A heads-up regarding an upcoming DobberProspectsReport podcast

Consider this a heads-up: two weeks from today, I’ll be taking part in a podcast which will discuss several prospect tournaments taking place around the NHL, including the Red Wings’ prospect tournament in Traverse City:

THN’s Stockton examines Detroit’s prospect tournament roster

The Red Wings’ annual prospect tournament gets underway in Traverse City, Michigan on Thursday, and runs through Sunday. Detroit will battle prospects from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Ahead of the tournament, the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton examined the Red Wings’ roster for the tourney:

Not all of the top picks from the 2023 Draft will play (neither Axel Sandin-Pellikka, nor Trey Augustine), but Nate Danielson will be among the Red Wing delegation.  He will be joined by two other first round picks in Sebastian Cossa and Marco Kasper.

As a member of Detroit’s 2019 draft class, Elmer Soderblom will be among the most veteran players at the event. Elsewhere, Carter Mazur and Amadeus Lombardi will be look to build on their strong performances at development camp in July as they look to start their ’23-24 campaigns on the right foot.  

Meanwhile, William Wallinder (who did not attend development camp) will be manning the blue line for Detroit, as he continues his acclimatization process to the North American game.  Wallinder spent most of last season with Rogle in the SHL before a one-game cameo in Grand Rapids to close out his year.

Continued; here’s the Red Wings’ roster, which is very top-heavy:

Monday’s fundraising update

Good morning. I wanted to let you know what’s going on with the fundraising push ahead of tomorrow’s departure date for the Traverse City trip.

Right now, barring any further setbacks, Aunt Annie and I are preparing as if we’re going up tomorrow. I went grocery shopping on Sunday, we’ve done some packing, and I pick up the rental car early this afternoon.

We’re still somewhat torn regarding the fact that we found out that we need to replace my 17-year-old Chrysler Pacifica on Friday, but we also understand that those of you who donated are paying for a service here, and that we would be letting you down by not going up.

The weekend’s been kind of weird, in both good and bad ways. We continue to receive both remarkable support and remarkable monetary donations from our hockey friends.

Continue reading Monday’s fundraising update

Via A2Y: Praise for the Daniel Sprong signing

Via Paul Kukla of Abel to Yzerman comes an article in which The Score’s Josh Wegman discusses the “10 best under-the-radar NHL offseason additions.” Wegman ranks new Red Wings forward Daniel Sprong among his top ten:

Daniel Sprong

Position: RW
Cap hit: $2M
Term: 1 year

Sprong has been one of the game’s most efficient scorers over the past three seasons, ranking seventh in goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five since the 2020-21 campaign. He’s coming off his best year with 21 goals and 25 assists in 66 games despite averaging just 11:25 per contest.

It’s a mystery why the Seattle Kraken didn’t issue Sprong a $737,500 qualifying offer to retain his rights considering he’s only 26 years old and coming off his best season. But the Red Wings stand to gain.

Scoring efficiency doesn’t always translate when a player is bumped up the lineup. Still, it’s worth a shot for Detroit to see if Sprong can do more damage with extra opportunities. At the very least, the Red Wings have a bottom-six winger they know can provide offense.

Continued, with praise for the Canucks’ signing of Pius Suter, and Filip Zadina’s signing by the Sharks…

Khan’s mailbag: Seider may sign a ‘bridge deal’

MLive’s Ansar Khan answers mailbag questions this morning, including this question regarding defenseman Moritz Seider’s next contract:

Q: How will Jake Sanderson’s new contract impact the Wings’ negotiations with Moritz Seider? If Sanderson is worth ($64.4 million over eight years for an annual average value of $8.05 million), I have to believe Seider is worth at least $9 million a year. – Jack

A: Agreed. Seider, with 164 NHL games and a Calder Trophy to his name, is worth more than Sanderson, who is coming off his rookie season (four goals, 28 assists in 77 games with Ottawa).

Seider is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent after the season. I think the first question is how much term will he get in his new deal. General manager Steve Yzerman prefers shorter terms – Larkin being the exception. But I’m guessing he’d love to get his franchise cornerstone defenseman locked up for the maximum eight years.

Seider might prefer a shorter term, three or four years, before cashing in bigger on a max-term deal in a few years when the cap increases significantly.

My guess is that is what will happen.

Seider is worth an AAV of more than $9 million a season. Will Yzerman want to pay him more than Larkin, whose AAV is $8.7 million? It wouldn’t be surprising to see Seider sign a bridge deal in the $8.5 million range before becoming the team’s highest-paid player in his next contract.

Continued; for better or worse, the Sanderson contract sets an $8 million salary as the minimum “comparable” for Seider. He’s going to get paid–the only question is whether he’ll make more than Larkin, as Khan notes.

Tweets of note: Alex DeBrincat throws out the first pitch at today’s Tigers game

Per Bally Sports Detroit…

And the Red Wings:

Update: There’s a YouTube video, too:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=FRy08y8WqqE%3Fsi%3D8nl5gs-iGcfa5XXg

Two things: A bit of praise for ASP, and a potential trade scenario

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. As you’ve already seen and read here, Red Wings prospect and Skelleftea AIK defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka is an intriguing prospect, but he’s rough around the edges. Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discussed the fact that Wings fans can watch ASP closely thanks to a certain ice hockey .gif maker…

Thanks in no small part to IcehockeyGifs-provided video, Detroit fans have been able to enjoy watching Simon Edvinsson, Elmer  Soderblom, Marco Kasper and William Wallinder grow up in the SHL.

That tradition will continue this season with defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka playing for Skelleftea. His gifted puck-moving style will undoubtedly lend itself to some entertaining video highlights.

Sandin Pellikka contributed a goal and an assist to help Skelleftea down Tappara in a Champions Hockey League matchup. He played 16:53, giving him an average of 17:30 minutes per game in his three CHL contests. The SHL launches Sept. 14.

“He’ll have a good season in Skelleftea,” said Dan Cleary, the Red Wings’ Director of Player Development. “The SHL is a strong league.”

2. And Bleacher Report’s Lyle Richardson issued “Bold Trade Predictions” this morning, discussing the probable cost of any possible Mark Scheifele-to-Detroit scenario:

Continue reading Two things: A bit of praise for ASP, and a potential trade scenario

HSJ in the morning: Regarding the Red Wings’ potential forward line combinations

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a morning-published article which discusses the Red Wings’ potential forward line combinations:

The new additions plus the returning established vets add up to a main group of 13 forwards for Derek Lalonde and his coaching staff to distribute across four lines. After playing together for most of Raymond’s career, since his debut in 2021-22, Larkin and Raymond played on separate lines down the stretch this past spring. Given DeBrincat’s history as a scorer — he has two 40-goal seasons — it makes sense to put him on the top line with Larkin. In that event, Kostin could be an option to play the other wing; at 6 feet 2 and 216 pounds, Kostin would add a heavy presence on the line, and playing with two skilled linemates would give Klim the opportunity to build on the career-year (11 goals, 21 points) he is coming off.

The second line projects to be centered either by Copp or Compher, with Raymond and Perron on the wings. Potentially, if Compher pulls duty in that group, the third line could be Copp with Fabbri and Rasmussen. Copp and Rasmussen really jelled in an admittedly short time last season that ended when Rasmussen suffered a leg injury Feb 25. Rasmussen was enjoying a strong season (with a career-high 29 points in 56 games) and thrived after being moved from playing center on the third line to playing wing with Copp. Fabbri, limited by injuries to 28 games last season, played on the third line (with occasional appearances on the second line).

Continued