Author: George Malik

This is interesting stuff from The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro:

When the NHL looks to future of fandom, it looks at Lucas Raymond.

Or at least, players like the Detroit Red Wings rookie forward.

Raymond is a 19-year-old that grew up in a social media world. He was four years old when the first Tweet was sent, and eight when Instagram was launched.

Connecting with others in that age demographic is vital for the league as it tries to build new fandom, which is why the league is hoping players like Raymond can help expand the audience through their social following.

“We’ve been talking about this for years, and the importance of social media as a connection point to younger fans,” said Heidi Browning, the executive vice president and chief marketing officer of the NHL. “So you start to think about where are the next generation of fans spending the most time, then you look at the global trends, right? Young fans around the world are following athletes first, then teams and then leagues, and they’re following athletes before sports, they might even watch just because they’re interesting humans.”

It’s why the league partnered with Greenfly this season to better coordinate and share content on social media. Greenfly is a content management system that operates on the back end, and is intended to help streamline the league’s use of social media across team, league, and player accounts.

Continued (paywall); here’s a picture that Raymond shared via the NHL’s new Greenfly system:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lucas Raymond (@lucasraymonds)

I had to go digging for this one, which was posted on Twitter on Sunday. I prefer the video version:

The Red Wings headed back to Montreal after Saturday’s 5-4 loss to Toronto on Saturday, taking Sunday off before returning to the ice to prepare to face the 2-and-8 Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan had some distressing news from Monday’s practice as it got underway at the Bell Centre:

No Larkin on ice today for practice that just started. #RedWings— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) November 1, 2021

Erne skated before, now taking part in practice— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) November 1, 2021

Rasmussen between Fabbri/Raymond #RedWings— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) November 1, 2021

PP units / Erne-Gagner- Raymond-Zadina-Seider……and Leddy-Fabbri-Hronek-Suter-Rasmussen #RedWings— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) November 1, 2021

Veleno between Gagner/Namestnikov earlier in practice— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) November 1, 2021

The Red Wings checked in…

Checking in from Montréal. #RedWings, Habs tomorrow night. pic.twitter.com/lcHehJL47O— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) November 1, 2021

While there was a bit of a shake-up in Montreal, where Montreal returned after dropping a 4-2 decision to Anaheim in California on Sunday…

Canadiens have assigned Cole Caufield to the Laval Rocket and recalled Michael Pezzetta, in addition to placing Mathieu Perreault on the injured reserve list.#GoHabsGo https://t.co/5uKscCiBB7— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 1, 2021

Our friends from Montreal have lost 2 straight games, and in addition to losing Mathieu Perreault to an eye injury, fellow forward Cedric Paquette has a hearing with the NHL after smearing Trevor Zegras yesterday, so Montreal’s lineup will change significantly by the time tomorrow’s game starts.

I wouldn’t worry about Caufield too much, Habs fans–sometimes you need to send a guy to the AHL to re-set after a difficult start, even if he’s your anointed franchise savior. He’ll be okay.

Meanwhile, at the Habs’ practice facility (Brendan Gallagher has a hip or groin injury)…

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. The Detroit Red Wings begin a stretch of 4 games to be played over the course of 6 nights this week, and a longer stretch of playing 11 in 19 nights overall, and for that reason and more, the Hockey News’s Jason Chen suggests that fantasy hockey poolies “start” the Wings:

Detroit Red Wings

The Wings are really fun to watch. Not only do they boast incredible young talent, they’ve been competitive and held their own every night, and even gave the Panthers a scare by forcing overtime and nearly winning. The big difference has been their goal scoring; over the past two seasons, no team has been worse than the Red Wings’ 2.18 GF/GP. Their games are much more competitive now, and it’s conceivable they finish the week above .500 yet again visiting the struggling Habs and the overachieving Sabres, and then getting a home date against the Knights, who will be playing the second half of a back-to-back and their fourth road game in six days.

2. The Sporting News’s Jackie Spiegel posted a set of early power rankings, and her rankings offer a realistic estimate of the Wings’ status:

16. Detroit Red Wings

Opening night power ranking: 28

Overreaction: It’ll be another boring, mundane basement-dwelling year in Detroit!

Reality: The kids are all right.

So far, so good…

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a Monday morning column which discusses the learning experiences that Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and now Joe Veleno are experiencing while the trio attempts to solidify their status as NHL-ready players:

“[Seider]’s a really good talent, there’s no doubt,” coach Jeff Blashill said following the 5-4 loss to the Maple Leafs. “I don’t want him to be a good talent. I want him to be a great player and you can’t give up a breakaway on a power play that’s unforced. He knows that. But he did lots of other good things. And that’s what he does.

“You’re always going to make mistakes. It’s just the reality of hockey. But you want to minimize those unforced errors, those plays that don’t need to happen, and maximize his positive plays.”

The Red Wings (4-3-2) are getting many positive plays from rookies. In addition to Seider and Raymond, Joe Veleno scored a goal and assisted on another in his Red Wings season debut Saturday, after being recalled from Grand Rapids.

“I think it’s important for guys to push and show that they can be impact players,” Blashill said. “I thought Joe in the third (period) was impactful. It’s an every-day league and the next opportunity he gets, he’s going to have to do a real good job with it. But certainly, the way he played in the third gives a coach confidence to put him out there.”

Continued; again, Seider, Raymond and Veleno are going to continue to learn by making mistakes–which is okay–and the trio and all of the Red Wings’ younger players are on a trajectory of ascent as they gain NHL experience.

NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale compiled a list of the best rookies from the Atlantic Division, and, as you might expect, the Red Wings earned a double mention:

Lucas Raymond, F, Detroit Red Wings: The 19-year-old left wing leads all rookies in points (nine) and even-strength points (seven), and is tied for first in goals (four) in nine games. Raymond, who was the No. 4 pick in the 2020 draft, is also averaging 16:07 of ice time while playing on Detroit’s top line with Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi. In a 6-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 24, Raymond (5-11, 182) became the second teenager to score a hat trick in Red Wings history, joining Steve Yzerman, who did it twice (Dec. 23, 1983, and March 30, 1985). The same game, he also became the third Red Wings teenager to record a four-point game, joining Yzerman (Dec. 23, 1983) and Gordie Howe (Dec. 17, 1947). 

“He’s getting … an opportunity, No. 1,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “And he’s earned some of it in the NHL at a young age, which not lots of guys get the chance to do. And No. 2, he’s playing with real good players on a real good line and getting important minutes. I think, obviously, he’s capitalized on that. There’s opportunities that he’s getting, and he’s got to keep making sure he does a real good job in the minutes that he gets.”

You can guess who the other Red Wing is:

The Grand Rapids Griffins are not off to the best start. They dropped a 6-3 decision to the Chicago Wolves on Sunday night at Van Andel Arena, and Grand Rapids now sits at 2-4-and-1, good for 5th in the 7-team Central Division.

To the positive, Grand Rapids received two goals from Riley Barber on Sunday, and another goal from Jonatan Berggren, as well as a pair of assists from Taro Hirose, who has posted an assist-per-game over the course of Grand Rapids’ seven games…

But Victor Brattstrom’s 0-2-and-1 with an ugly 4.59 goals-against average, and the Griffins have given up 22 goals and scored only 18 thus far.

They also surrendered a hat trick on Sunday, with Andrew Poturalski scoring a “tour de chapeau” on Sunday, as the Griffins’ game recap notes:

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a second notebook article this evening. He discusses the Red Wings’ penchant for giving up late/early goals against Toronto last night, Jordan Oesterle’s play in his Red Wings debut, and the “teachable moments” that Moritz Seider is still having as a rookie:

A snippet in Saturday’s 5-4 loss to the Maple Leafs, on a Wings’ power play, showed the trials and tribulations of being a young NHL defenseman.

Early on the power play, Seider attempted a no-look pass that Toronto’s Pierre Engvall intercepted for a breakaway that goaltender Thomas Greiss stopped. But moments later, Seider set up Filip Zadina for a goal, tying the game.

The entire sequence was a teachable moment for the coaching staff, showing the good and bad for Seider, and how he can get better.

“He’s a real good talent, there’s no doubt,” Blashill said. “I don’t want him to be a good talent, I want him to be a great player. You can’t give up a breakaway on a power play that is unforced like that, he knows what. He did a lot of other good things and that’s what he does and how we want him to minimize the unforced errors.

“You’re always going to make mistakes, that’s the reality of hockey. But you want to minimize those unforced errors. I have a lot of confidence in Moritz Seider. He has to get better at things, too, so he’s getting minutes because we think he puts us in position to win hockey games.”

Continued

Red Wings prospect Joe Veleno spoke with TVA Sports’ Anthony Martineau regarding his trip with Steve Yzerman to Toronto yesterday afternoon. What follows is roughly translated from French:

“Tim Horton’s, a burger, and…Four hours with Steve Yzerman!”

You have the opportunity to spend four hours in the car with Steve Yzerman. You are just you and him.

What are you talking about, and how do you behave?

Often, this kind of scenario is imagined by a gang of “pals,” who, beer in hand and gathered around a fire, have fun plunging into a fictional universe that they know is impossible.

Except that for Joe Veleno, a young Quebec-born hopeful for the Detroit Red Wings, the fictional universe turned into a concrete event on Saturday: He did indeed find himself in the passenger seat of Steve Yzerman’s car, his general manager. yes, the same Steve Yzerman who had 1,755 points in 1,514 NHL games. And yes, the “tete-a-tete” lasted four hours.

MLive’s Ansar Khan and the Free Press’s Helene St. James spotlighted Joe Veleno’s performance over the course of the Red Wings’ 5-4 loss to Toronto last night. This afternoon, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan has filed a notebook article discussing Veleno’s trip to Toronto (via a ride from Steve Yzerman), and his performance during the game:

With a third-period goal and assist, Veleno sparked a Red Wings comeback attempt in a 5-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Veleno played five games at the end of last season with the Wings, scoring one goal. But Saturday’s effort is the best Veleno looked in an NHL regular-season game.

“He was good in the third. It took a little bit to get his feet underneath him, which is understandable considering he had a day of travel, but he played well,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “He has strength on the puck, a good skill set, so we thought he could come in and give us our best chance to fill in for the guys that were missing. Certainly the way he played in the third gives a coach confidence to put him out there. That’s a good step.”

Veleno was recalled with Tyler Bertuzzi unavailable (unvaccinated, can’t enter Canada), and Adam Erne day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. If the Wings keep Veleno after they return from Canada, they must make another personnel move. That may not occur just yet. But Veleno is inching closer to a regular NHL lineup spot.

“That was my mentality (Saturday), I wanted to work hard and show what I could bring at this level, and how I can play,” Veleno said. “But at the same time I wanted to play with confidence and have some fun and I tried my best to do those things and be successful. It went fairly well. It would have been nice to have a ‘W,’ but it was a good hockey game to be a part of.”

Continued; Veleno may not make the Wings’ roster on a full-time basis just yet, but there’s no doubt that he’s going to be a player who provides a positive impact when he does. The fact that Jonatan Berggren and Chase Pearson had big games in Grand Rapids last night reminded us all that there are reinforcements coming.