A bit about the Wings’ draft focus on defense

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan penned an article discussing the Red Wings’ dearth of development on their blueline over the past half-decade (or more). Kulfan points out that the Wings rather desperately need to hit a couple of “solid singles” (if not a home run or two) at this year’s draft:

With four picks in the first two rounds of next month’s NHL Entry Draft, the Red Wings will likely concentrate on defense, whenever possible.

“I would anticipate some of those four picks, and three third-round (picks), some of those picks will be used on defense,” [Red Wings GM Ken] Holland said.

How vital a deep and talented defense is to any NHL team was shown last summer during the expansion process as the Vegas Golden Knights were entering the league.

Holland noted how teams that possessed depth on defense worked side deals with Vegas in hopes of retaining defensive depth.

“In the end of the day most of them paid a price in order to hang onto their defense,” Holland said. “Defensemen are coveted in this league, and those defensemen (elite top-pairing) that can play in the league, a defenseman that can make a difference, we have to draft and develop them.”

Kulfan continues at length, assessing the state of the Wings’ defense…

Horcoff, Martin speak with Duff about Kaden Fulcher’s potential

The Hamilton Bulldogs won the OHL title yesterday, back-stopped by goaltender Kaden Fulcher.

Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff spoke with Red Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff and assistant GM Ryan Martin regarding Fulcher’s rapid progress up the team’s depth chart:

“He’s improved his movement in the net,” Horcoff said. “We like his size and athleticism. He was a little bit raw but he’s a kid that wants to work and puts in the work. Goalies are more of a long-term project. You get these kids that are young, it takes a while to hone their craft. They really have to put the work in to be ready for the pro game. He’s very much doing that. We’re happy with his progression and where he’s at.”

Where Fulcher will be at next year is a debate the Wings will engage in over the summer months. Detroit’s goaltending is definitely in a state of flux. Jimmy Howard is the only goalie on the roster with any significant NHL experience, and Jared Coreau, who was No. 1 in Grand Rapids and Howard’s back up with the Wings at the end of the NHL regular season, is an unrestricted free agent, as is fellow Grand Rapids netminder and 2008 No. 1 draft pick Tom McCollum. The contract of Matej Machovsky, a free agent signed last summer, is also up and he’s opted to return to his native Czech Republic.

The door of opportunity to turn pro certainly appears to be there for Fulcher but that’s a decision the team is still weighing.

“Next year we have the option to send him back and play an overage junior year, or he’d be working between Toledo and maybe Grand Rapids,” Martin said. “We’ll continue to monitor his development.”

Duff continues, and Fulcher and the Bulldogs will head to Regina to compete for the Memorial Cup starting on the 17th.

Red Wings at the World Championship: Sulak 1A, Hronek 17 minutes played in Czech win over Austria

At the World Championship in Denmark:

Libor Sulak had an assist, finishing even on 2 shots and playing 17:46, and Filip Hronek finished at +1 with 2 shots in 17:40 played as the Czech Republic won 4-3 over Austria.

Here are the game’s highlights:

Update: Here’s the Free Press’s Helene St. James on the Worlds:

Sulak set up the first goal en route to a 4-3 victory over Austria on Monday. The Czechs finished in third place in Group A at the World Championship in Herning and Copenhagen, Denmark, and now await quarterfinals matchups. (They’ll play the second-place team in Group B.)

Sulak has a goal and two assists in seven games. Fellow Wings prospect and Czech teammate Filip Hronek has a goal and one assist. Other Wings at the tournament are Team USA’s Dylan Larkin (three goals, five assists in six games) and Nick Jensen (one goal, three assists), Denmark’s Frans Nielsen (three goals, three assists in six games) and Sweden’s Gustav Nyquist (three goals in five games).

Tuesday marks the final day of preliminary play. Sweden and Russia will battle for first and second place in Group A, while fourth place can be claimed by either Switzerland, Slovakia or France.

The U.S., which leads Group B with 16 points, plays Finland for first place in that group. Canada and Denmark are also in position to advance, with Latvia lurking in fifth place. The top four teams in each group advance to play cross-over quarterfinals.

 

Khan speaks with Tyler Wright regarding the draft

MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Red Wings director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright regarding the product of last week’s organizational/draft meetings. Wright told Khan that the team hasn’t quite made its final decision regarding who they’ll pick 6th overall:

The Red Wings had their amateur scouting meetings last week. There was much debate. Wright indicated they’re still formulating their list.

“I don’t think it was a unanimous decision going into these meetings,” Wright said. “To be honest with you, the decision hasn’t been made. We don’t spend a lot of time trying to figure out who’s taking who. We’re trying to identify where we want to go and make sure we have those guys in order.

“Obviously, Rasmus Dahlin is ahead of the class, and rightfully so, as being a generational player. Everybody has identified that. But after that you can really mix or match. We believe we’re going to get a really good player at 6. It just depends what happens 2 through 5.”

Khan continues, and this is a must-read…

Two Things: On Trevor Daley’s stats and AWood40’s clip of Mantha’s goals

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examined Trevor Daley’s stats for the 2017-18 season today, and Daley’s “numbers” weren’t tremendous, but I think that a lot of us Wings fans got it wrong in assuming that Daley would be more productive.

Daley’s 38-point season in 14-15 was something of an aberration for a guy who averages 20-25 points.

Anyway, Daley did lead the Wings’ defense in goals, and the hope is that he’ll best his 17 points this past season given his strong stretch run play (unless that was an aberration, too):

9 — Daley led all Wings’ defensemen with nine goals. That is tied for Daley’s second-best career goal total. He also had nine with the Stars in the 2013-14 season. In the 2014-15 season, Daley had a career-high 16 goals. Daley was tied for 31st among defensemen in goals.

