Author: George Malik

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff wonders aloud whether the Red Wings might reunite the Moritz Seider-Simon Edvinsson pairing at some point during the exhibition season:

“I still think our top four, even some of our D pairs, will be fluid,” [Red Wings coach Derek] Lalonde said. “Probably like to see Simon and Mo together a little bit.”

Seider, the sixth player chosen in the 2019 NHL entry draft and Edvinsson, chosen sixth overall in 2021, are going to be the cornerstones of the Detroit defense going forward. And Lalonde appears ready to cement that status sooner rather than later.

As Edvinsson prepares for his first full season in Detroit, the coach is opening up the opportunity for him to be one of the players driving the bus for the Red Wings.

“I see him in a top four (role) and we’ll kind of let it play out from there,” Lalonde said of Edvinsson. “Hopefully, he can even eat minutes. If he’s got it going one night we might be a little fluid with our top four. If he earns more minutes, he’ll get more minutes. We’re going to play to win and if he is the guy that earns those minutes to help us out down the stretch, he’ll get those minutes.”

To start out with, it’s likely that Detroit’s top two defensive pairings will look the same as what finished out last season. Seider will be with Ben Chiarot and Edvinsson with Jeff Petry. However, that, much like the TV listings, will be subject to change,

“Benny and Petry have had some experience together,” Lalonde said. Chiarot and Patry were a tandem during Montreal’s drive to the 2021 Stanley Cup final.

Continued; exhibition games are the time when coaching staffs can tweak defensive pairings with no adverse consequences in terms of points lost, so expect a significant amount of experimentation starting Wednesday night.

The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood wrote an article discussing the respective statuses of Marco Kasper, Carter Mazur, Nate Danielson and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard coming out of training camp. I want to spotlight his take on MBN, because it’s important to point out that it’s OKAY that MBN did not have a spectacular training camp:

It’s been an underwhelming camp for MBN, but that might be more so due to the image built up in others’ minds of what he should be than what Detroit expected. He’s an 18 year old in his first NHL camp, and even if he has pro elements to his game, there’s a lot of adjustment. Even communicating has been difficult.

“He still battles with the language barrier, which is real,” Lalonde said Sunday. “And I think North American hockey is a little bit of an adjustment, a little (less) time and space probably than he’s used to, but I thought he did very well and improved as the camp went on. Obviously, (he’ll) get some preseason games here. It’ll be important.”

Funny enough, the Norwegian-speaking Brandsegg-Nygard has had no problem communicating with Austrian-speaking linemate Kasper. Kasper told reporters Saturday that the two converse in Swedish as a connecting language. He also took the time to give a scouting report on Brandsegg-Nygard’s game, praising his shot and his offensive mind.

With teammates, many Swedish speakers, that barrier hasn’t been so pronounced. But you could see clear signs in Traverse City that MBN wasn’t understanding some practices and needed extra coaching. That isn’t a bad thing — it’s better he learns these things now than in the future, and this crash course of a training camp is helping him progress. Even before training camp, the Red Wings tempered expectations for their youngest quote-unquote hopeful.

“With Michael, we’re just gonna sit back and watch,” assistant general manager Kris Draper said during an intermission interview during the Red Wings’ first game against Dallas last week. “We’re gonna sit back, watch and evaluate, and give him a lot of opportunity to show what he can do. And then from there, you watch, you evaluate, and then you make decisions. But we’re not going to put any added pressure on him. It’s the same situation as a handful of our other first rounders that have kind of come through here and played up here. Just go out, do your best. We want you to compete. We want you to play hard. We want you to do what you do.”

Continued; it is entirely possible that MBN will impress once he gets his legs under him during the exhibition season, and it’s entirely possible that he will head back to Skelleftea AIK in Sweden a bit humbled, feeling like his tail is hanging between his legs because trying to make the NHL as an 18-year-old is so damn hard.

Either outcome–or anything in between–is okay. The Red Wings brought over Brandsegg-Nygard to attempt to acclimate him to the realities and challenges of North American hockey right off the bat, and exposing him to the tremendously high learning curve of an NHL training camp and grind of an NHL exhibition season will all be good for his development.

He remains one of the Wings’ brightest prospects, and none of that is going to change if he continues to struggle. He’s an 18-year-old Norwegian trying to wrap his head around the rigors of playing hockey in the best league in the world, coming from the Swedish second division, and that’s a huge jump on its own. Add in the language barrier, and it gets pretty complicated pretty quickly.

He’ll be fine, one way or another.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills offers a final assessment of the importance of Sunday’s Red vs. White Game, which helped the Wings’ coaches and management assess systems play and structure going forward:

“Obviously we have a feel of some lines together, but I wasn’t really overly concerned with some line combinations or D pairings,” [Red Wings coach Derek] Lalonde said. “It was more about getting some 5-on-5 structure, something to teach off now, some video to work off. Same thing with our special teams, very valuable reps, and 4-on-4 and 3-on-3 is valuable. We’re always trying to get that introduced in our camp. Last year, we came up with this three-period structure and it was extremely valuable for us. We foresee it being the same this year.”

