Author: George Malik

My apologies for the lateness on this one. Anyway, per the Winnipeg Sun’s Paul Friesen, former Red Wings forward Sam Gagner has signed a 1-year deal with the Winnipeg Jets today:

The Winnipeg Jets took a late dip into the free-agent pool, emerging with 15-year NHL veteran centre Sam Gagner. The 33-year-old inked a one-year deal that will pay him the league minimum $750,000, making Winnipeg his seventh NHL stop.

Gagner was most recently in Detroit, where he scored 13 goals and 31 points last season, his second with the Red Wings.

He’s averaged 12 goals and 33 points per season over his career. His best seasons produced 18 goals: with Edmonton in 2011-12 and Columbus five years later.

His biggest night was a four-goal, four assist outburst – the NHL’s only eight-point night in the last 33 years – for Edmonton in 2012.

The 5-foot-11, 197-pound product of London, Ont., was the Oilers first-round pick, sixth overall, in 2007.

Continued

The Athletic’s Jonathan Willis compiled a list of players upon whom NHL teams awarded large contracts based upon seasons in which the players posted career-best numbers in terms of shooting percentage, and “lost” as a result. One of the 20 contracts on Willis’ list was awarded by one Ken Holland:

4. Justin Abdelkader, Red Wings

How it happened: Abdelkader was an excellent role player for the Red Wings for many years. Drafted in 2005, he broke into the league in a depth role at 22 and spent the next few seasons hanging around as an all-positions forward with some skill but mostly a lot of hustle and defensive value.

Then, at 27, he caught his big break. His ice time spiked, and so did his shooting percentage. A guy with a career finishing rate of 6.5 percent at five-on-five nearly doubled that, hitting 12 percent. He also got some power play opportunities as a result, and ended the season with a career-high 23 goals and 14.9 shooting percentage.

The contract: The Red Wings had another year before Abdelkader’s contract expired, which is one of the reasons this deal ranks as highly as it does. By November of the following season, player and team had agreed on a seven-year pact worth $4.91 million annually in 2022 dollars.

How it ended: Abdelkader took 384 five-on-five shots in his post-breakout career, scoring 24 times for a shooting percentage of 6.3 percent — basically identical to his pre-breakout average.

More power play work helped soften the blow, but not enough. Abdelkader reverted back to being the player he always was until age took even that away and Detroit bought out the last three seasons of his extension.

Continued (paywall); I think that there were a lot of things that went wrong over the course of Abdelkader’s contract extension, with the main one being the retirement of Pavel Datsyuk, and secondary issues including some injuries to Abdelkader and different usage under coach Jeff Blashill as compared with coach Babcock…

So the argument that it was solely shooting percentage that turned the piano-puller back into a grinder doesn’t tell the whole story for me. There’s no doubt that Abdelkader stopped scoring goals, but the “Why’s” and “How’s” thereof were a little more complicated than, “A grinder grinds.”

USA Today’s Mike Brehm posted a list of “offseason team grades” for every NHL team, and he gave the Red Wings a solid mark:

Detroit Red Wings: A-

They were aggressive, with forwards Andrew Copp and David Perron, plus goalie Ville Husso their best pickups. They appeared to overpay for defenseman Ben Chiarot (four years, $19 million) after a down season. New coach Derek Lalonde has experience winning as a Lightning assistant.

Continued; the Red Wings did overpay for Chiarot. We’ll see how that contract works out…

During the NHL’s media tour in Paris, France recently, Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stuetzle and his friend, one Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider, spoke with NHL.com/de’s Axel Jeroma regarding their encounters with Germany’s standard-bearer, Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl:

Pro Hockey Rumors’ Ethan Hetu offered a potential trade scenario which might relieve the New York Rangers of defenseman Nils Lundkvist, who the New York Post’s Larry Brooks has reported is disgruntled and has asked for a trade. Hetu believes that there’s a fit between the Rangers and a certain Detroit Red Wings forward:

Per Brooks, GM Chris Drury’s “target” in trade talks over Lundkvist is to acquire a “young, top-nine center who might grow with the organization.” While no specific teams that are potentially interested in Lundkvist were mentioned in the reporting, a few possibilities emerge when looking over the depth charts of other NHL clubs.

The Detroit Red Wings, for example, have a potential opening on the left side of their defense if they don’t want to use Jordan Oesterle as an everyday third-pairing defenseman. Lundkvist could potentially be a fit there playing next to his countryman, Gustav Lindstrom. He could even compete for a chance to play next to Calder Trophy winner Moritz Seider as well. Lundkvist is, of course, a right-shot defenseman but if he wants to prioritize the best fit possible on a new team he might need to be flexible with where exactly in a lineup he plays.

One other factor making Detroit an intriguing potential trade partner is the fact that the Red Wings also have a young centerman who could fit the Rangers’ desired return: Joe Veleno. Veleno might not have a regular role down the middle in Detroit next season, given the emergence of Michael Rasmussen and the addition of Andrew Copp. Could a swap of the two 2018 first-rounders make sense for both teams?

Continued; this is an interesting scenario, but I don’t see the fit, frankly.

First and foremost, the Red Wings already have a defensive corps that looks something like this:

The Detroit Red Wings made it very clear during the summer development camp that a spot on the Red Wings, Grand Rapids Griffins’ or Toledo Walleye’s roster is not guaranteed for top prospect and Edmonton Oil Kings netminder Sebastian Cossa.

