Author: George Malik

Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson gave a hell of an interview today…

And here’s coach Lalonde:

I appeared on the Michigan Sports Network’s “X’s and Bros” show this morning, and if you want to hear my conversation with Anthony Bellino, you may do so here:

Red Wings forwards Jakub Vrana and Michael Rasmussen spoke with the media on the second day of training camp:

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills filed an early-morning article which discusses Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde and GM Steve Yzerman’s desire to implement a new defensive system this season:

Last season, Detroit’s 3.78 goals-against average per game ranked 31st in the NHL while its penalty kill of 73.8 percent was 32nd in the league. But with free-agent defensemen Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta, Mark Pysyk and Robert Hagg joining a unit headlined by Moritz Seider, Lalonde wants to establish good habits to improve upon last year’s numbers.

“There’s nothing more important on a team-first mentality than team defense,” Lalonde told the media. “I think we’re in a unique spot in that it is right there in black and white. We were obviously one of the worst teams in any defensive category in the league last year, so that’s a good starting point.”

Strong team defense is tied to areas like zone coverage, playing physical and controlling the pace of play.

“A lot of the first couple days of camp, you’ll see play without the puck,” Lalonde said about training camp in Traverse City. “And improving in some of those areas we struggled last year.”

All the while, the Red Wings will continue to play aggressive and opportunistic offensively.

“It’s not like we’re not going to try and score,” Yzerman said. “We’re going to do that as well, but there is a certain responsibility for all players when they’re on the ice to have in the back of their mind, regardless of where the puck is, to be on the right side of the puck.”

Continued

Detroit Hockey Now’s Nate Brown posted an article in which he shares “Two truths and a lie” about Joe Veleno:

Truth: Veleno Will Start the Season on the Roster: It’s certainly going to be a crowded roster and an especially full bottom six grouping, a likely spot for where Veleno will start. Yzerman even specifically named Veleno as one of the young players the team will be relying on to help take the next step.

Regardless of all the competition, Veleno seemingly has the inside track with 71 NHL games to his name. He’ll perhaps have to hold off Jonatan Berggren or even Elmer Soderblom, but he projects to be on either the third or fourth line.

Where he slots in on that line could be the biggest X-factor. It’s something we’ll look at later in the piece.

Continued

Here are a pair of Twitter videos of this morning’s practices from the Red Wings:

Another day of hockey. 😊 pic.twitter.com/c8WOil0qFh— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 23, 2022

Mo. 💥 pic.twitter.com/Fq007DbUpF— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 23, 2022

Update: Head shots!

New guys. 😎 pic.twitter.com/fegChf1VGY— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 23, 2022

pic.twitter.com/XR82lOEHsC— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 23, 2022

The teams have changed somewhat:

Per the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe, the Toledo Walleye have signed a pair of goaltenders today:

The Walleye have signed a pair of goaltenders, including a netminder that put together a solid campaign for the team last season.

Goaltender Max Milosek, who appeared in 17 games for Toledo last year, has re-signed with the team.  Rylan Parenteau, a rookie goalie who is coming off a solid senior season in college, also has signed with the team.

Milosek joined the Walleye on Dec. 29, 2021, as a free agent. The 29-year-old went on to post a 13-3-1 record with a 2.87 goals-against-average and .903 save percentage for the Walleye.

Milosek, who had been playing in the Southern Professional Hockey League, earned the ECHL’s goaltender of the week award for Jan. 10 to 16. He posted a 2-1-0 record with a 2.01 goals-against average with a save percentage of .945 in three appearances during the month.

Since 2018, Milosek has posted a 70-25-1 record for the Huntsville Havoc of the SPHL with a 2.41 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. He also went 6-1 in the 2019 playoffs, helping Huntsville to the SPHL championship while earning MVP honors.

Parenteau played for the University of New Brunswick from 2017 to 2022. Last season, Parenteau went 14-1-0 with a 1.31 goals-against-average and a .938 save percentage. He finished his college career with a 37-5-0 record, posting a 1.67 goals-against average, and a .917 save percentage in 53 games.

In an ESPN+ article, Greg Wyshynski makes “bold predictions” for all of the NHL’s 32 teams, and here’s what he predicts will happen to the Red Wings:

Detroit Red Wings

Moritz Seider will be a Norris Trophy finalist

Seider wouldn’t be the first defenseman to win the Calder Trophy one season and then end up as a Norris finalist as a sophomore — hello, Cale Makar. I think Seider is well positioned to be the next one if the Red Wings make their expected leap in quality as a team. He averaged more than 23 minutes of ice time per game and played in all 82 contests last season. He posted 50 points on the 25th-best offensive team in in the NHL.

He’s already on the voters’ radar; if his underlying defensive numbers at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill improve, he’ll have the stat geek support too.

Continued; a Norris Trophy nomination is definitely in Seider’s future, but I’m not sure whether year two will be the first one for him.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff has explained the reason why Derek Lalonde is called “Newsy“:

When the NHL was forming in 1917, Edouard “Newsy” Lalonde was the playing-coach and captain of the Montreal Canadiens. As a youth, Lalonde was working in a newsprint plant. That’s where the original Newsy would be landing his nickname.

Twice – in 1918-19 and 1920-21 – Lalonde led the NHL in scoring. He scored six goals in a game and five goals in another game. He’s enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame and in 1950, was named Canada’s lacrosse player of the half century.

At least Derek knows the connection. “Obviously, the Hall of Famer Newsy Lalonde (from the), Montreal Canadiens,” he said. “It went from there.”

He’s quite happy for his players to refer to him as Newsy.

“I’m comfortable with it,” Detroit’s Newsy said. “I don’t mind Coach. But coach feels very old. It feels a little more personal when guys call me Newsy.”