Author: George Malik

The NHL Tonight’s Mike Rupp, Kevin Weekes and Tony Luftman discussed the Red Wings’ prospect pool and their lack of a franchise goaltender in a 2:52 clip posted on NHL.com tonight. Kevin Weekes praises Tyler Bertuzzi, calling him a “diet Matthew Tkachuk”:

Of prospect-related note:

In Belarus, Kirill Tyutyayev did not play in Yunost Minsk’s 3-1 win over Shakhtar-2 Soligorsk;

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Malte Setkov finished even with 1 shot, 1 penalty taken and 1 shot block in 26:24 played during AIK Stockholm’s 3-2 shootout win over Vasterviks IK. At least Setkov is playing regularly in the Allsvenskan, which isn’t usually true in the SHL;

And in NCAA Hockey, Cooper Moore finished even with no shots as the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks won 2-1 over Colorado College.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter paid attention to Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill’s media availability on Monday, and the coach essentially wrapped up the Wings’ training camp and expectations for their imminent regular season over the course of a couple of paragraphs’ worth of comments:

Blashill, who is entering his sixth season at the helm of the Red Wings, said the biggest aspect of improvement he’s focused on is team defense. He said it takes everyone–forwards, defensemen and goalies–to help translate defense into offense, and translate offense into winning.

“I would say that we need to, without a shadow of a doubt, be better in our team defense,” Blashill said. “I hope that not only the players we added on the blue line, but also the type of players we added up front–the guys that are fairly complete players, that are respectful of what it takes to win–ultimately, would give us a chance to be a more sound team defensively, which then means you probably have the puck more and you’re a better team offensively.”

With several key veteran additions, through free agency and trades, the Red Wings look to be improved in every aspect of the game, and Blashill said he’s excited about his club’s mindset heading into Thursday’s season opener.

“I like our hunger,” he said. “We’re a group that had an extraordinarily long layoff. I think sometimes you gain perspective in those situations. I certainly think we’re a hungry group, a group that wants to keep getting better, a group that doesn’t like what’s happened here and wants to get this organization to better days.”

Continued;

The Red Wings concluded a 9-day training camp on Monday afternoon, and while the Wings were unable to participate in preseason play, Wings coach Jeff Blashill told the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan that he appreciated the fact that the Wings were afforded an extra 3 days of practice time:

“You get more practice time relative to the amount of time you have,” Blashill said. “In a normal training camp you have those four days at the beginning of camp and start into the exhibition (game) season, and your practices get disjointed and you don’t get to practice with your (likely NHL) group.

“The cons are you don’t get those exhibition games and those games get you ready and are for evaluation.”

Blashill added evaluation not just in terms of personnel, but who plays on what forward lines and defensive pairings, the power play and penalty kill.

“In the end, we tried to be as effective as we could given the parameters that are given,” Blashill said. “Each team is given similar parameters.”

Continued; training camps during regular NHL seasons are too short, frankly.

NBC Sports’ Adam Gretz posted a Red Wings 2020-2021 season preview article today, and he offers a realistic “best-case scenario” for the team:

Best-Case Scenario

It is almost impossible to see a playoff berth here, so the best case for the Red Wings is that they show improvement and see young players continue to develop and progress. Players like Zadina, Mantha, Fabri, Filip Hronek.

The other thing that would be beneficial is if some of these low-cost free agent signings perform well enough to boost their trade value at the trade deadline. Players like Bobby Ryan, Troy Stecher, Jon Merrill, and Vladislav Namestnikov. No one expects them to be long-term answers. But if they can help the Red Wings get through the season and play well enough to bring back some potential long-term assets, it all works out for everybody (including the veteran players, who would then be part of a contender).

The other best case scenario? A little bit of draft lottery luck.

Continued

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill addressed the team’s decision to waive Evgeny Svechnikov today, and the Free Press’s Helene St. James took note of Blashill’s remarks (which pretty much explain why he won’t be picked up on waivers):

The Detroit Red Wings sound like they hope Evgeny Svechnikov will remain with the organization, but they left themselves vulnerable to losing a former first-round pick for nothing when they placed him on waivers Monday.

How general manager Steve Yzerman explained the decision to Svechnikov is not known, but if another team puts in a claim before noon Tuesday, it’s sayonara Svechnikov.

“Unfortunately, Evgeny has had a number of injuries so he hasn’t been able to show a full kind of season of where he is at,” coach Jeff Blashill said Monday. “But we also have to make roster decisions and you’re restricted to your roster. Nothing is permanent. You have that risk, potentially, of losing guys, but let’s see where we’re at here at noon tomorrow.”

