Kotkansalo is a top 10 prospect in the Red Wings system as a defense-first guy, according to our most recent ranking, and at 19 he’s still plenty young. His BU coach David Quinn thought Kotkansalo had a good season, saying he got more comfortable and confident as the year went on, but saw plenty of room for growth going forward.
Confidence, in fact, came up as a topic at their end-of-season meeting — and Quinn views it as a major step in unlocking Kotkansalo’s potential.
“Sometimes he gets indecisive — and it’s not because he doesn’t know what to do, I just think he’s unsure of himself and he’s not as confident as he should be,” Quinn told The Athletic. “Because when he’s confident, boy, he’s a really good player. A really good player. He makes great outlet passes on breakouts, he can really shoot a puck, he’s got good poise — all the things that you want in a defenseman.
“And he’s gotta continue to work on his one-on-ones, his stick positioning needs to get better, and his balance has to get better when he plays one-on-ones, but I think part of that is all tied to his confidence. I think once that clicks for him, all the things that he needs to work on will become a lot easier for him to improve in those areas.”
Red Wings executive Kris Draper appeared on WDFN’s Matt Sheppard’s “Shep, Shower and Shave” show on Thursday morning, discussing the upcoming NHL draft from the Wings’ perspective. Draper speaks with Sheppard for 19 minutes:
Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin appeared on the NHL Now to speak about the impending start of the World Championship, which begins on Friday in Copenhagen and Herning, Denmark.
Larkin and Team USA will battle Canada at 10 AM EDT on Friday (on the NHL Network and TSN), and Larkin spoke for about five minutes regarding the Worlds and what his expectations are for this year’s tournament:
On the competition of the World Championships vs. the perception it’s just a fun getaway for players: “It’s really competitive. It’s a fast game, it’s big ice. It’s not as physical as the Stanley Cup playoffs, but the speed and the skill is certainly right there. These teams are hard-working teams, and they’ve been training for a while, getting ready for this tournament. They’re really structured and well-coached. They work hard and they’re tough to play against. It makes for some fun hockey.”
On Jeff Blashill: “He’s the same as me, just getting experience and wants to win really bad. We both had a bitter taste in our mouths about not making the playoffs, and we wanted to come over here and gain some experience and try to win this thing.”
On the gameplan to try to slow down Team Canada: “It’s gonna be a good game. I like playing Canada first. It’s an easy game to get up for, and get it out of the game. Gonna have to try to slow down Connor McDavid on the big ice. That won’t be fun, but we’ll find a way.”
“Dylan’s going to be a big part of our team, and just building that time together last year was probably the first year where Dylan got to really be a go-to guy with me,” Blashill said. “Maybe a little that year in the Calder Cup (2013 in Grand Rapids) when he came out of Michigan, but last year was certainly the first time.
“I mean a real go-to guy up the middle and we can just build upon that. He’s been in that moment a lot this year, he’s been a go-to guy for us (the Wings) a lot.
“Hopefully this can continue to build upon our relationship.”
The fact Larkin wanted more responsibility and was so self-accountable throughout this season was a good sign for Blashill.
“Anytime you get to put the team on your shoulders and you win or lose, it can help you,” Blashill said. “It can really help you either way. If you lose, you can learn from it and if you win, it gives you confidence that you can put the team on your shoulders and win.”
USA Hockey does an excellent job of covering their World Championship team, and ahead of Friday’s Worlds opener vs. Canada (10 AM EDT on the NHL Network), Team USA posted a video in which Dylan Larkin and Jeff Blashill (among others) discuss the Americans’ tasks at hand…
“I think we proved to ourselves last year we were good enough to win this tournament,” said Blashill, who just completed his third season as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. “We were in a great position and unfortunately we lost the wrong game.”
Four players return from last year’s National Team, including forwards Johnny Gaudreau (Salem, N.J./Calgary Flames), Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich./Detroit Red Wings) and Anders Lee (Edina, Minn./New York Islanders) and defenseman Connor Murphy (Dublin, Ohio/Chicago Blackhawks). Murphy captained Team USA while the three forwards combined for 13 goals and 29 points to fuel the U.S. effort.
With that core in place, along with a barrage of newcomers led by 2018 U.S. captain Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y./Chicago Blackhawks), Blashill believes this group has the talent to compete for gold.
“We were a talented group last year and we’re equally as talented this year,” said Blashill. “We need to believe in ourselves and build as a hockey team throughout the tournament.”
Forward Dylan Larkin is back for a second straight year, this time as an alternate captain for the U.S. Coach Jeff Blashill will be behind the bench, also for a second straight year. Defenseman Nick Jensen was named to the U.S. squad on the strength of his skating ability.
Gustav Nyquist is on Sweden’s squad. Former Wings great Nicklas Lidstrom is expected to be part of the color commentary for the Swedish games.
Frans Nielsen headlines the Danish team.
Defense prospects Filip Hronek and Libor Sulak were both named to the Czech roster.
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Sizing up the competition
Each group has three hockey power houses – A has the Czechs, the Russians and the Swedes, and B has the Canadians, the Finns and the Americans. All six teams made it to the quarterfinals of the 2017 tournament, and are expected to do so again this year. Sweden ended up winning last year, defeating Canada in everybody’s least favorite way to end a major tournament: a shootout. Russia took bronze by beating Finland (which beat the U.S. in a quarterfinal).