Lalonde feels the Red Wings are in a good place coming out of Training Camp.

“Probably more a credit of a lot of returners,” Lalonde said. “Our entire staff coming back, I was actually very happy with where we were introducing some of our structure. We’ll get a chance, a full practice on Tuesday, before getting into our exhibition [schedule] to touch on some of that structure and process again.”

Training Camp is an opportune time for returning players to strengthen their relationships and chemistry. It’s also a chance for offseason additions like Vladimir Tarasenko, who signed a two-year free-agent deal with Detroit in July, to mesh with the group.

“It was nice for me to spend a lot of time with the guys and get to know the guys better,” Tarasenko said. “Obviously we had a few pretty hard days, but it’s nice to get back to work again. Most importantly for me, get to know my teammates more. I feel way more comfortable now around them.”

Continued; aside from systems play in terms of 5-on-5, 4-on-4 and 3-on-3 play, as well as special teams practice, the Red vs. White Game is the “first blush” with which to make an impression upon the coaching staff and management. Its stakes aren’t as high as an exhibition game, but it still matters.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses the fact that the Red Wings’ exhibition season starts on Wednesday, noting that the Wings have an assortment of young players who are attempting to earn a role either in Detroit or at least a spot in Grand Rapids:

Norwegian Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s mastery over English idioms may be more challenging than learning what Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde wants out of him defensively.

“He still battles with the language barrier, which is real,” Lalonde said. “I think North American hockey is a little bit of an adjustment, a little more time and space is probably what he’s used to. I thought he did very well and improved as the camp went on (in Traverse City). He’ll get some preseason games here, which will be important.”

Even if the Red Wings send 2024 first-round pick Brandsegg-Nygard back to his Swedish team Skelleftea, their decision to bring him to training camp will have been a beneficial and educational experience.

After a practice Tuesday in Detroit, the Red Wings will start their preseason schedule Wednesday with a road game against the Chicago Blackhawks. They then play the Blackhawks Friday at Little Caesars Arena.

These preseason games are particularly important for Detroit’s top prospects, such as Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson, Carter Mazur, Albert Johansson, Amadeus Lombardi, Brandsegg-Nygard, or even Elmer Soderblom.  At 23, it seems like he needs a memorable showing over the next couple of weeks to get back to the NHL.

…

The preseason game will also help Lalonde sort out what the team has with summer free agent signee Jakub Rychlovsky, who led the Czech League last season with 26 goals. Detroit also still has eight goalies in camp after Sunday’s cuts.

Continued; the exhibition season really is where jobs are won or lost.

From the Red Wings:

During yesterday’s Red vs. White Game, Patrick Kane scored a classic shootout goal on Sebastian Cossa, with Kane roaring in from the center ice faceoff dot, slowing down at the hash marks, and then roofing a wrist shot over Cossa’s glove. The Red Wings, who aren’t practicing today, used Kane’s goal as a “good morning” Tweet:

Good morning 🎬 pic.twitter.com/BUrYnR9tgY

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 23, 2024

Bleacher Report’s Hannah Stuart ranked the NHL’s 32 teams’ prospect pools, and the Red Wings predictably land in the middle of the league’s rankings due to their “lack of star power”:

15. Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings are one of a few prospect pools on this list that can be described as quite deep but without any truly star-potential prospects (at least, who count as prospects anymore) which frankly is fine. A deep pool means both assets to build out your roster and assets to deal to get those star-quality guys.

Now that Simon Edvinsson doesn’t count as a prospect anymore, the top guy in the Wings’ system is Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, who feels like he was destined to be a Red Wings pick. European winger who is relentless on the forecheck—sound familiar? Although he has a bit of a development ramp ahead of him before he makes the NHL, there’s so much to like about Brandsegg-Nygård’s game. To name a few: his tenacity, his physicality, great release and high-end skating ability.

Other Red Wings prospects to watch:

• Axel Sandin-Pellikka: Sandin-Pellikka is the best defenseman in the pool and one that I love watching. He’s highly skilled across the board and is developing quite a nice play-driving ability, which we know Steve Yzerman and company love to see. He’s as effective without the puck as he is with it. 

• Nate Danielson: The WHL center had a slow start last season with the Portland Winterhawks, but his solid skating skills and the way carries the puck in transition have us hesitant to push him down our list just yet. We’ll be watching whether he works on improving his playmaking ability this year. 

• Marco Kasper: Kasper is an effective middle or bottom-six center who brings a lot of value in how effective he is away from the puck. His physicality and skating are high end, and combined with his work ethic drive his ability to support his teammates. We would love to see him further develop the playmaking aspect of his game. 

