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Prospect round-up: Griffins, Walleye win sold-out games; Setkov heads back to J20; Fulcher wins 29th game

In the AHL, the superbly-performing Filip Hronek and Matt Lorito (1G, 1A) scored regulation goals, Dominic Turgeon scored the only shootout marker and Matej Machovsky stopped 26 of 28 shots and 3 shootout shooters as the Grand Rapids Griffins won 3-2 over the Iowa Wild in a shootout.

The Griffins’ website posted a recap:

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Griffins, Walleye win sold-out games; Setkov heads back to J20; Fulcher wins 29th game

Zetterberg talks playoff push, trade deadline with Aftonbladet’s Bjurman

Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg spoke with Aftonbladet’s Per Bjurman after the Red Wings’ 3-2 overtime victory over the New York Rangers on Sunday.

Zetterberg made it clear that the Red Wings are not giving up on their playoff hopes, even though the team knows that their odds of actually making a playoff spot are long (and what follows is roughly translated from Swedish):

Zetterberg: “Just hang up the phone and hope”

New York. Will the Detroit Red Wings get into the playoff race after all?

They won their second game in two days with an overtime win over the hard-luck New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden tonight, and they’re suddenly “just” five points behind the playoff line.

“Yes, but there are many teams in between us, so it will be tough. We have to win virtually every game now,” says Henrik Zetterberg to SportBladet after the 3-2 win.

Continue reading Zetterberg talks playoff push, trade deadline with Aftonbladet’s Bjurman

Red Wings-Rangers wrap-up: sometimes hope is relentless

The Detroit Red Wings defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime on Sunday night, and the Red Wings are now only 5 points out of a playoff spot. Scary, eh?

The Red Wings did not play their best 60-minute effort, with a team playing 2 games in 2 nights, 4 in 6 and a total of 10 over the course of 18 afternoons and evenings wilting considerably in the 3rd period…

But Jimmy Howard was excellent in goal, the Wings were able to “win the race to two” goals, and Daley delivered in OT.

Our friends from New York are only 3 points behind the Red Wings, but the story for the Rangers is very different.

After losing their seventh straight game, Henrik Lundqvist summarized the Rangers’ stead, as the New York Daily News’s Justin Tasch noted:

Continue reading Red Wings-Rangers wrap-up: sometimes hope is relentless

Red Wings-Rangers quick take: Howard and Daley yield exhausted Wings committing robbery in Manhattan

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to hand the New York Rangers their seventh straight loss on Jean Ratelle’s jersey retirement night.

The Wings played two really good periods, they were awful in the 3rd period–playing their 2nd game in 2 nights, 3rd in 4 and 10th in 17 evenings and afternoons–but the Wings persisted, with Jimmy Howard stopping 36 of 38 shots and the Wings winning 3-2 on a goal from Trevor Daley scored with only 5.6 seconds remaining in OT.

Detroit won’t make the playoffs, but they’re only 5 points out of a spot right now, and the Wings played a fantastic rope-a-dope game despite being out-shot 19-11 in the 3rd period.
Continue reading Red Wings-Rangers quick take: Howard and Daley yield exhausted Wings committing robbery in Manhattan

Clear Day coming up for the Griffins

According to MLive’s Ansar Khan and Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff, the Red Wings have a big decision to make as they weigh whether to use 2 of their non-roster emergency 4 post-trade deadline call-ups:

Duff confirms:

AHL clear day rosters – only players on the roster on clear day are eligible to compete in the Calder Cup playoffs – is also Monday. That means if the Wings want goalie Jared Coreau or left-winger Tyler Bertuzzi to be eligible for the playoffs, they’d be required to assign them to AHL Grand Rapids tomorrow, even if it were merely a paper transaction and they were recalled the next day without ever actually leaving Detroit.

It would however, require the Wings to use up two of their four post-trade deadline call ups.

Custance: Green won’t play vs. Rangers

From The Athletic’s Craig Custance:

Update:

 

Kulfan’s deadline chat with Holland

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan spoke with Red Wings GM Ken Holland ahead of the trade deadline:

General manager Ken Holland is looking for the best possible return on several assets – and those returns could be bigger for the Red Wings when all 30 teams are motivated to make moves, rather than just the playoff contenders now.

“It’s not like I feel that I’ve got to do a deal because I’ve got these unrestricted free agents,” Holland said. “It appears right now more of a buyers’ market. There’s more teams that are selling. The standings are so close, teams aren’t sure what they’re going to do. There’s not enough teams that are really guaranteed a playoff spot.”

And if Holland doesn’t get the type of deal he wants Monday, or in June – he’s willing to wait for that right package at the trade deadline next season.

“If it’s not this time period, and it’s not at the draft, then the reality is, it’s probably a year from now,” Holland said. “My mindset isn’t so much about 2017-18 and ’18-’19. It’s about ’19-’20 and trying to acquire assets that I’m hoping can impact this team down the road. If nothing’s there that makes sense, and all I’m doing is helping somebody else out, and we’re not getting what I don’t think is fair value for our players, we’ll go back to the summer and we’ll start all over again. There will be more teams in the mix.”

Continued

Khan’s mid-day trade rumor update

MLive’s Ansar Khan updates the status of the Red Wings’ trade discussions:

The Detroit Red Wings would like to move several players for draft picks and/or prospects before Monday’s trade deadline.

But general manager Ken Holland doesn’t feel urgency to unload players under contract beyond this season. If he’s not comfortable with the return, he’ll wait until the off-season to resume trade talks.

“I’m open for business over the next year or two,” Holland said. “I’ve been talking to lots of teams. I’m open to talking about lots of things, but the reality of it is most of it doesn’t happen. But over the next year or two, we need to acquire more futures and we need those futures to get better. Lots of young kids over the next year or two are going to work their way into Grand Rapids. We got to continue to keep trying to funnel them from the draft table through Grand Rapids on to the Detroit Red Wings.”

Holland remained in Detroit Sunday, in meetings with the front-office and scouting staff, while the team is in New York to face the Rangers tonight (7 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit) in the final game before Monday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.

“I’ve done lots of talking in the last number of days,” he said. “We’ll see what the next 24 hours brings.”

Khan continues…

HSJ with a mid-day trade rumor update

The Free Press’s Helene St. James penned a mid-day SUnday column discussing the Red Wings’ trade deadline plans:

As the Detroit Red Wings headed on the road, front office personnel gathered at home to focus on the trade deadline.

The organization is rebuilding, and that hasn’t changed even as the Wings remain within striking distance of a playoff spot. General manager Ken Holland is looking for draft picks or prospects, and defenseman Mike Green is the team’s most likely candidate to be moved by Monday’s 3 p.m. closing bell. Tampa Bay and Washington are among teams who are interested in Green, a right-handed shot with a nose for offense.

Forward Tomas Tatar also has drawn interest, as has forward Luke Glendening. Neither of them are pending unrestricted free agents, though, and contenders tend to go for so-called rentals this time of year. The Wings are looking for a first-round pick or high-end prospect for Tatar, a consistent 20-goal scorer. They may opt to keep Glendening because he’s only a $1.8 million cap hit, he’s usually good for 8-10 goals, he’s fast and he’s a good penalty killer.

St. James continues…

Update: FYI: