Audio: Griffins coach Dan Watson speaks with Art Regner on the latest ‘Red and White Authority’

Per the Red Wings on “X”:

Allen assesses the statuses of seven Red Wings prospects

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses the respective statuses of Red Wings prospects Sebastian Cossa, Elmer Soderblom, Cross Hanas, Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson, William Wallinder and Antti Tuomisto after the 2023 Prospect Tournament. Let’s focus on the last two players listed:

William Wallinder (Drafted 32nd overall in 2020): The Red Wings probably want to see Wallinder, 21, play a full season in Grand Rapids. Don’t forget that even Moritz Seider played a season in Grand Rapids.

You could tell by the way Watson used Wallinder that he believes he can be an impact player in Grand Rapids. Wallinder played in all situations, and logged plenty of minutes The Red Wings gave up too many goals in this tournament and the 6-foot-4 was only -1. He boasts strong offensive potential.

This is a player who will be a top four defenseman.

Antti Tuomisto (Drafted 35th overall in 2019): Tuomisto has moved up in Detroit’s prospect rankings because of how well he performed in Finland in 2022-23. He’s big, and makes a strong first pass. Like Wallinder, he can kill penalties and play on the power play. Tuomisto and Wallinder fit well together.  Tuomisto is also a right shot, which makes him more valuable. His play in the Traverse City demonstrated his potential to be an effective North American pro player.

Continued

Moritz Seider, bounce-back candidate?

According to Daily Faceoff’s Nick Alberga, Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider is a fine “bounce-back candidate” for fantasy hockey poolies to target:

Moritz Seider, D, Detroit Red Wings

After winning the Calder Trophy in 2021-22, the 22-year-old had an up and down sophomore season, one that started very slow. In fact, the German defender tallied just two goals and 12 points over his first 35 contests. All in all, he finished with 42 points (five goals, 37 assists) in 82 outings, eight points fewer than season No. 1 in the NHL. Bottom line: Turbulence is expected from young blueliners. That said, naturally, Seider could be primed to take the next offensive step in his career. For what it’s worth as well, he’s slated to be a restricted free agent next summer, so there’s that whole money motivation thing as well.

Continued; I didn’t think Seider struggled that much in his sophomore season–an 8-point drop is not necessarily falling off the map–but there’s little doubt that he’s going to be a little more stable with Jake Walman on his left side from game one.

Kulfan: Griffins coach Dan Watson and Wings coach Derek Lalonde are on the same developmental page

In a Monday afternoon notebook, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan addressed Cross Hanas’ strong performance at the Red Wings’ 2023 Prospect Tournament, Marco Kasper’s tenacity, and the relationship between Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde and his former assistant coach in Toledo in Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson:

“It’s been a unique scenario for the past couple years,” Watson said of Lalonde coaching the Wings, and Watson guiding the minor-league affiliate Toledo Walleye. “We’re tight. It’s a great relationship at the arena and away from the arena. We’ll feed off each other real well here.”

Much as in Toledo, going up a level to Grand Rapids in the American League, Watson feels developing players is the key factor for himself and his staff.

“We have to make players better, we have to make sure they’re doing the right things away from the arena and at the arena, because that’s what it takes,” Watson said. “It’s hard, it’s hard to make the NHL. But we want to make sure our guys are developing in the right areas so when they get the call (from the NHL) they’re prepared and ready.

“We want guys to have success and not take steps backward. If Detroit needs them, they’re ready and they’ll help your lineup. That’s our job.”

Continued

Mills: Wings’ prospects share hockey skills with Traverse City’s Blair Elementary School

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills reports that the Red Wings’ prospects were busy engaging in a different kind of hockey activity today at Blair Elementary in Traverse City:

Students at Blair Elementary School spent their Monday morning with some special visitors.

All 24 members of the Detroit Red Wings’ 2023 NHL Prospect Tournament roster visited the Traverse City, Mich. Public school to run a hockey clinic in the gym, an experience that forward Amadeus Lombardi described as “really cool.”

“It’s fun to give back to the community and see how happy they were when we all came in,” said Lombardi, who was Detroit’s 113th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. “I remember being their age, and when an event like this happened, you’re all excited.”

Upon their arrival, the Red Wings prospects were greeted by students eagerly asking for high fives while chanting “Let’s Go Red Wings.” The players then went inside the gym, where they taught students the basics of hockey through multiple rotating stations.

Forward Marco Kasper said it was fun helping students learn skills like stickhandling, shooting and passing.  

“The stickhandling and passing part of it is hard for a lot of kids,” said Kasper, Detroit’s eighth overall draft pick in 2022. “But we’re just trying to have them work together, have fun and make a great day for them.”

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Khan discusses Cross Hanas’ long road back from shoulder surgery

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an article which discusses Cross Hanas’s strong performance at the Red Wings’ 2023 Prospect Tournament, which was a critical step on the road back from an undisclosed (shoulder) injury which cost him the vast majority of the 2022-2023 season. Hanas’ 4 goals and 2 assists in 3 games co-led the Wings’ prospects in scoring:

“The first couple of months were pretty tough,” Hanas said. “The rehab is no joke. It’s a lot of work, a lot of time. Probably the biggest thing you got to do is be patient, have a good work ethic. I can’t stand sitting out a game, so having to sit and watch every game the rest of the season was really tough. But it makes you just want to keep working and get your rehab done as fast as possible. Time is your best friend for injuries like this, just to let it heal.”

Hanas said it was the first time he’d ever been injured for any length of time.

“I’m a real big competitor and I want to be out there all the time,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you how bad it was killing me to sit up in the crowd every single time we were at home at the games and having to watch and feeling useless, kind of.”

Despite Hanas’ age and inexperience as a pro, only Taro Hirose and Austin Czarnik have played more games with the Griffins among forwards projected to start the season with the AHL club.

“We put him in a leadership role here for this tournament, which I think is important for his personal growth,” Watson said. “He’s very vocal, he plays with energy, just have to make sure he plays with emotion and not emotional. At times he can get too emotional about things and maybe his game goes off. That’s something we’re going to have to direct him to.”

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Stockton on Amadeus Lombardi and Cross Hanas

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton weighs in on the Red Wings prospects’ 6-5 loss to Toronto yesterday at the 2023 Prospect Tournament, offering praise for the play of Amadeus Lombardi, junior hockey tendencies exempted, and Cross Hanas:

Throughout the weekend, Hanas’ goal scoring stood out above everything else, but it’s worth also appreciating the directness of his game.  Hanas is a direct, vertical player.  Where Lombardi enjoys a labyrinthine twirl through neutral ice to set up a rush chance, Hanas plays in straight lines, perpetually working his way to the net.

In this case, even though his chance is denied, Hanas’ direct route to the goal mouth leads straight to Lombardi’s tap-in for the rebound, Lombardi having also finished the play at the net.

Again, there’s preseason written all over the play in the two sides’ willingness to trade rush chances, but habits have to form somewhere, and it’s nice to see Hanas’ directness rubbing off a bit on Lombardi to their mutual benefit.

It was far from a banner tournament for the Red Wings, but that doesn’t mean it was without bright spots.  Lombardi and Hanas appear natural compliments to one another, and perhaps that chemistry will translate to the NHL level in Detroit before too long.

Continued; Hanas is establishing himself as an “under-the-radar” offensive prospect in my eyes, and Lombardi has a long way to go in terms of learning to put his Major Junior Hockey tendencies behind him, but I believe that he can simplify his game as time goes by.