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Tweets of note: St. James, Custance publishing hockey books this fall

If you are interested, the Free Press’s Helene St. James and The Athletic’s Craig Custance and are both releasing books this fall:

Red Wings-Penguins rematch, morning skate Tweets: It’s a Bally Sports Detroit game; Pens hit the ice first

Updated 2x at 11:22 AM: The Detroit Red Wings will attempt to battle back from an 0-1-and-1 performance last night as they face a stacked Pittsburgh Penguins lineup tonight in Pittsburgh (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit).

This is indeed Bally Sports Detroit’s first of three preseason telecasts…

Continue reading Red Wings-Penguins rematch, morning skate Tweets: It’s a Bally Sports Detroit game; Pens hit the ice first

Waiving Lyon?

The Athletic’s Jesse Granger believes that, should the Red Wings waive a goaltender and attempt to send him down to Grand Rapids, they’re going to pick Alex Lyon:

Alex Lyon, Detroit

The Red Wings carried three goaltenders for most of last season, but general manager Steve Yzerman said this summer he prefers to move forward with only two on the roster. That means one of Ville Husso, Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon could be waived, and whoever it is likely would be the top target for any team looking for help in the crease.

Husso has the biggest cap hit of the three, entering the final season of his deal with an average annual value of $4.75 million. Yzerman signed Talbot to a two-year contract worth $2.5 million per season just this summer, so his spot on the NHL roster should be secure.

That leaves Lyon, who is also entering the final year of his deal but carries a cap hit of only $900,000. That figure, combined with his wealth of experience, could make him an attractive waiver claim. Lyon had 44 NHL stars last season, posting a .904 save percentage (just above the league average). There were stretches last season when Lyon appeared to be the Red Wings’ best goalie, and he’s only two years removed from starting playoff games in Florida ahead of Sergei Bobrovsky, so the talent is evident. He also showed well in his two starts for Team USA at the World Championships this summer.

As is the case with most goalies looking to establish themselves as NHL starters, consistency is the issue for Lyon. He ended last season on a 3-10-3 run with a .887 during that span. Perhaps Yzerman ends up reluctantly holding three goalies again, but if not, I could see Lyon getting claimed before making it down to Grand Rapids.

Continued (paywall); I just don’t see the Wings waiving Lyon until the goaltending situation sorts itself out after the first month of the season, presuming that he loses out to Husso or Talbot.

Predicting a breakout season for Simon Edvinsson

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski predicts “breakout performances” from young NHL players this upcoming season, and the Red Wings are mentioned in the article once, with Wyshynski suggesting that “The wait is over” for one prospect:

Simon Edvinsson
D, Detroit Red Wings

Edvinsson has always had the vertical, standing 6-foot-6. In the offseason, he decided to address the horizontal by adding some muscle to his frame for his first full NHL season. The secret to his bulk? “It was just a lot of avocados,” he said.

Edvinsson saw time with veteran Jeff Petry last season, and should do so again in 2024-25. Fans have waited a bit to see the No. 6 pick from 2021 make his impact. This could be the time.

Continued (paywall); it’s taken a while for Edvinsson to physically fill out, and it’s taken a while for Edvinsson to fill out in terms of his game. He’s tremendously smooth in terms of his skating and his ability to be a difference-maker offensively, but he’s also needed to work on playing dependable, reliable defense, and that aspect of his game is coming around in a big way. Employing a predictably solid two-way game will take the superb skater to another level.

The Athletic’s ‘model’ predicts an 80.9-point performance from the Wings this season

Bleh. The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn, Sean Gentille and Shayna Goldman preview the Red Wings this morning, and they’re predicting that a team that earned 91 points this past season will earn 80.9 points…As well as predicting that the Red Wings are going to be an “also-ran” for some time to come:

Here’s what they say about Luszczyszyn’s “model,” which predicts that the Wings have an 8% chance of making the playoffs…

We admit, this does feel low for the Red Wings. Detroit had a respectable 91 points last season and looks poised to finally take the next step — but the model isn’t quite convinced this team is legit. At least not as currently constructed.

At 80.9 points, the team’s forecast is actually below where they were to start last season (85 points) which may surprise some. That’s a byproduct of uninspiring underlying numbers last season (weaker overall than the year prior when Detroit earned just 80 points) and a tepid offseason that saw the team arguably get worse.

Perhaps the core can take a massive leap or a prospect will surprise, but the Red Wings still have a lot of holes that have been filled rather poorly via free agency — especially on defense. With the rest of the East looking a lot better, this may be a season primed for disappointment.

Then there’s some bagging on Raymond and Seider’s statuses as ranked by the Luszczyszyn/Gentille/Goldman player tiers, which were quite hard on a “fringe star player” and a middling defenseman given his hard minutes, respectively…

So their bottom line comes down to defense, and Seider, specifically:

Continue reading The Athletic’s ‘model’ predicts an 80.9-point performance from the Wings this season

Morning Khan: Repetition should bear results for the Red Wings’ power play

The Red Wings’ special teams were pretty mediocre over the course of Monday night’s 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, with the Wings going 1-for-6 on the PP, surrendering a power play goal against and a shorthanded goal against.

