Eight Red Wings players crack Sportsnet’s ‘Top 250′ fantasy hockey players’ list

Sportsnet’s Michael Amato posted a list of 250 fantasy hockey-draft-eligible players who you can utilize to win your fantasy hockey league, and here are the Red Wings players that made his list:

48. Dylan Larkin, DET, C: The very definition of a safe and reliable pick, Larkin has been right around a point per game in his past 219 contests with good shot volume. He also has plenty of talent on his wings with Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond, to help ensure his numbers won’t dip. Larkin doesn’t offer much for hits, but it’s hard to pass up that offensive consistency.

81. Alex DeBrincat, DET, RW: Maybe DeBrincat’s ceiling isn’t super high, but he’s a steady player with good shot volume who you should be able to count on for around 70 points. Playing with the potent combination of Larkin and Lucas Raymond doesn’t hurt either. One other thing I like about DeBrincat is his durability. He’s played all 82 games in five of his seven seasons.

Continue reading Eight Red Wings players crack Sportsnet’s ‘Top 250′ fantasy hockey players’ list

Tweets of note: Key dates for the 2024-2025 NHL season

Per ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski…

And PuckPedia:

Press release: ECHL officials to work Red Wings’ Prospect Games

Per the ECHL:

The ECHL announced on Wednesday that referees Chazz Knoche and Rocco Stachowiak and linesmen Kyle Gaspari and Quinn Schafer, along with Director of Officiating Operations Riley Yerkovich, will work the NHL Prospect Games 2024 in Traverse City, Michigan on Sept. 14 and 15. This marks the 13th consecutive tournament that ECHL officials have worked games.

Debuting in 1988, this year’s NHL Prospect Games will feature a pair of games between the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings.

“The ECHL Officiating Team is honored to continue to work the NHL Traverse City Prospect Games,” Yerkovich said. “This event has long been a significant opportunity for our officials to showcase their skills and skate alongside tomorrow’s NHL stars. We are grateful to the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings for their continued participation and support. Thank you to the teams, organizers and staff at Centre Ice Arena for making this experience possible.”

Four Wings prospects crack The Score’s ‘Top 50 NHL affiliated prospects: 50-31″ list

It appears to be the time of year for prospect lists. This morning, The Score’s Kyle Cushman and Josh Wegman issue their “Top 50 NHL-affiliated prospects: 50-31.” Here are the Red Wings’ representatives:

#50 Sebastian Cossa: Cossa enjoyed a seamless transition to the AHL last season, posting a 22-9-9 record and claiming the starting gig in Grand Rapids over veteran Michael Hutchinson. With three NHL goaltenders under contract in Detroit, don’t expect Cossa to push for big-league minutes until 2025-26.

#40 Axel Sandin Pellika: Sandin Pellikka took major strides last season in Sweden’s top professional league, becoming a true offensive threat. He dominated against players his age at this year’s world juniors, where he was named the tournament’s top defenseman after leading Sweden to a silver medal with six points in seven games.

#38 Trey Augustine: As a freshman, Augustine backstopped Michigan State to its first conference title in 18 years. He went 4-0-0 as USA’s starter at the world juniors en route to a gold medal. He even played four games at the World Championship. No matter the competition, Augustine has looked the part of an elite goaltending prospect.

#31 Nate Danielson: Danielson didn’t take the offensive strides in 2023-24 that the Red Wings would’ve hoped for, but he remains a very intriguing prospect given his physical tools. The big, powerful center with soft hands and good vision still carries plenty of upside.

Continued; it’s a start.

Axel Sandin Pellikka makes Sportsnet’s list of ‘The top 23 prospects under 23’

Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino, Jason Bukala and Emily Sadler have produced a list of “The top 23 NHL prospects under 23,” and one and only one Red Wings prospect cracks their list…

Though they state that their rules of picking only players who haven’t played in a single NHL game yet have ruled out both Anaheim’s Cutter Gauthier and Detroit’s Marco Kasper.

So it’s a tough nut to crack, and Axel Sandin Pellikka cracked their list:

20. Axel Sandin Pellikka, right defense, Detroit Red Wings

19 | 5-foot-11, 185 pounds | Drafted 17th overall in 2023

Death, taxes, and teams coveting right-shot defencemen. Life has its inevitabilities. Lucky for the Red Wings, they’ve got themselves a future keeper in Sandin-Pellikka, whose elite skating makes him just as reliable under pressure as he is dangerous in transition. While his mobility is his biggest strength, speed and skill factoring in as key elements of his game — think puck-moving, power-play quarterback — he could stand to put on more muscle to withstand the heavy demands in the trenches.

Continued; Sandin Pellikka definitely needs to work on his upper-body strength so that he can battle better for the puck in corners, and continue to work on his lower-body strength so that he’s able to better handle his own battles for puck possession while skating up and down the ice…

But the 5’11,” 185-pound Sandin Pellikka is only 19, and he’s going to continue to develop physically (and otherwise).

Three things: an ‘interesting’ Danielson, potential playoff returnees and Rychlovsky discusses his trajectory

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman posted a list of 32 teams’ “most interesting” prospects heading into training camps:

Detroit Red Wings: Nate Danielson, 19, C

Danielson’s WHL season wasn’t amazing, but he ended on a very strong note after being traded to Portland, especially in the playoffs. He is a talented center with size, speed, skill and a strong two-way game. He’s likely going to the AHL, but on a Detroit roster that needs more talent up front and especially down the middle, I could see Danielson make his status a debate during Red Wings camp.

Danielson posted 41 points in 28 games for the Portland Winterhawks after being traded from Brandon of the WHL, and then he posted 24 playoff points in 18 games. That’s a “strong note,” indeed.

2. MLive’s Ansar Khan essentially answered a reader poll from ProHockeyRumors.com this morning, discussing which Eastern Conference teams which missed the playoff cut last season might make the cut this upcoming season:

Continue reading Three things: an ‘interesting’ Danielson, potential playoff returnees and Rychlovsky discusses his trajectory

Meet Ondrej Becher, Borya Valis and Bauer Dumanski

I did my best to issue a sort of “scouting report” of the participants in this weekend’s Prospect Games between the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars, but we’re all unfamiliar with some of the players taking part in the tournament.

As such, the Prince George Cougars’ website helps us out with scouting reports of each and every one of the “16 current and past Cougars to attend NHL camps,” a list which includes one Red Wings draft pick and two free agent invites:

Ondrej Becher: Selected 60th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2024 NHL Draft, Ondrej Becher, 20, enjoyed his most productive WHL season with 96 points (32-65-96) in 58 games. He was instrumental in the Cougars’ playoff run and represented Czechia at the 2024 World Junior Championship, where he earned a bronze medal. Becher could rejoin the Cougars if loaned by Detroit.

Borya Valis: Borya Valis, 20, will attend his first NHL Rookie Camp with the Detroit Red Wings. Acquired by Prince George late in the 2023 season, Valis made an immediate impact, recording 37 points (13-24-37) in 32 games and leading the team in playoff goals.

Bauer Dumanski: Defenceman Bauer Dumanski, 19, joins the Red Wings at his first NHL camp after a strong 2023-24 season, where he posted 33 points (7-26-33) in 68 games. Despite missing Detroit’s development camp due to travel issues, Dumanski has been a cornerstone of the Cougars’ blue line.

The Cougars’ website posted highlight clips of Becher and Valis as well:

Danny DeKeyser discusses Friday’s Red Wings Alumni vs. Yoopers United game

Red Wings alumnus Danny DeKeyser spoke with MyUPNow’s Jake Durant regarding Friday night’s game between the Red Wings Alumni Association and the “Yoopers United” in Marquette, MI:

The United Way of Marquette County will be providing an exciting night of hockey this Friday at the Berry Events Center. Tickets are still available for the Red Wings Alumni vs. Yoopers United Hockey game. 

The matchup serves as the official kickoff for the United Way’s annual fundraising campaign to support their mission of helping local non-profit organizations throughout Marquette County. Taking the ice will be some prideful Yooper skaters looking to prove they can hang with some well-known Red Wings Alumni. 

“It should be a good environment,” said Danny Dekeyser, a Red Wings Alumnus & Vice President of the Red Wings Alumni Association. “I think everybody is pretty excited up there. I think it should be a pretty good high-tempo game and there should be some good pace. I know a lot of good players on both sides and everybody is looking forward to getting out there and playing. So, it should be a lot of fun.”

Dekeyser will join over a dozen other Red Wings Alumni taking the ice to go head to head with the Yoopers United Hockey team. 

“We try to get all former Red Wings, but it doesn’t always work out with everybody’s schedule,” said Dekeyser. “If not, we do have some fill-ins from time to time and those are typically guys that have played in the NHL.”

Continued; here’s a video report:

Seventh place?

I am merely posting this for completeness’ sake. In yet another set of preseason “power rankings,” this time in the fantasy hockey department, Detroit is ranked below both Buffalo and Ottawa, as 7th in the Atlantic Division, by DobberHockey’s Filip Livingstone:

7) Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings finished ninth in league scoring just a season ago and with a top-six forward group that flaunts the likes of Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, and two of the more lethal offensive vets left in the sport in Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane, Detroit should be a tough offensive group to handle – especially on the man advantage where last year the Wings finished ninth in power-play proficiency. The four-headed monster in Detroit’s blue paint is definitely the biggest concern and fantasy red flag for this organization, as Ville Husso, Alex Lyon, and newly-added Jack Campbell and supposed starter Cam Talbot are all vying for minutes which could ultimately lead to a lot of time sharing and split starts. If one of those aforementioned netminders manages to take the crease and be a clear-cut starter then the Wings likely have enough talent to knock on the door for a wild-card spot but that is an if we don’t want to risk.

Continued; no mention of the Red Wings’ defensive corps, for better or worse…But I’m not buying that the team that finished a tiebreaker away from a playoff spot is behind the teams that didn’t finish as closely to a playoff spot.

And it’s “That is an ‘if.'” You have to put quotation marks around the “if,” or it just reads sloppily.

I’m not normally one to criticize others’ grammar–goodness knows that it’s the internet, and we are not writing English papers here–but that’s a particular “pet peeve” of mine (no quotation marks necessary, but added for emphasis anyway).

Lucas Raymond cracks EP Rinkside’s ‘Top 20 Right Wingers’ rankings

Yesterday, Red Wings left winger Alex DeBrincat cracked EP Rinkside’s “JFresh’s” list of the top 20 left wings in hockey, at #18, and this evening, Lucas Raymond ranks as JFresh’s 18th-best right wing:

Lucas Raymond – Detroit Red Wings

2023 Ranking: Not Ranked

All the pieces haven’t fully come together for Raymond, but with each passing season, the skill set becomes more and more evident, and it’s a matter of time before he fully takes the leap. He led the Red Wings in points as a 21-year-old, setting career highs in goals and assists in the process and producing very well at 5-on-5. While not yet in the high-end of the NHL at any one particular thing (besides drawing penalties), and putting up bizarrely poor play-driving metrics, Raymond seems poised to be the Wings’ franchise forward for the next decade.

Continued (paywall); I mean this as gently as possible: Raymond doesn’t drive play per se. He reacts to play as driven by his linemates (like Dylan Larkin) and that’s where he thrives, as a reactionary player.