With Victor Brattstrom, Jonathan Lethemon and Jussi Olkinuora already signed to two-way contracts, the Red Wings have more than enough goaltenders to take care of their goaltending situation at the AHL and ECHL levels.

Interestingly, however, Cossa’s WHL team in Edmonton is preparing as if Cossa won’t return, as the Edmonton Sun’s Derek Van Diest reports:

How well the Oil Kings do in a rebuilding year may depend on the play of goaltender Colby Hay, who is taking over as the No. 1 from Cossa. Hay, 18, filled in admirably in a backup role last season, and will begin the season as the starter.

“It’s going to be a big job, he’s got big shoes to fill, but that’s why we played Kolby in 25 games last season,” [Oil Kings general manager Kirt] Hill said. “We knew that we weren’t going to have Sebastian back and between Kolby and Alex Worthington, 17, we really like our tandem of young goaltending.

“Kolby’s starts might be a little different in the sense he might be seeing a little bit more action at times, but I thought he matured a lot through last season and now we’ll see how he response to being the No. 1 guy.”

Continued; I’m assuming that, should Cossa be assigned to Edmonton by the Red Wings, they’ll readjust their plans.

Of Red Wings prospect-related note from Thursday:

In the Champions Hockey League, in Gothenburg, Sweden, Liam Dower Nilsson only played 6:33, finishing even with no shots, in Frolunda HC’s 4-2 win over Mountfield HK. LDN was playing on Frolunda’s third line.

Here are the game’s highlights:

And in Katowice, Poland, Rogle BK got a scare but managed to win a 5-4 decision against GKS Katowice thanks to a 4-goal 3rd period, rallying from a 3-1 deficit.

Marco Kasper had an assist, finishing even with 1 shot in 16:04 played;

Theodor Niederbach finished at +1 in 12:58 played;

William Wallinder had an assist and 4 shots, finishing even in 19:25 played;

Here are the game’s highlights:

Enjoy:

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2021-22 Calder Trophy winner. 👏

Feast your eyes on Mortiz Seider’s top five plays from last season! @DetroitRedWings | #LGRW pic.twitter.com/tH8aB4JZjk

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 1, 2022

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills discusses the Red Wings’ goaltending situation this morning:

[Alex] Nedeljkovic and [Ville] Husso headline the Red Wings’ new goalie tandem, which is up next in DetroitRedWings.com‘s “Red Wings Reset” series that breaks down the club’s 2022-23 roster and new-look coaching staff.

“I think it will be great for both of us to have each other and push each other to get better,” Nedeljkovic said about sharing the crease with Husso in an Aug. 11 episode of The Word on Woodward. “And to be better every day to try to carry the team back into the playoffs.”

Husso joins Detroit after compiling a 25-7-6 record with a 2.56 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 40 regular-season games last season for St. Louis.

The 27-year-old also posted a 3.67 GAA with an .890 save percentage and one shutout in seven Stanley Cup Playoffs games for the Blues, who lost to the eventual 2022 Stanley Cup-champion Colorado Avalanche in the second round of the postseason.

“It’s a different game for a goalie when you jump in for a playoff game,” Husso said in an Aug. 24 episode of The Word on Woodward. “A lot of ups and downs during the game. You need to be mentally strong, so I think that’s the biggest thing I learned last year.”

Continued

The Canadian Hockey League, the parent organization for the QMJHL, OHL and WHL, posted an article in which they examine the CHL-playing prospects for the Red Wings this morning. Among their selections:

Jan Bednar: A hulking presence between the pipes, the Czech import is an athletic netminder who covers much of the net given his large frame. Making 47 appearances last season with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, Bednar found the win column on 28 occasions coupled with a 2.72 goals-against average and .912 save percentage, helping him to earn a spot on the QMJHL Second All-Star Team. Bednar, 19, was chosen by the Red Wings in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft.

Sebastian Cossa: Chosen by the Red Wings in the opening round of the 2021 NHL Draft, Cossa is a modern goaltender who excels at using his massive size to turn aside the opposition. That was witnessed last season with the Edmonton Oil Kings as he put together a 33-9-2-1 showing through 46 appearances. In all, Cossa was recognized as part of the WHL’s Central Division First All-Star Team as part of a season where he helped his club claim the Ed Chynoweth Cup. A 19-year-old product of Fort McMurray, Ont., Cossa has also represented the Great White North on several occasions including this summer’s World Juniors. Cossa and the Red Wings came to terms on an entry-level contract last August.

Cross Hanas: A creative puck-handler, Hanas capitalizes by deftly finding his linemates in scoring position as shown last season with the Portland Winterhawks where he pushed the pace offensively with a team-leading 86 points coming in 63 appearances and was later named to the WHL’s U.S. Division First All-Star Team. A 20-year-old Texas native, the talented right-wing is expected to join the pro ranks next season with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Hanas was chosen by the Red Wings in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft.

Amadeus Lombardi: Bringing a game built on speed and skill, Lombardi put together an impressive first season with the Flint Firebirds in 2021-22 as he ranked second in team scoring with 59 points in 67 outings. A 19-year-old native of Aurora, Ont., the talented centre heard his name called by the Red Wings in the fourth round of this summer’s NHL Draft.

Continued with three more prospects…