Author: George Malik

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen ranked 10 rookie and/or European free agents’ chances of earning spots on the Red Wings’ opening-night roster:

1.Defenseman Simon Edvinsson (sixth overall in 2021): The Tampa Bay Lightning already had Victor Hedman when the Tampa Bay Lightning hired Steve Yzerman. But Yzerman had to draft his own Hedman once he came to Detroit. Edvinsson is a 6-foot-6 defender who hasn’t yet explored his offensive side. The Red Wings are not handing him a spot, but they are expecting Edvinsson to earn a place on the roster.

Chances of being a Red Wing on Opening Night: Darn Good

2. Right Wing Jonatan Berggren ( 33rd overall in 2018): Berggren improved significantly last season in Grand Rapids when he put up 21 goals, and added 43 assists, or 64 points in 70 game. His confidence expanded as the season wore on.  The question is where would he fit? Is he ready enough to claim a spot in the top six?

Chances of being a Red Wing on Opening Night: Not totally out of the question

3. Left Wing Elmer Soderblom (159th overall in 2019): If you look at Soderblom’s history, he needs time at a new level before he begins to find his comfort zone. He may need time in Grand Rapids just to figure out how he needs to play in North America. But his 6-foot-8 size, long reach and hands around the net give him a better shot than most. The Red Wings are intrigued by him. If he looks sharp in training camp and scores in preseason, Steve Yzerman might keep him.

Chances of being a Red Wing on Opening Night: Not totally out of the question

Continued; I think that Edvinsson’s chances are a little lower given the roster crunch on defense, and that Soderblom may have an edge as he’s a winger…But I don’t expect any of the Wings’ young (or not-so-young) rookies to make the roster unless they can play among the “top nine” forwards or “top four” on defense.

MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that there’s news on the Tyler Bertuzzi-playing-in-Canada front:

Canada is planning to drop its COVID-19 vaccination requirement at the border for entry into the country, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail. The change will take effect on Sept. 30, the paper reported.

[Tyler] Bertuzzi was the only NHL player last season who opted not to get vaccinated for COVID-19. It prevented him from traveling to Canada. The Red Wings went 2-7 in Canada without Bertuzzi, who finished as their second-leading goal-scorer (30) and point-producer (62) in 68 games.

Detroit plays 10 games in Canada this season, the first on Dec. 23 at Ottawa.

Here’s the Globe and Mail’s Eric Atkins and Robert Fife’s report, which indicates that it’s not as simple as one might think:

The federal government plans to drop the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for people who enter Canada by the end of September, the same day it ends random testing of arrivals and makes optional the ArriveCan app, The Globe and Mail has learned.

The changes, for arrivals at land, air and sea ports of entry, are planned for Sept. 30, but have yet to be finalized by cabinet, according to four sources The Globe is not naming because they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The mask requirement for people on trains and planes will remain in place, at the direction of Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, according to two of the sources.

The aviation and travel industries have been pushing the government to relax the rules that cover international travel, saying they discourage visitors and are out of step with many other countries as the pandemic eases.

The United States requires all entrants to be vaccinated, and it is not known if the requirement will be lifted at the same time as Canada’s.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a list of “ten things to watch” as the Red Wings open training camp on Thursday. Among them:

► Contracts: It’s doubtful we’ll get a ton of clarity on the subject, but it’ll be interesting to see if there’s been any headway into contract extensions with Larkin and Bertuzzi. Both can be unrestricted free agents next summer, though it’s doubtful Larkin comes close to reaching that stage. But with Bertuzzi, there is a slight bit of uncertainty as to whether he’s a part of the nucleus going forward, or whether it would be beneficial to trade him, at age 27, and with his value possibly at his highest in terms of a trade.

► Rookies: The depth chart appears crowded, but young players such as defensemen Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson, goaltender Sebastian Cossa and forwards Elmer Soderblom and Cross Hanas impressed during the recent prospects tournament. Also, forward Jonathan Berggren impressed a season ago in Grand Rapids. Only Edvinsson and Berggren would likely be considered close to being NHL-ready, and odds are beginning to look slim they’ll be able to weave into the lineup. But it’ll be interesting to see how the other young players look like against the veterans.

► Logjam on defense: You can assume Seider, Chiarot, Maatta and Hronek are the top four, and Hagg is likely to make the final roster. Edvinsson may or may not make the roster. If Edvindsson does, and the Wings decide to keep 14 forwards, that means one of either Jordan Oesterle or Gustav Lindstrom may not be there opening night. And then you have injured defensemen like Pysyk and Jake Walman waiting in the wings at some point. There are a lot of defensemen who will be looking to carve out spots in the lineup.

► Logjam among forwards: Along with Veleno, specifically forwards Adam Erne and Givani Smith are two players who suddenly have some uncertainty surrounding them. If eight defensemen are kept, or maybe Veleno has a really good exhibition season and solidifies his roster spot, there may not be room on the final roster for both Smith and Erne. Smith, in particular, is an interesting case because he’s young and has shown flashes of playing a rugged and skilled game. But Smith simply hasn’t been nearly consistent enough.

Continued (paywall)

This is really interesting sports business news stuff from the New York Post’s Josh Kosman:

MLB, the NBA and the NHL may orchestrate a buyout of the nation’s dominant owner of regional sports TV networks, whose shaky finances pose an increasing threat to their teams, The Post has learned.

The trio of pro-sports leagues are expected to soon begin talks with Diamond Sports, which operates 21 regional Bally Sports networks that account for more than half the local broadcast markets around the country, sources close to the situation said.

