Author: George Malik

Red Wings prospect Kienan Draper turns 23 today:

Happy Birthday Kienan! pic.twitter.com/NyBdiFjfSR

— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) February 19, 2025

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted a column which discusses Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond’s respectively strong Four Nations Face-Off performances, as well as their importance to the Red Wings’ attempts to make a run for the playoffs:

Red Wings forward J.T. Compher has a long history with Larkin predating their time in Detroit. Back in 2014-15, they were teammates at the University of Michigan and on the U.S. World Junior team that season — which also took place at Bell Centre in Montreal.

“He had a big goal against Canada on New Year’s Eve, and it brought me back to that moment,” Compher said. “Because after that, he kind of took off at Michigan, gained a lot of confidence from that. And he’s been doing it for us all year, and last year, and every night. So to see him come up big in a big moment — we see it all the time. It was good the rest of the league got to see it.”

…

And he’s not the only Red Wing who had that kind of tournament. Raymond was one of the youngest players at the event, still a month shy of turning 23. But he ended the tournament tied with Erik Karlsson as Sweden’s leading scorer with 3 points, all assists. His line with Joel Eriksson Ek and (for most of the tournament) Jesper Bratt was the team’s most noticeable and consistent. Swedish legend Peter Forsberg went as far as to say that Raymond had become a superstar, according to Hockeynews.se.

…

When both players return to the Detroit lineup Saturday for a matinee against the Minnesota Wild, they’ll be kicking off a home stretch that will decide whether the Red Wings can finally snap the franchise’s eight-year playoff drought.

And after coming within a point of doing so last year — and now seeing two of their stars impress on the big stage over the last week — it’s easy to get excited about what that playoff race could look like in Detroit. If things go according to plan, there could be more big moments to come.

“A lot of guys that were here last year know what shoes we were in,” Detroit forward Joe Veleno said. “And hopefully we can take whatever we could from last year, and learn from it, and bring it into this stretch of the year. I think with Larks and Ray … you see with Ray, becoming a little bit more of a leader and wearing a letter this year on his jersey. And I think Mo (Seider) and a couple of those guys stepping up this year, I think our leadership has grown, and I think we’re all excited here for the stretch.”

Continued (paywall); after Thursday, things will get very busy for the Red Wings. They’ll need the best that Larkin and Raymond can give ’em.

FYI, in the promotional category:

You ask, Bergy answers! 🗣️

Drop your questions for Jonatan Berggren below & stay tuned to our mobile app to hear his answers!

📱 Download » https://t.co/6AyGFBzEio pic.twitter.com/qddWnsgC0s

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 19, 2025

The Hockey News’s Caleb Kearney suggests that the Red Wings might trade one or more of four players at or before the March 7th trade deadline–as in Vladimir Tarasenko, Ville Husso, Alex Lyon and/or Patrick Kane.

I’m not buying the logic of “selling off” Lyon or Kane with the team battling for a playoff spot as of March 7th–hell, if the Wings have fallen out of the race by then, still “no”–but Tarasenko and Husso, I could see the Wings move.

But Lyon? Kane? Definitely not. You don’t trade your #1B goalie, though Kearney suggests that both of the Red Wings’ goaltenders should be on the trading block…

Alex Lyon

Alex Lyon has a very appealing contract. The netminder is in the final year of a deal costing the Red Wings $900,000. 

His price tag and good performance will make him appealing to contenders looking to fortify their goalie position down the stretch. Because of that, the Red Wings could get a pretty penny for him.

However, he is younger than Cam Talbot, so the Red Wings could pull a switcheroo and try to trade him instead. With his past relationship to Todd McLellan and performance this season, it’s tough to see them going this route.

Pass…Even if Lyon doesn’t return because the Wings choose to bring Sebastian Cossa up, he’s too reliable–and relied upon–to be ditched for the final 27 games of an incredibly crowded “stretch run” schedule.

Here’s his take on Kane:

You might or might not be interested in this press release from the NHL:

2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series Festivities to Begin with Free Honda NHL PreGame Official Fan Festival

Fan Festival at The O on Lane and Riverwatch Tower Parking Lots Will Take Place Before the Columbus Blue Jackets Face Off Against the Detroit Red Wings on March 1; Stanley Cup® to Appear

NEW YORK (Feb. 19, 2025) – The National Hockey League (NHL^®) has announced the attractions and hockey interactives planned forthe Honda NHL PreGame™, the official fan festival and tailgate of the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series™ between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, March 1, 2025 at Ohio Stadium, home of the reigning College Football Playoff National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes at 6 p.m. ET in Columbus, Ohio (ESPN, FX-CA, SN+, TVAS Direct).

Before the Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series, hockey fans are invited to join the NHL and its corporate partners at the Honda NHL PreGame. This free hockey festival and tailgate will be open on Saturday, March 1 from 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. ET in the parking lots of The O on Lane – Columbus’ best woodfired pizza and Riverwatch Tower, located on either side of Perry Street at West Lane Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. The Honda NHL PreGame will offer fans of all ages, family-friendly hockey interactive games and attractions, special appearances and the opportunity to take a picture with the most iconic trophy in sports, the Stanley Cup.

A 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series™ game ticket is not required for admission to the Honda NHL PreGame.

