Author: George Malik

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER PAT VERBEEK NAMED GENERAL MANAGER OF GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS

DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman today announced that Pat Verbeek will assume general manager duties of the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Verbeek will also continue in his role as assistant general manager of the Red Wings.

Verbeek, 57, is beginning his third season as assistant general manager with the Red Wings and his ninth season overall with the organization, in addition to spending four years as a professional scout (2006-10) and two years as a player (1999-01). Verbeek has 15 years of front-office experience overall, as he also worked alongside Yzerman with the Tampa Bay Lightning for nine seasons as director of professional scouting (2010-12) and assistant general manager and director of player personnel (2012-19) prior to rejoining the Red Wings before the 2019-20 season. In his expanded role with the Griffins, Verbeek will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the team, including personnel decisions, contract negotiation and player movement.

“The Griffins are a first-class organization, and Grand Rapids is a fantastic market for hockey,” said Verbeek. “Both of those factors are critical in the successful development of prospects in the American Hockey League and the ability to help them get to the next level. I look forward to continuing the winning culture in Grand Rapids and providing our prospects every necessary resource to develop as professionals and become impactful players in the NHL.”

The Red Wings and Griffins have been affiliated since the 2002-03 season, and Detroit has overseen all hockey operations matters for Grand Rapids since 2011-12. The Griffins rank as one of the most successful AHL franchises on and off the ice, annually ranking among league leaders in attendance in addition to winning Calder Cup championships in 2013 and 2017. Grand Rapids has qualified for the playoffs in seven-consecutive seasons, excluding the last two seasons in which a full AHL postseason was not held due to the COVID pandemic. The franchise has also captured three division championships and one regular-season title since affiliating with Detroit. The Griffins have produced 59 players who made their NHL debuts with Detroit, with a total of 105 players overall who have debuted or returned to the NHL with the Red Wings after playing for Grand Rapids.

“We’ve been fortunate to win Calder Cups under the leadership of both Ryan Martin and Jim Nill, and we’re excited at the opportunity to now work with Pat in pursuit of our mutual goals of developing players for the Red Wings and winning championships in Grand Rapids,” said Griffins president Tim Gortsema. “His experience and proven hockey acumen put us in a prime position to continue fielding competitive hockey teams now and into the future.”

As a player, Verbeek logged 1,063 points (521-541-1,063) and 2,905 penalty minutes over a 1,424-game NHL career, spent with the New Jersey Devils (1982-89), Hartford Whalers (1989-95), New York Rangers (1994-96), Dallas Stars (1996-99; 01-02) and Red Wings (1999-01). In 135 games with Detroit, Verbeek notched 78 points (37-41-78). His career accomplishments include two appearances at the NHL All-Star Game (1991, 1996), gold (1994) and silver (1989) medals for Canada at the IIHF World Championship and a 1999 Stanley Cup championship with Dallas.

The Toledo Walleye have signed defenseman Chris McKay this morning:

? PLAYER ANNOUNCEMENT ?

Defenseman Chris McKay joins the Walleye for our 2021-22 season.

? https://t.co/AZpaLgbYPz pic.twitter.com/7uc3KyKFXk— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) August 19, 2021

Here’s more from the Walleye:

(Toledo, OH) – Defenseman Chris McKay has agreed to terms with the Toledo Walleye for the 2021-2022 season.

McKay, a native of Edmonton, Alberta, joins the Walleye after spending his first pro season with the Pensacola Ice Flyers of the SPHL. In 32 contests he collected a pair of assists with 13 penalty minutes. McKay added in another assist in four playoff contests. “

Chris won a championship last season with Pensacola. This experience will help Chris continue his development at the next level. Chris is a big defender who can play many different roles on a team. I’m looking forward to seeing Chris compete during camp.” –Head Coach Dan Watson

Prior to turning professional, the 25-year-old spent four years at the Rochester Institute of Technology where he played in at least 20 contests every season. McKay posted a career-best three goals with eight assists in 35 games as a senior in 2019-2020. The 6’4”, 214-pound defenseman totaled 123 games played for the Tigers with five goals, 23 assists, and 167 penalty minutes.

Nine days ago, DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter examined the Red Wings’ roster “reset” at forward, and, this morning, Brett McWethy discusses the Wings’ changes on defense:

When considering the club’s draft strategy the past few seasons, it may appear that a youth movement is alive and well along the blueline for the Detroit Red Wings. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll find a seasoned position group with a wealth of NHL experience.

Since becoming the Red Wings’ Executive Vice President and General Manager prior to the 2019-20 season, Steve Yzerman has had defensive depth on his mind. Yzerman and his amateur scouting staff have selected 13 defensemen, including a combined six blueliners in the first and second rounds of the NHL Entry Draft.

The prevailing thought in Hockeytown is that Moritz Seider, selected with the sixth overall pick in 2019, is next in line and will plug in on defense for the 2021-22 season. While he figures to have every chance to make the Opening Night roster, Seider will undoubtedly need to earn his spot with a solid performance and a standout compete level in Training Camp.

However next season shakes out for Seider and Detroit’s other young defensemen, they’ll have a chance to learn from some accomplished veterans. The Red Wings currently have seven blueliners on their active roster, encompassing 51 seasons of NHL experience and 2,990 games played.

