Author: George Malik

Dobber Hockey’s Brennan Des posted a list of “Early Season Storylines to Watch” in the Eastern Conference, and, from a fantasy hockey perspective, Des believes that Alex Nedeljkovic may be the most intriguing Red Wings player to watch in the early parts of the 2021-2022 season:

Detroit Red Wings – Good Goalie on a Bad Team

While the Red Wings won’t be good this season, there are a number of interesting fantasy storylines to monitor in Detroit. Will Dylan Larkin bounce back after last year’s disappointing 43-point pace? What kind of opportunity will rookies Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider see? Will Nick Leddy or Filip Hronek be the team’s top power-play defenseman? While those are all compelling stories, I’m most interested to see how Alex Nedeljkovic follows up last year’s incredible showing. I personally think he’ll struggle this season now that he’s playing behind a much weaker team. However, a strong performance from him during these first couple weeks may give me the confidence to snag him from the waiver wire and trust him long term.

Continued; I fully expect Nedeljkovic to struggle a bit early on, but I believe that he’ll settle down and settle in as the season progresses.

FYI if you are heading to Little Caesars Arena tomorrow for the Red Wings-Bolts game (7:30 PM EDT start):

Coming to tomorrow’s season opener or a future game at @LCArena_Detroit this season?

Here are 6 things to know. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/un525EetC9— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 13, 2021

The Detroit Red Wings have posted videos of the comments made by Moritz Seider and coach Jeff Blashill after Wednesday’s practice:

The Red Wings conducted a brief practice ahead of tomorrow’s home opener vs. Tampa Bay, and after practice, the Wings spoke with the media regarding several topics:

Per Daniella Bruce…

Jeff Blashill said he thinks Moritz Seider is mentally equipped to handle the challenges that the NHL will bring, but emphasizes that there will be challenges for him and he will have to learn as he goes. @DetroitRedWings #LGRW— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 13, 2021

Jeff Blashill said he thought Raymond’s impact on the game was good, especially in the first half of the exhibition season. He also mentioned Raymond has a great level of “B & C” games. Meaning he does great things that may not show on the score sheet. @DetroitRedWings #LGRW— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 13, 2021

Jeff Blashill said his expectations are to get into tomorrow night and “make sure we’re hard to play against.” #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 13, 2021

The Wings will need to do so given that the Lightning lost 6-2 to Pittsburgh last night.

Also: Just call Givani Smith, Tyler Bertuzzi, Pius Suter and Robby Fabbri the “Guelph Mafia” at this point…

Sending our congratulations to all the former Stormers on @NHL rosters this season! ? https://t.co/9yXYRmZ99J pic.twitter.com/1wJf2yoHIG— Guelph Storm (@Storm_City) October 13, 2021

Update: Moritz Seider also spoke with the media…

In the alumni department, via TSN:

The #NHLJets have agreed to terms with forward Evgeny Svechnikov on a one-year, two-way contract with an average annual value of $750,000.

DETAILS ▶️ https://t.co/nbJc2j9nVD pic.twitter.com/HAyuefpi3k

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) October 13, 2021

97.1 the Ticket’s Pat Caputo discusses the levels by which he expects the Red Wings to improve this upcoming season:

The Red Wings will be improved this season. It is just a matter of how much.

The biggest upgrade will come on the blueline. Nick Leddy is one of the NHL’s best puck movers, the ideal defensive pairing for high-end rookie Moritz Seider, Detroit’s rugged first-round draft pick in 2019.

Down the line, the defensive corps will be better because Troy Stecher, Marc Staal and Danny DeKeyser have been retained. There is no need to play Filip Hronek an inordinate number of minutes, which should improve the quality of his play.

The Red Wings have had endless issues in recent seasons, not the least an abysmal power play. Their zone entries were much better during the preseason, both on the man advantage and at even strength. It should pay off in more power play goals and much better puck possession metrics, which will mean more victories.

Continued

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin appeared on 97.1 the Ticket’s Stoney and Janssen With Heather” show this morning, speaking for approximately 12 minutes:

The Detroit Red Wings hit the ice at Little Caesars Arena today to prepare for tomorrow’s home opener vs. Tampa Bay (7:30 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/97.1 FM):

#RedWings lines/D pairs in final practice before tomorrow’s season-opener vs. Lightning at LCA:
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Raymond
Fabbri-Suter-Zadina
Namestnikov-Rasmussen-Erne
Smith/Rowney-Stephens-Gagner
DeKeyser-Hronek
Leddy-Seider
Staal-Lindstrom
Oesterle-Stecher pic.twitter.com/6gHklZiGvq— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 13, 2021

Arriving for work… It is Hockey Eve! Opening Night for the Red Wings is tomorrow night at LCA. They start with the Cup champion Lightning on Bally Sports Detroit… pic.twitter.com/k3WWTHGc0N— John Keating (@JohnKeatingBSD) October 13, 2021

#RedWings power play units:
1. Bertuzzi (net front), Erne (bumper), Larkin-Raymond (flanks), Leddy (point). Gagner rotating with Erne.
2. Suter (net front), Fabbri (bumper), Hronek-Zadina (flanks), Seider (point). Rasmussen rotating with Suter. pic.twitter.com/nw29YmZZWo— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 13, 2021

WXYZ’s Brad Galli also posted a clip of the top line doing drills:

DetroitRedWings.com’s Ethan Sears filed his morning notebook article today, discussing both Lucas Raymond making the Red Wings’ roster and the shape of the Wings’ power play:

The Red Wings practiced special teams at the end of Tuesday’s practice, giving a glimpse at what the power play units could look like on Thursday. There was a fair amount of rotating, with Blashill saying 13 guys are competing for 10 spots – a competition that may not be over by Opening Night.

“It doesn’t have to be to 10 in Game 1,” Blashill said. “Ultimately we’d like to get to where there’s chemistry built. I also think competition’s important, and we’ll (see) which guys get it done.”

On the first unit, Tyler Bertuzzi played net-front with Nick Leddy quarterbacking the group. Dylan Larkin and Raymond were on either side, with Adam Erne and Sam Gagner rotating in the middle slot.

On the second unit, Seider was up top with Filip Hronek, Robby Fabbri and Filip Zadina on the flanks and in the bumper spot. Pius Suter mostly played the net-front role, with Michael Rasmussen getting a couple of reps.

Due to injuries and roster rotation in the preseason, the Red Wings have only had limited chances to play their preferred groups together. But the power play looked much improved in the preseason compared to last year, when Detroit ranked 30th in conversion rate on the man advantage.

“I think when we’ve been successful, we’ve moved the puck crisply, we’ve moved it quickly and we haven’t forced plays,” Blashill said. “And when we’ve struggled, we’ve become too nonchalant with the puck or careless and forced plays. I thought it’s got a chance to be good power play units, but we’ve gotta move it quickly and make sure we don’t force plays.”

Continued

The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro discusses the imminent deal between Bally Sports Detroit and the Red Wings and Tigers in his sports business column this morning:

The exact term and valuation of the deal aren’t yet known, but inevitably other team executives are scrambling to find out how much the Red Wings got from Sinclair for the rights. In the past, Detroit was reportedly taking home $25 million per season from Sinclair, which was one of the most lucrative local TV deals in the United States for NHL teams.

Because of the ownership situation, the Red Wings’ deal isn’t exactly comparable for other NHL teams. When negotiating with Olympia Sports, Sinclair is also negotiating about the rights to the Tigers, which are roughly double the value because of the expanded inventory an MLB schedule offers.

But the fact Olympia stuck with Bally is a pretty clear indication that any rumbling that a team is trying to build its own regional sports network (RSN) is nothing more than public posturing or a negotiating tactic. Olympia has floated the idea of building its own RSN and even looked into finding a partnership with the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, but in the end, circled back to a more traditional model with the RSN.

Other NHL teams have tried to hint at building their own individual distribution models, but each time networks have called their bluff. It comes down to the financial situation; for an NHL team to go around the RSNs or build a straight-to-consumer model, it would have to find a way to make up $15 million, on average, in profit.

That cost, even with great advertising, would inevitably be put to the consumer. One source said it would likely cost at least $20 per month for a team, and even that price point is probably generous considering what teams would need to make for it to be worthwhile to try to distribute games themselves.

Continued (paywall)