The Hockey News’s Matt Larkin posted a list of his top 250 fantasy hockey players, and five Red Wings made his cut:

89. Dylan Larkin, C, Red Wings: Too low for a No. 1 center? Maybe, but he’s only had one A-grade season of fantasy production. That might remain the case until Detroit’s prospects stick with the big club for good.

…

111. Anthony Mantha, RW, Red Wings: There’s a 30-goal season coming if he can play anything close to a full year. He’s scored 30.5 per 82 games over past two seasons, but he’s missed 43 games over that stretch.

…

149. Tyler Bertuzzi, LW, Red Wings: Eventually might get passed on depth chart by higher-pedigree prospects, but he’s Detroit’s best option alongside Larkin and Mantha for now. Back-to-back 20-goal efforts.

…

174. Filip Hronek, D, Red Wings: Less valuable in plus-minus leagues but is an underrated point-producer as the primary power-play conductor in Motown.

…

226. Filip Zadina, RW, Red Wings: Showed flashes in an injury-shortened year. Hoping he gets a full season in and breaks out this time. Still oozes potential to become a Marian Hossa type of player someday.

Pavel Datsyuk doing Pavel Datsyuk things from afair, via Here’s Your Replay:

The Magic Man with the magic backhand.
No one’s stopping that. Absolutely filthy. ? pic.twitter.com/cDK2edTciR— Here’s Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) January 5, 2021

Pavel Datsyuk now has 9-19–28 in 34 GP
42 years young.— Here’s Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) January 5, 2021

? pic.twitter.com/nwe6hWgIia— Here’s Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) January 5, 2021

Name a better duo than Pavel Datsyuk and his backhand.

The 42-year-old wins it in the shootout pic.twitter.com/f2wx9pwrfh— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) January 5, 2021

Red Wings to play in a division where that one store you shop at doesn’t take your credit card. https://t.co/9a8wE2xQQh— George Malik (@georgemalik) January 5, 2021

On the one hand, desperate financial times call for desperate financial measures like selling title sponsorship to your divisions. On the other hand, I’m now at 90% that we’re a few months away from the New Amsterdam Vodka Hart Trophy. pic.twitter.com/uBtfrOXF5r— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) January 5, 2021

I also don’t envy play by play announcers this season:

“The Penguins are now just two points out of first place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, presented by MassMutual!”— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) January 5, 2021

“Discover NHL Central Division” is also the title of the DVD that Central Division teams use for free-agent recruitment.— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) January 5, 2021

Big bummer here, per the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe and Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek:

According to this post, the @ToledoWalleye
will not be playing this year.
Looking to confirm. https://t.co/6EZGqM4JeH— Mark Monroe (@MonroeBlade) January 5, 2021

The Red Wings have posted their rosters for today’s Red vs. White Game 1, which begins today at 10:20 AM EST:

Red vs White rosters! #DRWTC #LGRW

Coverage begins at 10:20am on https://t.co/jLX5LxapNh. pic.twitter.com/ExVSbL3J4f

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 5, 2021

Lineups for today's @DetroitRedWings scrimmage! Catch @KenKalDRW, @ArthurJRegner, @carleykjohnston, and myself live from Little Caesars Arena. Coverage begins at 10am on https://t.co/uvZSRo6ZWQ!! pic.twitter.com/wNJVnrF0wV

— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) January 5, 2021

The Detroit Red Wings’ training camp participants will engage in their first of three scheduled scrimmages later this morning (DetroitRedWings.com will probably stream the scrimmage, starting at 10:20 AM), with scrimmages set to follow on Friday and Sunday.

Given that this year’s team won’t have any exhibition games leading up to their season-opener on the 14th vs. Carolina, Wings coach Jeff Blashill told the Free Press’s Helene St. James that the emphasis of the scrimmages will be on hammering home game-ready play:

“These scrimmages will be nothing like normal scrimmages in training camp,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “This is going to be as real as it gets without playing against another team.”

There won’t be any exhibition games before the Wings open a 56-game slate on Jan. 14, so these three scrimmages will serve as the best chance to impress the coaching staff.

“We’ll use it as a good evaluation,” Blashill said. “Guys understand that — whether you’re trying out for penalty killing spots, for power play spots, for spots on the team. They understand what’s at stake.”

Camp started with 40 players split into two groups, of which the Red team was made up of the front runners to be in the lineup on opening night. Darren Helm has been unfit to practice — with either an injury or illness — the past two days, so his spot on the fourth line will go to someone else.

Continued

Red Wings prospect Eemil Viro had a solid, if unspectacular night playing heads-up, never-chase-the-puck defense for Team Finland at the World Junior Championship, but the Finns lost 4-3 to Team USA in the second semifinal of the night in Edmonton.

Viro himself finished even with no shots or penalties in 18:45 played.

As such, Viro’s Finns will battle Russia for the bronze medal at 5:30 PM EST Tuesday on TSN and the NHL Network; the Americans and Canadians (who took out Russia 5-0) will tangle for gold at 9:30 PM EST Tuesday night on TSN and the NHL Network.

NHL.com posted a set of “fantasy hockey sleeper” picks for each and every one of the NHL’s 31 teams earlier today, and I haven’t seen much of Filip Zadina or Filip Hronek playing in North America yet, but the Wings’ press corps isn’t the only group of people intrigued by what “The Filips” might be bringing back from Czech Extraliga play:

Detroit Red Wings: Forward Filip Zadina (LW/RW; undrafted on average in fantasy) scored 15 points (eight goals, seven assists), including four goals and seven points on the power play, in 28 games last season. Zadina could capture a spot on Detroit’s top power-play unit, which would bring exposure to valuable fantasy forwards Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi, and another deep fantasy sleeper in defenseman Filip Hronek. Zadina is an intriguing late-round selection in deep and keeper leagues and should be monitored on the waiver wire in standard formats. — Rob Reese

Continued

The Vancouver Province’s Steve Ewen reports that Red Wings prospect Kienan Draper, who had been playing for the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs, has departed the Canadian amateur hockey league for its U.S. counterpart, the USHL:

The B.C. Hockey League sits idle, the rival U.S. Hockey League continues its regular season, and players are noticing.

Forwards Ayrton Martino and Kienan Draper became the latest players to jump from this province’s Junior A loop to its American counterpart when the Omaha Lancers announced that they had signed on with their club after leaving the Chilliwack Chiefs.

Martino, 18, is a Toronto native who was pegged as a potential second- or third-round pick in next summer’s NHL Draft in the NHL Central Scouting’s season-opening, players-to-watch list. Draper, 18, is the son of former Detroit Red Wings centre Kris Draper and the Royal Oak, Mich., native was a seventh-round pick by the Wings in last summer’s draft.

Martino and Draper were both in the Lancers’ lineup Sunday against the host Des Moines (Iowa) Buccaneers at Wells Fargo Arena. It was the 16th regular-season game of the season for the Lancers.

Continued

New guys ?
2️⃣2️⃣ Kienan Draper
2️⃣3️⃣ Ayrton Martino pic.twitter.com/tfvt1h2CcO

— Omaha Lancers (@OmahaLancers) January 3, 2021

Things you don’t expect on a Monday night in January: Michigan Golf Journal’s Tom Lang engaging in a Q and A with Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill:

Q: In addition to the swinging motion, do you see similarities between golf and hockey?

A: “I was a goalie, so I don’t come by the swinging of it as naturally.  But the players I’ve played golf with can all really, really hit the ball a long way. It probably has a lot to do with how you turn your body and their hip strength.  

“But the other side of it to me relates to any sport and most parts of life, and that’s the mental challenge. I don’t know if there’s a better mental challenge in sports than golf. Even in team situations, you’re alone out there a lot of times and you have to grind through situations. You have to handle the successes when you’re playing well and handle the frustration that certainly happens to all of us.” 

Q: When training camp takes place in Traverse City each summer, there’s intense competition for players getting their shot at the NHL.  How much of that competitive spirit transfers over to the golf course on their downtime? 

A: “We do have some downtime at training camp, and one of the reasons we go to Traverse City is to be able to do things away from the ice too. The players tend to play golf in their downtime. The competitive nature that transfers from one sport to the next is important.  

“For a lot of us that don’t get to compete on a daily basis, golf becomes that competition, so when you get older and you’re out of organized sports, golf can fill that void… and even competing for fun you can be playing for some type of side bet, or for pride. I’ve certainly seen that at times, whether it’s in training camp or different matches with my friends or between players. But I think it’s all important.” 

Continued