Continued

The Athletic’s Max Bultman filed a very lengthy mailbag article this morning, and, as the article is quite eclectic in its scope, we’ll examine his first question’s answer, and go from there:

How do you rate the new defense? — Alexander K.

As of now, I’d expect the Red Wings’ blue line to be improved after adding Nick Leddy and Jordan Oesterle this offseason, and with Moritz Seider seemingly ready to enter the fold. As for how Detroit will stack up with the rest of the league, though, there’s still a ton of variables.

How immediate will Seider’s impact be? Will Filip Hronek’s goal-scoring bounce back after a down year in 2021? What does Danny DeKeyser look like after another few months of recovery for his back?

Rarely does everything go right in a hockey season —injuries will happen, and some players will stumble at various points — and Detroit’s blue line will take a major hit if Seider’s transition is bumpy or if Hronek’s scoring doesn’t return. Meanwhile, DeKeyser getting back to the level he played at in his last pre-surgery season (2018-19) would be more of a bonus, and probably can’t be the expectation, but his play nonetheless will have an effect on the overall strength of the position.

If those things go mostly well, the potential does exist for Detroit to be roughly league average on the blue line. Leddy should continue to deliver steady top-four play, which is one important upgrade. And Oesterle, Troy Stecher and Marc Staal are all viable third-pair defensemen, with Gustav Lindstrom also looking to establish himself as one. That gives Detroit some depth toward the bottom of the lineup.

Continued (paywall)

I was alerted this via Google email alerts, which led me to a story from GT.se’s Martin Aghassi stating that Simon Edvinsson of the Frolunda Indians (the Wings’ 6th overall pick in this summer’s entry draft) got hit in the shoulder while playing a preseason game vs. Leksands, but was deemed to be OK by coach Roger Ronnberg…

But it should not surprise anyone that IceHockeyGifs was on the case:

Via Paul Kuklas of Abel to Yzerman, the NHL Network posted a video of Ken Daneyko discussing the improvements made by the Detroit Red Wings over the summer…

The most improved team in the Atlantic is ____________. pic.twitter.com/pPaRJRysL6

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) August 19, 2021

And this is part of a 5-minute clip in which Daneyko offers more insights:

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a profile of Red Wings 2021 draft pick Pasquale Zito, who the Wings chose to acquire with the 166th overall pick despite the fact that Zito didn’t play during the 2020-2021 season due to the Ontario Hockey League halting operations during the coronavirus pandemic:

“He’s an energetic right-shot that plays with pace, quick feet and a tenacious forechecker,” assessed Dan Stewart of Draft Prospects Hockey. “He has solid playmaking ability but is not overly creative, transitions the puck quickly, plays with some bite, is willing to drop the mitts, and battles hard for positioning and pucks.”

The 6-foot, 175-pound Zito projects out to be a bottom-six type forward, one capable of chipping in the odd goal, being a physical presence and someone who is difficult to play against.

Currently, those types of forwards are in short supply in Detroit. There’s Tyler Bertuzzi, Adam Erne and if he makes the team, Givani Smith.

Zito, who lists Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk as the type of player he’d one day like to be, fits into this mold. “He wants to be a hard player to play against,” Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper said of Zito. “He wants to compete against the other team’s top players, he wants to make a tough net-front presence. Those are the things you like.

“When you interview a player and they start talking about ‘My favorite players are the Tkachuks’ it kind of puts a smile on your face. I let him know that’s not easy to do what they do every night and he just kind of smiled.”

Continued

Per CapFriendly, the Red Wings have lost the “exclusive rights” to sign Keith Petruzzelli, Kasper Kotkansalo and Patrick Holway as of August 15th:

While many of the 2021 off-season critical dates were pushed forward, the August 15 'Must Sign By' for certain College players remained in effect.

Here's a look at the list of players that teams lost their exclusive signing rights to this past Sunday.https://t.co/3B8UOBLIyt pic.twitter.com/0hHQVqdkc7

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) August 18, 2021

From WXYZ:

Tim Hortons’ rewards members have the chance to win a variety of prizes this month with just one scan!

According to the franchise, from August 18 to September 14 Tims Rewards scan enters members in for a chance to win a variety of prizes. Some include months of free Timbits, months of free coffee, and thousands of bonus points.

The biggest prize is a free year’s supply of Tim Hortons’ coffee and two Detroit Red Wings season tickets.

All customers have to do is use a rewards card at a local Tim Hortons.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan has written a subscriber-only article chronicling the improvements made by the Red Wings’ defense over the course of the offseason. Kulfan concludes his column with this about Moritz Seider’s potential impact:

Here comes Seider?

Moritz Seider has been one of the top two or three prospects not in the NHL for the past two seasons.

Seider, 20, projects as a top-pairing defenseman who can anchor the Wings’ defense for a decade. Seider had a superb season playing in Sweden this past winter, and progressed steadily as a rookie pro in the AHL playing in Grand Rapids two seasons ago.

All indications are that Seider is ready for the NHL.

But, given the way the Wings’ defense looks, the Wings aren’t necessarily going to just hand Seider a lineup spot.

“If (Seider) is in the top six and he’s earned that spot, he’ll play,” Yzerman said. “I’m not sure if he’s not in the top six how much we’re going to want to sit him in the press box (and not play). We anticipate him making a really good push to play.”

Continued (paywall)