healthy. Been in the league a long time. After 5-6 years in the league nobody is perfectly healthy. At five-year term, I’m comfortable with that. He’s a good skater, he’s remained relatively healthy.”

Continued

FYI:

Join @daniellabruce_ and yours truly Thursday for a special summer edition of Inside Hockeytown 7-8pm @971theticketxyt
We will talk draft, free agency, schedule and the Red Wings team. Plus we invite your participation by calling in as well. Join us and let’s talk some hockey.

— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) July 12, 2023

ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton posted a set of offseason grades for the NHL’s 32 teams over the course of a lengthy an ESPN+ article, and here’s what they have to say about the Red Wings’ offseason moves:

Detroit Red Wings

Key players added: F Alex DeBrincat, F J.T. Compher, F Klim Kostin, D Shayne Gostisbehere, D Justin Holl, G James Reimer
Key players lost: F Alex Chiasson, D Robert Hagg, G Alex Nedeljkovic
Remaining cap space: $8,162,777

Coach status: Derek Lalonde didn’t burst onto the scene in Detroit last season with the same vigor (or success) that, say, Jim Montgomery did in Boston. Lalonde is a first-time NHL head coach who went through growing pains of his own, along with a Red Wings team that struggled to find an identity and stick with it. Many of the problems Detroit exhibited under former coach Jeff Blashill came back to bite Lalonde’s group down the stretch of the 2022-23 season. But Lalonde was GM Steve Yzerman’s pick to take over, and he’ll have a chance to prove why with an improved Detroit team this season.

Overall grade: A-. Detroit added to every position in free agency. And its pièce de résistance was trading for — and ultimately extending — DeBrincat. Detroit made its move nine days into July and signed DeBrincat to a four-year, $31.5 million deal that truly cements how much better and deeper Detroit is now (on paper, at least) than it was in April. That’s not all DeBrincat, either. Compher brings a Stanley Cup-winning background and some sandpaper to a possible top-six-forward role. Gostisbehere and Holl give Lalonde more potential looks and ability to juggle on the blue line. And Reimer is a veteran backup who can support Ville Husso.

That’s all good. Where Detroit has so often fallen short in recent years is its lack of top-end scorers and a full-team buy-in on the defensive side of the puck. Yzerman reeled in a big catch with DeBrincat, who is poised to bounce back into the type of awe-inspiring player he was with Chicago. Now Yzerman just has to hope that defensive commitment from the group at large will materialize too.

Continued (paywall)

Detroit Hockey Now’s Tim Robinson profiles Red Wings 2023 draft pick Trey Augustine this morning. The South Lyon, MI goaltender was picked 41st overall in this year’s NHL Draft, and he was impressed by LCA when he attended the Red Wings’ annual Summer Development Camp:

“The facilities are great. I’ve never had this in-depth of a look before,” he said. “It’s like a whole dream to just play in the NHL and obviously play for your hometown team. It’s an amazing opportunity.”

The Red Wings were happy to have the opportunity to draft him with their first pick of the second round of last month’s 2023 NHL Draft.

“Phil Osaer, who runs our goaltending department, we had a lot of conversation about the goalies in this year’s draft,” Red Wings assistant general manager Kris Draper said. “Phil kept coming back to Trey and we were able to see him. We saw the last game that he played, he won it and it was for the gold medal (at the world U18s).”

Augustine impressed the Red Wings with his ability and poise in the gold-medal game’s final seconds.

“We loved the poise, we loved the control,” Draper said. “He’s got a great path going to Michigan State. It’s a pick that we were excited to get.”

Continued

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

UPDATE: The #RedWings today signed forward Nate Danielson to a three-year entry-level contract.

📰 » https://t.co/0l75OJdKXJ pic.twitter.com/hnT2m7b2WU

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 12, 2023

RED WINGS SIGN NATE DANIELSON TO ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT

  … Center Was Picked Ninth Overall by Detroit at 2023 NHL Entry Draft …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today signed center Nate Danielson to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Danielson, 18, was selected by the Red Wings in the first round (ninth overall) of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. on June 28-29, and participated at Detroit’s Development Camp from July 1-5 at the BELFOR Training Center inside Little Caesars Arena. The 6-foot-2, 186-pound forward captained the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings during the 2022-23 season and ranked among the team leaders with 33 goals (1st), 45 assists (1st), 78 points (1st), 38 penalty minutes (T10th), 13 power play goals (1st), 38 power play points (1st), three shorthanded goals (1st), five game-winning goals (T1st) and 244 shots (2nd) in 68 games. His 78 points were the most by a Wheat Kings player since the 2018-19 campaign. Danielson was named to the WHL East Division’s Second All-Star Team and competed at the 2023 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

The Free Press’s Carlos Monarrez shares a popular opinion this morning regarding one Stephen Gregory Yzerman’s offseason “save“:

Steve Yzerman never played goalie, but maybe the Detroit Red Wings general manager should have, because he sure made some big saves this week with his trade for Ottawa Senators forward — and Farmington Hills product —Alex DeBrincat.

He saved what was shaping up to be another ho-hum, borderline-meh offseason of free agency.

He saved Wings fans from having to lie to themselves about their faith in “the Yzerplan” as they winced and pushed the “renew season tickets” button on their accounts.

