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Daily Faceoff discusses the Red Wings’ cap management

Daily Faceoff’s Scott Maxwell is ranking the NHL’s 32 teams by their salary cap management.

You will be shocked to find that the rebuilding Red Wings do not rank highly due to over-paying free agents and so forth, but Maxwell makes some cogent points here, too:

28. Detroit Red Wings (2023: 30th)

Good Contract Percentage: t-30th (2023: 24th)
Quality Cheap Deals: t-24th (2023: 9th)
Contracts with No-Trade/No-Move Clauses: t-24th (2023: 28th)
Dead Cap Space: 14th (2023: 24th)
Quality of Core: t-26th (2023: 20th)
Cap Space to Skill Differential: 12th (2023: 21st)

The Detroit Red Wings are a team whose ranking should be taken with a massive grain of salt. The fact they have yet to sign two of their biggest young stars in Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider means that they could very well not finish in this spot by the time we publish the full list. Whether that will see them improve or get worse remains to be seen, but for now, let’s look at what they do have.

The biggest issue with the Red Wings is their continued desire to block their young talent by signing veterans to fill up their cap space. Admittedly, all three of their big veteran adds in Vladimir Tarasenko, Erik Gustafsson and Cam Talbot all grade out as good deals, but the pre-existing deals like Andrew Copp, J.T. Compher, Ben Chiarot and Justin Holl meant they already had no room to add more without getting in the way of their talent. The team has certainly improved, but they have a salary cap picture that looks daunting to navigate going forward, which is almost impressive considering how well Steve Yzerman did cleaning up the previous mess left by Ken Holland.

Continued; I’m not going to disagree, honestly. I understand that the Red Wings are going to be judged heavily as to how the management group manages (no pun intended) to work Raymond and Seider’s deals in under the cap (and Jonatan Berggren’s, for that matter)…

And the one thing that really pisses me off about Steve Yzerman’s management is that the team does over-veteran-ize the team. I’m comfortable with some of the free agent signings, and at least at peace with the Copps and Holls of the world as “things that cannot be undone,” but you guys know me by now…

I’m somebody who wants to see what the young kids can do 80% of the time. I understand that when you build a team, you do not build a convertible–you build a big, honkin’ SUV with snow tires and tow hooks–but there has to be some available space left for promoting from within, and that space has been taken up by veteran players for the past couple of seasons.

Has it been necessary due to the lack of depth left over by the crater that Ken Holland left for Yzerman? Sure, but Steve has not been perfect in his cap management or 50-man-roster management, and there are times that you can put up roadblocks for your younger players, and fans want to see the Edvinssons and Johanssons and Mazurs and Kaspers and Danielsons for more than one or two games per season.

Now some of that falls upon coaching decisions, but between Yzerman’s over-pollenating of the roster with veterans and Lalonde’s seeming unwillingness to trust anyone not named Zach Aston-Reese with a call-up, I think that there has been some stunted development over the past couple of seasons, and that has to be rectified.

That does apply to cap and roster management, too, so it’s relevant here. And now that the Red Wings have a prospect pool, it’s time to include some wiggle room in terms of call-ups and promotions to afford the young kids time to impress and improve before their waiver-exempt statuses expire.

Ultimately, the NHL is not a developmental league, the coaches and GM’s tell us, but without affording top prospects some ability to acclimate themselves to NHL action, your team begins to stagnate, and the Wings have been really stagnant at times over the past couple of seasons.

It’s time to see that slowly change.

Tweets of note: Maatta’s birthday, a Griffins schedule change, a Walleye signing and a Buchelnikov OT goal

Okay, of some minor Red Wings and Griffins-related note today:

  1. It’s Olli Maatta’s birthday. He hits the big 3-0 today!

2. The Griffins announced a time change to their schedule:

3. The Toledo Walleye have signed defenseman Anthony Firriolo. The 26-year-old isn’t big at 5’11” and 165 pounds…

4. And this highlight clip slipped through the radar, so thank you to Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff for posting the overtime goal Dmitri Buchelnikov scored for Vityaz Moscow Region vs. Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod:

Brandsegg-Nygard and Buchelnikov’s highlight clips are fantastic. They’re also just the beginning (we hope).

IceHockeyGifs on Twitter posted Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s busy late-August travel schedule, per Norran.se:

So that’s two more preseason games for Skelleftea AIK, a couple of games for Norway’s Olympic Qualifying team from August 29th to 31st,two CHL games played for Skelleftea on September 6th and 8th, and then he’s off to the Red Wings’ prospect tournament and main training camp.

After that, however?

Well, it’s rant, incoming!

Continue reading Brandsegg-Nygard and Buchelnikov’s highlight clips are fantastic. They’re also just the beginning (we hope).

Tweet of note: Copp and Chiarot visit U of M football practice

Via the Red Wings on Twitter, it appears that Red Wings Andrew Copp and Ben Chiarot joined University of Michigan hockey coach Brandon Naurato at a Michigan football practice today. I would imagine that the University of Michigan men’s hockey team was in tow:

Tweet of note: NHL Network names Dylan Larkin 15th-best center in the league

The NHL Network is revealing its “Top 20 Centers Right Now” presently, and Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was named the 15th-best center in the NHL:

The NHL’s full list is probably designed to spur discussion, so it goes as follows:

20. Nico Hischier;

19. Mika Zibanejad;

18. Robert Thomas;

17. Tim Stuetzle;

16. Nick Suzuki;

15. Dylan Larkin;

14. Roope Hintz;

13. Connor Bedard;

12. Sebastian Aho;

11. J.T. Miller;

10. Elias Pettersson;

9. Jack Hughes;

8. Jack Eichel;

7. Brayden Point;

6. Sidney Crosby;

5. Aleskander Barkov;

4. Leon Draisaitl;

3. Auston Matthews;

2. Nathan MacKinnon;

  1. Connor McDavid.

Via A2Y: controversy will follow Datsyuk’s Hall of Fame induction due to Russia’s war with Ukraine

Via Paul Kukla of Abel to Yzerman: we had to know this was coming. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress has filed an official protest regarding Pavel Datsyuk’s looming induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame this November, citing Datsyuk’s participation in a charity game to support soldiers who died in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

As you probably already know by now, former Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek has already protested the Hockey Hall of Fame’s decision to induct Datsyuk this year, and the Hockey News’s Jason Dunech has more about the situation:

Of particular concern to the nonprofit umbrella organization was a report of Datsyuk attending a February 2024 event honoring members of the Russian Armed Forces.

According to Russian media outlet ura.news, Datsyuk attended a hockey tournament dedicated to two Russian military members who died in combat in the conflict against Ukraine.

The UCC letter argues Datsyuk’s participation in the event “signifies his endorsement of Russia’s invasion, the terror Russia has brought to Ukrainian cities and towns and the systemic, brutal atrocities that Russia has committed against Ukrainian civilians.”

The letter concluded by saying the Hall of Fame’s planned induction of Datsyuk was “deeply offensive” and alleged it “would hand a propaganda victory to Russia.”

The UCC urged the Canadian government not to grant Datsyuk entry into the country in November to demonstrate Canada’s “commitment to justice and human rights.”

I’m not quite certain how to address this, because the controversy surrounding Datsyuk’s induction is going to continue as long as there is a war between Russia and Ukraine.

When Datsyuk attended the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp, he chose not to take questions from the media regarding the conflict. I suppose you can take Datsyuk’s non-answer as a decision based on family reasons, given that the Russians are jailing people for all sorts of minor offenses against the Kremlin, or cowardly, depending upon your point of view.

There is no gray area as to whether Russia is the instigator of an unjust conflict against Ukraine, but whether its athletes need to speak out against said conflict to be assuaged of presumed guilt is another story.

We’ll see what happens between now and November, but I’m not expecting the Hockey Hall of Fame to change its mind on inducting Datsyuk.

Tweet of note: Brandsegg-Nygard strikes again (in the preseason)

Both Red Wings Prospects and IceHockeyG on Twitter posted a second preseason goal for Red Wings prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. Emphasis on preseason, of course, but it’s a nice snap shot:

Brandsegg-Nygard also scored in Skelleftea AIK’s previous preseason game on August 16th.

The fundraising grind is underway

The annual Server Costs and Traverse City Trip fundraising drive is going. We’ve raised about $400 of the $857.33 needed to keep the website running (due by August 31st), and while the hotel/rental car fundraising is still fairly low, we’re slowly but surely working our way toward our $4,500-$5,000 goal.

I understand that it’s late summer, and that hockey news is at an ebb, but I’m still hoping to bring my 82-year-old Aunt Annie along for the trip, and that we can make the finances work. Aunt Annie is doing very well in terms of her recovery from double hip replacement surgery, but as her primary caregiver, we’re a package deal now.

We’ve made our hotel reservations, and we’re hoping to get up to TC to provide prospect tournament and training camp reports for you, but that’s up to you to make it happen.

We’re incredibly grateful for your support in any way, shape, or form, but if you can help us maintain this website for another year, and then get up the road to Traverse City, we will be equally grateful for your help.

If you’re willing to lend a hand, have an official GoFundMe fundraiser page at https://gofund.me/c08de120; we have a PayPal option at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport; there’s Venmo at https://venmo.com/george-malik-2; if you’re into the, “I don’t want to use any of those pages” option, here’s always the Giftly option by using my email, rtxg@yahoo.com, at https://www.giftly.com…

And in the banking options, you can contact me via email if you want to send me a paper check, or “Zelle” me via my email, rtxg@yahoo.com. I’m also on Cash App under “georgeums.”

As always, thank you for your readership and your time.

Trey Augustine had an eventful 2023-2024 season

This morning, DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills looks back at Red Wings prospect and Michigan State University sophomore Trey Augustine’s remarks made during Detroit’s Summer Development Camp. As Mills notes, Augustine bounced around a little bit last season–in a good way:

Augustine impressed as the youngest starting netminder in NCAA Division 1 hockey during the 2023-24 season, posting a 23-9-2 record with a 2.96 goals-against average, .918 save percentage and three shutouts in 35 games.

“He just gives me a lot of confidence and I’m not even on his team,” Red Wings Assistant Director of Player Development Dan Cleary said about Augustine. “He’s got a great demeanor about him. Calm, cool demeanor but that competitive fire burns inside him.”

Helping the Spartans earn their first-ever BIG Ten title was an incredible experience for Augustine, who is returning to Michigan State’s campus with a greater understanding of what it takes to succeed at the collegiate level.

“It’s hard to win every night,” Augustine said. “You have to come into every game with the right mindset that no team is going to back down, especially since we had a good year. We’re going to be gunned for this upcoming year.”

Augustine said he also learned a lot playing with the U.S. men’s World [Championship] team.

“It was an unreal opportunity for me just to go over there and be with a lot of professional players,” Augustine said. “Just taking a lot of their advice, listening to them and enjoying the moment. Being around a team like that and seeing those individuals prepare on a daily basis, it’s really cool and special.”

Continued; Augustine’s pretty much maxed out height-wise at 6’1″ and 183 pounds, but he can get faster and better in terms of his mechanics, movement and ability to look through and around screens. He’s going to become a better goalie with more time played with the Spartans, and one day, it’s entirely probable that he and Sebastian Cossa will constitute the Red Wings’ starting tandem.

Tweet of note: More Buchelnikov things

Red Wings Prospects on Twitter got up very early to watch a KHL preseason game, and Dmitri Buchelnikov delivered for his new team, Vityaz Moscow Region:

I believe that Buchelnikov has a two-year contract with Vityaz, but the more we see him doing “Buchelnikov things” in the KHL’s month-long preseason, the more I think that the Red Wings want the 20-year-old (he turns 21 on September 6th) out of Russia and over here in North America ASAP.

Right now, the Red Wings can only really communicate with Buchelnikov using their European scouts as intermediaries, and as he begins his sophomore full season in the KHL, I’m certain that the Wings’ strength and conditioning coaches, trainers and nutritionist are all champing at the bit to bring him over and make sure he’s working both on and off the ice to develop his skills and develop that 5’10,” 170-pound frame into something that can endure the bump and grind of North American hockey.

He’s got hands for sure. Anybody who’s watched Red Wings Prospects‘ various clips of Buchelnikov on Twitter knows that the kid dekes and dangles like a professional already.

The problem is that we don’t know much after that, and as the Red Wings deal with something of a conflict-driven Iron Curtain, the team can’t apply its usual hands-on approach with the young man.

Here’s hoping that he thrives in Russia this season, and then gets the hell out of there.