The Hockey News’s Tony Ferrari posted a list of “Nine Standout European Prospects to Open the Season,” and Red Wings prospect Elmer Soderblom cracked Ferrari’s list:

lmer Söderblom, RW/LW, Frölunda HC (SHL), Detroit Red Wings

The big man has been a big deal to start the season. The 6-foot-8 Söderblom has always had a boatload of skill and great hands in tight, but his mobility as a whole was questionable, to say the least. It was the primary reason the Swedish giant lasted until the sixth round of the 2019 NHL draft. 

Söderblom has been a key piece to Frölunda’s attack this season as he has proven to be reliable and consistent with a real drive to improve. His mobility clearly hindered him last season as he was extremely reliant on his strong puck protection at the SHL level but against men, it wasn’t as consistently reliable. Söderblom is looking more and more like a productive bottom-six NHLer every day.

Continued; if you missed it, Soderblom scored the OT game-winner for Frolunda HC today:

Elmer Söderblom scores again (5th goal the last 5 games), and decides the game in overtime #LGRW pic.twitter.com/h86AueBHJh

— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) October 21, 2021

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff penned an article discussing Moritz Seider’s significant ice time with the Red Wings team as a rookie:

The presence of Moritz Seider is quickly adding up to big numbers for the Detroit Red Wings. Three games into his NHL career, the 6-foot-4, 197-pound defenseman is proving to be a towering presence on the stats sheet as well as on the ice.

Seider is leading all NHL rookies in ice time. He’s playing 21:34 per game. While it’s certainly early in the season, thus far, only one other NHL first-year player, Nashville Predators defenseman Alexander Carrier (20:38), is playing as much as 20 minutes per night. Both Seider and Carrier are skating a league-high 26.7 shifts per game.

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill made it abundantly clear that this excessive workload for Moritz Seider, Detroit’s top pick in the 2019 NHL entry draft is about on-the-job training. Seider is getting out there on the ice the old-fashioned way. He’s earning it.

“First off, we’re making those decisions beyond just his development,” Blashill said. “He’s getting those minutes because he’s earning those minutes. I think he’s done a good job.”

Continued

The Red Wings posted another episode of “The Forecheck” ahead of tonight’s game vs. the Calgary Flames (7:30 PM on Bally Sports Detroit/Sportsnet East/Sportsnet Ontario/Sportsnet West/ESPN+/97.1 FM):

Update: Here’s the Flames’ game preview:

Of prospect-related note in Europe this afternoon:

In the SHL, William Wallinder scored a goal on 2 shots, finishing at +1 in 14:28 played as Rogle BK lost 3-2 in OT to Skelleftea AIK:

William Wallinder scores his first SHL goal! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/TVpXkPlzHJ

— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) October 21, 2021

Albert Johansson finished at +1 with 2 shots in 21:51 played as Farjestads BK won 3-1 over Orebro;

And in Gothenburg, Frolunda HC won 3-2 in OT over Vaxjo:

Simon Edvinsson finished at +1 with 2 shots in 19:29 played;

Theodor Niederbach finished even with 1 shot in 9:20 played;

And Elmer Soderblom scored a goal on 3 shots, finishing even in 13:29 played:

Elmer Söderblom scores again (5th goal the last 5 games), and decides the game in overtime #LGRW pic.twitter.com/h86AueBHJh

— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) October 21, 2021

The Detroit Red Wings wrap up their 4-game home stand tonight against the Calgary Flames, and then the Wings head on the road for three games. The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article discussing the challenges the Wings will face as they head east to play Montreal on Saturday, double back to play in Chicago on Sunday, and wrap up their road trip in Washington next Wednesday:

“Away games are going to be interesting compared to last year,” forward Pius Suter said.

It’s back to normal this season, or at least feels like it, though coach Jeff Blashill cautions everyone still needs to be careful.

“It’s back to somewhat normal, but you need to take the necessary precautions and apply it by the local health rules, whatever they are,” Blashill said. “Every city we got into, it will be a little different. I also think from our own own perspective, as we all know, with the vaccine you can still test positive. The severity will be much less, but you can still test positive and the positive tests hurt your ability to participate, so we still need to be smart and vigilant. But it’s more normal than it would have been a year ago.”

…

An early-season stretch such as this one can bring a team together, in some cases. But in Blashill’s mind, there’s one item that can surely help bonding.

“If you win,” Blashill said. “There’s bonding through hardship, you can bond through struggle at times, but you definitely bond when you win. These are different kind of road trips maybe (from) 20 years ago, in terms of going out for a long time on the West Coast and spend days off.  A lot of our trips are quick. We’re into Montreal (Saturday) and play a back-to-back (Sunday) in Chicago, and there’s not a lot of time for a group (to bond). We go into Washington (Wednesday) and come back right away and play Florida, and go right to Toronto (the next day).”

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings’ head coach spoke with the media ahead of tonight’s game vs. the Calgary Flames (7:30 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/Sportsnet East/Sportsnet West/Sportsnet Ontario/ESPN+/97.1 FM), and the Flames’ website just posted Calgary’s pre-game media availabilities.

Coach Darryl Sutter spoke with the media…

As did Noah Hanafin…

And Tyler Pitlick…

The Flames’ website also posted the team’s projected lines, per the morning skate combinations:

Continue reading Red Wings-Flames game-day videos II: Calgary’s side →

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a game-day notebook article in which Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill spoke about the maturation of one Moritz Seider:

Seider has three assists in three games while averaging 21:24 in ice time, second on the team to Filip Hronek (23:55). Seider is playing in all situations, manning the point on one of the power-play units and killing penalties.

“He’s getting those minutes because he’s earning those minutes,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I think he’s done a good job. He’s on our power play and he kills penalties as well, so he’s going to get those minutes on the specialty teams, so that’s going to increase your minutes.”

The Red Wings (2-0-1) wrap up a season-opening four-game homestand tonight against the Calgary Flames (0-1-1) at Little Caesars Arena (7:30, Bally Sports Detroit).

Seider is only 20, but clearly was NHL-ready after spending the 2019-20 season with AHL Grand Rapids and last season with Rogle BK in the Swedish Hockey League. He has been paired with Nick Leddy.

“I think for his personal development, one of the things that we’ve tried to do here, that we’ve done since Ken (former general manager Holland) was here and certainly with Steve (Yzerman), is try not to bring players up until they’re really ready to make an impact,” Blashill said. “I think when you do that, you get into a position where you’re not playing minimal minutes. You’re playing more minutes and that’s going to help you grow. And certainly, Moritz has done some really good stuff. He’s got some real good abilities. I think there’s definitely room for growth and we’re going to help him grow and try to become a great player. I don’t want Seids to be a good player, I want him to be a great player. And we’re going to push him to try to become a great player.”

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings face the Calgary Flames this evening (7:30 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/Sportsnet East/Sportsnet Ontario/Sportsnet West/ESPN+/97.1 FM), and the Red Wings will start Alex Nedeljkovic this evening.

After the Wings’ morning skate concluded, coach Jeff Blashill spoke about Moritz Seider, as well as the team’s looming 3-game road trip. As our friends from Calgary conduct their morning skate at present, you can watch the video of coach Jeff Blashill’s post-skate remarks below:

Meanwhile, our friends from Calgary took to the ice at LCA for their morning skate…

The road trip into the U.S.#Flames on the ice in Detroit for morning skate. The first of a 5-game tonight. pic.twitter.com/Ks3pqcpP0S— Brendan Parker (@BParkerTV) October 21, 2021

Oliver Kylington paired with Chris Tanev today at #Flames morning skate.— Hailey Salvian (@hailey_salvian) October 21, 2021

?: Detroit pic.twitter.com/6PEcRzSVqy— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) October 21, 2021

Head coach Darryl Sutter confirms Oliver Kylington is in the lineup tonight.

On a pairing with Chris Tanev. #Flames— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) October 21, 2021

#Flames at morning skate in Detroit, per the team:

Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk
Coleman-Backlund-Pitlick
Lucic-Monahan-Lewis
Mangiapane-Dube-Ritchie

Hanifin-Andersson
Kylington-Tanev
Valimaki-Gudbranson
Zadorov-Stone

Markstrom— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) October 21, 2021

And DetroitRedWings.com’s Brett McWethy posted a game-day preview, noting the following:

Continue reading Red Wings-Flames game-day videos and updates: Blashill speaks with the media as Calgary holds its morning skate →

The Red Wings are starting Alex Nedeljkovic against the Calgary Flames this evening (7:30 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/Sportsnet East/Sportsnet Ontario/Sportsnet West/ESPN+/97.1 FM). After the Wings’ morning skate, the Red Wings’ coach and players spoke with the media:

“We don’t want Seider to be a good player, we want him to be a great player.” – Jeff Blashill. #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 21, 2021

Coach Blashill says Moritz Seider has earned the minutes he’s been playing the past three games #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) October 21, 2021

Just enjoy this one:

Missed this on @DetroitRedWings opening night: Dylan Larkin’s reaction to seeing Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg

Awesome. https://t.co/POQKuwVlMB— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) October 21, 2021

Asked if being on the road is a good time for team bonding, Coach Blashill says “If you win” with a smirk #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) October 21, 2021

Also of note: we received two articles that broke too late in the night to fit in the Wings-Flames preview. CalgaryFlames.com’s Ryan Dittrick filed a game-day article…

Continue reading Red Wings-Flames post-morning skate Tweets and articles: Chit-chat and Wings-Flames preview articles →

The Detroit Red Wings wrap up their 4-game home stand against the Calgary Flames this evening (7:30 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/Sportsnet East/Sportsnet West/Sportsnet Ontario/ESPN+/97.1 FM).

Red Wings announcer Ken Kal was the first to say, “Hello” this morning…

Tonight’s Line Ups (note there will be scratches on both sides) pic.twitter.com/yvwJQ9hX3O— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) October 21, 2021

The Red Wings let us know that the team was actually skating…

CGY vs DET, 7:30pm. #LGRW

?: https://t.co/a1ZFiGgZn1 pic.twitter.com/PcFZPktEQo— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 21, 2021

In lieu of lines, we received these Tweets…

Alex Nedeljkovic is the first goalie off for Detroit this morning ahead of tonight’s game against Calgary— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) October 21, 2021

Alex Nedeljkovic is off the ice first this morning. #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 21, 2021

Morning skate ?#LGRW pic.twitter.com/GBFEKKcyah— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) October 21, 2021

And the Calgary Sun’s Wes Gilbertson posted a game-day article discussing “3 Things” about the Flames…

Continue reading Red Wings-Flames morning skate Tweets and articles: Nedeljkovic starts; ‘3 Things’ about the Flames and Wings →