Author: George Malik

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a profile of Red Wings prospect Amadeus Lombardi, who stands at 5’10” and 165 pounds, but packs a lot of punch (in addition to a hell of a name):

A unique name fits Amadeus Lombardi because he is not a run-of-the-mill player. There’s something about him that sticks with you.  His playing style has an “it’ factor. Lombardi brings an energy that serves his team and makes him memorable.

“He is hungry to get the puck,” [Flint Firebirds coach and GM Ted] Dent said.

Dent said Lombardi isn’t overly physical, but is a relentless forechecker, with a knack for stripping pucks away from opponents.

Dent is a highly experienced coach. He spent six seasons coaching the Rockford IceHogs in the American Hockey League. Lombardi grew exponentially as a player under his command. By the time the Firebirds reached the Ontario Hockey League playoffs, Lombardi was a more polished performer.

Lombardi has always been an undervalued player. The Aurora, Ont. native was a 13th round selection in the 2018 OHL Priority draft.

“He likes to prove people wrong,” [Dent] said. “He has a swagger to him.”

Continued

The Athletic ranked its top 100 players in the NHL via “player tiers” yesterday, and if you recall, they ranked Moritz Seider in the third tier and Dylan Larkin in the fourth tier. This morning, they rank the NHL’s teams by tiers as well, deeming the Red Wings to be a “bottom-feeder”:

The teams at the bottom aren’t all that surprising. The Blackhawks are in the process of stripping their roster down, and two of their core players remain in Patrick Kane and Seth Jones. Kane resides in 3B thanks to his elite playmaking abilities, despite some of his flaws. Jones was a bit tougher to place because his last two seasons have been so disappointing. The combination of the two is 4.9 points, which is tied for Bottom Feeders’ lead with Detroit. Technically, both teams qualify for the tier above[, the Bubble Teams], but the two feel more at home here.

The Red Wings may be tied with Chicago in points, but have a lot more hope thanks to depth behind Dylan Larkin (4A) and Moritz Seider (3B). There’s also a legitimate possibility for those two to move up, plus newcomers like Lucas Raymond to crack the list in the future.

Continued; for better or worse, it’s going to take wins and star power for the Red Wings to regain respect around the NHL, and the Wings are in the process of adding both to the mix…

But the team had to spend its summer adding capable depth players, too.

The Marquette Mining Journal’s Steve Brownlee wrote an article about the Red Wings Alumni’s game against the “Yoopers United,” which is scheduled for tomorrow night in Marquette, MI:

The eagerly anticipated charity hockey game involving the Detroit Red Wings Alumni to be played in Marquette is coming Saturday night. That’s according to a number of Facebook postings and United Way of Marquette County Executive Director Andrew Rickauer.

He said doors open at the Berry Events Center at 5 p.m., special events begin at 6 p.m. and the featured game will be ready for opening puck drop at 7 p.m.

Rickauer said among the special events will be a sled hockey exhibition, and between periods during the featured game, under-8 and under-10 youth hockey teams will play exhibitions. Throughout the event, 50-50 and bucket raffles, chuck-a-puck and sales of team merchandise will be available.

…

This weekend’s exhibition pits former players from one of the NHL’s most storied teams against Yooper United, a collection of local hockey talent.

The event is a fundraiser for the United Way of Marquette County’s Community Investment Fund with tickets costing $20 per person. Tickets may still be purchased online at https://nmu.universitytickets.com or by calling 906-227-1032, or in person at the BEC even on Saturday as long as tickets are still available.

Continued, with speculation as to what lineup the Wings’ alumni might bring…

This one slipped through the cracks as I was heading up to Traverse City. The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe has another player announcement from the Toledo Walleye:

The Walleye have re-signed forward John Albert, a veteran who posted 48 points in 51 games for the team last season.

Albert, a Cleveland native, collected 24 goals and 24 assists during the 2021-22 regular season.

The 33-year-old has appeared in nine NHL games, 339 games in the American Hockey League, and 125 in the ECHL.

The Ohio State University graduate also averaged nearly a point-per-game during Toledo’s playoff run to the Kelly Cup Finals last season, finishing with 17 points (7 G, 10 A) in 21 contests.

Continued

NHL.com’s cycling through a set of season previews ahead of the start of the 2022-2023 regular season, and Nicholas J. Cotsonika previews the Red Wings this evening. Here are his “3 Keys” for the Red Wings to improve this upcoming NHL year:

1. Jell into a team: The Red Wings have a new coach and several new players, including goalie Ville Husso, defensemen Ben Chiarot and Olli Maatta, and forwards Andrew Copp and David Perron. The good news is they have a clean slate and internal competition for jobs. That should provide a jolt from the start. But they must learn a new system, develop an identity, and determine the forward lines, defense pairings, goalie rotation and special teams. General manager Steve Yzerman said it could take a time to sort out everything and jell into a team.

2. Improve the defense: It was the biggest of many issues last season. Detroit ranked 31st in goals against (310) and 32nd on the penalty kill (73.8 percent). At his introductory press conference July 1, Lalonde said the Red Wings need to improve the risk in their game, stressing details and habits that lead to winning no matter the personnel, such as staying on top of plays. But the personnel should help too. Copp and Perron are strong defensive forwards. Chiarot (6-foot-3, 234 pounds) and Maatta (6-2, 210) each adds size and a defense-first approach. 

3. Develop young players: For the Red Wings to return to Stanley Cup contention in the long term, they need their top prospects to turn into difference-makers and other young players to emerge as bona fide NHLers. Defenseman Moritz Seider, the No. 6 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, won the Calder Trophy as the NHL rookie of the year last season. Forward Lucas Raymond, the No. 4 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, finished fourth in voting by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. What do they do for an encore? Who else is ready to not only make the roster, but make an impact?

