Author: George Malik

The Czech Extraliga is on pause due to the coronavirus, but HK Mountfield GM Miroslav Schon took part in a Q and A session with Hokej.cz’s Jan Vavrina, and he answered a question about Filip Hronek’s status with the team. What follows is roughly translated from Czech:

The NHL will start later than originally planned. Is the team ready and able to continue to take out [more] insurance for Filip to stay in Hradec Kralove as long as possible?

“Again, these are mixed feelings. As Filip essentially developed into a top NHL player in one season [in the NHL], his price also increased. Of course, I’m happy that he’s become so great, and am sincerely happy about it. On the other hand, insurance for his contract has climbed to a relatively high amount, and we pay for the package. However, I can’t imagine that as long as Filip is here, he won’t play, he wants to play and he wouldn’t be thrilled if we had him sit in the stands. I can’t imagine what the Hradec Kralove fans would say to us. A number of [corporate] partners have taken part in the insurance, and we will certainly find the money for Filip to play here for as long as possible.”

Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Kal discusses Al Sobotka’s favorite subject not related to his day job as Little Caesars Arena’s building operations manager–barbecuing–in this YouTube video from the Wings:

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan penned a lengthy article this afternoon, in which he discusses the fact that all of the Red Wings’ free agent signings spoke glowingly of a rebuilding organization whose culture of persistence has remained strong despite enduring a lengthy rebuild:

“The passion that just comes through for the Red Wings through [Steve Yzerman] is contagious,” [Bobby] Ryan said. “I walked out of the room (after talking with Yzerman) and told my wife, ‘I think we’re signing in Detroit.’ I didn’t feel I needed to hear anything else from anybody.”

Also, in the NHL world of parity, becoming a contender again can happen quickly. As long as an organization drafts well, and can make some shrewd, cost-effective free agent signings to complement the roster construction, a move upward in the standings can happen sooner than in the past.

“I don’t think you’re ever too far from winning,” said [Marc] Staal, who saw his Rangers rebound after missing two playoff seasons. “I wasn’t there (Detroit) last year, obviously, so I can’t speak on what was going on with the team, but everytime we played them, they were a very detailed team that wasn’t easy to beat by any means. They just need to get over the hump where success in winning games becomes a regularity. They have some very good young players.”

[Thomas] Greiss feels the experience he’s had on Long Island, playing for a team that reached the Eastern Conference Finals in the Return-to-Play, can help the Wings. That was echoed by [Vladislav] Namestnikov and Greiss, who both are coming from winning organizations in Colorado and the Islanders, respectively, and have played for several successful teams.

“I’ve been in the league for a number of years now, and played on numerous different teams with different outlooks and successes,” Greiss said. “I know how to navigate a long season, be there for the young guys and help the guys be as successful as we can.”

Continued

The Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy gives Jonatan Berggren a pat on the back for his strong start with Skelleftea AIK of the SHL, in an article discussing the “hottest” players in European hockey…

Jonatan Berggren, C, Skelleftea (SHL): Speed, smarts and great hands are Berggren’s trademarks and the Detroit Red Wings prospect has really been putting all three together with 13 points in nine games for Skelleftea, making him the third-highest scorer in the league right now. The 2017 second-rounder has already eclipsed the 12 points in 24 games he had in the SHL last season.

It should be noted, however, that Berggren and Skelleftea AIK won’t play Djurgardens IF on Thursday as scheduled. Expressen reports that Djurgarden has had one player test positive for the coronavirus, and two other players have taken ill, so Thursday’s game has been postponed.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James asks five questions regarding the Red Wings’ 2020-2021 season this morning. Three questions have to do with the timing and structure of the upcoming season; one has to do with Patrick Marleau chasing Gordie Howe’s games-played record; and the final two questions seem most pertinent at this time:

When will training camp be?

Based on recent interviews with Yzerman, it does sound like the NHL and NHLPA will come up with a scenario in which the seven non-playoff teams (the Wings, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres) will start before the 24 teams that were part of the bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto. That still wouldn’t be until maybe early December, at which point those teams will have not have played in roughly nine months. 

As explained last night by The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun and the San Jose Mercury News’s Curtis Pashelka, it appears that the NHL will indeed give the Red Wings and six other non-bubble-hockey teams more time to ramp up their level of play before training camps start, but what form this extra time will take is uncertain…

And St. James’ final question involves the shape of the Wings’ roster to come:

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn posted an article discussing the NHL teams that have improved the most and least during the 2020-2021 offseason (based on a statistical model), and he gives the Red Wings solid praise for their offseason moves…mostly…

Detroit Red Wings

Wins Added: 5.9 wins

Salary Added: $14.9 million

In: Marc Staal, Thomas Greiss, Vladislav Namestnikov, Troy Stecher, Bobby Ryan, Jon Merrill

Out: Jonathan Ericsson, Justin Abdelkader, Jimmy Howard, Trevor Daley, Madison Bowey, Christoffer Ehn

The worst team in hockey has only one way to go next season: up. That’s especially true with the offseason they had. No, they didn’t sign any big names that moved the needle — but they did replace serious drags with actual NHL calibre talent. Every player on the way out was a negative value player last season, worth a combined minus-4.6 wins. That’s where most of the team’s added value comes from: addition by subtraction. 

Aside from Marc Staal, who is comparable in value to the players on the way out, everyone else is projected to bring positive value. It may be small, but at least it’s on the right side of the ledger and not actively hurting the team. It may not make sense for a bad team like Detroit to sign all these players, but it helps create a less toxic environment of losing. There’s a difference between playing at a 45-point pace and one closer to 70. It still sucks but it’s a lot less demoralizing. 

Continued (paywall); yes, we are at the point where “there’s some hope” is about the best situation one could ask for at this stage of the Wings’ rebuild.

In an article for ESPN+, Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski dole out offseason grades for each and every one of the NHL’s 31 teams, and they give the Red Wings relatively high marks for Steve Yzerman’s aggressive offseason moves:

Smartest move: Signing Jon Merrill. The former Golden Knights defenseman was effective when given the opportunity to play and is a bargain at $825,000 for one year. This will be his eighth season in the NHL. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s as sheltered as he was in Vegas, getting the vast majority of his starts in the offensive zone, or if they use him in a larger variety of situations. Merrill is a promising pickup and an improvement over what was there.

Questionable move: Signing Thomas Greiss. If the baseline test for this signing is whether Greiss is better than Howard, then the test is already passed. But Greiss is 34 years old and coming off a down season on a great defensive team (only 4.6 goals saved above average). The money isn’t an issue — $3.6 million against the cap for a team with tons of space — but what version of Greiss did the team sign?

The moment that Tyler Bertuzzi filed for salary arbitration, the Red Wings received two benefits as an organization: first, Bertuzzi was made exempt from restricted free agent offer sheets, and second, Bertuzzi’s filing for arbitration opened up a 48-hour window in which the Wings will be able to buy out another player’s contract.

There’s been significant speculation that the Red Wings will buy out Frans Nielsen with 2 years remaining on his contract to both open up a roster spot for younger players and to simply rid themselves of an underachieving forward, and CapFriendly has a buyout calculator, so you can peek under the hood of what would be a relatively costly buyout.

In a subscriber-only article, MLive’s Ansar Khan suggests that, despite the roster ramifications of keeping another forward on a crowded roster, the Wings ought to keep Nielsen on for at least one more season:

There are reasons why the Red Wings would want to keep Nielsen.

Nielsen can meet one of the Red Wings’ two exposure requirements at forward for the 2021 Seattle expansion draft (teams must expose two forwards under contract for 2021-22 who played 40 games in 2020-21 or 70 games combined the previous two seasons – a figure that might be adjusted depending on the length of next season’s schedule).

The Kraken would not claim Nielsen, but this might enable the Red Wings to protect a forward they might otherwise be forced to expose.

Nielsen could also provide depth if they experience multiple injuries and when they inevitably move some forwards at the trade deadline for draft picks.

Continued (paywall); my gut feeling is that the Wings won’t buy out Nielsen, but that’s my guess.

Per Ferris State University:

Ferris State University alumnus and Detroit Red Wings Head Coach Jeff Blashill will serve as the master of ceremonies for The Ferris Foundation for Excellence Benefit, a virtual celebration set for introduction during the first week of November via social media.

Kim Erickson, the administrative assistant for The Ferris Foundation, said that with the 2020 Benefit being conducted virtually, rather than the typical large-venue gathering, Associate Vice President for External Relations Jeremy Mishler suggested Blashill as the event’s master of ceremonies. The schedules matched. The National Hockey League’s 2019-20 season concluded on Monday, Sept. 28. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said he expects the 2020-21 season to begin on Friday, Jan. 1, 2021.

“We were glad to have Jeff Blashill’s contribution of time and talent to this event,” Erickson said of Blashill, a 1998 graduate of Ferris’ College of Business and a former Bulldog goaltender and assistant coach. “Our videographer Hannah Crouch joined Jeremy in a visit to Detroit to gather Jeff’s segments. Having his support would be next to impossible for a typical Foundation Benefit, because of his obligations to the Red Wings and the demands of their schedule.”

Associate Vice President for Advancement and Executive Director of The Ferris Foundation Bob Murray said emeriti Foundation Board member Stephanie Leonardos, a member of the university’s “Now and Always” campaign cabinet, and Board of Trustee member Kurt Hofman, chair of The Ferris Foundation Board of Directors, will be among the people to join President David Eisler in presenting the Benefit’s virtual program.

Continued

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan penned a profile of Kienan Draper this evening, noting that the Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL) forward is taking the college route to what he hopes will be a professional hockey career:

“I’m very driven,” said Kienan, who’ll play at Miami (Ohio) next year. “I want to make it a reality to be able to put that sweater on and wear the winged wheel. It’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was 4 or 5 years old. So, now that step one has been done and completed, I’m ready to keep working hard and make it come true.”

The entire scenario of Draper drafting Draper was discussed and analyzed by general manager Steve Yzerman and Kris Draper.

There have been numerous other instances, either in the NHL or other pro sports leagues, of sons getting drafted by teams their fathers were part of, worked for or played on. It can be a ticklish situation.

“A couple of scouts, one in Ontario who followed Kienan at St. Andrew’s College (in Aurora, Ontario) last year and one of our scouts in the West who was following him in Chilliwack, they were pushing pretty hard (to draft Draper),” Yzerman said. “Kris and I had a brief conversation about it recently and initially I said, ‘Are you sure you want to put your son in that position?’

“Then, ultimately, my answer to him was, ‘Your obligation is to do whatever is the right thing for the Detroit Red Wings and I trust your judgement.’ And I know that he did that.”

Continued