Author: George Malik

DobberProspects’ Victor Nuno wrote a very, very lengthy piece for the DobberHockey website conglomerate, discussing the Detroit Red Wings as part of DobberProspects’ “32 in 32” series. He offers both a breakdown of the Red Wings’ 2022 draft class as well as this take on the Wings’ offseason moves:

It seems that Yzerman has decided it is time to start being competitive again. He has overhauled much of the defense and added scoring up front. While this might now move the needle too much in the competitive Atlantic division, it should at least remove some of the pressure from the young players on this team. The additions and even some of the subtractions should make this team more competitive and help move the Red Wings in the direction where they are once again a competitive franchise every season, for the playoffs if not for the Stanley Cup.

Main roster: Andrew Copp (C/LW), Dominik Kubalik (LW), David Perron (LW/RW), Austin Czarnik (C), Matt Luff (RW), Ben Chiarot (D), Olli Maatta (D), Mark Pysyk (D), Robert Hagg (D), Steven Kampfer (D), Ville Husso (G)

System: Pontus Andreasson (C/RW), Jussi Olkinuora (G)

The blue line is almost completely overhauled this offseason. The only two regulars that remain are Moritz Seider and Filip Hronek. With the strong veteran presence, Seider and Hronek shouldn’t have to carry as heavy a load and might unlock more offense. Chiarot should continue to provide value in peripheral leagues as he should get all the minutes he can handle. The rest of the additions will likely be depth pieces.

Up front, Copp will bring a strong two-way presence and make the Red Wings tougher to play against in general. He should be able to drive play into the offensive zone and help his teammates score a few more points. Although he may not have Artemi Panarin or Mark Scheifele to play with in Detroit, he should get a lot of minutes and the opportunity to produce at least similar results to the last two seasons.

Kubalik and Perron bring a whole lot of secondary scoring, something the Red Wings sorely lacked. The team now has a legitimate top six and opponents no longer have to shut down one line. This should dramatically improve their chances of winning on any given night. Kubalik is coming off a down season, but he should be able to rebound to near the 50-point pace he had in his first two seasons in Chicago. Perron probably won’t score 26 power-play points again, but he should continue to be featured on the top unit.

The biggest addition is obviously in net, where Husso gives this team a legitimate tandem. No matter which of the two goalies they start on a given night, they have a good chance of winning with either Husso or Nedeljkovic. This season is pretty important for Nedeljkovic as he is an unrestricted free agent at its conclusion and will want to get his big payday. A good performance this season will ensure that and Husso should help make it happen.

Continued; this one’s worth your time…

As already noted, Red Wings prospect and Team Sweden forward Theodor Niederbach discussed his match penalty taken during yesterday’s Sweden-Switzerland game with HockeyNews.se, and he also spoke with Expressen’s Mats Brastedt regarding the incident:

Niederbach: “I don’t know if I’m going to play”

A match penalty in the World Junior Championship premiere vs. Switzerland.

Theodor Niederbach still doesn’t know whether he’ll be allowed to play against Austria [on Friday].

“The only thing I can do is prepare as if I’m going to play,” says the 20-year-old.

There are different ways for a player to excel during a hockey game.

The Junior Crowns’ Theodor Niederbach got a lot of attention against Switzerland for reasons he didn’t want.

With seven minutes remaining in the game, he brusquely checked an opponent into the back boards, and it was all but certain that the Swedish forward would leave the ice for good.

It was a match penalty, in other words.

By then, Rogle BK’s new acquisition had already had the time to visit the penalty box two times.

“It was unfortunate. Of course I wasn’t looking to hurt anyone,” says Niederbach at a digital press conference from Edmonton in Canada on Thursday evening, Swedish time.

Do you know whether you’ll play against Austria [on Friday at 2 PM EDT]?

“I really don’t know. Right now, nobody has a clue. The only thing I can do is prepare like I’m going to play.”

Red Wings prospects Eemil Viro and Jan Bednar faced off on Tuesday afternoon in Edmonton as Viro’s Finns battled Bednar and the Czechs.

Jan Bednar did his best to keep the Czechs in it as he stopped 28 of 31 shots, but the pesky Finns kept tying the game and tying the game, and in a 5-round shootout, the Finns won 2-1, thus yielding a 4-3 shootout win for Finland. Bednar was actually very, very solid…

And, despite getting a little banged up, Eemil Viro had a solid game as well, finishing at -1 in 17:10 played, earning no special teams or OT time.

In terms of the game’s narrative:

In the 1st period, the Czechs got on the board 6:36 in due to an odd shot by Jaroslav Chmelar that found a hole in Leevi Merilainen…

Over 20 minutes’ worth of Art Regner and Daniella Bruce speaking with Alex Nedeljkovic:

Red Wings prospect Theodor Niederbach took a game misconduct yesterday in Sweden’s 3-2 win over Switzerland, and he spoke with HockeyNews.se’s Karl Mansson regarding his indiscretion:

Theodor Niederbach on the match penalty: “I was perhaps a little overheated”

Sweden faced Switzerland in their first game of the tournament. Then Rogle BK player Theodor Niederbach incurred a match penalty. At a press conference, he spoke about the incident.

The Tre Kronor defeated Switzerland in their opening game, but one of the main players of the game was Theodor Niederbach. At a digital press conference, he discussed his match penalty.

Whether Niederbach will play against Austria tomorrow is yet to be determined.

