Praise for an underrated Michael Rasmussen

Daily Faceoff’s Mike Gould hits the nail on the head when he lists underrated players for the Atlantic Division’s 8 teams, including the Red Wings:

Detroit Red Wings: Michael Rasmussen

Michael Rasmussen is a mountain of a man who appears to be finally finding his groove as a full-time NHLer. The 6’6″, 210-pound center scored at an impressive pace with the Red Wings last season and could slide up the lineup this year despite being pencilled in to start as the team’s No. 4 center.

Rasmussen managed a career-high 29 points with the Red Wings in 2022–23 before suffering a season-ending knee injury shortly before the trade deadline. The Red Wings were a 28–21–8 team when Rasmussen went down; after his injury (which was coupled with the team selling the likes of Tyler Bertuzzi, Filip Hronek, and Oskar Sundqvist at the deadline), Detroit went 7–16–2.

Correlation doesn’t equal causation, but there’s little doubt that Rasmussen made the Red Wings a significantly better team when he was in the lineup last year. Even in the midst of a poor 5-on-5 season, the Red Wings managed to play their opponents to a draw with Rasmussen on the ice. Although he may never live up to his billing as the No. 9 overall pick in 2017 (taken one pick after Mittelstadt), Rasmussen provided legitimate value at both ends of the ice with the 2022–23 Red Wings. All but one of his 29 points came at even-strength, and he scored at a 42-point pace over a full season.

The Red Wings were one of the NHL’s busiest teams over the summer, bringing in Alex DeBrincat, J.T. Compher, Daniel Sprong, Klim Kostin and Christian Fischer to round out their forward group. With more mouths to feed, Rasmussen’s production might go down. But don’t be fooled — he’s a highly valuable (and underrated) player.

Continued

Kulfan: Dylan Larkin hopes to play alongside Alex DeBrincat

The Red Wings began training camp with a line consisting of Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. While coach Derek Lalonde insisted that the lines were far from finished products, and that the lines will change, the possibility of a DeBrincat-Larkin pairing is tantalizing for the parties involved, as the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan noted:

“He just scores,” Larkin said on the first day of camp. “I’ve known him for a while, skated a lot with him in the summer. I’ve watched him — everyone has watched him — and we all know what he brings and what he can do. His hockey sense is very underrated. His ability and puck skill and to catch the worst passes and turn them into great shots. Those are the things I know he has and I’ve seen it on the ice the past couple of weeks, skating with him in Detroit.”

DeBrincat twice scored more than 40 goals in Chicago before being traded to Ottawa before last season. DeBrincat informed the Senators he was going to test unrestricted free agency this summer, and rather than potentially losing him for nothing, the Senators worked out a trade with the Wings.

“He’s just a good hockey player,” Larkin said. “Everyone knows what he’s done and what he can do.”

Given all the offseason additions by the Wings, the playoffs seem a distinct possibility, given the fact some teams in the Atlantic Division could be slipping. But Larkin isn’t thinking about the playoffs just yet.

Continued

HSJ: Dylan Larkin, playoff believer

As the Free Press’s Helene St. James notes, Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin is optimistic as to whether his team might make the post-season cut 82 games from now:

“Our record right now is zero, zero and zero,” Dylan Larkin said. “We have to show up and play together, be committed, which are all things we’ve been talking about with Newsy’s opening meeting.”

Yzerman said earlier this week that “playoffs or bust” does not apply, but to players like Larkin, who hasn’t experienced playing past the regular season since the Wings last advanced in 2016, it’s not too early to talk about the possibility.

“Going into this season, I know Steve and Newsy have not really set an expectation,” Larkin said. “The guys in the room, we talked about it last year — we want more. There’s a good attitude. There’s guys that have come in that have been on teams that have been locks for the playoffs. There’s veteran players, guys going into contract years. I like the dynamic of everyone on our team and we’re going to rely on each other to keep pushing and get off to a great start and remain consistent.”

Lines are likely to change from day to day, but Larkin started camp on a line with Lucas Raymond and newcomer Alex DeBrincat. J.T. Compher and Daniel Sprong, also new to the team, were on a line with Robby Fabbri. With Copp potentially on a line with Michael Rasmussen and David Perron, the Wings project to have three lines that can score.

