Category: Uncategorized

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. During last week’s summer development camp, Red Wings forward Taro Hirose spoke with the media regarding his decision to take part in said camp, as the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan noted:

“I’m trying to be a student of the game, and watch what the best players in the world are doing,” said Hirose last week during the Wings’ development camp. “Being able to pick their brains, guys on the team, and see what they’re seeing on plays and seeing things that maybe I don’t see, I’m trying to learn all the time. That’s a big part for me.”

Hirose, 23, was one of the older players at last week’s camp, and also had the edge of already played some NHL games.

His success the final weeks of the season was somewhat of a surprise, given he’s only listed at 5-foot-10, 160-pounds, and Hirose isn’t the fastest skater around.

But Hirose has utilized his hockey smarts to the best of his ability, consistently making plays and finding the best places to be on the ice.

“He showed when he came in last season he proved he could produce,” said Shawn Horcoff, the Wings’ director of player development. “He’s been training hard this offseason and he looks good right now.”

2. The New Haven Register’s Chip Malafronte spoke with development camp participant Keith Petruzzelli about his upcoming junior season at Quinnipiac:

InGoal Magazine’s Cat Silverman filed an impressive article discussing each and every one of the NHL’s free agency signings at the goaltending position, and Silverman has this to say about the Red Wings’ signing of Calvin Pickard:

The 2018-19 season was a disappointing one for Calvin Pickard, who Toronto had hoped to sneak through waivers and instead got scooped up to join the goaltending carousel in Philadelphia. Things didn’t work out there, and he was picked up by the Arizona Coyotes to help them with their own onslaught of goaltending injuries – and ultimately, he ended up going months at a time without sniffing NHL ice.

Pickard’s promising numbers with the Avalanche and AHL Marlies in the past, though, combine with one of the most highly-lauded locker room presences in the league. So the 27-year old Manitoban was picked up on a two-year deal by the Detroit Red Wings, who gave him a combined $1.5 million to both provide some guaranteed money for the player and a reasonable $750,000 cap hit for themselves. He’ll join the Red Wings to compete with backup Jonathan Bernier for the number two spot behind Jimmy Howard and provide some insurance in case the 35-year old Jimmy Howard suffers any kind of setbacks.

At best, Pickard has proven to be a phenomenal teammate and a positive practice goaltender, but the assumption is that the Red Wings will need to use him in some capacity during the year – so don’t expect to see him go through the kind of lengthy starting dry spells this time around.

Continued

From the Red Wings’ Twitter account:

Not many guys get to say they played for their home team in the NHL, I am very grateful for that. Thank you Red Wings fans for the support over the last two years. I brought my work boots everyday but it’s time to… https://t.co/oSMRRPRXyX— Luke Witkowski (@thehollandnativ) July 2, 2019

View this post on Instagram

Not many guys get to say they played for their home team in the NHL, I am very grateful for that. Thank you Red Wings fans for the support over the last two years. I brought my work boots everyday but it's time to bring them back to where it began.

A post shared by Luke Witkowski (@thehollandnative) on Jul 2, 2019 at 9:35am PDT

As a 41-year-old, it’s a little painful to watch Moritz Seider, Joe Veleno, Gustav Lindstrom, Filip Zadina, Alec Regula and Kasper Kotkansalo try to master 90’s trivia:

Also:

The hands. The finish. @jveleno91 is not messing around! ? (? @DetroitRedWings) pic.twitter.com/T1qCVeQIcq— NHL (@NHL) July 2, 2019

The Red Wings’ website posted an update on Jack Adams’ injury from Jack Adams himself. Adams speaks to fans in his latest “You Don’t Know Jack” blog entry:

I was having such a good camp and having so much fun. I was confident and pleased with how my meetings and games went, and I was looking forward to getting home and starting my summer training. Then …

Human beings often abide by the “Not-Me” syndrome, meaning we often feel immune to struggle, adversity, pain and injury. Personally, this year has been full of mixed emotions, and sadly, this past weekend, I received the news that no athlete ever wants to hear.

“Jack, you’ve fully torn your ACL and your MCL, and you’ll need surgery in the near future.” Instantly, my dad and I started laughing. Another thing to deal with, seriously? I was filled with anger, tears, and thoughts you don’t want to think about for the remainder of the day and the flight home. And honestly, what was most difficult for me was seeing seeing my dad by my side, devastated.

I’m sitting outside on my deck, writing to you all, relaying a simple message: I am not a victim, nor will I approach my recovery process with that self-defeating attitude.

