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Red Wings-Panthers morning skate Tweets, game previews and game notes: Bobrovsky vs. Talbot; Fischer joins the Wings’ lineup

The 20-19-and-4 Detroit Red Wings face off against the 26-16-and-3 Florida Panthers this evening in an ESPN game (7 PM EST start), and the Panthers have already completed their morning skate at Amerant Bank Arena:

The Panthers have actually lost 2 of their past 3 games and 4 of their past 8, but they’re coming off a 2-1 shootout victory over New Jersey on Monday.

Here are tonight’s game notes:

Continue reading Red Wings-Panthers morning skate Tweets, game previews and game notes: Bobrovsky vs. Talbot; Fischer joins the Wings’ lineup

A wee bit of news about Patrick Kane’s hip

As The Athletic’s Chris Johnston discusses free agent defenseman John Klingberg’s attempts to return from double hip resurfacing surgery, there’s a nugget of good Red Wings-related news from one Patrick Kane at the end of Klingberg’s article:

Kane had the resurfacing done on his right hip — not both sides like Klingberg — but sounded an optimistic tone when asked how his body responded to contact and the return to the day-to-day rigors of NHL life.

“Since I’ve been back, I’ve felt no pain, nothing, with the hip joint,” Kane said. “That’s obviously been a huge positive.”

Luszczyszyn discusses the Wings’ resurgence

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn discusses the Red Wings’ resurgence ahead of “16 stats” this morning:

It’s only been nine games, but it does feel like this is a brand new Red Wings team — the team that fans have been promised since the rebuild began.

Aside from a penalty kill that is still terrible, the Red Wings have made massive strides since McLellan arrived. At five-on-five the team is finally average, cleaning things up considerably on the defensive front. They’re right around break-even by goals and xG, a huge step up from where they were previously: hovering around 45 percent. The power play has seen the biggest change scoring 18.7 goals per 60 and generating 11.8 xG per 60.

The power play has been the driving force of the team’s offensive surge, giving the team’s stars some much-needed momentum toward being the players they’re paid to be. Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane — all four are scoring above a point-per-game pace under McLellan. They’ve found their rhythm and it’s translating to better work controlling play at five-on-five. All four are earning at least 53 percent of expected goals, a mark no Red Wing touched under Derek Lalonde. Raymond, at 51 percent, was the only forward above break-even.

Control the play, control the game. That’s been McLellan’s ethos at every stop he’s been to and the Red Wings are buying in from the get-go. Good defense leads to good offense and it’s easier to practice that when players are seeing that work lead to big point totals. The Red Wings have been a team with a lot of talent buried by a system ill-served to get the most out of it. McLellan’s experience as a coach that gets things going in the right direction is exactly what this growing team needed.

The Red Wings aren’t quite out of the woods yet though. Standing in front of them is an epic mountain to climb.

That’s where they can truly prove they’re ready to take the next step, showing their stuff against the league’s toughest schedule in the season’s second half. In 23 of Detroit’s remaining 39 games, the Red Wings will be up against teams projected to finish the season with over 100 points. The average Net Rating of their opponents is plus-12, five higher than the next toughest schedule. They’ll also play 23 games on the road.

All that is why our playoff model is still tough on Detroit’s playoff chances, especially after the team struggled to start the season despite playing the league’s easiest schedule. 

Continued (paywall)

Shapiro discusses coaches Maurice and McLellan with Vladimir Tarasenko

Shap Shots’ Sean Shapiro discussed coaches Paul Maurice and Todd McLellan with Red Wings forward Vladimir Tarasenko on Wednesday:

McLellan was brought in to be more of a taskmaster and an ass-kicker, bring a bit more fire. It’s been notable in a public space how much more vocal he is with players at practice, after the Red Wings loss on Tuesday, for example, he didn’t hold back publicly when asked about Justin Holl’s game1.

So I asked Tarasenko2 about it on Wednesday before the team flew to Florida for a game against his old coach that he had praised.

“(McLellan) expects a certain level from the players every night,” Tarasenko said. “If you don’t do things right, you hear (about it). It’s a pretty honest thing, it makes the whole process pretty easy.

“You have to learn how to not only hear the good things,” Tarasenko added. “And when you hear the not good things, and then he gives you a chance, you feel motivated to repay that trust he puts in players.”

None of this is to say McLellan’s hiring has “fixed” Tarasenko or made the $4.75 million cap hit more palatable, in fact it should be noted that while he’s having better results point-wise right now, he’s still getting off a similar number of shots that he did with Lalonde in charge.

But the player said he feels more energized, and believes he has a coach that knows how to push the right buttons.

Continued

Duff: Finnie on a heater

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that Red Wings prospect Emmitt Finnie is on a roll with the Kamloops Blazers:

Continuing to be the biggest surprise among recent Detroit Red Wings draft picks, Emmitt Finnie is ablaze for the WHL Kamloops Blazers. The 19-year-old center chosen 201st overall in the 2023 NHL entry draft is riding an 11-game point streak.

Finnie is counting 6 goals and 14 assists over this 11-game span. He’s producing in bunches. The 6-foot-1, 191-pounder has eight multi-point games during this hot streak. Through the entire campaign his ledger is showing 20 multi-point games.

Finnie has points in 15 of his last 16 games and 18 of his last 21 games. In fact, throughout the season, he’s never gone pointless more than one game in a row.

In 36 games this season, Finnie is showing 23 goals and 34 assists.

Continued

The Easter Eggs

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski discusses “Easter Eggs” hidden in the Red Wings and Blue Jackets‘ Stadium Series jerseys:

[NHL VP of marketing and chief branding officer Brian] Jennings said that while Stadium Series jerseys typically have “that progressive, futuristic look” in contrast to the more historic inspirations of the Winter Classic, there’s “a little bit more simplicity” for Detroit’s look, which was by design.

“Detroit being an Original Six team, that have very strong feelings, and [owner] Chris Ilitch and the team communicated that to us,” he said.

What the jerseys lack in boldness, the Red Wings’ helmets make up for it. Detroit’s buckets have a large white stripe down the middle like a football helmet — plus Red Wings logos on each side, making them look a little like Mercury when they’re skating.

“It starts with the sweater, but then it’s how you compliment it. In this case, it’s the helmet that catches that collegiate and youthful look,” Jennings said.

The Red Wings did come to the designers with one unique request: They wanted their octopus mascot represented in some small way. So on the bottom of the jersey in the back, right at the hem, there’s small loop tag with the purple octopus’s eyes on it — a cheeky new innovation for NHL outdoor game jerseys.

“We’ve never, never had this kind of treatment on the jersey before,” [Fanatics’ Dom] Fillion noted. “It’s a nice little Easter egg to discover.”

Continued;

Patrick Kane, trade bait?

Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin argues that Red Wings forward Patrick Kane is among several players who have played their way into being coveted trade deadline rentals:

Patrick Kane, Detroit Red Wings

I don’t blame any Wings fans who get their backs up seeing Kane’s name on this list. Your team is 7-2-0 since Todd McLellan took over as head coach, after all. Kane has gone Benjamin Button since the switch, too, catching fire for 13 points in eight games. But despite Detroit’s impressive surge, it still isn’t holding an Eastern Conference Wildcard spot, trailing the Columbus Blue Jackets by three points with a game in hand. So we obviously cannot forecast a surefire playoff berth for the Wings, as much as their fans want one after eight consecutive seasons without making it. If the Wings still sit on the periphery or worse a month from now, does GM Steve Yzerman begrudgingly entertain offers for Showtime? Kane’s recent explosion has demonstrated he still can be an offensive difference maker, now 19 months removed from hip resurfacing surgery. He has a full no-trade clause, but might he want to join a contender in hopes of a deep playoff run?

Continued; I don’t think that Kane is going anywhere.

HSJ in the morning: on the road ahead

The Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses the Red Wings’ challenging 4-game road trip, which begins with a game against the Florida Panthers this evening (ESPN/97.1 FM):

A bump on the road or a sign of how rough the map still is? That’s the question the Detroit Red Wings next are tasked with answering.

They begin a four-game swing, their longest since Todd McLellan was named coach Dec. 26, by taking on the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Thursday, then it’s on to play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. From there the Wings travel northwest to Dallas to play the Stars on Sunday with a final stop looming Jan. 21 against the Philadelphia Flyers. Of those opponents, the Flyers are the only team the Wings have already played this season.

“This is a huge test,” Andrew Copp said Wednesday. “Four good teams, teams that we haven’t really faced yet this year, teams that are above us in the standings. It’s going to be a really good measuring-stick road trip for us.”

…

There’s tons of runway left for the Wings (20-19-4), but their schedule the rest of the way is pretty daunting: Twenty-three of their remaining 39 games are on the road and the road games include a trek to Western Canada and Seattle. Most immediately, this coming trip figures to be a challenge, as the Wings have lost 10 of their last 12 games in Florida, lost 11 straight at Dallas and lost 20 of the last 22 in Philadelphia. (They have won four of the last six in Tampa after dropping 17 straight there).

“It’s always a new challenge for us, but I think we can beat any team in the league,” defenseman Moritz Seider said. “Why not start in Florida with a good start for the road trip, set ourselves up and feel good about ourselves and then go to work in the other cities as well. 

“I think (the loss to San Jose) is just a bump in the road and we’ll fix that and get ready for a good road trip.”

Continued (paywall)

Tweets of note: Fanatics hypes NHL Stadium Series jerseys

Per Fanatics on Twitter:

Press release: NHL unveils Stadium Series uniforms

Per the NHL:

NHL and Fanatics Debut Uniforms for 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series

Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings face off at legendary Ohio Stadium on March 1

COLUMBUS / DETROIT (Jan. 16, 2025) – Today, the National Hockey League (NHL) and Fanatics, the League’s authentic outfitter, unveiled the uniforms for the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series™ between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings. The marquee event, marking the League’s 43rd regular-season outdoor game, will be played at the iconic Ohio Stadium, Home of the Buckeyes, on March 1, 2025. The uniforms, designed by Fanatics with input and alignment from both teams and the League, highlight the distinct cultural and historical identities of both Columbus and Detroit.

Starting today, 2025 NHL Stadium Series jerseys will be available for pre-order exclusively at all Blue Jackets and Red Wings team store locations. In addition, Blue Jackets fans can pre-order their jersey via the team’s official online store.

The Blue Jackets’ uniform pays tribute to the rich history of Ohio and Columbus. The design draws inspiration from the uniforms worn by the Union Army, with the jersey featuring several military-like details, including:

  • A chevron sleeve stripe denoting the rank insignia of the era.
  • Shoulder featuring a new “CBJ” mark surrounding two crossed hockey sticks, a nod to the unit designation pins worn on the front of soldier’s slouch caps.
  • A front crest featuring “The Cannon,” derived from the Blue Jackets alternate logo and key element of any Columbus Blue Jackets home game, colored with new metallic silver and red accents.
Continue reading Press release: NHL unveils Stadium Series uniforms