Author: George Malik

FYI:

Congrats Dylan! Well deserved.— Nicklas Lidstrom (@NicklasLidstrom) January 13, 2021

MLive’s Ansar Khan reports from Wednesday’s practice, ahead of Thursday’s home opener vs. Carolina:

#RedWings filing onto ice for practice. Bobby Ryan is back, wearing orange non-contact jersey. pic.twitter.com/FBX8li29sp— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 13, 2021

Bobby Ryan in no-contact orange. Last practice was Jan. 7. pic.twitter.com/pCvQkZvcHA— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) January 13, 2021

The real fun starts tomorrow. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/gzrqG2yjPA— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 13, 2021

First skate with the C. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/q7WVK32AMu— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 13, 2021

Meanwhile, in Raleigh…

Today Raleigh, tomorrow Detroit.

Last practice before the season starts for the @Canes. First time session @PNCArena this year. pic.twitter.com/HAbCg7cRl1— Mike Maniscalco (@mikemaniscalco) January 13, 2021

#RedWings lines and D pairs:
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha
Namestnikov-Fabbri-Zadina
Brome-Filppula-Gagner
Nielsen-Glendening-Erne
Ryan (apparently injured)
Nemeth-Hronek
DeKeyser-Merrill
Staal-Stecher
Biega-Lindstrom (extras)
Bernier
Greiss
Rasmussen, Smith, Pickard, Boyle (taxi squad) pic.twitter.com/b92sFsBZ94— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 13, 2021

The Athletic’s Max Bultman penned a fine article discussing what will change–and what won’t–now that Dylan Larkin is the Red Wings’ captain:

Certainly, as arguably the Red Wings’ best player in recent years and a two-way centerman who plays some of Detroit’s most challenging matchups, Larkin has checked that box already.

He also, after five seasons with the Red Wings, has been around long enough to lead more directly, too. He has now lived through one of the toughest seasons in modern NHL history, which wasn’t easy on anyone, but does give him an invaluable perspective on the locker room, knowing what it needs and what it may respond to.

“He’s got a great temperature of the room in terms of, he knows when something needs to be said, when we need to call out something in terms of as a team, just not performing,” Glendening said. “But he also knows that there’s a time to lift guys up.”

These are words said about Larkin before he formally got the “C” — to Blashill’s point, the things that put Larkin in this position. More importantly, though, these are the things he’ll need to hang on to now that he’s here.

Carolina Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal echoed those sentiments late last season when asked what changed when he became captain, saying “everyone just kept telling me not to change, so I didn’t. It didn’t really change a whole lot for me. Personally I knew I was a leader in the room from the start, and I think most guys that are named captain already know that they’re a leader in the room.”

But even Staal would admit that some things are inevitably different when the “C” is officially placed on a jersey — from small details on the ice or in the locker room, to more macro ones like being more in the loop of the team’s direction on the management side.

Continued

I don’t like to be a shit-stirrer, but the Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope–a fine journalist–and I happen to vividly disagree regarding his assessment of the state of the Red Wings’ blueline:

Red Wings: The Wings were so bad last season — the NHL’s worst team in 20 years — that even a substantial improvement in 2021 won’t pull them out of last place.

Up front, there are some pieces to build around in Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Filip Zadina. The addition of free-agent goalie Thomas Greiss will help keep them close in more games, too. But the Wings are still terrible, most of all on the back end. All six of their defensemen would be third-pairing guys, at best, on a contender.

Filip Hronek is not a 3rd-pair defensemen, and the Red Wings have an abundance of second-pair guys after him in DeKeyser, Stecher and Nemeth. Merrill, Staal, Biega, they are what they are, but that’s okay.

While I was translating Swedish, this happened:

It’s official.

Dylan Larkin has been named the 37th captain in Detroit Red Wings franchise history. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/l05lknUP6B

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 13, 2021

Competitive. Driven. Dedicated.

Our captain. pic.twitter.com/p4NZonVzAP— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 13, 2021

The journey. pic.twitter.com/PPJyxwL9MX— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 13, 2021

Earlier this month, I asked Dylan Larkin what his personal and team goals are for the season.

