Author: George Malik

Of prospect-related note in North America on Friday night:

In the QMJHL, Oscar Plandowski finished at +1 with 3 shots in the Charlottetown Islanders’ 4-1 win over Halifax;

Jan Bednar served as the back-up in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s 5-2 win over Saint John;

In the OHL, Pasquale Zito had a goal and an assist, finishing at +1 with 3 shots and a 13-for-26 faceoff record in the Windsor Spitfires’ 3-2 overtime victory over Sarnia;

In the WHL, Sebastian Cossa stopped 23 of 24 shots and earned second star status in the Edmonton Oil Kings’ 2-1 victory over Swift Current;

Cross Hanas finished at -1 with 2 shots in the Portland Winterhawks’ 4-0 loss to Everett;

In the BCHL, Kienan Draper finished even with an assist in the Chilliwack Chiefs’ 7-5 loss to Langley;

And in NCAA Division I Hockey, Robert Mastrosimone scored the game-winning goal in the Boston University Terriers’ 2-1 victory over UConn.

Mastrosimone had 7 shots and finished even; Ethan Philips finished even with 5 shots; Chase Bradley finished even with 3 shots for UConn;

According to the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe, forward T.J. Hensick is attending the Toledo Walleye’s training camp as a pro try-out:

Veteran forward T.J. Hensick signed a tryout agreement with the Toledo Walleye and was on the ice for the opening day of training camp on Friday.

Hensick, who has played in 900 games in his pro career, served as Toledo’s captain the last time the Walleye were ice during the 2019-20 season.

Hensick, the former University of Michigan star, turned pro in 2007-08 and went to play in 112 games in the NHL with Colorado and St. Louis. After playing in 653 career games in the American Hockey League, Hensick suited up for the Walleye in 2018-19 and 2019-20.

The native of Howell, Mich., has played in 104 career regular-season games for Toledo. Hensick has racked up 114 points with 33 goals and 81 assists.

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Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff penned a subscriber-only article which discusses whether Joe Veleno, Bobby Ryan, Lucas Raymond, Givani Smith or Carter Rowney should make the Red Wings’ roster:

Lucas Raymond

Keep Him: Raymond has delivered offense, displayed an ability to play with and without the puck and a hockey IQ wise beyond his 19 years. “He’s done a good job of offensively having some deception but also taking what’s given, and I think defensively he’s done a good job of making reads in a lot of different situations,” Blashill said.

Ship Him: As a teenager, Raymond still has much to learn. Will there be time for teaching moments during an NHL season compacted by an Olympic break? Blashill started the preason citing the need for Raymond to be a presence in every game. His start was great but Raymond’s last two games were nothing to write home about.

…

Givani Smith

Keep Him: At 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, Smith brings size and physical presence, two qualities the Red Wings are desperately needing. “He’s a big body,” Blashill said. “He’s tough, he’s physical. We don’t have lots of that.” As well, Smith must be risked on waivers to go to GR. He’s the type of player who just might get claimed.

Waive Him: Smith isn’t delivering his advertised goods. “Some of the physical toughness hasn’t shown yet,” Blashill said. “Can he be a little bit better? Yeah.”

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Saturday’s game between the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres (3 PM EDT start) will air on MSG B in the New York area, and the Red Wings will stream it on DetroitRedWings.com. Ken Kal and Paul Woods are supposed to do play-by-play on 97.1 the Ticket as well.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a notebook article this afternoon, and it discusses Red Wings prospect Joe Veleno’s near proximity to being an NHL-ready player:

Veleno, a 2018 first-round pick, had a tie-breaking goal and assist in Thursday’s 4-2 victory over Pittsburgh, and has had a good, if not excellent, camp. He also didn’t look out of place in a five-game trial with the Wings late last season. But the Wings don’t want Veleno to play scarce minutes and have a lesser role at the NHL level, if the alternative is to play big minutes in every situation in Grand Rapids and continue to learn and blossom.

The Wings also have a pool of players for the bottom-six forwards who are older and more experienced than Veleno, making a path to a roster spot difficult.

“He’s making his way to being close to being NHL-ready,” Blashill said. “There’s a lot of guys kind of in that mix and then it’s that next step that’s more important, (being) ready to help an NHL team be way better. That to me is what we’re looking for. How do you help the Detroit Red Wings be a way better team, not just how can you make our team? He’s worked his tail off for two years, he’s changed his body, bought into being good on the defensive side of the puck. So, it depends on where he potentially fits in. Is he better than other guys?”

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This is kind of cute:

On our first day of school, we played our favorite game and had lots of fun. ? pic.twitter.com/73QEgBCOtR— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) October 8, 2021

We made new friends and saw some old ones we hadn’t seen for awhile. pic.twitter.com/CV2u90K4dE— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) October 8, 2021

We can’t wait to show you what we learned on November 6. ? pic.twitter.com/xWoj5xa6Ad— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) October 8, 2021

Per the Red Wings on Twitter:

The Detroit #RedWings today assigned center Chase Pearson and defensemen Brian Lashoff and Ryan Murphy to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins and released defenseman Adam Brubacher from his professional tryout.

Details: https://t.co/j2oAZzJkOa pic.twitter.com/nfVBObyU5J

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 8, 2021

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Detroit Red Wings on Friday assigned forward Chase Pearson, and defensemen Brian Lashoff and Ryan Murphy to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

The Griffins will hold their first practice in Grand Rapids on Monday at 10:30 a.m. at Griff’s IceHouse at Belknap Park, in preparation for Opening Night presented by Huntington Bank against Rockford next Friday, Oct. 15 at Van Andel Arena. Practices are closed to the public but open to registered media.

Of prospect-related note in Europe this afternoon:

In the Finnish Liiga, Eemil Viro finished even with 3 shots in 12:28 played as TPS Turku won 1-0 over KalPa;

Otto Kivenmaki scored a goal, finishing even with 5 shots in 16:53 played during the Lahti Pelicans’ 2-0 win over KooKoo:

#Liiga
– Kivenmäki 1+0, +/- 0, 5 SOG, 16:53 ice time in a 2-0 win
– Viro 0+0, +/- 0, 3 SOG, 12:28 ice time in a 1-0 win#LGRW pic.twitter.com/wRrsjRaaxf— Red Wings Prospects (@DRWProspects) October 8, 2021

In the Swedish J20 league, Liam Dower Nilsson had 2 assists in Frolunda HC’s 4-3 shootout loss to Sodertalje SK:

#SweU20
– Dower Nilsson 0+2, -1 in a 4-3 SO loss

Assists at 0:11 and 0:23 ?#LGRW https://t.co/0DEa6YGEv9— Red Wings Prospects (@DRWProspects) October 8, 2021

And in the Swedish Allsvenskan, Filip Larsson was the back-up in HV71 Jonkoping’s 7-2 win over BIK Karkskoga;

And Gustav Berglund finished even with 1 shot, Albin Grewe had an assist and finished even with 1 shot, and Mora IK won 4-3 in overtime over Jesper Eliasson and Almtuna IS. Eliasson stopped 22 of 26 shots for Almtuna.

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the ways in which the Red Wings’ roster is shaping up as the team’s final cuts ahead of the regular season:

“Ultimately, the message is generally the same from the general managers – we’re not going to have a young guy come in here and play eight minutes. It doesn’t make sense,” Blashill said. “There’s always a lot that go into those decisions. It’s never as simple as one guy is tad bit better. You got to worry about your depth, you got to worry about the development of everybody, you got to worry about what’s going to put your best team together for the opener against Tampa.

“It should be readily apparent to everybody out there from the impact they have on the game that they’re going to be able to help the hockey team to be a way better team. If you just see a flash here, or ‘he’s a good skater,’ that’s not good enough. The impact on the game is what matters most. Are they thriving or are they kind of surviving? Obviously, no decisions are as easy as that. There’s a gray area in between.”

Here is where forwards on the bubble stand:

Lucas Raymond: The fourth overall pick in 2020 excelled out of the gate with his offensive ability, making crafty seam passes on the power play, displaying a wicked wrist shot and collecting two points in each of his first three preseason games. He cooled off the past two games (no points).

This 19-year-old only makes the team if he is playing significant minutes, including the power play, in a top-six role. The club isn’t likely to keep him around just as a temporary injury replacement. When he makes the roster, they would want it to be permanent.

Chances are, he’ll start the season in Grand Rapids, logging a lot of ice time in all situations and continuing his development before being recalled at some point this season.

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