Red Wings-Blue Jackets preview

The Detroit Red Wings head to Ohio’s capital city to battle the Columbus Blue Jackets this evening (7 PM EST start on FanDuel Sportsnet Detroit/FanDuel Sportsnet Columbus/97.1 FM), and there are several Wings-Blue Jackets previews of note this morning.

NHL.com summarizes the storylines heading into tonight’s game most succinctly:

Detroit Red Wings at Columbus Blue Jackets (7 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, FDSNDET)

The Red Wings (15-18-4) are 2-1-0 since hiring coach Todd McLellan. The Blue Jackets (16-16-6) have won three of four games. Zach Werenski has a home point streak of 13 games as the Blue Jackets have moved within two points of the final Wild Card spot in the East. Werenski has 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in the streak.

The Columbus Dispatch’s Brian Hedger also notes that the Blue Jackets are in the thick of the playoff hunt…

Going into the game, the Blue Jackets are tied with the Philadelphia Flyers at 38 points after outlasting the Carolina Hurricanes in a shootout Tuesday to ring in the new year at Nationwide Arena. They’re just two points behind the Ottawa Senators for the Eastern Conference’s second wildcard spot and one back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for fourth place in the Metropolitan Division.

For the Red Wings, tonight’s game is something of an acid test, as DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills notes:

Continue reading Red Wings-Blue Jackets preview

Duff debunks the rumors of a Wings-Sabres trade

I’ve seen the chatter online about the Red Wings and Sabres making a trade for Dylan Cozens, Bowen Byram or half a dozen other players, but I don’t believe the hype, and neither does Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff:

Sabres center Dylan Cozens is the player the Hockeytown faithful certainly covet. He could be that second-line center the team’s been seeking out forever. One rumor even went as far as to suggest the reason why the Red Wings were moving Joe Veleno to the top line is because they are showcasing him in a one-for-one deal for Cozens.

News flash – that deal is about as likely to happen as Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell is likely to punt on fourth and one.

Does mean Detroit GM Steve Yzerman definitely hasn’t talked to the Sabres regarding Cozens? Absolutely not.

“You talk to every team in the league,” Yzerman said. “Okay, like, we want this player from your team, okay, we want that player. He may or may not be available. And well, to get those players, we gotta give up our good players. It’s as simple as that. It’s not like, ‘hey, I’m gonna give you my bad players for your good players, okay? Like, I’ll give you two bad ones for one good one.’ It doesn’t work that way.”

A possible Cozens scenario would likely involve Marco Kasper moving to Buffalo. Would you do that deal? In a heartbeat. However, there are extenuating circumstances. The Sabres are going to want more than just Kasper. That might even mean giving up a first-round pick.

From Detroit’s perspective, Cozens has an AAV of $7.1 million. The Red Wings can’t fit that number under the cap. They’ll need the Sabres to also take a contract, someone like JT Compher, Andrew Copp, or Vladimir Tarasenko. Why would Buffalo want to do that?

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HSJ in the morning: McLellan’s teaching the Red Wings to have fun again

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an article this morning which discusses the Red Wings’ attempts to learn Todd McLellan’s systems of play while learning to enjoy playing the game again:

The Detroit Red Wings wrapped up their last practice before their first road game under their new coach with an intense, fun exercise contained to the center circle of the ice.

Two players were pitted against one another, fighting for positioning in a tight space in an effort to score into one of the nets that had been dragged to the circle. It looked fun and intense – and, of course, purposeful.

“It has a fun element to it, but the battle in the middle for body positioning, the quick hands and quick vision that comes into play – that’s all about what happens in and around the blue paint,” coach Todd McLellan said Wednesday. “And if we want to score goals, we have to go there and makes those types of plays. It also forces the goaltenders to really move quickly. So for as much as they’re having fun, we’re kind of tricking them into doing some skill work and battle work that’s necessary for game playing.”

The Wings (15-18-4) head on the road to play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday and the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, their first excursion since McLellan was named coach Dec. 26. The Blue Jackets are 12-4-3 at home, and the Jets are perched atop the NHL standings, so it presents a good test for a team that shows signs of revitalization.

“I just think the energy in general – he has a lot of energy himself, but just like getting the best out of the team, especially to start games and be ready for the start of periods,” Patrick Kane said. “It’s a work in progress every day and he’s only been here a few days, but I think the energy in general – even in practices, maybe we’re not going as long, but the pace is really high. It helps you get ready for the game, helps you get in better shape, helps conditioning wise, helps you stay at a certain level so you’re ready to play at that pace when the game begins.”

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Mills on Seider striving to improve

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills wrote a feature article about Moritz Seider’s potential, as assessed by coach Todd McLellan, as well as Seider himself:

Always striving for improvement, Seider has quickly evolved into one of the top young blueliners in the League, reflective of the seven-year contract extension he re-signed with Detroit in September.

“I think there’s been a lot of positives, but also a bunch of negatives,” Seider said about this season, his fourth NHL campaign. “Obviously, you want to do a better job on the [penalty] kill and you can score more goals on the power play. But overall, I think I’m in a good spot.”

Seider certainly is, as the former sixth overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft leads all Red Wings defensemen in assists (16), points (20), power-play points (six), shots (69), hits (92), blocks (85) and average time on ice (24:58) in 37 games. He also paces the club’s defensive corps with five multi-point games this season.

“I just try to go out there, read the game pretty well and make my decisions based on what’s in front of me,” Seider said. “More or less, I think I’m doing a pretty good job with that.”

Seider strives to take advantage of every opportunity he can to lead by example. But the young defenseman also knows the importance of keeping things loose with his teammates, who Seider said he wants to continue growing alongside.

“It’s not fun, obviously, going out there after a hard game or whatever then you have to practice,” Seider said. “But those are kind of important things I think everybody should take seriously. That’s what I try to put on the line every day.”

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Seider, McLellan ready to be tested by Blue Jackets, Jets

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan spoke with Red Wings coach Todd McLellan and defenseman Moritz Seider about the team’s increasing familiarity with its new coach’s systems of play and expectations of his players:

“I just think we play a lot faster,” defenseman Moritz Seider said. “We’re not going to be perfect but we’re playing with more intensity and tweaked the penalty kill a little bit, that was something that was implemented right from the start, and it’s working out pretty well. We’re still learning but it’s the start we were looking for. We’re getting used to each other and there’s good energy on the ice.”

One of the things McLellan has been adamant about the Wings doing is playing freely and not as mechanically as they appeared to be doing during a four-game losing streak that led to the firing of Derek Lalonde, and led to McLellan’s hiring. Seider has seen progress in that regard, also.

“Sometimes, we overthink the game a little bit and try to just make it too perfect and cute,” Seider said. “He’s (McLellan) a big believer in what is out there, read and react. (We) still have the game plan going into the game and trying to match that, (but playing) within ourselves and making better plays.”

The Wings begin a quick two-game road trip Thursday in Columbus and Saturday in Winnipeg. The trip comes at an interesting time for the Wings, who can take what they’ve soaked in from McLellan into two of the toughest arenas in the NHL.

“I’m excited to see how our team will respond on the road,” McLellan said. “We’re a week into together as a group. We have concepts in place and they feel good about themselves. We’re going into a building (Thursday) where they’ve lost only four times (12-4-3) all season. They have a real good home record and playing very well there. Then, going to play one of the best teams in the league (Winnipeg, 27-11-1), so the next six, seven, eight periods we’re going to play, as I talked about with road maps, this will provide a road map as to where we go as a group. Either we’ll keep forging forward, or we go back and review things. I’m excited to see how the group will play.”

Berggren’s been ‘freed up’

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a practice notebook which focuses on Jonatan Berggren’s resurgent play under coach Todd McLellan:

Todd McLellan told Jonatan Berggren he wants to see the talent and skills that translated well to the NHL as a rookie with the Detroit Red Wings.

“We had a meeting; he told me like let it loose, kind of like he wanted me to play offense and like he knows that I have skills in offensive game,” Berggren said. “It was a nice confidence boost for me to have the coach trust to maybe (make) a mistake, but it’s not the whole world. It was kind of nice to have that meeting with him.

“Every new coach has their own look how the game will play, and (I’m) feeling like Todd and I have kind of the same mindset about the game, how we want to play. So, right now it’s feeling really, really good.”

Berggren, 24, tallied 15 goals and 28 points in 67 games in a bottom-six capacity in 2022-23. Former coach Derek Lalonde had concerns about Berggren’s defensive play, however, and that relegated him to Grand Rapids for most of last season. It appeared to have him playing tentatively at the start of this season.

McLellan’s message was don’t be afraid to make a mistake.

“I feel like maybe I was thinking a little bit too much about don’t make mistake in the beginning,” Berggren said. “So, it was nice to hear from him that he sees and knows what I can do, and he has trust in me. Of course, it’s not like toe-drags on the blue line, but like be offensive player and have the confidence to do it, too.”

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