And he just might have saved himself, because if you can park your trade euphoria long enough, just imagine the fallout if Yzerman had whiffed on his attempt to acquire DeBrincat. Imagine what kind of indictment this would have been on Yzerman and his rebuild if DeBrincat had balked at signing an extension with the Wings, nixing the deal.

Instead, Yzerman saved himself and any hope the Wings and their fans have of being more than playoff pipe dreamers this season. He did it by using what got him to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player: his vision. And so he scored the Wings’ biggest acquisition since he took over in 2019.

Continued; as I said the other day, Steve Yzerman works on his own timeline, and he isn’t afraid of taking slings and arrows from the media or his own team’s fans in order to make his team better.

Sometimes he makes mistakes, to be certain, but he generally tends to make the smarter, subtler, more demonstrative set of decisions as he attempts to slowly rebuild the Red Wings into a team with a stable, playoff-contending roster.

None of us are happy where the “state of the rebuild” is right now, and that includes Yzerman, but he’s doing his best to avail himself of the tools he possesses (the draft, free agency and trades) in order to rectify the Red Wings’ competitive issues.

In all honesty, it’s very trendy to bash Steve Yzerman right now, so I believe that it’s a good thing that he doesn’t give a shit about the state of his reputation among media types.

Inspired by a post from Paul Kukla of Abel to Yzerman, I found Filip Zadina’s introductory media availability from the San Jose Sharks’ YouTube channel:

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a morning column today, in which he discusses Red Wings 2023 1st round pick Nate Danielson’s competitive streak:

Connor Bedard called Nate Danielson one of his toughest matchups in the Western Hockey League, and the Detroit Red Wings’ ears perked up.

The words of a generational talent and the first pick in this year’s draft carry weight. It’s not the reason the Red Wings selected Danielson ninth overall, but it helped him rise above any other prospects they were considering with their top selection in this deep draft.

“That kind of stands out in an interview,” Kris Draper, Red Wings assistant general manager and director of amateur scouring, said. “When we heard that, it was something that put a little smile on our face. Same thing with Marco (Kasper, their top pick last year), a very competitive player, very driven player. We feel Nate’s in that same mold. They don’t cheat the game. They’re responsible. They play the right way. It’s a 200-foot game and they have passion for the game.”

The 6-2, 186-pound right-shooting center from Brandon has offensive ability, too, picking up 33 goals and 78 points in 68 games last season.

“Real smart player,” Draper said. “He’s a guy that plays in all-situations. Saw him as an underage as well. Impressive young man in the way he talks, the way he presents himself. Trying to get some centers, trying to build through the middle. It’s another piece for us going forward.”

Continued

I don’t like posting these stories for a very simple reason: I don’t believe that Vladimir Konstantinov should have to help cover the cost of his own care.

In any case, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that Konstantinov is holding a public signing event next month in Livonia, MI:

Sports Graphing is offering another opportunity for Detroit Red Wings fans to have a meet and greet with legendary ex-Detroit defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov. The Vladinator will be appearing on Aug. 12 at the Sports Zone in Livonia, Michigan.

He will also be doing a private signing on July 30. For those who cannot attend the public event, they are making send ins available to be signed at the end of July. Those items must arrive at Sports Graphing before July 28th. The cost is $50 per item, plus $10 for JSA certification. All of the signed items are JSA certified.

All proceeds go directly to The Vladimir Konstantinov Special Needs Trust that will be used for his ongoing non-medical care. His health insurance is still paid for by the State of Michigan. However, much of his other therapy costs are no longer covered due to a change in the Michigan insurance laws.

Continued; neither Konstantinov nor Sergei Mnatsakanov should have to want for anything at all.

The Hockey News’s Detroit correspondent, Sam Stockton, goes into a “deep dive” to analyze what exactly Alex DeBrincat’s game looks like from analytical and stylistic perspectives this evening, using analytics and video to determine what DeBrincat adds to the Red Wings as an offensive asset:

So where does this profile best fit in with Detroit?  

The obvious answer, at least to start the season, is on Dylan Larkin’s wing.  It’s fair to wonder who belongs in the other wing spot on that line (specifically, does it make more sense to pair those two with a third scorer like Lucas Raymond or more a worker bee/puck hunter like Michael Rasmussen).  

Regardless, placing DeBrincat on Larkin’s wing should jump-start both players in 2023-24.  It would give the former the chance he never had in Ottawa to flourish with his best teammates, and it would give the latter the kind of support Yzerman named as essential to the Red Wings’ off-season, before even the draft.

DeBrincat also belongs on the left flank of Detroit’s top power play unit, where he thrived in Chicago and Ottawa.  Again, it will take some time to develop chemistry here.  In Chicago, Kane and DeBrincat worked well on opposite flanks.  In an ideal world, Lucas Raymond and DeBrincat will do the same.  

DeBrincat also showed nice chemistry with Brady Tkachuk on the Sens’ power play, with Tkachuk doing an impressive job of creating from the goal line and DeBrincat finishing a number of those chances.  The Wings don’t have that type of down-low playmaker on their roster (there are precious few of Tkachuk’s quality around the NHL) and the net-front spot on the power play may well be up for grabs.  It will be interesting to see who ends up in that role, and whether they too can provide DeBrincat with quality service.

Continued, and his article is worth your time…