Of brief but hopefully useful Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins-related note:
1. Grand Rapids Griffins coach Todd Nelson appeared on ESPN 96.1 FM’s “Big Drew and Jim” show on Wednesday afternoon, and ESPN 96.1 FM posted episode without separately posting Nelson’s interview, so: Nelson appears at the 41:48 mark of the following clip, and he speaks for 8 minutes:
2 — Coreau earned two AHL honors this season, the first as the league’s Goaltender of the Week for the period ending Feb. 18 and the second as the league’s Goaltender of the Month for February after allowing just nine goals on 185 shots while going unbeaten in six appearances. He was 4-0-2 with a 1.46 goals-against average and .951 save percentage in February. Coreau also won AHL Goaltender of the Month in Dec. 2015.
85 — With 38 this season, Coreau now has 85 regular-season wins, putting him in fourth place on Grand Rapids’ all-time goaltending list. Tom McCollum moved into first this season with 123 victories; Joey MacDonald is second with 109; Jimmy Howard is third with 93.
The Toledo Walleye saw instant impact from their returning Grand Rapids Griffins forwards on Tuesday, and the Walleye took a 2-games-to-1 lead over the Fort Wayne Komets as a result:
Dylan Sadowy scored 2 goals and Mike Borkowski had an assist as Toledo blew a 2-goal lead but managed to defeat Fort Wayne 4-3. Mike Embach and Shane Berschbach (1G, 1A) scored as well, and Pat Nagle stopped 36 shots for Toledo.
The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a locker room clean-out day article foreshadowing Dylan Larkin’s appearance in this year’s World Championship, which begins Friday in Denmark, and the Team USA forward spoke bluntly regarding his goals for the tournament:
“I’m going back this year and I want to win,” he said. “It’s experience for me. It’s not being complacent with finishing early April playing hockey. Playing hockey into May is what it is all about. I just think I am young, I have a lot of energy, got a lot of passion. I want to keep playing.”
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Playing center at the 2017 Worlds helped Larkin succeed at that position in his third year in the NHL. He played wing his rookie year, 2015-16, and was moved back to wing after struggling at center to start the 2016-17 season. Larkin held his own at the position this season, and had a career-high 63 points. He scored seven goals the last 10 games.
That kind of growth is crucial as the Wings try to regain competitiveness. Larkin is a cornerstone of the rebuilding process, even better than the Wings hoped they were getting when they drafted him 15th overall in 2014. He has a high internal drive to be the best player he can be. Returning to the World Championship is a chance to show he can thrive in big games. Teams play seven preliminary games, and the top four teams in each group advance to quarterfinals.
“Moving forward in my career, the next step is becoming a winner,” Larkin said. “I want to have that extra factor where I take my game to another level to either hold onto a lead or try to get that goal to tie it up or win. I want to better myself.”
Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff spoke with Red Wings prospect and Hamilton Bulldogs goaltender Kaden Fulcher on Monday, discussing Fulcher’s ascent among the prospect corps due to his superb season and post-season with Hamilton (which will be competing for the Ontario Hockey League championship starting on Friday).
The Red Wings have the option to send him back to Hamilton for an overage season but are planning on turning him pro. He’ll be competing for a job with the Grand Rapids Griffins but likely will be moving back and forth from the ECHL Toledo Walleye to Grand Rapids, as needed.
“It’s definitely huge to know that they’re making plans for you,” Fulcher said. “You make sure that every day you show at the rink at the OHL level, that you want to keep putting in the work to get to that next level. I think getting a little taste of it at the prospect tournament and the main camp, you see just how good everyone is, and how good you’re going to have to get to get there.”
As for Fulcher’s opponent, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Red Wings prospect Jordan Sambrook will be patrolling the blueline for the Sault, but his future with the Wings is less certain:
The Red Wings selected Sambrook in the fifth round of the 2016 draft (137th overall). They have until June 1 to sign him or he will re-enter the draft. They are still evaluating.
Sambrook (6-2, 195) has no goals and six assists in 18 playoff games. He had 10 goals and 39 points in 67 regular season games, along with a plus-43 rating, with ranked fourth in the OHL.
The Grand Rapids Griffins are holding their exit interviews for players today.
The Red Wings’ management has some difficult decisions to make regarding the mix of veterans and youngsters that will make up next year’s Griffins team; the Grand Rapids Press’s Peter J. Wallner spoke with three key veterans in Matt Ford, Ben Street and Eric Tangradi regarding their futures. All three players are unrestricted free agents this summer:
“We’re talking right now and that’s where I can of want to leave it right now,” Ford said. “Obviously, I’d love to be here, and they want me to be back and we’ll see how it goes.”
Free agent signings begin July 1.
Like Ford, Street and Tangradi also spoke highly of Grand Rapids and the Griffins organization. But both also would like an opportunity with an NHL team, an unlikely scenario for either with the Red Wings. Both have to decide it there is an opportunity with a different NHL organization or be satisfied as a leader/mention within the AHL.
“I explore before July 1 and see what’s out there. During the year there’s really not an opportunity to see what’s out there,” said the 31-year-old Street, who led the Griffins with 65 points (21-44-65) “… That’s homework my agent and I will do over the next couple months and we’ll see where the best opportunity is.
“For me, I still believe I can be an NHL player and it was disappointing to me that I didn’t get a chance at that. So, my job this summer is to find where that best opportunity is. It may be with the Red Wings or it may be somewhere else.”
Wallner continues, breaking down the Griffins and Red Wings’ restricted and unrestricted free agents…