“I want to be a great player in this league. I want our team to be a great team that’s respected and back in contention for the Stanley Cup,” @Dylanlarkin39 said pic.twitter.com/uOjjDMrOII— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) January 13, 2021

The #RedWings today announced that center Dylan Larkin has been named the team’s captain, becoming the 37th captain in franchise history and the first Michigander and native metro Detroiter.

More » https://t.co/FiKKptF8ZI pic.twitter.com/MqB5iCspJr— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 13, 2021

Here’s HSJ on the announcement:

Via HockeyNews.se’s Elvin Lindelof and Mattias Persson comes this update from Rogle BK’s website’s Lasse Mauritzson on Moritz Seider. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

Simon Ryfors [did not play] and Moritz Seider was forced to leave early in Tuesday’s losing match at home against Leksand. Both can possibly play in Thursday’s away match against Växjö, but information will not be given until the game day, according to Rögle’s trainer Sven Thomsson.

Hill Moritz Seider was checked heavily at the start of the match last night and left the game and did not return. Seider was present at Wednesday’s practice but did not go on ice.

“Moritz did rehab training in the gym and then we will see how he feels tomorrow. We will make the decision after the warm-up tomorrow,” says physiotherapist Sven Thomsson.

Jon Knuts checks Seider and this time Seider is unable to reverse, flying into the boards and leaves the ice in pain. pic.twitter.com/pqe7Johmrm

— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) January 12, 2021

The Red Wings’ Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League prospects keep heading to alternate teams for the present moment, as noted on Twitter by Red Wings Prospects:

Donovan Sebrango joins HK Levice (Slovakia-2) on loan. #LGRW https://t.co/OCELkoU94q— Red Wings Prospects (@DRWProspects) January 13, 2021

Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin appeared on 97.1 the Ticket’s Stoney and Jansen show on Tuesday morning. Here’s an MP3 of the interview:

The Detroit Free Press’s Bill Dow posted a subscriber-only article which discusses the fact that it’s been 50 years since Mickey Redmond, who’s now 73 years old, was traded from Montreal to Detroit:

It’s hard to believe that a half century has passed since one of the Detroit Red Wings‘ beloved figures arrived in the Motor City.

Mired at the bottom of the Eastern Division at the beginning of what became known as the “Dead Wings Era,” the Red Wings rocked the hockey world on Jan. 13, 1971. Newly anointed general manager Ned Harkness dealt high-scoring left winger Frank Mahovlich to Montreal for promising right winger Mickey Redmond and centers Billy Collins and Guy Charron.

With the trade, Harkness split up one of the most potent lines in NHL history: Hall of Famers Mahovlich, Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio. Mahovlich, scored 87 goals the previous two seasons.

Redmond was informed of the trade by Montreal coach Al MacNeil at an airport bookstore.

“I was disappointed and upset with the deal at the time, but all things happen for a reason,” said Redmond, preparing for his 35th consecutive season as a TV color commentator for the Red Wings. “The deal worked out for Montreal because they won the cup with Frank, but here I am fifty years later with the Wings on a ride that has been incredibly great. And as a player, the trade helped me spread my wings, no pun intended.”

Continued (paywall)

In a subscriber-only article, MLive’s Ansar Khan asks 10 pertinent questions regarding the Red Wings and their 2020-2021 season expectations, including the following:

Which players are poised for the biggest breakthrough?

Two come to mind – Anthony Mantha and Filip Zadina. Mantha is coming into his prime at age 26 and has demonstrated his sniping ability for several years. Problem is, he has missed a lot of games with injuries, some of them the result of fights or altercations the club prefers he avoids. A healthy Mantha will be a consistent scoring threat. Zadina showed progress last season in Detroit before suffering a fractured ankle. Following a good stint in the Czech Republic in the fall, he has looked more confident in camp while pursuing pucks and creating space to unleash his wicked shot.

…

How much better will the defense be?

The unit is much different and figures to be significantly better. Gone from the start of last season are Mike Green, Jonathan Ericsson, Trevor Daley and Madison Bowey. The Red Wings added Marc Staal, Troy Stecher and Jon Merrill and welcome back a healthy Danny DeKeyser, limited to eight games last season due to back surgery. They join Filip Hronek and Patrik Nemeth. Stecher skates the puck well; he and DeKeyser will improve the unit’s ability to get the puck out of the zone. Staal and Merrill provide some size and should be an upgrade from what the team had.

Continued (paywall)