“I will find out before the game. Right now, I don’t have much of a grasp on that,” said Niederbach.

“It’s not like I went out there with the intention of taking penalties. There were three unfortunate events. And the last one was the icing on the cake. I was perhaps a little overheated,” continued the Rogle forward.

Pending notification, the forward is preparing for the game tomorrow. Regardless of whether he’s suspended or not.

“I’m preparing to play as always. So we’ll see as always. But I’m assuming that I’ll play.

FYI:

𝗪𝗢𝗔𝗛 𝗡𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗬!

Todd Nelson has been named the 28th head coach in franchise history. The veteran coach played for Hershey in 1995-96 and has won a Calder Cup as a player, assistant coach, and head coach.https://t.co/psMWfL6XBx pic.twitter.com/TeIh6onOKH— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) August 11, 2022

Welcome back to Chocolatetown, Todd!

We can’t wait to get started either. pic.twitter.com/KAh2iA2L0e— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) August 11, 2022

Red Wings prospect Red Savage is taking part in the World Junior Championship with Team USA this August, but last month, he attended the Red Wings’ summer development camp at Little Caesars Arena. Savage is briefly mentioned in an article from the Miami of Ohio RedHawks’ website which discusses four members of the RedHawks’ team who took part in development camps:

Savage went through his first prospect camp with the Red Wings after the team took him 114th overall in the 2021 draft. The week concluded with a 3-on-3 tournament, and the Miami sophomore scored his share of goals in the showcase.

“It was a great experience for him,” said Red’s father Brian Savage, a former Montreal draft pick who attended a similar camp with the Canadiens three decades ago and then went on to a 12-year NHL career. “Red got to know some of the other draftees and prospects and sort of see where he fits in. He ended up having a real good camp.”

Continued

The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek conducted a lengthy Q and A with former WHL forward Rich Preston, and Preston has some stories to share about playing with the Howe family as a member of the Houston Aeros:

In his biography, Mark Howe wrote how in 1973, he and Marty had been living with their parents but were “fighting too much over stupid stuff” so he moved in with you to an apartment complex where he eventually met his wife, Ginger. What were your memories of living with Mark and playing with the Howe family?

Gordie was such a gentleman off the ice, and so tough on the ice. We became really close. Mark and I lived together my second year, his third. Until then, they’d been living with their parents, who had a big house, with a swimming pool in the backyard — so the players used to go over there to swim. Gordie had a deal with Chrysler back then and knew a guy who helped me get a Dodge Van — an old hippie van — and they had a boat, so whenever you’d get an off day, you’d hitch the boat to the van and go down to the gulf and fish. That was Marty’s nickname — Fish because he loved to fish.

So, Mark also mentioned in his book, that he played on a line with you and his dad for a time. I see three natural wingers there. Who ended up playing in the middle?

Gordie did! And he loved it. Here’s a bit of trivia for you. There’s one person who played pro hockey who took Gordie Howe’s position (right wing) away from him. Mark played on the left side, I played on the right side and Gordie moved from right wing to center. And he loved it. He could go anywhere – and stick somebody and do whatever he wanted to. I think it was Terry Ruskowski who said: ‘That’s not a bad line, but it needs a nickname. They came up with, ‘Howe, Howe and Who!’ I was Who.

Continued (paywall)

EliteProspects conducted an interview with Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson, and while it’s “locked” behind a paywall, they shared some highlights on Twitter:

A lot of top NHL prospects decided to skip the 2022 #WorldJuniors to prepare for upcoming training camps this fall.

Simon Edvinsson will be in the NHL soon, but he explained why he made the decision to play at the tournament for Sweden first.

🔗: https://t.co/0tCiMx3QON pic.twitter.com/QHLS5ja4TJ— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) August 11, 2022

Edvinsson: “I can only speak for myself, but I said it’s an opportunity, I haven’t played at World Juniors before. It was cancelled. A little bit different from from the other ones because it’s in the summer. But yeah, I see this opportunity. I want to play for Sweden, win gold.”— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) August 11, 2022

Edvinsson cont’d: “So yeah, that was my decision. I talked to Detroit about it. We had a conversation and yeah, everything went good. So focused on this tournament now. And after that, go back to Detroit.”— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) August 11, 2022

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills filed an article this morning which discusses the Red Wings “Roster Reset” as the team’s offseason changes apply to the team’s defensive corps:

Leading the defensive corps is 21-year-old German Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie last season by leading all first-year skaters in assists (43), power-play points (21) and average time on ice (23:03). He was also one of only three rookies to play in all 82 games.

Seider, who was Detroit’s sixth overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, established himself as a fixture on the Red Wings’ blue line in 2021-22, and will look to continue his trajectory in his second NHL season.

Detroit also relied heavily on Filip Hronek, whose 22:02 average ice time per game last season ranked second on the team behind Seider. In his fourth campaign with the Red Wings, Hronek recorded career highs in games played (78), assists (33) and points (38). The 24-year-old finished with five multi-assist games and six multi-point outings in 2021-22.

Since making his NHL debut with the Red Wings on Oct. 4, 2018, Hronek has evolved into a reliable top-four defenseman. His production was rewarded when the Czech native signed a three-year extension last September.

Other returning blueliners include Jordan Oesterle, Gustav Lindstrom and Jake Walman. 

Oesterle enters his second season with the Red Wings after signing as a free agent last July. In his seventh NHL campaign, the 30-year-old played in in 45 contests.

Continued;