Rotoworld’s Ryan Dadoun offers 2020-2021 season previews for five Eastern Conference NHL teams this morning, and he discusses the Red Wings’ likely fate from a fantasy hockey perspective:

Detroit Red Wings

2019-20 Finish: 17-49-5 record, eighth in Atlantic Division

Noteworthy Gains: Vladislav Namestnikov, Thomas Greiss, Bobby Ryan, Marc Staal

Noteworthy Losses: None

Strengths: Well… Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Anthony Mantha are three fairly talented young forwards. While none of them have developed into stars, they’re all solid players and combine to be a worthwhile scoring line. There’s potential there for further development and maybe the trio will end up turning some heads this season.

Weaknesses: Almost everything else. It’s overly negative, especially because I do like the experimental additions they added over the summer. The Red Wings got some good veteran role players who should plug some holes nicely. At the same time, we’re talking about a team that was historically bad last season returning with a fairly similar roster. They ranked dead last in goals per game last season at 2 (the next worst was 2.53) and goals allowed per game at 3.73 (the next worst was 3.35). They had the third worst power-play and worst penalty kill. Will they do better this season? Yes, but that’s an extremely low bar.

Player to Watch: One potential silver lining for the team I didn’t really touch on is Thomas Greiss. He struggled mightily in 2017-18, but his other four seasons with the Islanders were fantastic. In fact, he’s put together a really solid career to date with a 2.63 GAA and .915 save percentage in 282 games. It’s going to be tough for him in Detroit given what’s in front of him, but he might be up to the challenge and provide a degree of stability for the team.

Continued

The Red Wings will be holding a Q and A session with Moritz Seider today at 12 PM EST on Instagram Live, with Carley Johnston doing the questioning:

Head over to our Instagram page at 12:00pm as Carley Johnston chats with Moritz LIVE from Sweden. Be sure to send in your questions so Mo can give you a shoutout!

?» https://t.co/7WjzmAnmpN pic.twitter.com/Va0o97oqpl

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) November 23, 2020

MLive’s Ansar Khan engages in a wide-ranging Question and Answer session with Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill this morning, and the subscriber-only article on MLive affords Blashill the opportunity to address several important topics, including the future of the Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha line:

Q: Does more forward depth enable you to keep the top line (Dylan Larkin with Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi) together for longer stretches?

A: “We have to get more from more lines and part of that is those lines earning more ice time and not having to play the Larkin line as much as I did a year ago. That’s not to say their ice time won’t be significant, it will be, but to a level that makes sense for our team. To do that, other lines have to find ways to be successful, whether that’s through points or through momentum, through creating more opportunities than you give up. I’m hoping our depth gives us that ability. We can’t be a one-line team and have success. We have to be a team that has success throughout each line. All this is prediction at this point. Once the season gets going, guys will have an opportunity to prove it.”

…

Q: How important will it be for the seven non-playoff teams to get an extra week of training camp?

A: “I’m not sure what is going to happen. I have not received any word that we will for certain. I think it depends on the timing of when the season starts. We’re getting closer and closer. If it is a Jan. 1 start, it could be difficult for us to get that extra week. Whatever we’re given, it’s always important to have a great training camp, but it’s going to be that much more important this year. We will not have time to absorb the type of injuries sometimes you absorb at training camp, so we’re going to have to be smart about how we train our players. But they’re going to have to be really smart about coming into camp being extremely hockey-ready. That’s not anything different, but it’s probably magnified this year by how long we’ve been off and the fact we’ll probably play fewer games.”

Continued (paywall)

According to Hockeysverige.se’s Rasmus Kagstrom, the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks have loaned Red Wings prospect Malte Setkov to AIK Stockholm of the Allsvenskan for the remainder of 2020. AIK’s website reports that Setkov will make his debut for AIK, which is playing without two key defensemen, on Wednesday against Vasteras IK.

Of prospect-related note from Sunday, November 22nd:

In the SHL, Albert Johansson had 2 shots and finished at -1 in 16:34 played during Farjestad BK’s 4-1 loss to Lulea Hockey;

In the ICE Hockey League, Michael Rasmussen had an assist, finishing at +1 with 1 shot on goal and a minor penalty taken in the Graz99ers’ 3-1 win over the Black Wings;

Jesper Eliasson stopped 31 of 35 shots as the Red Bulls Salzburg lost 4-1 to EC KAC;

In the Czech Extraliga, Jan Bednar was the back-up goaltender in HC Energie Karlovy Vary’s 1-0 win over HC Skoda Plzen;

Filip Zadina had an assist and 6 shots, finishing at -1 in 19:22 played as HC Ocelari Trinec lost 7-6 in overtime to HC Dynamo Pardubice:

Filip Zadina gets an assist in the first period against his former team, his 7th point of the season. #Extraliga @DetroitRedWings pic.twitter.com/8LHk8UozXV

— Czech Prospects (@CZprospects) November 22, 2020

And Filip Hronek had a goal and an assist, finishing at +1 with 2 shots in 24:36 played in HK Mountfield’s 4-1 win over HC VERA Litvinov. Hronek got hit particularly hard by Tomas Popsill, who was ejected from the game.