            WHAT:              Honda NHL PreGame

            WHEN:             Saturday, March 1, 2025: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. ET

            WHERE:           The O on Lane and Riverwatch Tower Parking Lots

                                      352 West Lane Avenue at Perry Street / 364 West Lane Avenue

                                      Columbus, Ohio 43201

I generally like the Free Press’s Carlos Monarrez’s “stir the pot” comments, but this morning, I think he’s gone a little daffy. Monarrez argues that Dylan Larkin’s dominant performance at the Four Nations Face-Off is in fact the justification for trading #71 to another team a year from now:

There’s a difference between Larkin and Raymond. Larkin is six years older and he’s running out of time. He only has about two or three years left in his prime.

As much as everyone wants to believe he’ll finish his career as a Red Wing, especially with six years left on his eight-year, $69.6 million extension, it might not be the best thing for his career if the Wings keep missing the playoffs.

The answer is simple, albeit hard to swallow for Wings fans: If the Wings miss the playoffs this season and the next, they should trade Larkin to a contender for his age 30 season. Because if the Wings miss the next two playoffs, that should be the end of Steve Yzerman’s tenure as general manager.

That would mean another reset, if not a complete rebuild with a new direction under a new regime and a new coaching staff that would be Larkin’s fourth.

This isn’t the optimal situation anyone wants, especially Larkin, who would have to leave the only home he’s ever known and waive his no-trade clause. But anyone who has appreciated such an underappreciated player like Larkin – and certainly Larkin himself – has to ask themselves how much longer is he willing to waste his talent and miss out on being part of the biggest moments on the game’s biggest stage?

Continued; frankly, that’s a bunch of hooey.

First, Larkin is definitely getting older, but it’s hard to imagine his skills falling off a cliff when he turns 30, especially when you look at his work ethic and ability to drive play. He’s incredibly valuable to the Red Wings as a two-way center, and even if he’s not scoring 30+ goals when he’s 32 or 33, he’s going to remain an integral part of the leadership core;

Second, as I’ve been saying all year long, Steve Yzerman is going to be the Red Wings’ general manager for as long as he wants to be the Red Wings’ general manager, and there is no way that he’s going to completely reset what he’s admitted might be a 10-to-12-year rebuild. He can always revise and edit, but you don’t rebuild from scratch and then rebuild from scratch again. That’s not a sound strategy.

Put bluntly, those things are not going to happen. Anyone and everyone can get traded, and stranger things have happened, but this is just stir-the-pot stuff.

MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Red Wings forward Patrick Kane and coach Todd McLellan about the Four Nations Face-Off. While Kane would love to be in Boston this week, playing for Team USA, Kane’s played very well with the Wings of late:

“He’s reminding me a lot of the 28-, 29-, 30-year-old Patrick Kane, some of the things he’s doing,” McLellan said. “We double-shifted him down the stretch, the last 6-7 minutes (in the 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay Feb. 8), had him on different lines. He skated well. Some of the older players find ways to have legs on nights when you don’t expect them to.”

Kane spent some time in Cabo San Lucas in Mexico over the break, but he was watching the Four Nations Face-Off from afar:

“It was nice to get away,” he said. “We were by the pool, on the beach, hanging out with my kid. Just kind of enjoying the time and relaxing. My kid goes to bed at like 5 o’clock with the time change. I was rushing, putting him in bed and then going to the TV and watching the 4 Nations. The weather’s incredible down there — 75, 80, sunny every day.”

That’s a bit different from what he returned to this week.

“I like coming in and seeing that it’s not too warm here, seeing the snow on the ground and knowing that it’s still hockey season,” Kane said.

Continued

As the Red Wings continue their “mini camp” today, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff took note of Wings coach Todd McLellan’s belief that now is the time to impart as much wisdom as his charges are able to take in:

“They are not video or meeting fatigued anymore because they haven’t had it for eight days, so now’s a good time to tap them a little bit,” McLellan said. “We spent a little more time on video, stuff we had talked about but really hadn’t seen. We spent time showing them video of our team here instead of showing them maybe L.A. Kings clips to explain our points. We can now show Detroit Red Wings clips, which is a real positive. And then we took it onto the ice.”

Some NHL teams will be utilizing the four days of practice as a conditioning camp. They’ll want to ensure the players have their legs back under them.

That’s also part of the package for the Red Wings. But McLellan intends to mesh conditioning with the learning of new concepts.

“We could have just lined them up and said, ‘skate,’” McLellan explained. “We get nothing out of that. But we did do that with a lot of game-scenario situations involved. I think we got better condition and got our legs going again, but we did it with a purpose, a game purpose. We spent (Tuesday) working on offensive concepts, forecheck and entries and we’ll start working back on our end (on Wednesday). There’s going to be some special teams, faceoff scenarios we haven’t even talked about any of that since we’ve been here.”

He won’t get everything implemented.

“Not enough time,” McLellan said.

Continued; the “new coach” has a four-day (now three-day) window with which to continue implementing his systems of play. This is the time for his players to listen and learn;

Update: Here’s a little more from the Free Press’s Helene St. James:

The Red Wings’ social media team asked the Red Wings’ players what their favorite part of the Four Nations Face-Off break consisted of:

Relaxed & recharged pic.twitter.com/zyA9LbqR5Q

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 19, 2025

As I said on Twitter/X today, I’m not a big person for the “thoughts and prayers” request, but Andy, a.k.a. “WorldOfIsaac,” is going into hospice care after an incredibly long battle with cancer, and I think that it’s quite appropriate to ask for your thoughts and prayers for someone really wonderful:

Some final thoughts pic.twitter.com/KFC3FUXCXI

— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) February 18, 2025

The Detroit News’s Tony Paul wrote a superb profile of Andy: