Even though he was immersed in the CHL culture – Phillips even attended the Mooseheads training camp one season – but he chose to take a completely different route.
He played prep hockey at Selects Academy at South Kent School in Connecticut and finished last season in the USHL with Sioux Falls.
Phillips will enroll at Boston University in the fall.
“It was definitely a tough decision,” Phillips admitted. “I know Cam Russell, the GM of Halifax, pretty well. I just figured for me in the end that college was going to be the best route for me. You never really know until it’s over. I tried to gather as much information as I could and it seemed like college was the better route for me to take.”
Duff continues, also discussing Filip Zadina and Alec Regula’s injuries…
Quotable: “Jonatan is a real skilled player. He played 16 games at the start of the year and it didn’t go the way he would have liked it to. But having said that, he was injured the whole time. It wasn’t until a little while that they found out he had a back injury that eventually kept him out for the rest of the season. He’s a kid that brings good skill, he’s a good skater. But he’s another one, he’s just young, he’s had to learn about the physical side of the game. He’s maturing in terms of trying to figure out what he’s going to need to do in order to give himself the best chance of playing in the NHL. I’ve talked to him plenty of times during the summer. He has a good workout program, a good off-ice program set up for him in order to put that necessary strength on.
After fairly productive days one and two of the Red Wings’ summer development camp, the Red Wings moved from the BELFOR Training Center ice to the big ice at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday.
I’m not sure whether this was due to a bad patch on the ice at the BELFOR or whether the Wings were simply able to present the main ice surface to the players after holding other events at LCA; either way, it was impressive to see the prospects take to the big boys’ rink for the final day of skill development drills.
On Friday evening, the players will engage in a 3-on-3 tournament, preceding a full-team Red & White Game scrimmage on Saturday at noon. Here’s Friday’s schedule:
6:00 – 6:20 p.m. – On-Ice Warm-Up (All Players)
6:30 – 6:50 p.m. – 3-on-3 Tournament Game #1
7:10 – 7:30 p.m. – 3-on-3 Tournament Game #2
7:40 – 8:00 p.m. – 3-on-3 Tournament Consolation Game
8:20 – 8:40 p.m. – 3-on-3 Tournament Championship Game
As of Thursday evening, the Wings have yet to release the 3-on-3 rosters for the four teams participating in the event. I’m assuming that not all players present for the development camp will take part in the tournament, with everybody drawing back in for Saturday’s 12 PM scrimmage.
On Thursday morning and afternoon, the players on Team Howe and Team Lindsay reversed their roles from Wednesday’s activities, with Team Howe engaging in stickhandling and sometimes jumping drills with Swedish skill development coach Daniel Broberg; Team Lindsay engaged in drills with the Power Edge Pro coaches, using the PEP trainers to simulate opposing checkers as they deked and dangled their way through an intense, fast-paced set of drills.
DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji filed a notebook article which focuses on Union College forward Jack Adams today. Adams has had a couple of up-and-down seasons thus far, but he felt that he took some steps forward this past season, despite losing his brother “Roo” at a very young age. It was refreshing to hear Adams admit that his college experience has been OK, and that his college hockey experience has been good despite the fact that life kind of sucked this past year:
Being in college surrounded by a strong support system also helped Adams.
“My family, faith, the two biggest things,” Adams said. “Both my parents are still obviously having a really hard time with it, which is the toughest thing for me, but I have a really good sports psychologist back at school, Doc Wally Bzdell has helped me a ton and Coach Bennett’s been unbelievable for me in talking in his office once or twice a week, letting stuff out. But the feeling hasn’t gone away quite yet. My teammates have been unbelievable for me. The biggest thing for me, my teammates at Union have been unbelievable. But yeah, it still sucks.”
The loss took a toll on Adams as he worked to get back to where he was at the end of last summer.
He said it was 3-4 months before he was able to gain the weight back.
“I went from, like, 210 to like, 180, literally in a week,” Adams said. “I don’t know how. I couldn’t eat or sleep. Right now I put the weight back on so I’m about 220 but the sleep hasn’t really gotten there yet.. It’s coming so it’s getting better.”
Wakiji continues, and she added a Tweet from Adams which notes that he’s holding a golf classic this August, in his brother’s memory:
Come join my family and I at the Mark “Roo” Adams Golf Classic on August 12th at Turner Hill Country Club. Looking forward to a great event honoring an even greater person. https://t.co/USbBz7Nt3x— Jack Adams (@J_Danglefest2) June 27, 2019
I and many other Red Wings fans would prefer that the Wings stay out of the unrestricted free agent marketplace entirely, but:
Come July 1st at 12 PM EDT, the Red Wings will have approximately $12 million worth of cap space (per CapFriendly), and absent any notable restricted free agents to sign (unless Dominic Turgeon or Joe Hicketts are going to land multi-million-dollar offers, which is unlikely), the Wings may very well dip their toes into the free agent marketplace, even on a limited basis.
The Athletic’s Max Bultman has posted a Red Wings free agency primer, and while I can’t share everything that Bultman wrote, Bultman believes that forwards Gustav Nyquist and Joonas Donskoi, defenseman Jake Gardiner and a handful of other alternatives (like one Marcus Johansson) could help the Wings shore up their scoring, grit and/or defense.
In Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi, Andreas Athanasiou, Filip Hronek and Dennis Cholowski, the Red Wings do have a core of young players who are ready to start pushing. Michael Rasmussen joined the fold last year at age 19. Filip Zadina could join them as soon as opening night this season.
And as they continue to grow, all of them could stand to gain from the right player joining the lineup and the locker room.
The Red Wings do have some cap space — CapFriendly estimates around $12 million — although the exact number is hazy due to Niklas Kronwall’s pending decision on whether to retire. They will also have more flexibility on the way next summer, when Mike Green, Jonathan Ericsson and Trevor Daley’s contracts are all up.
They also, however, have to be careful with the kind of money and term they hand out, because every summer from next June out will figure to have at least a couple significant Red Wings entering restricted free agency. Mantha, Athanasiou and Bertuzzi will all need new contracts in 2020. Cholowski and Hronek are up for new deals in 2021. The summer of 2022 should be when Zadina gets his next contract, and could be a payday for Joe Veleno, too, depending on how many NHL games he plays this season.
So yes, the Red Wings have openings in the lineup, money to spend, and even more cap flexibility on the way next year. But they also might be better served keeping some of that flexibility for a time when their future cap situation looks a little more predictable.
Bultman continues (paywall), going in-depth on his analyses as to why Nyquist, Donskoi or Gardiner might intrigue the Wings, and he added the following Tweet:
Thomas Vanek’s camp is talking with other teams and have been informed there’s probably not a fit between him and Detroit for this year.— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) June 27, 2019
I like Thomas Vanek as a person, and he scored 16 goals in only 64 games played for the Wings, but his skating speed is now glacial, Larry Murphy-style slow, and Murph had ten times the sense of positioning that Vanek possesses.
The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan focuses on small Finnish forward Otto Kivenmaki in his Wednesday notebook. Kivenmaki was drafted at somewhere between 5’6″ and 5’7″ and approximately 130 pounds; he’s up to 5’8″ and 154 pounds this summer, and the Assat Pori forward believes that he can earn a full-time spot on his Finnish Liiga men’s team by continuing to focus on adding strength:
“I got bigger and stronger, so that’s good,” Kivenmaki said. “I noticed this summer, being in the corners, I wouldn’t fall so easily. That helps a lot. I have to get bigger. I still don’t weigh much compared to the other guys. There’s still improvement.”
So what does Kivenmaki have to do to combat his lack of size?
“I just have to be smarter and quicker,” Kivenmaki said. “You have to know what you want to do before you get the puck. You can’t stand around. You have to move around and outsmart them.”
“He definitely has natural smarts,” Horcoff said. “Is he going to be strong enough? Can he develop a stronger core of his lower body to protect the puck in traffic? He’s come a long way since last year. He really finished the season well.
“If you want to win you have to get into those hard areas, but the only way to do that is to be strong enough to take the pounding against the big guys in the league. It’s up to him to put the work in. He’s definitely a project and will take some time.”
The Red Wings’ media corps spoke with turning-pro goaltender Filip Larsson today, and both MLive’s Ansar Khan and the Free Press’s Helene St. James filed articles regarding Larsson’s career path.
The former Djurgardens IF and Tri-City Storm goaltender hopes to earn a starting job with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins after a season spent at the University of Denver, but Larsson readily admitted that he’s not counting himself the Griffins’ starter just yet. Khan duly noted that Larsson is taking things a moment at a time…
Could Larsson reach Detroit in 2020-21? Starter Jimmy Howard, 35, signed a one-year contract in March and his performance will dictate whether he is extended for another season. Backup Jonathan Bernier, 30, has two years remaining on his deal.
Larsson realizes a large portion of the fan base hopes he is on the fast track to the NHL.
“Yeah, I get some stuff on social media, but I’m not that updated there,” Larsson said. “Sometimes I get a message or something. I know about it. It’s fun to see. For me, I want to play games at the next level.”
By next level, he was referring to the AHL, and he isn’t even taking for granted that he has a job with the Griffins, saying he’s going to “try to get that spot.”
He will, and the only question is how many games he will play. The Red Wings have only one other goalie under contract, prospect Kaden Fulcher, who played for the ECHL Toledo Walleye last season. The Griffins on Thursday signed Pat Nagle to a one-year contract after he helped Toledo reach the Kelly Cup Finals.
Khan continues, noting that the Wings submitted a qualifying offer to Patrik Rybar, who may or may not play in North America this upcoming season.
Larsson suggested that the Griffins will probably bring in a veteran netminder to utilize as their starter…
I know it’s a good opportunity,” Larsson said. “There are still two great guys up there but they’re getting older. But I’m not looking at NHL next year – for me, I want to make that AHL team and I want to get as many games as possible to develop and in a future years maybe get that (NHL) opportunity.”
The Wings had the 35th overall pick and could have drafted any of two highly rated goaltenders, Pyotr Kochetkov and Mads Sogaard, who went, respectively, 36th and 37th (the Wings opted for another right-shot defenseman, Antti Tuomisto). They’re likely to add a goaltender for Grand Rapids via free agency.
The Wings drafted Larsson, who turns 21 in August, in the sixth round, 167th overall, three years ago. His numbers (3.86 goals-against average and .872 save percentage in 19 games for Djurgarden junior team) were unimpressive, but he’d struggled with injuries. Last summer, he missed development camp because he was still recovering from an injury suffered in February 2018 (his groin moved 11 millimeters off the pubic bone). He had surgery last September.
Larsson plans to go back to Sweden after development camp wraps Saturday, and then return in a month to train with Red Wings goaltending development coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson, focusing on preparing Larsson for a better quality of shots. There hasn’t been a lot of that this week.
“It’s not a lot of goalie practicing here,” Larsson aid. “It’s mostly just being out there with the other guys. It’s two hours for us goalies. It’s tough. It’s just grinding.”
Asked if anyone’s shot stands out, Larsson smiled. “I haven’t noticed. It’s hard to watch the other guys. I just try to stop the pucks.”
Both Khan and St. James posted videos of Larsson’s remarks…
Shifting gears, Michigan Hockey’s Michael Caples spoke with a pair of Michigan natives who are trying to impress anyone who’s watching the Red Wings’ summer development camp.
“This is awesome, this is a dream of mine,” the netminder said. “I grew up a Red Wings fan, I grew up coming to the games, I’ve always dreamt of this and it’s coming true. It’s a great opportunity and I just have to take advantage of it.”
DeRidder said that while he’s in front of the Wings’ staff, he wants to show he’s capable of a professional hockey career.
“I just want to prove to myself and everyone else that I deserve to be here,” the 5-foot-10, 167-pound goaltender said. “I guess that’s kind of my goal, and I thought today was a good start.”
Helping him navigate the crease this week are a few familiar faces, notably fellow Michigan-born goaltender Robbie Beydoun (more on that later) and former Michigan State teammate Taro Hirose, who signed with the Red Wings at the conclusion of the college hockey season.
“I have,” DeRidder said when asked if he crossed paths with the former Hobey Baker candidate. “I met up with him a little bit last night, that’s nice, it’s good to have a guy that you know pretty well here.”
“Oh it’s a huge honor,” Beydoun said. “Growing up rooting for the Red Wings, watching games, all my favorite goalies played for the Red Wings, so, throwing on that jersey and seeing my name on it was pretty cool.”
Beydoun, a Compuware alum about to start his third season with Michigan Tech, said he got a call from Red Wings goaltending coach Jeff Salajko inviting him to this year’s camp.
“He knows I’m a local guy and he’s seen me play a couple times; he thought I could add some competition to the camp here,” Beydoun said.
He has earned his spot; last year, Beydoun recorded a 1.98 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 12 outings with the Huskies. The invite was unexpected, however.
“It hit me kind of by surprise. I wasn’t really expecting it. Right when I got the call, I was super pumped, told my family and since I’m local, they’re all trying to come out and watch me, hopefully they can.”
“It’s a tribute to those two gentlemen,” said Nick Straub, general manager of Homrich, the company hired to take down the metal panels from the arena’s exterior. Based in Carleton, Homrich is demolition, remediation, and environmental contractor.
The company started the job about a week ago, according to city officials.
“It was put together by J.J. Curran,” Straub said. “We’re renting the cranes from them. It was done prior to us getting on the project, but it was done just for the work at the Joe.”
Based in Detroit, the J.J. Curran Crane Company has been renting crane equipment since 1950.
Company officials couldn’t be immediately reached for comment Thursday.City officials said the removal of the panels at the Joe Louis Arena could take a couple of months. Once they’re down, demolition of the remaining structure will begin, which may be at the end of July or the beginning of August, they said. Detroit-based Adamo Group was hired for the project.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Thursday re-signed goaltender Pat Nagle to a one-year contract.
A native of Bloomfield, Mich., Nagle spent majority of the 2018-19 campaign with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye and helped backstop the club to their first-ever appearance in the Kelly Cup Finals before falling in Game 6 to the Newfoundland Growlers. In 24 postseason games, Nagle compiled a 14-10 record, a 2.03 goals against average, a 0.931 save percentage and one shutout. He paced the ECHL in postseason minutes (1481), saves (679) and games played, while ranking second in both wins and GAA, and fourth in save percentage. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound netminder’s playoff run came on the heels of a regular season during which he was among the league’s leaders with 22 wins (T10th), a 2.81 GAA (17th), a 0.910 save mark (T16th), three shutouts (T7th), 41 games played (T10th) and 2411 minutes (11th).