Continued with a “roster rundown” and a projected lineup;

The Red Wings’ “today” prospects might underwhelm in terms of star power given that they’re defensemen and Swedes–as Cotsonika notes, Jonathan Berggren, Elmer Soderblom, Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson and free agent signing Pontus Andreasson might be the closest to NHL-ready, but the Wings spent so much cap space on depth this offseason that it’s going to be hard for the Swedish Quintet to make the NHL team.

There are a LOT of people still asking me where they will be able to find the Red Wings’ three prospect tournament games, which take place Friday at 3 PM vs. Columbus, Saturday at 6 PM vs. Dallas, and Monday at 11 AM vs. Toronto.

Thankfully, DetroitRedWings.com’s Daniella Bruce answered a Tweet question with the definitive “here you go”:

I’ll be on all Red Wings games with @KenKalDRW. All games will be streamed to the Red Wings website starting tomorrow at 3pm!!— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) September 15, 2022

The Wings usually put the games on YouTube and Facebook as well, but when in doubt, go to https://www.nhl.com/redwings/. I do not believe that the streams will be Geo-blocked, so you should be okay in Canada and abroad.

Both Daniella and Ken were getting prepared already on Thursday by taking in the Wings’ practice and Thursday’s games (Columbus beat St. Louis 7-1, and Toronto won 6-2 over Dallas).

As for the scoreboard, schedule and stats for the players, goalies, and Red Wings players, click on the links and that will take you to PointStreak.com’s prospect tournament page. If you go to the scoreboard page during games, you will find a live box score.

Take this from Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen, writing his daily blog for Hockeybuzz, for what you will:

No news may not be good news for the Detroit Red Wings in their negotiations with Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi. Both players can be unrestricted free agents next summer. Larkin is Detroit’s captain and a hometown hero. It was assumed that negotiation would go smoothly, but training camp is around the corner. It is not done yet. There has been nothing to suggest that they are close to a deal.

Continued;

1. I am mildly uncomfortable regarding the fact that Larkin hasn’t re-signed, though there’s still time between now and October 14th. I had a feeling that the Bertuzzi negotiations would be tricky;

2. Sometimes we just don’t know. Very little comes out of Yzerman land in terms of any indications as to whether players are going to sign or not sign, whether there is progress or no progress. Even somebody as tuned-in as Kevin Allen is might not to be able to discern that much.

We won’t know until we know. And that’s perhaps the least comfortable part of the equation.

This is a bit of a shock. Per the Free Press’s Adrienne Roberts:

Real estate billionaire Stephen Ross and the Ilitch organization have submitted a development plan for a new $190 million hotel that will be located next to Little Caesars Arena.

The plan for a 14-story, 290-room hotel, which will also include up to 30,000 square feet of street-level retail, food and beverage space, was submitted to the Detroit Downtown Development Authority this week. Construction would start in 2024 and take three years to complete.

“A hotel on the doorstep of the second busiest arena in the nation will position Detroit to attract more of the world’s most-watched entertainment events and invite visitors to extend their stay and experience more of this great city and growing neighborhood,” Andrew Cantor, president of Related Michigan, Ross’ real estate firm, said in a release.

“The hotel, food and beverage and other amenities proposed will create a wide variety of good jobs and attract people from the region, state and beyond to The District Detroit,” Keith Bradford, president of Olympia Development of Michigan and The District Detroit, said in the release.

Earlier this year at the Mackinac Policy Conference, Ross said it would be an Equinox Hotel. The first, and so far, only, Equinox Hotel opened in 2019 within Ross’ Hudson Yards development in New York City. Ross’ firm also owns the upscale Equinox gym chain.

Continued

From the Red Wings’ YouTube channel:

The Hockey News’s Adam Proteau has asked a set of three “Burning Questions” about the Detroit Red Wings, and it’s question #1 that piques my interest, more than his questions as to whether GM Steve Yzerman is done making trades/signings, and/or what the ceilings for Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond’s performance envelopes may be:

1. How quickly will Detroit’s slew of new acquisitions fit in? Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman used much of his salary cap space this summer on veteran free agents at all positions: in goal, he traded for, then signed unrestricted free agent Ville Husso; on defense, he added UFAs Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta, Mark Pysyk and Robert Hagg; and at forward, he signed UFAs Andrew Copp, David Perron and Dominik Kubalik. Suddenly, Detroit’s outlook for 2022-23 improved significantly, to the point many observers believe they can be a playoff team this season.

Now, it may take all those new acquisitions to pan out as hoped for the Wings to make the post-season, but on paper, they do have a vastly improved group of forwards, a better defense corps, and a goaltending tandem (that also includes the returning Alex Nedeljkovic) that should be an improvement from last season’s dubious duo. Are the Red Wings better? No question. Does new head coach Derek Lalonde have enough talent to work with to at least be in the chase for a playoff berth in the improved Atlantic Division? Yes he does. Is it possible the Wings come up just short and finish fifth in the division? Yes, that also could happen.

But this writer feels like Detroit will be grinding it out in the final weeks of the regular season, and they’ll be in the mix for a playoff spot to the end of the year. It’s not only a question of the Wings being better – it’s also about the Ottawa Senators being better, and the Boston Bruins (who held the fourth and final playoff spot last season) being worse. Much needs to go right for the Red Wings to make a notable jump in the standings, but far crazier things have happened in hockey’s top league.

Continued;

Especially given that the Red Wings have a new coaching staff (save Alex Tanguay) in addition to all their new acquisitions, and a couple of young players who are making strides toward pushing for NHL jobs, I am very curious to see what form this Red Wings team takes come October 14th, and where it goes from there.