7 — In his 15-year career, it had never happened before this past season. Daley had nine goals and only seven assists, the first time he had ever registered more goals than assists in a single campaign. Daley was not the only one on the Wings with that statistic. Gustav Nyquist, Luke Glendening and David Booth also had more goals than assists.

Wakiji continues…

2. And AWood40 posted a clip highlighting Anthony Mantha’s 2017-18 season goals in a 10-and-a-half-minute highlight clip. Here’s hoping that Mantha bests his 24 goals next season:

 

 

Prospect playoff round-up: Fulcher’s Bulldogs win OHL title, defeating Sambrook’s Greyhounds 5-4

In the Ontario Hockey League championship series:

Kaden Fulcher stopped 40 of 44 shots as the Hamilton Bulldogs won 5-4 over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, capturing the J. Ross Robertson trophy as the OHL champions.

Jordan Sambrook scored a goal, finishing at -1 on 7 shots for the Sault, but his late-game marker wasn’t enough to tie the score. Ultimately, the Sault lost 4 games to 2.

[edit/update: You can read the OHL’s website’s recap and watch highlights from the game here. /end edit]

The Bulldogs will go on to play in the Memorial Cup later this month in Regina, Saskatchewan, and Fulcher has already signed a contract with the Wings; Detroit has to decide whether to sign Sambrook to a contract by June 1st, or he’ll go back in the draft.

 

Red Wings at the World Championship: Larkin 1+2 as USA beats Norway; Sulak 1A as Czechs beat France

At the World Championship in Denmark:

Dylan Larkin scored a goal and added two assists, finishing at +2 with 3 shots in 16:23 as Team USA won 9-3 over Norway. Nick Jensen had an assist, finishing even with 2 shots in 14:37 played.

Team USA is unbeaten (5 regulation wins and 1 OT win) over the course of 6 games played.

Larkin spoke to IIHF.com’s John Sanful after the game:

With the win, Team USA remains atop Group B and next heading into an important fame against the equally high flying Finland. Norway now faces a must win game against Korea.

“It’s tough to take a night off,” said Dylan Larkin of the challenges ahead. “We have to get ready for Finland, and they’ve been playing well, so that began today against Norway. We came out prepared from the start and didn’t take them lightly.”

Here are the game’s highlights:

A recap is now available on Team USA’s website as well, and here’s their post-game clip:

Elsewhere, Libor Sulak had an assist, finishing even with 7 shots in 17:12 played, and Filip Hronek finished even with 3 shots in 19:04 as the Czech Republic won 6-0 over France.

Here are the highlights from the game:

Update: Gustav Nyquist did not play in Sweden’s 5-3 win over Switzerland.

A bit about Libor Sulak’s 17-18 campaign

Red Wings prospect Libor Sulak is playing for the Czech Republic (alongside fellow defenseman Filip Hronek) at the World Championship, and Julie Robenhymer, writing for DetroitRedWings.com, penned a profile of Sulak:

“There is nothing better than to represent on your national team. It is the top, the best,” Sulak said. “But after my season ended in Finland, I went to North America and I was injured and only played two games. So, I was happy to get the call and have the chance to play some more and continue to get better.”

Sulak made his first appearance on the Czech national team at last year’s world championship, playing in two games and earning an assist. Soon after, he signed a two-year entry level contract with the Detroit Red Wings.

This season, he left his home country for the first time to play in Finland for the Lahti Pelicans of the Finnish Elite League where the 24-year-old earned nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points in 42 games – good enough for top two in the league in points per game by a defenseman and top five in the league in ice time, all while leading his team in plus-minus.

When his season was over in Finland, Sulak joined the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins for their playoff run to gain some experience on the smaller ice in North America.

Due to a groin injury and then a puck to the mouth that required 16 stitches to repair, he only played two games, but earned an assist in each.

Jiri Fischer, the Red Wings’ director of player evaluation, is also the general manager of the Czech national team at the world championship. He said Sulak has had a tough season but is growing through the challenges.

Continued

HSJ reviews the 2013 draft

The Free Press’s Helene St. James makes an interesting argument, suggesting that the Red Wings have “held onto their picks” since 2013, and as such, essentially began the rebuilding process during the Bertuzzi-and-Mantha draft:

In 2013, the Detroit Red Wings began a change in direction.

After trading away first-round picks in three of the previous five seasons, Wings general manager Ken Holland held onto his first selection in the NHL entry draft. The Wings had qualified for the playoffs for a 22nd consecutive season that spring, but a side effect of that success was a farm system low on talent. A need to replenish was in order.

The draft has continued to grow in emphasis for the Wings, to the point they made 11 picks in 2017 and hold 11 picks again, including four in the top 36, in 2018.

Here is the first in a five-part series looking back at how Wings draft selections have panned out. In this edition: The class of 2013.

As St. James notes, Anthony Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi and Mattias Janmark, who plays for Dallas, were the Wings’ swings-and-hits of the 2013 draft, with David Pope still a question mark…

But the fact that the Red Wings dumped Janmark and Calle Jarnkrok in separate trades in 2015, to acquire Erik Cole and David Legwand, still sticks in my craw. I would argue that the Wings didn’t “begin the rebuild” until after that trade was made.

Red Wings at the World Championship: Nielsen 1G+1A in Danes’ win over Korea

At the World Championship in Denmark, Frans Nielsen had a goal and an assist, finishing at +1 in 22:00 played as Norway defeated Korea 3-1.

Here are the game’s highlights: