Since Aunt Annie came home from her second hospitalization, she’s been bed-bound, and thusly, I’ve been taking care of all of her needs for the past week.
Some days have been better than others; today started at 5 AM, and while I was able to sneak away to Walgreens for 45 minutes, I’ve otherwise been engaged in taking care of AA, who had her first physical therapy appointment today.
She’s still on heavy antibiotics for a UTI every 6 hours, so we get up at 6 AM to make sure that she’s taking her medication on time; thus far, she’s responded well to the antibiotics, and her “mental fog” has been more and more intermittent.
But things are difficult here, and we’ve got some financial issues as well.
Greenberg, 40, a graduate of Columbia Law School, isn’t your typical “hockey man” — and, interestingly, that might just be exactly what Christopher Ilitch is looking for with this particular hire.
Tigers president Scott Harris hired Greenberg in September 2023, after the two worked together with the Chicago Cubs from 2012-19. Greenberg interned with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks and MLB’s executive office during his undergraduate studies and during law school. Greenberg joined the Cubs in 2012 as an intern in baseball operations and climbed his way to becoming assistant GM in 2020.
Greenberg then joined the NHL Chicago Blackhawks in 2022, becoming an associate general manager and being credited for building one of the strongest analytic departments in the league.
Lack of scoring cost the Red Wings a playoff spot after they were tied for the Eastern Conference lead on Jan. 24 with 69 points. They finished 22nd in the league in goals (239) and 30th in five-on-five goals (142).
They lost Patrick Kane (16 goals), who signed with Chicago, and didn’t re-sign James van Riemsdyk (15 goals), who remains a free agent.
Viktor Arvidsson (25 goals last season with Boston) will compensate for some of that offense.
They also need growth from within. Marco Kasper must be closer to the player who scored 19 goals as a rookie and not the one who struggled last season with nine goals. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard could be ready to contribute after being elevated before he was ready a year ago (one assist in 14 games).
Here are the players Khan believes can fill a goal-scoring hole for the Red Wings:
Competitive player who likes the physical side of the game. Delivers memorable hits.
He’s driven. Want to get better and shows improvement every month. He carries himself like an NHL player.
Has a sneaky-good offensive game, moves the puck effectively and can unload a blistering shot. He’s really starting to see plays developing as he moves up the ice.
What May Hold Him Back
He probably would be farther ahead if he had played in North America last season. He still only has 30 games of AHL experience. The AHL mentality is much closer to the NHL mentality.
As a physical player, Johansson needs a more advanced understanding of how to best use his physical play as a competitive edge. The Red Wings would also like to see him add a few more pounds of muscle.
Continued; I’m a big believer in Johansson’s potential, but Allen is right that Anton’s going to need to learn when and how to check players more effectively on North American ice (85 foot-wide rinks instead of 100-foot-wide rinks). I’d still project Johansson to become a Brad Stuart-like Swiss Army Knife defenseman, if all goes well.
First and foremost, the Red Wings must get the hire right, but they also need to move as quickly as they can in this Detroit vetting process. The new boss will need time to explore Larkin options, including whether he might want to stay.
For those who believe the new hire will accept some draft picks and prospects from Minnesota for Larkin and move on, that is unlikely to happen. When you talk to people around the NHL, no one believes [Steve] Yzerman was wrong for demanding a proven player or players in a Larkin swap. A weak scoring team cannot give up a proven 30-goal scorer for spins at the roulette wheel.
Everyone in the NHL understands that unless you are picking in the Top 15, draft picks are raffle tickets. Even in the first round, there’s roughly a 30% chance a team won’t land a player who will make it.
A person familiar with Yzerman’s approach, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Yzerman thought hockey is “still trying to figure out what analytics work.”
That led to Yzerman struggling to explain hockey in analytic terms Ilitch prefers.
“He had to speak an analytical language he wasn’t familiar with,” the person said. “And he had no idea what he was telling [Ilitch]. He had to explain in analytical terms and not hockey terms.”
Analytics can be helpful in any sport. But baseball’s use of data tools is entirely unique, and if Ilitch thinks any GM, even [Tigers GM Jeff] Greenberg, can use a few key metrics to synthesize what leads to success in hockey, he’s setting himself up to be charmed by the smoothest talker with the best PowerPoint presentation.
The Red Wings have officially confirmed that they’ve painted a “Hockeytown” logo on the ice at Little Caesars Arena for this upcoming season. I hope the Wings grow back into that name some time soon:
Three of the Red Wings’ beat writers spoke with local and national broadcasters, and podcasters, regarding the Red Wings’ front office uncertainty and Dylan Larkin’s complicated situation.
First, via SI’s Jayd Serdy, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan spoke with WWJ Newsradio 950 and 97.1 the Ticket’s Jeremy Otto regarding the intertwined nature of the Wings’ general managerial flux and Dylan Larkin’s trade demands…
Red Wings beat writer @tkulfan: "people around the organization I wouldn't want to say the word confident but the thing is they kinda feel like when the time comes, Dylan Larkin is gonna be in camp. I mean the options are limited. Does he want to hold out? I doubt that"
Kulfan suggests that the Red Wings may see Dylan Larkin head to training camp (where he would be accepted by the team), start the season with and possibly rectify the situation with Detroit because the new GM would be running out of time to trade #71 given that it’s mid-August.
Kulfan says that with 65 goals out of the lineup in Larkin, Kane and JvR gone, Detroit needs as much offense as possible…But Kulfan is less certain that Larkin would end the season in Detroit.
Second, Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen spoke with the Flying Octopod’s Evan Sabourin, Devin Little and Tony Wolak regarding the Red Wings’ managerial search and Dylan Larkin’s trade demands…
–St. James suggests that Steve Yzerman’s timing in choosing to step down from the Red Wings’ GM position is unusual to say the very least;
–St. James believes that the Red Wings should emulate Zach Werenski’s trade demand in Columbus and try to rectify the situation by reconciling to find a way to salvage their relationship, with HSJ suggesting that the Red Wings’ fans can accept Larkin again;
–St. James also notes that the Red Wings must attempt to find a Dylan Larkin-type player in return for a trade, and while the Red Wings are “miffed” that they’ve paid him $31 million of his total salary on that 8-year deal, with an $8.7 million cap hit left on the marketplace…
–And St. James describes the Red Wings’ situation as “dismal” as of mid-August, because she suggests that Detroit needs to find a GM/Director of Hockey Operations who must decide whether to reconcile with Larkin or trade him for “futures,” which would set back Raymond and Seider’s playoff aspirations, and he/they must re-sign Simon Edvinsson and get ready for the rookie tournament and training camp as well.
