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The Detroit Red Wings re-signed Chase Pearson to a 1-year, $917,831 contract, and the 24-year-old faces a pivotal season as the big center hopes to earn a spot on the Wings’ stacked fourth line, if not a spot on the roster as an extra forward.

As MLive’s Ansar Khan noted, Pearson would have to clear waivers to head to Grand Rapids, and he’d probably clear, but Pearson has some potential to serve as a fine checking center, despite having some hiccups last season.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen offered the following take on Pearson’s potential, per Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon:

The Red Wings signed Pearson to a one-year contract Thursday, even though he didn’t have the kind of season he wanted in 2021-22. He posted seven goals and 18 points in 50 games last season.

“His numbers were down,” Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon said at his season-ending press conference. “He had a couple injuries that led to a little bit of his demise this year. But we’re not giving up on Chase Pearson.”

Unless there are njuries, Pearson will have difficulty making the Red Wings coming out of training camp. GM Steve Yzerman has 14 forwards, nine defensemen and two goalies already signed.  That’s 25 veterans for a 23-person roster. That doesn’t include Joe Veleno who is still waiver-exempt and defenseman Simon Edvinsson who is expected to make the team.

The 6-foot-3 center did play three games with the Detroit Red Wings, averaging nine shifts per game. His playing time average was just under seven minutes.

“I thought Chase had a really good training camp,” Simon said. “Came out of the gates pretty strong. I think Chase would be first one to tell you he was disappointed with his year.”

Allen continues, and the Free Press’s Helene St. James took note that Pearson is something of a seven-year-old fossil from a terrible 2015 draft:

Continue reading Allen, St. James weigh in on Chase Pearson’s re-signing

Sportsnet’s Mike Johnston offered a slate of potential landing spots for one Matthew Tkachuk of the Calgary Flames, and he includes the Red Wings, though I’m not certain…Well, we’ll get to that:

Detroit Red Wings: There is no reason why Steve Yzerman shouldn’t give the Flames a phone call and an earnest pitch. Detroit has an extra 2023 second-round pick they acquired from St. Louis at the trade deadline and only a handful of players signed beyond 2024, including off-season additions Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot and Ville Husso.

RFA Filip Zadina, the sixth-overall pick from 2018, needs a new contract before next season and could be a target, plus captain Dylan Larkin must be re-signed before becoming a UFA after 2022-23. Buffalo and Columbus are the only rosters younger than Detroit’s as of this week, so Calgary could expect some youth in return if a deal with the Red Wings presented itself and Tkachuk approved.

Johnston continues; I am 100% certain that the Red Wings’ quiet GM either will or already has made a call to Brad Treliving, but, in my eyes, Zadina isn’t nearly enough to whet the Flames’ appetite.

My theory for a probable Flames “ask” would be Tyler Bertuzzi or Jakub Vrana, Simon Edvinsson and a 1st round pick (with possibly more future picks), and I just can’t see the Wings giving up Edvinsson, even for a 24-year-old who posted 102 points last season, when they’d be blowing such a huge hole in their present and future roster.

Just my gut feeling. I’m sure other Wings pundits who know more than I do will be able to offer more comparable kinds of deals, but if I’m Calgary, I’m not making the deal without big Edvinsson as a part of the package.

Right now, I just don’t see Filip Zadina as much more than chopped liver in terms of his trade value.

You may not get much out of it unless you speak German, but Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider took part in a podcast with the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, and it’s promised that he’ll speak about his career thus far, what his expectations are going forward, and ice cream:

🎧🎙👉🏻 https://t.co/qqB7bJ4YJK 👈🏻
„Eiskalt auf den Punkt“ – powered by @SPORTRADIO_D: Moritz Seider von den @DetroitRedWings ist zu Gast im #PENNYDEL-Podcast. Wir sprechen mit dem Nationalspieler von @deb_teams über den Gewinn der Calder Memorial Trophy als bester… pic.twitter.com/U03egNtlcg— Deutsche Eishockey Liga (@DELoffiziell) July 21, 2022

… Rookie in der @NHL, seine bisherige Karriere und das Kommende. Was neben dem Eis ansteht, kommt natürlich ebenfalls nicht zu kurz.— Deutsche Eishockey Liga (@DELoffiziell) July 21, 2022

You can listen to “Eiskalt auf den Punkt” here….

Here’s a translation of the introduction to the podcast:

Continue reading Moritz Seider takes part in a German podcast, auf Deutsch

The Score’s Todd Cordell posted an article which updates the Stanley Cup-winning odds for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams after their summertime moves, and he offers a complementary tone regarding the Red Wings’ renovations:

Detroit Red Wings (+5500)

The Red Wings are done being complete pushovers. They’ve made that loud and clear with the moves we have seen this summer.

Free-agent signings David Perron (27 goals, 57 points) and Andrew Copp (21 goals, 53 points) will nicely complement the stars the team already has in place up front. Not to mention, they’ll provide sandpaper and make the Wings tougher to play against.

While Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta, and Mark Pysyk have limitations with the puck, they should help the Red Wings improve in the defensive zone.

Ville Husso is a nice upgrade in goal as well. He’s coming off a breakout season in which he ranked top-10 in save percentage – and high-danger save percentage – at five-on-five.

The Red Wings are still unlikely to make a ton of noise this season – hence the +5500 Cup odds – but they’ve really improved.

Continued

Red Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic was able to take part in a demo flight with the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels last weekend in Ypsilanti, MI:

The NHLPA released the dates for its salary arbitration hearings this morning:

The 2022 Salary Arbitration hearing dates have been set and will be held from July 27 to August 11.

Schedule available here: https://t.co/Lq2uy86sFr— NHLPA (@NHLPA) July 21, 2022

Red Wings defenseman Jake Walman’s hearing is scheduled for Thursday, August 11th.

Updated at 1:14 PM: Per the Red Wings on Twitter…

UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today signed center Chase Pearson to a one-year contract.

Details: https://t.co/HB6Al6tuoM pic.twitter.com/4BbLOVDF1F— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 21, 2022

Pearson accepted his qualifying offer, a two-way contract ($917,831, $70,000 AHL). Requires waivers to be assigned to @griffinshockey Will be an RFA again next summer. https://t.co/i3HMwcbT6O— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) July 21, 2022

And, from the Red Wings’ PR department:

Continue reading Red Wings make Chase Pearson’s 1-year extension official

ESPN’s Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski posted a massive article for ESPN+ readers today, offering off-season grades for every one of the NHL’s 32 teams’ post-2021-2022 season trades and free agency moves.

My ESPN+ subscription costs seventy bucks, so I’m going to share what Shilton had to say about the Red Wings, and leave the rest to you:

Detroit Red Wings

Key players added: D Ben Chiarot, C Andrew Copp, G Ville Husso, F Dominik Kubalik, F David Perron, D Olli Maatta
Key players lost: G Thomas Greiss, G Calvin Pickard, D Marc Staal
Remaining cap space: $10,296,111

Coach status: The Red Wings moved on from Jeff Blashill in April, ending his seven-year tenure as head coach. Detroit has since named former Tampa Bay assistant Derek Lalonde as Blashill’s replacement. Lalonde has never run his own NHL bench, but as part of Jon Cooper’s staff since 2018 he has helped to guide the Lightning to consecutive Stanley Cup championships. It’s a winning pedigree that would give most general managers confidence in Lalonde — including Steve Yzerman.

Overall grade: A

Yzerman has not messed around in free agency. Detroit had cap space to use, and he has given this group a great chance to be in the playoff mix this season.

Going after the rights to Husso was a good start. Yzerman traded for him from St. Louis and then got a three-year extension done. The Red Wings should have a terrific tandem now in Husso and sophomore Alex Nedeljkovic.

Getting Perron on a two-year, $9.5 million pact was nice work by Yzerman, too. Perron hit his highest goal total (27) in eight years last season and was a force in the postseason (13 points in 12 games). That’s a savvy veteran who, at 34, is also playing excellent hockey. Perron will be huge for Detroit on the ice and in the dressing room.

Continue reading ESPN’s Shilton and Wyshynski grade the NHL’s offseason moves for every team, Red Wings included

The Toledo Walleye signed fan favorite and prolific ECHL point-producer Simon Denis to a contract earlier this summer, and the defenseman spoke with WTOL 11 in Toledo regarding his hopes of bringing a Kelly Cup to T-town:

The Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses Red Wings free agent signing Dominik Kubalik in her morning column today, discussing the 26-year-old’s desire to “reset” after a rough couple of seasons in Chicago:

Part of the appeal for Dominik Kubalik was the opportunity to see if he can sync his revival with that of the Detroit Red Wings‘.

He has a 30-goal season to his credit, which is a major reason why Wings general manager Steve Yzerman signed Kubalik for two years and $5 million when the free agent market opened on July 13. Kubalik, who turns 27 in August, was part of a slew of free agents signed by Yzerman. 

“When you are on the phone with a guy like him, it’s always nice,” Kubalik said. “We had a good talk, and it helped me a lot to make the decision. I know what he has done in the past with Tampa and what he is doing now with the Red Wings. It’s exciting. I’m there to help. I’m hoping I can do much better than last year. I know it’s in me. I can’t ask for a better opportunity or higher motivation than I have right now.”

Kubalik (6 feet 2, 179 pounds) has 62 goals in 202 NHL games, but after a standout rookie season in 2019-20 (30 goals in 68 games), he hasn’t topped 17 goals in either of the past two seasons.

“First season, the chemistry with Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad was amazing and we started clicking,” Kubalik said. “Then we lost Saader (who was traded away in October 2020) and the second season, Toews was out. It wasn’t easy for me to find who I can play with, and I was up and down in the lineup. The second half of the season was much better. Last season, well, the season was up and down pretty much the whole year. We went on a losing streak and it’s hard to get back and get it going. That’s what happened to me — I had some good streaks and some bad moments in the season. Right now, it’s a fresh start and I’m very excited about the opportunity. Hopefully I’m going to start the same way I did in Chicago.”

St. James continues (paywall)…