A prospective deal is looming as Diamond — owned by Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group — has been hemorrhaging cash and could be headed for a possible bankruptcy filing if it doesn’t find a white knight in the coming months, the sources claimed.

Sinclair in early 2019 won an auction to buy Fox Sports Networks from 21st Century Fox for $10.6 billion, giving it exclusive rights to broadcast the games of 42 teams. These included 14 MLB teams like the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres; 16 NBA teams including the Miami Heat; and 12 NHL teams including the Detroit Red Wings.

Continued

This morning I watched the Red Wings’ prospects take part in a community event at Traverse City’s Traverse Heights Elementary School, and DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted a write-up of the event as well:

After wrapping up the 2022 NHL Prospect Tournament, the Detroit Red Wings took some time to give back to the Traverse City community. All 25 members of Detroit’s Prospect Tournament roster stopped by Traverse Heights Elementary on Tuesday to run a hockey clinic in the school gym.

“Traverse City is our second home,” said Kevin Brown, director of community impact for Ilitch Sports + Entertainment. “We want to make sure whenever we are here, whether it’s for the NHL Prospect Tournament or Training Camp, we’re giving back to this community as well. Events like today, where the entire prospect team came together to spend a little time with the Traverse Heights kids, are important.”

Upon their arrival, the Red Wings prospects were greeted by students who were holding signs and chanting “Let’s Go Red Wings.”

“It was cool to show up and have all the kids lined up like that,” said Seth Barton, who was Detroit’s 81st overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. “It’s special for us to come to a place like this where we have fans around us and supporting us.”

Continued

DetroitRedWings.com’s Daniella Bruce posted a Tweet from the Red Wings’ live stream of Monday’s prospect tournament game vs. Toronto, in which Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper spoke about Sebastian Cossa’s summertime work put in with the Red Wings’ players in Detroit:

ICYMI: I asked Kris Draper his thoughts on the @DetroitRedWings goaltending throughout the Prospect Tournament. Click the link for the full interview & game between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs. Next up: Training Camp!! #LGRW
🎥:https://t.co/ZdWK1T8hhC pic.twitter.com/BgJZNZDG8l

— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) September 20, 2022

Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon coached the Red Wings’ prospects through the 2022 Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, and he spoke with DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner for the latest episode of “The Red and White Authority” podcast:

Head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, Ben Simon, breaks down the 2022 NHL Prospect Tournament, where he coached several of Detroit's high-end prospects.

Listen/subscribe: https://t.co/oOBDrAUVXN pic.twitter.com/xAerHaCnzJ

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 20, 2022

According to the Detroit News’s Tony Paul, the Red Wings’ general manager lent a hand to the Detroit Tigers’ search for their new general manager, Scott Harris:

One of the surprising names mentioned as part of the Tigers’ search committee: Steve Yzerman. Yzerman, the Red Wings’ legendary captain who now is vice president and general manager of the Red Wings, had multiple conversations with Harris during the process.

“It’s a unique opportunity to have two heads of operations under the same ownership group,” Harris said. “I’ll imagine I’ll be talking to him quite a bit for some advice.  I know I can learn a lot from him.”

This wasn’t the first time the two met, actually.

Once, during Harris’ time in the Cubs’ front office, Yzerman visited their suite at Wrigley Field.

“I remember being very impressed by him,” Harris said. “And I was even more impressed by him here.”

Continued

Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen posted an article in which he asks “one training camp-related question” for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams, and here’s what he’s curious about when it comes to the Red Wings:

Detroit Red Wings: How will newcomers Andrew Copp, David Perron and Dominik Kubalik shape the forward lines?

They may not be ready to run out of the rebuild yet, but GM Steve Yzerman at least set his team up to be harder to claim two points against. We’d expect returning players Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Tyler Bertuzzi and Jakub Vrana to be inside the top-six forwards (though Bertuzzi is still a trade candidate this season). So where do the new guys fit? Perron is a valuable leader with an underrated offensive game, Copp is coming off a career season which he ended by going on a tear with the Rangers, and Kubalik scored 30 goals two years ago — can that upside be reopened with better linemates?

Continued; the assumed depth chart in terms of the top three lines looks like this:

Raymond-Larkin-Bertuzzi

Vrana-Copp-Perron

Zadina-Suter-Kubalik

At least in theory!

The Red Wings’ prospects did something completely different on Tuesday.

On their one day off between the prospect tournament and training camp, the team headed to Traverse Heights Elementary School to hold a little hockey clinic with 4th and 5th graders in the school’s gym (the Wings’ prospects will skate together one last time on Wednesday before training camp begins on Thursday at Centre ICE Arena).

Red Wings setting up a youth hockey clinic at Traverse City’s Rose Elementary School. Fun to be had! pic.twitter.com/uJ5kzwMDgy— George Malik (@georgemalik) September 20, 2022

It was quite a bit of fun, if a little overwhelming, to “go back to elementary school” for a day for me–I had to check in at the office like any good visitor, and I was gob-smacked at the fact that the oldies station was playing the music of my own youth, but that’s 44 for you..

And it was just plain old cool to watch the players interact with the kids and slowly but surely warm up to the tasks at hand in terms of teaching the kids to shoot pucks, score on goaltenders, and engage in physical activity via a relay race.

It’s insane in here. 80 4th and 5th graders. And a bunch of Wings prospects. Fun stuff! pic.twitter.com/WLvsxmuxv7— George Malik (@georgemalik) September 20, 2022

Perhaps the funniest and best part of the two-and-a-half hour-long visit was when the Wings’ prospects held their own draft and picked sides for a spirited prospects vs. prospects scrimmage (in which nobody got hurt).