Continued

This morning, The Athletic’s Max Bultman attempts to determine what the Red Wings’ 2019-2020 season roster will look like:

And after a long week of development camp followed by an active Monday, that question does at least look a little bit clearer. While the possibility of another move remains, the numbers game of the roster is beginning to set some parameters, with September’s training camp in Traverse City ultimately the final test. And obviously, what happens there could (and should) swing things quite a bit.

At this time last year, for example, Dennis Cholowski didn’t look like any kind of slam dunk to make Detroit’s roster. But he turned a big summer into a consistent place in the lineup for the first three-plus months of the season.

With most of the roster likely set, though, it is about time to get started figuring out what Detroit’s depth chart projects to look like with just over two months until the start of camp — and Cholowski, it turns out, could be at the center of that debate once again.

Continued (paywall)…

The Grand Rapids Press’s Peter J. Wallner reports that Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon will take part in the World Junior Summer Showcase later this month in Plymouth:

Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon will be a guest coach for Team USA during the 2019 World Junior Summer Showcase later this month in Plymouth.

Simon, entering his second season as coach of the Griffins, will join former NHL forward and college coach Derek Plante at the July 26-Aug. 3 event that features the best Under-20 players from the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden. All are competing for spots to represent their country in the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Continued

Via Kukla’s Korner: The Athletic’s Scott Burnside gave free agency grades to each and every one of the NHL’s 31 teams, an here’s what he had to say about the Red Wings:

Detroit Red Wings: C

In: Steve Yzerman (GM), Moritz Seider, Patrik Nemeth, Valtteri Filppula, Calvin Pickard

Out: Thomas Vanek, Niklas Kronwall (likely), Luke Witkowski

It’s unlikely Moritz Seider, the sixth pick in the draft, will be in Red Wing red come the fall, but he’s notable because new GM Steve Yzerman passed up on some high-end offensive talent to take the German defender. The pick suggests there aren’t going to be any quick fixes for the Red Wings, who have now missed the playoffs in three straight years. I like the add of Patrik Nemeth on a two-year deal with a $3 million cap hit. Nemeth, 27, brings some size and stability to the back end where there remains a bit of an aging logjam with veteran pieces like Jonathan Ericsson, Trevor Daley and Mike Green still under contract for the coming season. Their future with the team remains fluid especially as we get closer to the trade deadline next season when the Wings are expected once again to be sellers. Repatriating Valtteri Filppula should be a boon to the bevy of emerging young forwards on the Red Wing roster, although at age 35 he certainly won’t make this squad any faster and shouldn’t be counted on much for offensive production.

Continued (paywall)…

The Free Press’s Helene St. James reviews Steve Yzerman’s free agency comments as they pertain to possibly making more moves:

“I would mull over a couple other things,” Yzerman said Monday. “We have a spot potentially on right wing. I don’t want to fill it just to fill it because it gives us some options for some of our younger players, to see if they’re ready, and it leaves opportunity maybe for something to come along now and the start of the regular season. I’m not really in a hurry, but I would consider that, and potentially look at maybe another defenseman.”

Yzerman said every veteran under contract is projected to be ready for September’s training camp, including defenseman Mike Green, who battled a virus last season, and defensemen Trevor Daley and Jonathan Ericsson, both of whom missed significant time injured. Yzerman said at the NHL draft he’d let veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall have the whole summer to decide whether to retire or return. That decision could play into whether Yzerman looks elsewhere to bolster the blue line.

“We’d weigh adding another one versus leaving a spot for one of our younger guys on the roster,” Yzerman said. “If the right player at the right contract comes along, we would consider signing another one.”

Continued

ESPN’s John Buccigross revealed that Red Wings prospect and Union College forward Jack Adams suffered torn ligaments in his knee during the final scrimmage at the Red Wings’ summer development camp, and the Daily Gazette’s Mike MacAdam shares more about Adams’ injury:

Adams, a 6-foot-6, 210-pound forward from Boxford, Mass., suffered a full tear of the anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in his right knee, according to a message he posted to his Instagram account Monday.

A sixth-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2017, Adams was hurt while participating in the Red Wings’ NHL Prospects Development Camp. He said on Instagram that he’s confident he’ll make a full recovery.

“The last few days have been a whirlwind of emotions for my family and I, as I recently received the news no athlete wants to hear. I’ve completely torn my ACL and MCL in my right knee,” Adams said on Instagram.

“While this news is devastating for myself personally, I am not a victim, nor will I allow myself to go through this recovery process with that self-defeating attitude.”

Adams was coming off a sophomore season in which scored 10 goals and had 12 assists for 22 points in 38 games, good for sixth on the team, and the third most among players who are expected to to return in 2019-20.

Continued, and here are the social media posts of note: