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A bit of praise for Simon Edvinsson’s training camp and exhibition season

The Hockey News’s Jacob Stoller posted a list of 5 AHL-playing players who are “ready to make the leap” to the NHL, and he included Simon Edvinsson on his list:

At the tail-end of his 2022-23 campaign, Simon Edvisson appeared destined to grab an NHL job with the Detroit Red Wings for this upcoming season.

The sixth overall pick in 2021 had a strong first season in North America, shining as a top-pairing defender in the AHL with the basement-dwelling Grand Rapids Griffins and faring well in a nine-game NHL stint at the end of the year.

After the Red Wings signed Justin Holl and Shayne Gostisbehere in free agency, the 6-foot-6 defenseman appeared to be on the outside looking in heading into camp. But in the wake of those two signings, Detroit GM Steve Yzerman made a point it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Edvinsson would be returning to the AHL this season.

“Certainly, I don’t think it’s beyond the (realm of) possibility that Simon comes in and has an outstanding training camp, an outstanding pre-season, (and) simply forces his way into the lineup,” Yzerman told reporters in July. “That’s what I think every one of us… would love to see, and if that happens, that’s great, and we’ll figure it out.”

Given how he’s played in the pre-season, Edvinsson could very well force Detroit to keep him on the NHL roster.

In five exhibition games, Edvinsson has recorded one goal and three points while averaging 20:13 in ice time per night. He’s driven 5-on-5 play at a strong rate, with a 57.59 Corsi-for percentage and a 59.87 expected goals-for percentage to show for it.

Continued; Edvinsson is nearly ready for NHL action. He just needs a little finishing in Grand Rapids.

Press releases: Red Wings assign 7 to Griffins, Lethemon to Toledo

Per the Detroit Red Wings…

RED WINGS TRIM TRAINING CAMP ROSTER TO 29

… Detroit Concludes Preseason Slate with Home Game Against Toronto Tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena; Game to Air on Bally Sports Detroit.

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today assigned forwards Austin Czarnik, Tim Gettinger, Taro Hirose and Nolan Stevens and defensemen Jared McIsaac, Wyatt Newpower and Brogan Rafferty to the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Additionally, the Red Wings assigned goaltender John Lethemon to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye.

The Red Wings currently have 29 players on their training camp roster: 18 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders. Currently at 4-2-1 through seven preseason games, Detroit concludes its preseason schedule with a home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight (Saturday, Oct. 7) at 7:00 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena. The game will air on Bally Sports Detroit.

And the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Detroit Red Wings on Saturday assigned forwards Austin Czarnik, Tim Gettinger, Taro Hirose and Nolan Stevens, and defensemen Jared McIsaac, Wyatt Newpower and Brogan Rafferty to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

The Griffins will begin practices in Grand Rapids on Monday at 11 a.m. in preparation for Friday’s season opener against the Colorado Eagles at 7 p.m. at Van Andel Arena.

Fans can secure their full-season, select-season or group ticket packages by calling (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visit griffinshockey.com for more information. Single-game tickets for the Griffins’ 2023-24 season can be purchased through griffinshockey.com/tickets.

Prospect round-up: Johansson 1A, ASP plays 21:02, Kilpinen scores again

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in Europe today:

In the SHL, Anton Johansson had an assist, finishing at +3 with 2 shots in 16:06 played as Leksands IF won 5-2 over HV71:

Theodor Niederbach finished with a shot and a -1 in 15:27 played as MoDo Hockey lost 4-3 to Frolunda HC;

And Axel Sandin Pellikka finished even with 1 shot in 21:02 played in Skelleftea AIK’s 2-0 loss to the Vaxjo Lakers:

In the Swedish J20 league, Maximilian Kilpinen scored his 7th goal in 9 games played as MoDo Hockey won 5-3 over Leksands IF;

And Noah Dower Nilsson’s Frolunda HC lost 5-4 in overtime to Rogle BK.

Kulfan on the Wings’ battle for ‘7 D’

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a pregame notebook discussing the Red Wings’ defensemen’s battle for playing time as Detroit prepares to carry 7 defensemen to start the 2023-2024 season:

“It’s great, the more competition the better,” said [Ben] Chiarot, who could be in the battle to stay in the lineup. “Personally, it pushes me to be the best every night. You have to be playing at the top of your game or you can expect to lose minutes or might not be in the lineup, whatever it might be. It drives better performance having that type of competition and we have it throughout our lineup, not just on defense.”

With rosters needing to be set by Monday afternoon, coach Derek Lalonde said the Wings are likely to keep seven defensemen, meaning Edvinsson’s odds of making the NHL on opening night are slim. But other than the top pairing of Seider and Walman, which was so effective last season, who’ll play with whom on the other two pairings and who’ll be sitting out games remains to be ironed out.

In Lalonde’s estimation, none of the defensemen lost ground in the way they played. All showed they deserve to be in the lineup.

“We were comfortable going into camp feeling we have seven NHL defensemen, a luxury we haven’t had for a very long time,” Lalonde said. “Nobody separated themselves in a negative way. All seven (defensemen) had a very good camp and showed to their strengths. There’s been zero separation of the seven (defensemen). That’s a really good sign for us. It’s hard to get defensive depth. It’ll still be a work in progress (to Thursday’s start of the regular season).”

Continued

All clear on the waiver front

The Detroit Red Wings waived 8 players destined for the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins yesterday at this time, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that they all cleared the waiver wire:

Red Wings-Maple Leafs post-morning skate video (Kostin and Lalonde) and articles

Ahead of tonight’s game between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs (7 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit/TSN4/NHL Network, 97.1 FM), both the Red Wings and Maple Leafs released rosters for tonight’s game, and both teams held a morning skate–though the Leafs’ “game group” is not skating this morning.

After the teams’ morning skates, the respective teams spoke with the media, and the Red Wings posted a video of coach Derek Lalonde and forward Klim Kostin’s pre-game remarks:

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a morning skate-related article…

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs post-morning skate video (Kostin and Lalonde) and articles

Red Wings-Maple Leafs morning skate Tweets: Leafs send B Team to Detroit, where Wings prepare for dress rehearsal

The Detroit Red Wings will hold a “dress rehearsal” for the regular season by hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs’ “B Team” tonight at Little Caesars Arena (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/TSN4/NHL Network, 97.1 FM).

As this is the final game of the preseason for the 4-2-and-1 Red Wings and the Maple Leafs, the teams held separate morning skates in their respective cities this morning.

We begin with a few quips and quotes from DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills’ game-day preview:

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs morning skate Tweets: Leafs send B Team to Detroit, where Wings prepare for dress rehearsal

Tweet of note: Maple Leafs bringing their ‘B Team’ to LCA for final preseason game

Here is the Toronto Maple Leafs’ roster for tonight’s game vs. the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena, serving as Detroit’s exhibition finale (7 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit/TSN4/NHL Network, 97.1 FM):