Here’s Hronek’s goal:

Filip Hronek steps to the middle of the ice and scores. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/7p3tz2qTpp

— Jay (@hwcJay) November 22, 2020

Update: In NCAA Division I Hockey, Carter Gylander stopped 6 of 7 shots in his college debut, with Colgate University losing 2-1 to the Clarkson Golden Knights.

Red Wings super-videographer Alex Wood, a.k.a. AWood40 on YouTube, posted each and every one of Sergei Fedorov’s 6 hat tricks as a Red Wing:

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a profile of Red Wings 2020 draft pick Chase Bradley, who may buck the odds despite having been drafted 203rd overall:

What the Wings like about Bradley, a 6-foot, 180-pound left wing with Sioux City in the United States Hockey League (three assists in three games so far), is his steady and continued improvement, and his competitiveness.

“He’s a very competitive kid,” said Kris Draper, the Wings’ director of amateur scouting, who saw plenty of Bradley while coaching his son Kienan Draper, who like Bradley was a Wings’ seventh-round draft pick in October. “Our scouts were real excited about him.”

The word competitive was used in almost every scouting update on Bradley, who admits that is one of his defining characteristics.

“It’s a very big deal, winning is everything to me,” Bradley said. “Playing for my teammates, also, and having that competitive mindset is key.”

Continued

The Free Press’s Helene St. James examines the Red Wings’ European-playing prospects this morning, attempting to discern which ones will be on the Wings’ NHL team roster a year from now:

[Filip] Hronek and [Filip] Zadina have already established they are NHL players, and will be recalled when the NHL signals teams can start preparing for a 2021 season.

In what is an encouraging sign for the Wings’ rebuild, many of their other players in Europe are having excellent seasons. It’s a good indication that a player is ready to advance when he is dominating at his current level. [Moritz] Seider has not played for the past week because his SHL team, Rögle, has had to postpone games because of COVID-19, but he has averaged nearly a point-a-game, producing two goals and five assists in eight games.

The Wings were planning to bring Seider (6-foot-4, 207 pounds) to Detroit for a few games last season before hockey was shut down March 12 because of the pandemic. He’s in Sweden for this season, but considering that the 19-year-old will, is now in his third season of playing professional hockey, he’s all but guaranteed to be a part of the Wings’ lineup in 2021-22.

[Lucas] Raymond, who general manager Steve Yzerman selected at fourth in the 2020 draft, is also likely to be on the team. He had five goals and seven assists in 19 games, ranking second on his team, Frölunda (which is in first place in the SHL) in his second full year in the SHL. Raymond (5-10, 183 pounds) already has topped the 10 points he recorded in 33 games last season.

Continued

Of prospect-related note:

In the SHL, Djurgarden won 3-2 over the Vaxjo Lakers. Albin Grewe posted 1 shot in 6:14 played;

In their only game this week, the Frolunda Indians got smoked 7-1 by Brynas IF. The good news for Red Wings fans is that Lucas Raymond got a nice assist on Frolunda’s only goal, taking 1 shot and finishing even in 12:17 played; Theodor Niederbach also had 2 shots and finished at -1 in 10:17 played, which is a lot for a rookie.

Here’s Raymond’s assist, which was registered to tie the game at 1-1:

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Raymond, Setkov, Veleno, Brome all serve up assists →

Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon spotlighted 10 NHL prospects who are playing in Europe at the present moment, and his list includes two Red Wings prospects:

Moritz Seider, D, Detroit Red Wings: Steve Yzerman’s decision to start his GM tenure in Detroit by drafting Seider sixth overall in 2019 has made more and more sense as times whizzes by. The six-foot-four German has put up seven points in eight contests skating for Rögle in the Swedish Hockey League this year.

“I don’t know if they’re going to put him on their team right away, but he certainly has the upside to be a legitimate top-four, if not a top-pair guy,” the scout said. “I just like the balls. A little like [Boston Bruin Charlie McAvoy], just willingness to try to make something happen. [And] I haven’t that seen that be a risk thing, where he’s always [taking risks] to make things happen.”

From what I’ve seen of Seider in Europe, he’s definitely a high-risk, high-reward player, willing to skate up into the rush all by himself if he feels that there’s an opportunity to generate offense, but his strength of self-belief is a positive there…

Filip Zadina, RW, Detroit Red Wings: For kids who grow up filling nets in Europe, dreaming of an NHL career, the reality of starting off in the AHL is — let’s be honest — not something that has them turning backflips. For every Euro prospect who comes over and embraces the bus rides, there are handfuls — especially top-10 draft picks — who find it tough to get fired up.

“You don’t tell them when you draft them, ‘See you in Grand Rapids,’” the scout said.

Zadina, drafted sixth overall in 2018, spent most of his first North American season and a chunk of last year with the AHL’s Griffins before joining the Red Wings. He was starting to hit his stride in Detroit when an ankle injury torpedoed his season in early February. He has five goals in seven contests in his native Czech Republic this year, skating for Trinec Ocelari.

The scout thought Zadina showed something during his time in Detroit last year. While his play away from the puck and work ethic will continue to be scrutinized, he’s on the right track. “His shot and ability; he’ll get all kinds of opportunity in Detroit,” he said.

Continued; if I may be frank, the Red Wings do expect their players to spend some time in Grand Rapids riding the bus and learning to be a pro; Zadina has been lucky in that he’s playing for his hometown team with his dad as his assistant coach, and there’s no doubt that he’s enthusiastic about playing “at home”…