Continued; Danielson had a slow start to last season with the Brandon Wheat Kings. When he was traded to the Portland Winterhawks, his production ramped up.

Bleacher Report’s Lyle Richardson offers suggestions as to “Every NHL Fan Base’s Worst Nightmares For the 2024-2025 Season.” Richardson picks the Red Wings’ crowded crease as a problematic situation in Detroit:

Detroit Red Wings: Porous Goaltending

The Detroit Red Wings narrowly missed qualifying for the 2024 playoffs, extending their postseason drought to a franchise-record eighth straight season.

One reason was the inconsistent goaltending of Alex Lyon, Ville Husso and James Reimer, combining for a 3.33 goals-against per game that was among the league’s worst.

Veteran netminder Cam Talbot was signed to replace the departed Reimer, but at 37, he’s well past his best-before date. Lyon and Husso are back, but it’s questionable if they can provide the Red Wings with the goaltending necessary to end their playoff drought.

The Wings’ defensive game is also an issue, but they’ve been lacking reliable goaltending capable of stealing games for years. Until they finally find some, the possibility of a ninth straight season outside the playoff picture remains very real, which could raise questions about general manager Steve Yzerman’s stewardship of this team.

Continued; I hate to criticize Mr. Richardson, but this one’s rife with cliches for me. Cam Talbot was an All-Star last year at 36 years of age, albeit behind the stifling Los Angeles Kings’ defensive corps, so age isn’t much of a concern for me, and if I have to read a “question the Yzerplan” line one more time this preseason, I’m going to yell and scream.

Yes, the state of the Red Wings’ crease is a concern. Talbot is going to be adjusting to a more porous defense in front of him, Lyon’s near-All-Star caliber play at the middle-season mark broke down as he was over-used in the stretch run, and Husso may or may not be healthy and may or may not be a competent #1B goaltender.

It’s a bit of a mess that needs sorting out over the course of the exhibition season and the first 10-15 regular season games, and, should the Red Wings still have crease deficiencies come November, the management team will have to make aggressive moves to shore up the crease.

Is a continued crease crisis the Wings’ worst nightmare? Sure, yeah, I’ll believe that. But I’m not buying the concept that Talbot is an ancient mummy whose wrappings are coming undone, and the, “Well, if X happens, it’s time to question Steve Yzerman” line.

X, Y and Z have already happened, and Wings fans are already questioning the team’s leadership. That’s healthy, not scary.

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. The Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses Red Wings free agent signing Vladimir Tarasenko’s fit with his new team as she recaps the Red vs. White Game:

Vladimir Tarasenko set up a power play goal by rookie defenseman Simon Edvinsson in Sunday’s Red-White scrimmage, won 6-1 by the White squad. The event ended a four-day camp that was especially helpful for someone such as Tarasenko, who signed a two-year, $9.5 million deal in free agency in July.

“It was nice for me to spend a lot of time with the guys, get to know guys better,” Tarasenko said. “We have a few pretty hard days. It’s nice to get back to work again and most important for me, get to know my teammates more and I feel way more comfortable around them.”

Alex DeBrincat scored the first goal, for the Red team, against Ville Husso 24 seconds into the event. Amadeus Lombardi evened things up in the first period, and then Team White took over in the second, highlighted by Edvinsson’s power play goal off Tarasenko’s setup. Tyler Motte scored shorthanded, and Sheldon Dries had two power play markers.

The format featured a little bit of everything. The first period was 25 minutes. The second period was all special teams, alternating power play and penalty kill every minute for 16 total minutes. The third period featured five minutes apiece of four-on-four and three-on-three and a 10-man shootout.

“We had a feel of some lines together, but I wasn’t really overly concerned about any line combinations or defense pairings,” Lalonde said. “It was more about getting some 5-on-5 structure on some things to teach off now, some video to work off. Same thing with our special teams — very valuable reps. And four-on-four and three-on-three is valuable — we’re always looking to get that introduced into camp.”

Continued (paywall); St. James reports that the Red Wings will not be practicing today as the team regroups after training camp and relocates its operations back to Little Caesars Arena after spending the last four days in Traverse City;

2. Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a short article which points out that, should Tyler Motte play at the center position this season, the Red Wings would have four “Michigan Men” skating up the middle (alongside Dylan Larkin, Andrew Copp and J.T. Compher):

Of Red Wings prospect-related note:

The Red Wings’ European-playing prospects skated earlier today, and this afternoon, Red Wings 2024 draftee Austin Baker posted an assist in the USHL as his Sioux Falls Stampede won 4-3 over Muskegon in a shootout.

Baker finished at -1 with 1 shot in the game, and Red Wings Prospects on Twitter snagged his assist:

Austin Baker(7th round’24):
1 Assist 1 SOG -1 in a 4-3 OT win. #LGRW

pic.twitter.com/yZQifYpHXy

— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) September 22, 2024