Author: George Malik

The Free Press posted two articles this morning. The first comes from Helene St. James, who suggests that the Red Wings will improve by a fair amount as they continue to rebuild the organization this upcoming season…

The Wings have looked sharp in camp, making do with scrimmages in the absence of exhibition games. For a team that has not played a game since last March, this week of practices, and the promise of what’s ahead, has been encouraging.

“The new guys have made a great impression on a lot of us,” Dylan Larkin said. “We seem to be jelling as a team. It’s hard to grab stuff out of red-white games, but certain guys have looked good. Anthony Mantha certainly has looked good and dangerous. If he can stay healthy and produce, that helps our team a lot.

“It’s been a long 10 months. We’re excited as a team. It’s going to be great to have game one here against Carolina and from there it’s going to go pretty fast with games almost every other night.”

On opening night, Larkin is expected to be wearing a ‘C’ on his sweater, as Yzerman has said he plans to name a new captain.

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And the Free Press’s staff writers–St. James, Jeff Seidel and Shawn Windsor–made predictions as to what will happen during the upcoming season:

Shawn Windsor

Best-case scenario: The young guys keep improving and the team occasionally takes a heavyweight down. Also: stay healthy.

Worst-case scenario: Injuries to youngsters, of course. Any wasted develop time would be a setback.

Breakout player: Filip Zadina, who else? A creative and gifted skater and scorer should get all the time he needs to show he’s ready.  

Goals leader: Anthony Mantha. He found ways to score on the league’s worst offensive team a year ago before injuries and the pandemic shortened his season. If he stays healthy, he should build on the promise — and production — he flashed last season. 

Will they make the playoffs: No. Not likely. This season isn’t about the playoffs anyway. It’s about staying healthy and building chemistry and getting better and trading for more assets.  

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The Athletic’s Craig Custance employed an anonymous panel of GM’s, head coaches and goalie coaches to rank the NHL’s starting goaltenders from 1 to 31, and they 1) chose Red Wings goaltender Thomas Greiss as the team’s starter and 2) ranked Greiss far down the list:

27 (tie). Thomas Greiss, Red Wings

Average 2021 tier rating: 3.37

Greiss is going from a very structured, strong defensive team in the Islanders to, well, one that is not. This spot very could be Jonathan Bernier, who was actually pretty good last season in a tough situation. The Red Wings seemed to realize that Bernier does well with a heavy workload, and it’s possible he plays more than Greiss, who has had success as a spot starter. But Greiss got the offseason contract after a solid five seasons with the Islanders. The question is: Can he do that in Detroit?

“I like Greiss a lot. I think he’s underrated. We’ll see how he does now,” said one panelist.

Added a head coach: “Greiss is better than a lot of the goalies on this list.”

This seemed to be a fair summation of the goalie situation in Detroit: “(Greiss is) a good quality backup goalie. I don’t think he’s a No. 1 guy. I don’t see him doing any better than Jonathan Bernier. They’re comparable goalies.”

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This is an excellent article from The Athletic’s Max Bultman:

As the United States’ world junior team stormed the ice in Edmonton on Tuesday night, celebrating the country’s first gold medal at the event since 2017, Ryan Martin was off in the background, where he prefers it.

In his ninth world junior tournament working in player personnel for the U.S. — and throughout his time as Red Wings assistant general manager and general manager of the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins — Martin has experienced his share of championship celebrations before. None, however, featured circumstances like these.

Team USA’s 2-0 upset victory over Canada capped a tournament in which participants spent an entire month away from their families, split their time almost exclusively between the team hotel and the rink and, in Martin’s case, did so while also balancing obligations back in Detroit and Grand Rapids.

“It was a tournament like none other,” Martin said, and the players’ swarming celebration in a mostly empty Rogers Place reflected that.