…

“Waivers just simply means that if they’re not claimed, you have flexibility to send people to Grand Rapids, to send people to the taxi squad,” Blashill said. “With the whole group of guys, it gives you flexibility to do that.

“This is kind of decision day, but it’s totally flexible. Guys that are on your roster opening day, it doesn’t mean they’re going to stay. And guys that aren’t certainly have the opportunity to be called up at some point.”

MLive’s Ansar Khan also took note of Blashill’s remarks regarding both Svechnikov…

“Unfortunately, Evgeny has had a number of injuries so he hasn’t been able to show a full season of where he’s at,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “But we also have to make roster decisions and you’re restricted to your roster. Nothing is permanent. You have that risk of losing guys, but let’s see where we’re at here at noon tomorrow.”

And free agent signing Mathias Brome, who appears to have made the team:

Brome began camp practicing with players projected to start with the Griffins but quickly moved his way up the lineup. He skated Monday on the third line, with Valtteri Filppula and Sam Gagner.

“I didn’t totally know what to expect because without seeing him even in the American League it’s hard to get a comparable,” Blashill said. “It’s really hard to get a read on which guys (who played in Europe) are transferrable in their skill-set and which guys aren’t.

“He’s been stronger on his skates and more tenacious than I realized when I watched him on tape. That’s helped him be real effective. When coaches have walked off the bench or walked off the ice they’ve generally said, ‘Brome played pretty well.’ The other part is he has shown to be trustworthy. He’s not a young kid. He understands hockey, understands when to take his opportunities and not to force it and he knows how to play good, defensive hockey.”

Khan continues

The Red Wings held their media availabilities after Monday’s practice, and coach Jeff Blashill addressed the Wings’ roster decisions:

Blashill says Wings are closing in on their opening roster but says “It’s totally flexible.”— Jennifer Hammond (@HammerFox2) January 11, 2021

Just as it is in life, Jeff Blashill says the key to making it in the NHL or any professional sport is being able to get back up when you get knocked down.— Jennifer Hammond (@HammerFox2) January 11, 2021

If there’s more to come, I’ll post the clips here.

Good news for Red Wings prospect and Colgate Raiders goaltender Cater Gylander:

GOALIE OF THE WEEK ?

Carter Gylander was lights out in his two starts for @ColgateMIH this weekend, going 1-0-1 with a .952 save percentage and 1.45 GAA.

Powered by @MACGoaltending ?‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/c9enVZq8vp— ECAC Hockey (@ecachockey) January 11, 2021

The Detroit Red Wings have made their waiver wire decisions, and they’ve waived the following players ahead of tomorrow’s 5 PM deadline to submit the team’s 23-man roster and “taxi squad” team:

Among Detroit players on waivers: Boyle, Pickard, Tugeron, McIlrath, Lashoff, Hicketts, Elson, Criscuolo, Barber… and Svechnikov— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) January 11, 2021

No surprise on Svechnikov. He’s been injured far too regularly to be picked up, especially given today’s wave of waiver wire picks.

Update:

Full waiver list:https://t.co/gjOvqcSdnQ pic.twitter.com/SirhMN9VZs— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) January 11, 2021

A reminder that while some/most of the players getting waived today are likely to be assigned to taxi/AHL tomorrow if they clear, they don’t have to be. Some will likely stay on the active NHL roster. Would need to clear again after 10 games & 30 days on NHL roster.— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) January 11, 2021

#RedWings have placed several, including Evgeny Svechnikov on waivers today. If he clears at noon tomorrow he can be assigned to the taxi squad or @griffinshockey The list also includes Turgeon, Barber, Hicketts, Lashoff, McIlrath, Elson, Criscuolo, Pickard and Boyle.— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 11, 2021

Svechnikov (on ice today) most notable #RedWings on waivers today…does someone claim him before noon tomorrow? Don’t think so, personal opinion— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) January 11, 2021

Update: Here’s Khan in article form:

The Red Wings’ AHL’ers hit the ice early at training camp this morning, with Evgeny Svechnikov skating alongside a group of mostly Grand Rapids Griffins players, and the “second group”–consisting of players most likely play in the NHL–hit the ice around 12 PM EST:

Monday’s Red Wings practice.
Season opener is Thursday against Carolina Hurricanes. pic.twitter.com/riwa9RdTE8— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) January 11, 2021

#RedWings main group starts. Still no Ryan or Helm. Also don’t see Erne. pic.twitter.com/EKhCpCpdvt— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 11, 2021

In this Red Wings’ practice group are 20 skaters and 3 goalies. No Darren Helm or Bobby Ryan.

All the usuals plus Rasmussen, Lindstrom, Biega.— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) January 11, 2021