As such, MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the special teams issue this morning, suggesting that repetition will probably solve what ails the power play:

“(The power play) needs its reps,” Derek Lalonde, who coached in the home game, said. “Their penalty kill played a little more pace than our power play. I didn’t hate our five-on-five. Again, talk about reps. Our inability to hit the net. A little credit to them to block shots, but it’s exactly why you have exhibition games. They need reps for the guys.”

A team consisting mainly of prospects and AHL players will play at Pittsburgh on Tuesday (7 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit), before the Red Wings close out the preseason with three games in three nights Thursday through Saturday.

Lucas Raymond’s power-play goal, on his team’s fifth opportunity, cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 2-1 at 9:31 of the second. It was his second goal in as many preseason games.

The Red Wings lost some key contributors on a power play that ranked ninth last season – point man Shayne Gostisbehere and forwards David Perron, Robby Fabbri and Daniel Sprong. Two of their replacements, winger Vladimir Tarasenko and point man Erik Gustafsson, played on Monday.

“I think we have a lot of skillful players who make good plays and can finish as well,” Raymond said. “I think it’s about getting on the same page, moving the puck well and taking the shots and create opportunities from there. I think when we got the best chances tonight is from retrieval. It’s not always the prettiest, but retrieve the puck well in a quick attack, and I think that leads to a lot of good stuff.”

Continued; the Red Wings need to simplify their power plays a bit. Less passing on the perimeter, more shots on goal from high-danger areas, and better rebound retrieval–the fundamentals of good power play habits–will solve the issues pretty quick, regardless of personnel.

Red Wings-Penguins and Red Wings-Sabres wrap-ups: pressure mounts after the Wings go 0-1-and-1 vs. Pittsburgh, in Buffalo

You don’t often lose twice in the same period of time, but the Red Wings managed to do just that on Monday night, with their “split squad” dropping a 5-1 decision to Pittsburgh at Little Caesars Arena, all while the “Wiffins” lost a 4-3 OT decision to the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo.

Things aren’t going to get any easier for the Red Wings as tomorrow night’s rematch in Pittsburgh will include a star-studded Penguins lineup, and, after a day off on Wednesday, the Wings host Ottawa on Thursday, host Toronto on Friday, and head to Toronto to battle the Leafs on Saturday.

That’s a whole lot of hockey to play over the course of the balance of this week, even if you’re able to dress two different rosters.

Anyway, the story at Little Caesars Arena was the one that the Wings’ media corps followed for the most part. As MLive’s Ansar Khan noted, the Wings kind of blew their special teams advantage, going 1-for-6 on the power play, surrendering a power play goal against, and surrendering a shorthanded marker as well:

Continue reading Red Wings-Penguins and Red Wings-Sabres wrap-ups: pressure mounts after the Wings go 0-1-and-1 vs. Pittsburgh, in Buffalo

Red Wings-Penguins / Red Wings-Sabres quick takes: Wings go 0-1-and-1 on the night via a 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh, 4-3 OT loss to Buffalo

It was a weird sort of night in Detroit…and Buffalo…As the Red Wings’ “split squads” undertook games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres, respectively.

Neither team did particularly well, with the Red Wings’ “A Team” playing really solid hockey, but losing 5-1 to a harder-working and more efficient Pittsburgh Penguins team, and the “Wiffins” lost a 4-3 overtime decision to Buffalo due to their own mistakes and inexperience.

In Detroit, the teams lined up as follows…

Continue reading Red Wings-Penguins / Red Wings-Sabres quick takes: Wings go 0-1-and-1 on the night via a 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh, 4-3 OT loss to Buffalo

Penguins stack their lineup for Tuesday’s Wings-Pens rematch in the ‘Burgh

The Pittsburgh Penguins released their lineup for Tuesday’s game vs. Detroit, and it’s going to be a doozy of a lineup for the Pens:

Below is the Penguins’ lineup for Tuesday’s preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM ET and the game will be available to watch locally on SportsNet Pittsburgh. Fans can also tune in on the Penguins’ official flagship radio station, 105.9 ‘The X’.

GOALIES

31 – Filip Larsson

35 – Tristan Jarry

DEFENSE

4 – Nathan Clurman

24 – Matt Grzelcyk

28 – Marcus Pettersson

38 – Owen Pickering

45 – Harrison Brunicke

58 – Kris Letang

82 – Filip Kral

FORWARDS

2 – Rutger McGroarty

8 – Michael Bunting

11 – Vasily Ponomarev

13 – Kevin Hayes

15 – Joona Koppanen

17 – Bryan Rust

19 – Cody Glass

41 – Ville Koivunen

44 – Jonathan Gruden

67 – Rickard Rakell

71 – Evgeni Malkin

72 – Anthony Beauvillier

87 – Sidney Crosby

The Hockey News names its Red Wings ‘Mount Rushmore’

The Hockey News’s Ken Campbell has been discussing NHL teams’ “Mount Rushmore” figures via video missives, and today, he suggests that the Detroit Red Wings‘ “Mount Rushmore” consists of–including a current roster player–Gordie Howe, Nicklas Lidstrom, Steve Yzerman and Dylan Larkin.

I’m not sure I’d put Larkin on the Mount Rushmore over Ted Lindsay or Terry Sawchuk, but that’s just me.