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Of prospect-related note in North America from Saturday’s action:

In the USHL, Kienan Draper finished at -1 with no shots in the Omaha Lancers’ 3-1 loss to Fargo. The game was Draper’s first in the USHL after coming over from the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs;

Birthday boy (19) Chase Bradley finished even with 3 shots and 2 minor penalties as his Sioux City Musketeers lost 2-1 to Kyle Aucoin’s Tri-City Storm. Aucoin finished even with 1 shot, and his penalty taken was a coincidental minor for roughing on Bradley;

In NCAA Hockey, Keith Petruzzelli stopped 18 of 21 shots as his Quinnipiac Bobcats won a 4-3 OT decision over Clarkson;

Carter Gylander stopped 32 of 34 shots as his Colgate Raiders won 4-2 over St. Lawrence;

The Red Wings were able to significantly overhaul their defense this offseason, adding Marc Staal, Troy Stecher and Jon Merrill to a core consisting of Filip Hronek, Danny DeKeyser and Patrik Nemeth,

They bade farewell to Jonathan Ericsson, Trevor Daley, Mike Green and Madison Bowey along the way, and as Gustav Lindstrom and Dennis Cholowski wait in the wings, Alex Biega provides depth at the 6/7 position, and Moritz Seider stars in Sweden, the team has added Christian Djoos on Saturday to make the Wings’ blueline that much deeper.

This morning, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses the changes made on the Wings’ blueline, and his subscriber-only article duly notes that the Red Wings believe that they’ve firmly upgraded their ability to move the puck out of their zone and defend better when the puck’s not on Red Wings players’ sticks:

“We get a chance to prove whether we’re stronger, and until you prove it on a night-to- night basis, we’ll see,” said [Red Wings coach Jeff] Blashill, of whether the defensive unit is stronger. “Ultimately we added a number of guys. We have a lot of players who I would say are good players.”

Blashill isn’t looking for anyone to make blockbuster plays on defense — just simply the correct, simple plays, on a consistent basis.

“I’m a big believer in guys going out and, especially at the defensive position, playing solid hockey,” Blashill said. “The best defenseman are the ones who are most efficient, make good, solid plays without making a whole lot of mistakes.”

Too often last season the Wings would get bottled up in their end, unable to move the puck out or make the necessary pass to alleviate the trouble and find forwards on the move. The defensemen on the current roster are better suited, it appears, to safely get the Wings out of trouble.

“We’re going to have to get out of our end,” Blashill said. “That’s a big key in today’s NHL against hard forechecks. The defense corps all has the ability to do that. Now, I don’t know if that’s their greatest strength. For me, probably their biggest strength as a group is that they all can go out and make good, solid decisions.”

Kulfan continues (paywall), and it may sound a little silly to be excited about plain bottom-line competency on defense, but the Red Wings weren’t competent at the position last season, and it showed–badly.

The Red Wings will be platooning their netminding out of necessity during the condensed 2020-2021 season, with Jonathan Bernier and Thomas Griess earning their fair shares of starts in no small part due to 8 sets of back-to-back games. DetroitRedWings.com’s Brett McWethy noted that Wings coach Jeff Blashill believes that his goaltenders can get the job done:

“I think both of them have been good,” Blashill said. “I think Thomas has done a good job, has impressed in a lot of ways. He’s good pro. He just comes and does his work. There’s not a lot else to worry about. He just totally does his job and he’s done a good job at it. I think we’re going to rely on both guys. Both guys are going to be important on our hockey team.”

Blashill, a former goalie himself during his collegiate career at Ferris State, sees tremendous value in having multiple goaltenders with versatile skill sets, but that are equally committed to winning.

“I think one of the characteristics that I’ve always looked for, that I know that Steve (Yzerman) has looked for, is guys that are selfless,” Blashill said. “Guys that care about winning equal to that of their own personal success. I think that’s what the best goalie tandems ultimately are. It won’t be one individual that’s going to push us to winning more games, it’s going to have to be as a group. I think as goalie partners, when you’re really good people and you care about the team equal that of yourself, you can really end up building a good friendship with your goalie partner.”

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This comes from ProHockeyRumors.com’s Brian La Rose:

Red Wings goaltending prospect Filip Larsson won’t be coming back to North America after all.  After being loaned to Almtuna in Sweden to start the season, he was expected to come back and battle for playing time in the AHL with Grand Rapids.  That isn’t the plan anymore, as the Metal Ligaen in Denmark announced that Detroit has loaned the netminder to Frederikshavn for the remainder of the season.

The White Hawks’ website confirms the loan, adding this from Red Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin (in English):

Vi har fået følgende kommentar fra Red Wings assistant general manager, Ryan Martin.

“We’re excited for the opportunity for Filip to further his development with a great organization like Frederikshavn. It’s an ideal spot for Filip to see game action in a competitive and skilled league as he continues to work his way up the pro hockey ranks. We’re looking forward to monitoring his progress.”

Update: It’s official:

Update: The #RedWings have reassigned goaltender Filip Larsson to Frederikshavn (Denmark) from Almtuna (Swe-2). pic.twitter.com/1MVysrbly5— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 10, 2021

MLive’s Ansar Khan notes that, as training camp is winding down, the Red Wings’ injured players are losing valuable preparation time, as coach Jeff Blashill emphasized on Saturday afternoon:

Robby Fabbri did not practice Saturday. He appeared to get injured during Friday’s scrimmage but finished the game. He joined Darren Helm, Evgeny Svechnikov and Bobby Ryan as players declared “unfit to play,” some or all of whom might not be ready for the season-opener. Teams are not permitted to reveal injury/illness information until the start of the season.

Depending on how long a player is out, he will need some practices before being cleared to play.

“The longer you miss, the more (practice) time you’d need,” Blashill said. “The guys that have missed a significant amount of time, it’s hard to put them back in on short notice. Guys that have missed a day or two, it’s a little bit easier. Every guy is a different situation and we’re not going to put a player in, regardless of his name or stature, if he’s not ready to play. Ultimately, those guys need to be 100 percent or pretty close to be effective. Part of being 100 percent is being in game shape, spending enough time in practice that you can react accordingly. So, it may take some time for some of those guys.”

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Updated 2x at 4:25 PM: he Free Press’s Helene St. James wrote an article discussing the means by which the Red Wings’ players and coaches are trying to remain healthy during the complicated times that we all face as a world facing a global pandemic:

“I know in our locker room guys are doing a great job trying to be as safe as possible away from the rink,” Dylan Larkin said. “With us being tested as much as we are, you are just trying to take care of yourself away from the rink so that when you are at the rink, you are not going to put yourself or anyone else at risk.

“You can do all that, but unfortunately in the world we live in, and the uncertainty of this virus, sometimes it’s not enough. You have to be ready. It’s going to be a strange year.”

Because they were part of last summer’s playoff bubble, the Stars and Penguins started their training camps Jan. 3. The Wings have been underway since Dec. 31, first taking to the ice on New Year’s Day.

“Anytime we’re not working out or not on the ice, we have masks on,” Luke Glendening said. “When we come in we get our temperature checked and tested every day. It’s always with a mask and social distancing as best we can.”

…

The Wings play their first four games at home before heading out on the road. Usually that’s a time for bonding with teammates over dinners at nice restaurants. Not so this season.

“From what I understand, we are going to be pretty confined to our hotel,” Larkin said. “There won’t be much outside contact. From what I’ve heard, it’s going to be all meals at hotel. You can go for a walk with a mask, which is OK. We are willing to do that because we want to play. Our guys are really committed to wearing a mask and doing all the right things to make sure we are not jeopardizing ourselves or teammates.”

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Update: Here’s a bit more from MLive’s Ansar Khan:

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a subscriber-only article which discusses the Red Wings’ seven new NHL faces in Bobby Ryan, Vladislav Namestnikov, Mathias Brome, Troy Stecher, Jon Merrill, Marc Staal and Thomas Greiss:

Vladislav Namestnikov

He will be sort of the team’s jack-of-all-trades, with the ability to play any forward position, the power play and the penalty kill. He began camp at left wing on the third line with Valtteri Filppula and Sam Gagner but has been moved to a line centered by Luke Glendening, with Mathias Brome at the other wing.

“He is versatile, that’s one of the best attributes for him, he does a lot of good things,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “He said to me one of the things he takes pride in after being in the league a number of years is how well he plays defensively, his penalty kill. He’s a guy who’s mature in his game. He can move up and down the lineup and hopefully make each line better.”

Namestnikov grew up in Detroit a Red Wings fan because of uncle Slava Kozlov, part of Detroit’s famed Russian Five, one of many former players whose photo hangs in the dressing room.

“I sit directly across from it,” Namestnikov said. “When I look up, I see him, so it’s very exciting for me, for my family that I’m playing for the Red Wings.

“Every time I show up to the rink it’s like, ‘Oh my God, a dream come true!’ “

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