Author: George Malik

According to HockeyNews.se’s Mattias Ek, the Frolunda Indians believe that the Red Wings won’t bring Simon Edvinsson over to North America this upcoming season, so Frolunda has lined up a mentor for the Red Wings draft pick as Edvinsson prepares to skate his first full season in the SHL. Here’s a rough translation of Ek’s article:

Frolunda hopes to keep the top prospect–gets a masterful mentor

Frolunda hopes and believes that the Detroit-drafted top prospect Simon Edvinsson will remain in the SHL this season.

Therefore, head coach Roger Ronnberg has acquired the best possible mentor in Frolunda for Edvinsson.

The NHL-veteran and fresh SHL champion Christian Folin is intended as the defensive partner for Simon Edvinsson, 18.

Folin himself played with Frolunda as a junior before he went to North America, where he played in 244 NHL games for Minnesota, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Montreal.

Of brief Red Wings-related note this Tuesday morning:

1. The Red Wings earned a nod for Steve Yzerman’s free agency work via NBC Sports’ Adam Gretz, who suggests that the Wings’ signing of Pius Suter may provide significant value for Detroit…

2. Pius Suter, Detroit Red Wings (2 years, $6.25 million). It is surprising that the Blackhawks, a team that is lacking forward depth, could not find a use for Suter. Instead they opted not to tender him a qualifying offer and allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent. The Red Wings got him on a two-year deal to add some much needed skill to their forward lineup. Is he a star? Probably not. But he could be this year’s Anthony Duclair — a talented, young forward that did not get tendered as a restricted free agent and found a new home somewhere else.

Gretz continues;

2. And in the free agency category, “All time” version, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a list of five of Ken Holland’s best signings. I think #3 on his list earns a mention here:

Steve Duchesne, D (1999): Journeyman defenseman Duchesne took a significant haircut to join the Wings in 1999. He signed a one-year deal for $1 million. That was much million lower than than the career-high $3.75 millon he was earning the previous season with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Duchesne signed two subsequent one-year deals with the Wings. Each was for $1.6 million. In a tandem with Chris Chelios, they ended up forming a stellar second pairing behind Lidstrom and [Fredrik Olausson] on Detroit’s 2001-02 Cup-winning squad.

The fact that Duchesne gave up his front teeth in Game 4 helped sway my memory…

After Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed the significant gap between the arbitration “asks” of Jakub Vrana and the Red Wings, all ahead of Wednesday’s salary arbitration hearing in Toronto, MLive’s Ansar Khan examined Vrana’s case for his requested $5.7 million salary:

Vrana is asking for $5.7 million per season and the Red Wings are offering $3.65 million, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

The arbitrator can award any figure in between. Since Vrana filed for arbitration, the Red Wings can choose a one- or two-year deal through arbitration. They surely will opt for one year, so that Vrana remains a restricted free agent next summer, as opposed to two years, which would take him to unrestricted free agency in 2023. But the sides can agree to a longer term as well.

Vrana, 25, is coming off a two-year contract valued at $3.35 million a season. He tallied 19 goals and 36 points in 50 games, including eight goals and 11 points in 11 games with Detroit following a trade from Washington.

Vrana over the past four seasons has compiled 81 goals and 162 points in 274 games, averaging 14:01 in ice time. Mantha during the same time frame has 80 goals and 163 points in 246 games, whole averaging 17:54 in ice time.

The Red Wings signed Mantha to a four-year, $22.8 million contact in November ($5.7 million average value).

Continued; as Khan notes, Adam Erne’s arbitration hearing is scheduled for August 21st, and the Wings still have to re-sign restricted free agents Filip Hronek and Givani Smith.

The Red Wings selected Windsor Spitfires forward Pasquale Zito sight unseen, because the Ontario Hockey League didn’t play actual hockey this past season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a profile of Zito today, and he spoke with Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper regarding Zito’s “intangibles”:

“Was it hard? Yeah, I mean obviously we haven’t seen him,” said Draper, of the decision to draft Zito. “But I know after we made the selection and we talked to him, he was so excited about getting drafted. He basically said ‘I’m going to do everything I can to make it worthwhile of us obviously stepping up and picking him. That’s pretty neat to hear.”

Zito isn’t the type of player who will light up scoreboards. In 46 games during the 2019-20 season, he had three goals and 10 assists in 46 games, with 27 penalty minutes.

The 6-foot, 175-pound left wing gets into the faces of rivals, likes to agitate and plays with passion.

“He wants to be a hard player to play against,” Draper said  “He wants to compete against the other team’s top players, wants to make a tough net-front presence. Those are the things you like.”

Continued

Dobber Prospects’ Sean Allen offers an examination of the Detroit Red Wings’ prospects this morning, discussing the Wings’ 2021 draft class, the Wings’ top prospects, and Detroit’s offseason moves (thus far):

Moritz Seider, RD

I fully anticipate a debut in the red and white for Seider in 2021-22 and expect that the hype train is just getting going on a player that is wildly dynamic all over the ice. With a straight-up nasty mean streak, responsible defensive awareness, and high-end offensive upside, I have him as a favorite to contend for the Calder as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.

Get ready Detroit, Seider is enormously fun.

Lucas Raymond, RW

The highly anticipated arrival of Raymond to North America looks to have come. It’s expected that Raymond will at least begin with the Griffins of the AHL before making the NHL leap as he continues to build up his strength physically.

The gifted Swede didn’t blow people away on the scoresheet last season in the SHL with Frolunda but he had a strong campaign nonetheless and showed the elite offensive potential in the World Juniors Championship as a leader for Sweden with five points over five games played.

Look for his high hockey IQ to allow him to adapt very quickly to the smaller ice surface in the AHL.

Continued;

I sort of assumed this was common knowledge by now, but, in case you missed it, former Red Wings prospect Keith Petruzzelli has chosen to play an extra season for the ECAC’s Quinnipiac Bobcats, foregoing his eligibility to sign a contract with Detroit.

As such, Petruzzelli will be a free agent on August 15th, and he attended the Boston Bruins’ prospect development camp last week.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff took note of Petruzzelli’s decision to skate with the B’s:

Last season, Petruzzelli enjoyed a banner campaign as a senior. He was named a Top 10 Finalist for the Hobey Baker Award and the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year. Petruzzelli was also named to the ECAC Hockey First Team ad was a Finalist for the Mike Richter Award and for ECAC Hockey Player of the Year. He was also a semifinalist for the Walter Brown Award. Petruzzelli led the nation in starts (29) and minutes played (1715:45).

Instead of signing him to an entry level pact, the Wings opted to walk way from Petruzzelli’s NHL rights. He became a free agent. None of the other 31 NHL teams are seeking to get his name on a contract. That fact would appear to show that Detroit wasn’t the only team having their doubts about Petruzzelli’s abilities.

Continued; it’s my understanding that the 6’5″ goaltender chose not to sign with the Red Wings, not the other way around.

From the Grand Rapids Griffins:

UPDATE: The Griffins have signed Kevin Lynch to a one-year AHL contract. #GoGRG

More Info >> https://t.co/r33R7fA5QE pic.twitter.com/wHEV3VVlYx— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) August 9, 2021

Lynch is a 30-year-old native of Grosse Pointe, MI who plays wing. He skated for the Laval Rocket for the past two seasons, but he began his pro hockey journey playing for the University of Michigan.

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a profile of Red Wings draft pick Carter Mazur this morning, discussing the Jackson, MI native’s connections to Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper:

Mazur, a 6-foot, 170-pound left wing, was the captain for the USHL Tri-City Storm, where he experienced a spike in production and growth this past season.

He has a history with Kris Draper, the Red Wings director of amateur scouting, who was once his youth coach.

“He grew up playing Little Caesars all the way from 10 to U-16,” Draper said. “It’s been a lot of fun and I’m proud to watch Carter develop into the player he has. Last year he went into his first year in Tri-City and it’s a big jump. At the time he was maybe 5-9½, 5-10. He’s grown 2-3 inches; he’s put on about 20 pounds. He knows he needs to still get bigger and stronger.

“The interesting thing for me was watching Tri-City and seeing the improvement from Carter from last year to this year. Our area scouts, the reports they were putting in about Carter, talking about the improvement, it was great to hear. We (drafted) Carter in a spot where he deserved it. As we were talking to our scouts, it was a pick we all wanted to make.”

Continued

The Red Wings and Jakub Vrana are relatively far apart in terms of their salary arbitration “asks” ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman:

Arbitration asks for Jakub Vrana (DET): Team, $3.65M. Player, $5.7M. Can still be settled before hearing.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 9, 2021

Update: Here’s a bit of context from Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen:

The $2.05 million difference explains why the two sides are headed toward arbitration. Historically, most cases are settled before they reach an arbitrator. Detroit Hockey Now’s originally projected Vrana’s salary at $4.25 million. If the arbitrator splits the difference between the two proposals, the award would be in the $4.5-$4.7 million range.

Vrana posted 19 goals in 50 games last season, including eight in 11 games with Detroit in 11.  Vrana’s salary was $3.3 million last season.

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski issued free agency grades for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams, and here’s what he has to say about the Red Wings:

Detroit Red Wings

Key additions: C Pius Suter, C Mitchell Stephens, D Nick Leddy, G Alex Nedeljkovic

Key losses: G Jonathan Bernier, C Luke Glendening, C Darren Helm, D Dennis Cholowski (expansion draft)

Remaining hole: The Red Wings have the cap space (over $25 million) to pluck some of the contracts that teams might need to shed later in the summer. They also have to do deals with restricted free agent forward Jakub Vrana and defenseman Filip Hronek.

Grade: A. The Red Wings took advantage of a couple of odd decisions by other teams on restricted free agents. The Hurricanes weren’t convinced that Nedeljkovic, a Calder Trophy finalist, had the stuff of a true starting goalie, and they traded him to Detroit. The Blackhawks said there “wasn’t really a match” in contract talks with Suter, walked away and saw the Red Wings snatch him up. Leddy was a salary dump from the Islanders who’ll help their young defensemen.

They also got better by virtue of who left their lineup. It’s still a knee-deep rebuild for Detroit, but it’s very much on the right track. This grade is erring on the side of GM Steve Yzerman (still) being the smartest guy in the room.

Continued (paywall)