“I think it’s great to have that competition,” Larkin said. “You saw it last year with DP coming in and he’s an offensive guy. And now Alex and J.T., Daniel Sprong is another guy that had a really good year last year. So it’s just going to keep pushing us. We need to score more goals and we know that and we have a group that I believe can do it.”

Continued

Videos: Moritz Seider and coach Derek Lalonde speak with the media on the first day of training camp

Per the Red Wings, here’s Moritz Seider’s first-day-of-training-camp interview…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=6Msm924AOjE%3Fsi%3DXLz_HBB0PiAJokgP

And here’s coach Derek Lalonde:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=LUhMt1CAp-M%3Fsi%3D-lxrZa8HIbupnAs1

Press release: Toledo Walleye sign Chase Gresock

Per the Toledo Walleye:

(Toledo, OH) – The Toledo Walleye and forward Chase Gresock (GREE-sock) have agreed to terms for the 2023-2024 season.

The Powell, Ohio native joins the Walleye after spending the last two years in the state playing college hockey at Bowling Green (2022-2023) and Miami of Ohio (2021-2022). Gresock appeared in 36 games last season for the Falcons, picking up 11 goals with 20 assists for 31 points with 12 penalty minutes and a plus-4 rating. His 20 helpers and 31 points were both career-bests. The year prior he skated in 21 games with 19 points (9G, 10A) for the RedHawks.

The 25-year-old started his college career by appearing in three seasons with Merrimack College that included two seasons as team captain (2019-2021). In total, Gresock collected 104 points (46G, 58A) in 135 games over five collegiate seasons. He did make his pro-debut at the end of the last season by skating in two games with the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL with no points.

Wyshynski’s ‘Bold Prediction’: Raymond unleashed

Per ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski’s “Bold Predictions” for all 32 teams:

Detroit Red Wings

Lucas Raymond has his breakout

How many times have we seen this with a great young offensive player: solid rookie season, slight step back statistically and then BOOM in Year 3? Raymond had 23 goals and 57 points in 82 games as a 19-year-old rookie but saw those numbers fall to 17 and 45, respectively, as a second-year player, with his ice time dipping as well. A lower-body injury was a factor, but so was the sophomore slump.

Dylan Larkin said Raymond had “a chip on his shoulder” after last season, and the young winger had a strong summer of training to add muscle to his frame. To put in Detroit terms: I like the engine in this year’s model.

Continued (paywall)

Tweets of note: First day of training camp

From, well, a lot of people:

Continue reading Tweets of note: First day of training camp

Anders Eriksson remembered in latest of Regner’s ‘How Swede It Is’ articles

DetroitRedWings.com’s Art Regner’s latest “How Swede It Is” article involves Anders “Bubba” Eriksson:

When asked to sum up his time in Detroit, the affable Eriksson became reflective.

“My name will always be on the Cup; it will always be in the Hall of Fame and that is the coolest thing. That is something I can show my kids and say, I’m on this,” Eriksson said. “The 25th anniversary was so much fun, to see everybody. You’re picking up where you left off. Even if it was 15-20 years ago. That’s what I love about (hockey) and that’s why I do what I do here now in Florida.

“When we won (the Cup) in Washington, my dad was there and met Slava (Fetisov). That was his favorite player. He didn’t really know what to say and do. He talks about it to this day. Those are things that are so incredible, I cherish them every time. He has all Red Wings stuff in his office. My dad is 80 now and he talks about it. ‘I remember when I talked to Slava Fetisov and he called me Big Papa.’ It is way beyond anything that my dad was part of it and saw that. That’s a huge thing for me.”

Continued

A preseason power ranking for your morning perusal

Bleacher Report’s Lyle Fitzsimmons offers a set of preseason power rankings, and the Red Wings end up about where you’d expect them to end up:

#22 DETROIT RED WINGS: Another year to gauge the Steve Yzerman plan. Alex DeBrincat is the headliner among a handful of notable additions, and the Red Wings hope his scoring boosts an offense that was 24th in 2022-23.

Continued; meh. It’s the first day of training camp for most teams. I’m not putting too much stock in power rankings. And the Red Wings finished below the playoff line, so they’re not going to be ranked highly.