Author: George Malik

The Free Press’s Shawn Windsor weighs in regarding the Red Wings’ pursuit of Alex DeBrincat this morning, suggesting that the fact that the organization is making a push to acquire a star player is good news in itself:

Yzerman obviously isn’t finished trying to add a jolt of lightning to the “collective approach,” as evidenced by the reports of talks with Ottawa all week. And assuming the reports are true — that the Wings and Senators have been talking — then it’s safe to assume Yzerman is ready to take a bigger swing.

It’s time.  

That some level of talks — and/or full-fledged negotiations — are happening is a sign that the next phase of the rebuild is finally here: Pushing for the playoffs. 

The Wings haven’t made the postseason in seven seasons now, the longest drought in franchise history. Four Stanley Cups and a 25-year playoff streak surrounding those Cups obviously helped ease the pain of the current drought.  

But seven years is a long time in a league where half the teams make the playoffs. And though head coach Derek Lalonde’s arrival helped reset the grace period a bit, the franchise can only acknowledge its need for a serious scorer for so long without seriously trying to go get one. 

It looks like they are.  

And if they don’t land him? 

Continued (no paywall)

Yahoo Sports Canada’s Anthony Petrielli discusses “the 5 best moves” of the unrestricted free agent period (thus far), and the Red Wings actually earn a nod for their acquiring and then signing of one Klim Kostin:

Red Wings acquire, then sign Klim Kostin: One of the most unheralded trades last season was the Blues and Oilers‘ October swap of Dmitri Samorukov for Klim Kostin. It wasn’t until mid-November that Kostin got into the Oilers lineup, and it wasn’t until Dec. 1 that he actually got a point. He never really looked back from there, putting up 21 points in 50 games through to the end of the season, and bringing some real physicality along the way. He fought four times during the season and once more in the playoffs and laid a number of big, heavy hits.

In the playoffs, he also put up five points in 12 games, though he wasn’t even playing eight minutes per contest. He showed he can be a physical contributor, capable of changing games with energy shifts and chipping in double-digit goal totals. Drafted 31st overall in 2017, the 24-year-old is finally looking like a player putting it together, but he was caught in a cap crunch and was packaged with Kailer Yamamoto (who later signed with Seattle), in a trade to Detroit.

The Red Wings then signed Kostin to a two-year, $4-million deal. If he stays the same — a 10-plus goal scorer that hits and fights some — he’s worth that contract. If his game continues to improve basically at all, it’s a bargain. When the contract expires, he will still be an RFA, to boot.

The Red Wings have signed a number of questionable contracts over the past two offseasons that carry all sorts of risk, but this one is relatively risk-free with really only upside here. Adding Kostin’s game to their lineup that features quite a bit of skill should be a welcome addition to the group, and gives them all sorts of options to move him around their forward lines.

Continued; Kostin also spoke with on YouTube with the “Cherkas Atlant” channel, but you might not get much out of it unless you speak Russian:

The NHL Network’s Mike Rupp and Bruce Boudreau weigh in on the Red Wings and Filip Zadina’s mutual decision to part ways:

My feelings regarding Filip Zadina are pretty simple right now:

1. I wish him all the best in his endeavors to find success in the NHL;
2. And, at the same time, I don’t give a shit about where he lands, or which team’s fan base believes that a player who has struggled in the NHL thus far is going to represent an “unbelievable steal” for their fan base.

As Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes, Zadina’s decision to walk away from nearly $5 million in pay was perhaps the exclamation point upon an era of sub-par drafting by the Red Wings under the late Ken Holland/Tyler Wright regime:

On the surface, that the sixth player chosen by the Red Wings in the 2018 NHL entry draft didn’t pan out is certainly an alarming situation.

“Theoretically or statistically, the higher players are picked, the more likelihood you’re gonna get that impact player,” Detroit GM Steve Yzerman said.

For example,  in 2019, Yzerman’s first draft as Detroit GM, he got defenseman Moritz Seider with the sixth overall pick. Two years later, he tabbed another defenseman, Simon Edvinsson, in the same draft slot.

“There’s no guarantees,” Yzerman said. “The first pick overall, usually you’re getting a pretty good player. Sometimes you’re getting a superstar. With each pick, the numbers decrease a little bit.”

Not hitting on the sixth pick is devastating, and even more so for a rebuilding club like the Red Wings. But it’s also an indication of how the previous Detroit regime, through a combination of poor drafting and some ill-advised trades, were leaving the cupboard virtually bereft of talent when Yzerman took over.

Detroit’s current lineup includes just three first-round selections made by the combination of GM Ken Holland and amateur scouting director Tyler Wright – forwards Dylan Larkin (15th, 2014), Michael Rasmussen (9th, 2017) and Joe Veleno (30th, 2018). It certainly hasn’t helped Yzerman’s cause that first-round picks such as Zadina, Dennis Cholowski (20th, 2016) and Evgeni Svechnikov (19th, 2015) didn’t pan out as NHLers.

Continued; many first-round picks don’t pan out. As Steve Yzerman suggested, it hurts, but it’s not surprising. That being said, swinging poorly in three of the final five Holland drafts didn’t help the cause…

But Ken Holland has moved on, the Red Wings have another scouting staff in place, and the team is doing its best to bolster their draft picks with free agent signings like Alexandre Doucet.

We’ll see what the future holds for both Zadina and the Red Wings. I hope the latter case is brighter.

MLive’s Ansar Khan penned a profile of Red Wings 2022 first round draft pick Marco Kasper, discussing the affable young man’s oversized “motor“:

“He does too much, if that makes sense,” Red Wings director of player development Danny Cleary said. “He’s wanting more and more and more. It’s like, ‘Kasper, you might have to bring it back a little bit.’ There’s no issue with Kasper’s work ethic and determination. He’s got high character. He’s just a good person.”

Kasper will be competing for a roster spot in training camp. Realistically, he will need development time with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins. General manager Steve Yzerman said it without saying it after acquiring forwards J.T. Compher, Daniel Sprong, Christian Fischer and Klim Kostin in the past week.

Kasper isn’t putting pressure on himself to make the team. After completing his second development camp this week, he’s focused on having a strong summer of training and fully recovering from a knee injury suffered in a 5-2 victory at Toronto on April 2, six days before his 19th birthday.

And the Austrian native who speaks German, Swedish and English is happy to be a high school graduate.

“In Sweden, it’s hard to try to juggle school and hockey, but I managed to do it with help from the teachers and principal,” Kasper said. “Typical day was practice first, usually started at 9, and then work out and go to lunch and then go to school for a little bit, do some work in school, go home, relax, do some more schoolwork and then do it all over again the next day.

“I’m trying to become a hockey player, but it was important for me and my family to graduate. I think it’s good for younger players to focus on other things instead of only focusing on hockey, so you can take your mind off hockey and just go to school, meet other kids, have fun outside of hockey as well.”

Continued; I’ve seen a lot of prospects over my time as a blogger, and I can tell you that Marco is going to make the NHL, and be successful. How much so, I’m not certain, but he’s going to be an everyday NHL player. He just cares too much and works too hard to not succeed.

Just for the record:

Zadina and Andreoff clear. Zadina will go through the process of picking his next NHL team. Believe Andreoff is headed overseas

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 7, 2023

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a profile of Red Wings prospect and University of North Dakota forward Dylan James this morning:

James said [his freshman] season went “pretty well.”  He wished he could have had a better start. James acknowledges it was difficult to get accustomed to a higher level, new coach and different system.

“I thought he had a good season,” [Red Wings director of player development Dan] Cleary said, “the opposite of what he thinks.”

This is what Cleary saw from James: “He came in and had to find his way.  He made some freshman mistakes and had to sit but that’s all part of it. At the end of the day I always look at where you are at the end of the season. At the end of the season, he was trending upwards. Out there in the last minute. I was in Omaha watching and he scored a great goal shorthanded. He’s playing in the regionals as an important player. That’s what I look at. ”

The fact that James wished he could have done more this past season may highlight how badly he wants to keep improving.

James finished with eight goals and 16 points in 32 games as a freshman at North Dakota. He looked strong at the Red Wings Development camp, particularly visible in the 3 v 3 tournament.

“He’s a legit rink rat,” Cleary said. “He doesn’t leave. Everybody might have been gone by 1 or 2. He was here until 4:30. Asked him: “What are you doing here? He said looking at sticks, messing around. He just doesn’t like to leave. I liked him a lot.”

Continued

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills took note of Dan Cleary and Kris Draper’s comments regarding the importance of the off-ice portions of this past week’s 2023 Summer Development Camp:

Cleary said that Lisa McDowell, the Red Wings’ Performance Dietitian and Director of Nutrition & Lifestyle Medicine, is one of many support staff members who help prospects become more well-rounded.

“A lot of these kids don’t know how to cook or grocery shop,” Cleary said. “They think what they’re eating is good. But Lisa is great on educating these kids, giving them different recipes that they can cook and learn.”

Kris Draper, who was promoted to Red Wings assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting on Wednesday, also had nothing but praise for “the best development staff in the league.”

“From the training staff – (head athletic trainer) Piet VanZant, (physical therapist) Russ (Baumann) – to (assistant equipment managers) J.R. (John Remejes) and Brady (Munger) and everything that they do,” Draper said. “Even to see how some of us interact with our former trainers and medical guys, I think, is really important. We want to carry ourselves to a high standard. We want these young prospects to not take anything for granted and see how important everybody is in the Red Wings organization.”

Continued

Looks like a drone was at work during development camp. It was actually a very long stick cam:

Bird's-eye view. 🔥#DRWDC pic.twitter.com/CVlBjcWB4H

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 7, 2023

Red Wings 2021 draft pick Liam Dower Nilsson and his brother, 2023 draft pick Noah, took part in this week’s 2023 Summer Development Camp, and the brothers spoke with NHL.com/sv’s Peter Ekholm about last week and this week’s adventures, as well as their respective focuses in terms of their future hockey plans: