Duff on Datsyuk’s hometown pangs

Former Red Wings forward and Hockey Hall of Famer-to-be Pavel Datsyuk took part in last week’s Summer Development Camp, but Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff lets Datsyuk explain why #13 is heading back to Yekaterinburg, Russia for good:

“I miss Detroit but now I have job, I’m hockey player development back at home,” Datsyuk said. “I wanted to see how this goes, wanted more experience and more study from one of the best teams.”

He’s not at all interested in following in the footsteps of old teammates like Nicklas Lidstrom, Dan Cleary, Niklas Kronwall, Kirk Maltby, Jiri Fischer and Kris Draper and joining GM Steve Yzerman’s staff.

“Of course, I’m happy to see many people who work there when I left,” Datsyuk said. “They still work and are in good shape. I’m happy to see them. I have good memories. I hope they do, too.”

For Datsyuk, though, home is where his heart remains.

“I want to stay with my family, spend more time at home,” he explained. “I spend lots of time on the road. Now I try to be at home.”

Continued; the Red Wings already have Henrik Zetterberg working with the team in an informal capacity in Sweden. If they could convince Datsyuk to even keep an eye on prospects in Russia, that would be amazing, but it’s unlikely at this point.

Raymond, Seider unlikely targets of an offer sheet…but one never knows for certain

Sportsnet’s Emily Sadler discusses potential targets for restricted free agent offer sheets this evening, and while offer sheets are rare in today’s NHL, she wonders aloud whether players like Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider might be targeted by teams looking to offer the Red Wings’ duo of young stars more money than Steve Yzerman is planning on giving them:

The market-setter: Lucas Raymond + Moritz Seider, Detroit Red Wings

It’ll be near impossible to pry either one of Steve Yzerman’s prized top young players out of Detroit. Both Raymond and Seider are integral parts of the Red Wings’ rebuild and the team is well-situated to pay them both accordingly. 

Yzerman is swimming in cap space — more than $20 million, according to CapFriendly’s latest projections — and could match any offer. Whether someone swoops in and sets the market for him is likely the bigger question here. 

Continued; the Red Wings aren’t going to let either player go away, but I do believe that there’s a small possibility that someone will toss them a $10+ million offer in an attempt to “set the market” as there are young players that are earning that kind of money today (think Rasmus Dahlin).

Griffins to hold ‘Lids at the Library’ event on Wednesday

FYI:

A pair of Christian Fischer-centered stories from the Hockey News

The Red Wings re-signed Christian Fischer for his grit, determination, heart and work ethic. Fischer is a strong 5-on-5 player and a good penalty-killer. This afternoon, the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton offered this take on Fischer’s media availability on Monday…

Having just signed a one-year, $1.25 million contract to remain in Detroit, Fischer greets the assembled media for his Zoom press conference from a boat, nautical gauges mounted on the wooden wall behind him. He expresses seriocomic surprise that anyone would stick around now that Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko have already spoken. Later on in his availability, with help from the confirmation of a disembodied voice offscreen, he reveals he is Zooming in from off the coast of Capri.

That Fischer delivers such idyllic offseason vibes should come as no surprise. Days before he spoke, his general manager Steve Yzerman said, in explanation of the desire to bring back the hard-working, light-scoring forward, “he’s a very popular player on our team. He’s very versatile on the ice…His character and his personality and the role he’s gonna play on our team are the biggest factors in bringing him back.”

Of course, the offseason didn’t begin so peachily.  By Fischer’s account, there were “probably quite a few emotions” in the immediate aftermath of the Red Wings bitterly close playoff pursuit.  Fischer himself was out of a contract for the second summer in a row.  That shrouded his summer in uncertainty until the option he desired all along formally opened.  “Once Steve called, I think it was a no-brainer on our side,” Fischer said.  “We didn’t wait for another call.”

To Fischer, the willingness of superstars like Kane and Tarasenko to choose Detroit affirms the seriousness of the Red Wings’ ambitions: “We got Hall-of-Famers signing contracts with us.  A guy like Patrick, he could go to any team…I think that says a lot about our organization.  You look at Tarasenko, the guy’s just won.  He has two Stanley Cups.  He’s not coming just to play hockey.  That guy obviously sees something in the Red Wings.”

Stockton continues, and Stockton’s fellow Wings columnist at the Hockey News, Connor Eargood, discusses Fischer and free agent signing Tyler Motte’s respective impacts on the Red Wings’ penalty-kill:

Continue reading A pair of Christian Fischer-centered stories from the Hockey News

A nice place to live

Of Red Wings-related note this evening: 97. the Ticket (no author credited) discusses Patrick Kane’s status as something of a pitch-man for the benefits of playing for the Red Wings:

    When the Red Wings reached out to Vladimir Tarasenko in free agency, his wife reached out to the girlfriend of Patrick Kane. Longtime rivals in the West, Tarasenko and Kane had become friends the year prior when they overlapped on the Rangers. They are both fathers. And they were both seeking stability for their families this summer after recently bouncing between teams for the first time in their decorated careers.

    Kane raved about his first season playing for the Red Wings, an Original Six club that does right by its players. He and his girlfriend raved about living in Metro Detroit with their three-year-old son. It was what Tarasenko needed to hear to sign a two-year, $9.5 million with the Wings.

    “We relayed the message that it was similar to New York in a way, kind of like the Greenwich, Conn. area,” Kane said after returning to the Red Wings on a one-year deal. “The suburbs in Detroit are unbelievable. I lived there when I was 14, but when I came back, I didn’t realize how nice they are and what a great spot it is to live and raise a family and have a lot of options, whether it’s playing hockey or the schools at your disposal.”

    Tarasenko has three sons, one of whom lived with him to play youth hockey in Ottawa last season during Tarasenko’s stint with the Senators. Kane first moved to Detroit to join the Triple-A club Honeybaked and said “there’s so many good organizations for youth hockey in Detroit that you really can’t go wrong … It was a great decision for me, so hopefully his kids feel the same way and have the same success story.”

    “I know Detroit has some of the best youth hockey programs in the States, which is nice,” said Tarasenko.

    Kane also noted the comfort of playing and practicing at Little Caesars Arena, the world-class building that the Red Wings call home. These endorsements mean something coming from one of the most respected players in the NHL.

    “I really like how the rink is set up with the practice rink and the game rink all in one venue. And I think the organization treats you first-class,” said Kane. “There’s really a lot of good things going if you’re a free agent or a player and you want to come to the Red Wings, there’s a lot of positives.”

    Continued; the Metro Detroit area is a fantastic place to live. We have many, many NHL alumni who’ve come to Detroit for a season or two and chosen to make their homes here. It’s the heart of it all, Detroit itself, that has the bad reputation.

    A bit more about Vladimir Tarasenko’s signing with the Red Wings

    This morning, 97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield discusses free agent signing Vladimir Tarasenko’s “fit” with the Red Wings (after Tarasenko spoke with the media yesterday afternoon), noting that Tarasenko grew up a fan of the Russian 5:

    “No offense to other teams,” he said, “but growing up in Russia, a lot of people followed Detroit because of the Russian Five. When I had my first PlayStation, I was playing for Detroit with my friends. This was a team, in my neighborhood, that we grew up talking about. It’s pretty exciting to join the team and wear the jersey and try to help the team win.”

    Tarasenko was a tot when the Russian Five took the NHL by storm. He’s 32 now and closer to the end of his career than the start. He just captured his second Cup and is closing in on 300 goals; he still wants more of both. The latter should come easily to him in his first season with the Red Wings, who gave Tarasenko a two-year, $9.5 million deal that lends his life some stability after he played for four teams the past two seasons. The former is no sure thing these days in Detroit.

    The Red Wings are still playing the long game under Steve Yzerman, adding vets to the roster while waiting for a core on the come. They’re trying to get better without going for broke, an especially difficult task in the deep and talented Atlantic Division. The Wings came closer to the playoffs last season than they have in eight years with 91 points, and it will likely take more than that next season to end the drought.

    “I feel like last year was very close, and I’m not a person who just comes in and hangs out and enjoys my time and doesn’t try to win,” Tarasenko said. “I really like winning. We just won the second Cup, but I will do everything I can to help the organization take the next step, help the guys with my experience and just do my best to be able to make the playoffs. That’s the reason I came, because I like the way the team played and I believe this team can make the playoffs and do some special things.”

    Continued

    Griffins review Simon Edvinsson’s 23-24 season

    The Grand Rapids Griffins have been posting “2023-2024 Player in Review” articles regarding the players who took part in the Griffins’ 23-24 season, and today, Andrew Streitel discusses Simon Edvinsson’s performance:

    Defenseman Simon Edvinsson skated in his second season with the Griffins and logged a career-high 30 points (8-22—30), 51 penalty minutes and a plus-five rating in 54 regular-season games. He then posted two points (0-2—2) and six penalty minutes in six postseason outings. For his efforts, the 21-year-old was named to the 2023-24 AHL Top Prospects Team, becoming the first Griffin to be honored on the list that began in the 2022-23 campaign. 

    Edvinsson also suited up for a career-best 16 games with the Detroit Red Wings and notched two points (1-1—2), four penalty minutes and an even plus-minus rating. 

    Regular Season Stat Line

    54 GP, 8 goals, 22 assists, 30 points, +5 rating, 51 PIM with GRG
    16 GP, 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points, +0 rating, 4 PIM with DET

    Postseason Stat Line

    6 GP, 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points, -1 rating, 6 PIM with GRG

    Contract Status 

    Under contract with Detroit through 2025-26 season

    Continued; it’s highly probable that Edvinsson’s AHL career has ended.

    Bultman on the shape of the Wings’ roster

    Yesterday afternoon, Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko spoke about potentially playing on the same line as members of the Red Wings, and this morning (to his credit), The Athletic’s Max Bultman attempts to project the Red Wings’ entire 2024-2025 opening-night roster.

    Bultman discusses what the Wings’ top two lines might look like, whether we’ll see Nate Danielson, Marco Kasper or Carter Mazur in the lineup, how Erik Gustafsson will fit in, and how the goaltending situation will get sorted out:

    The Red Wings made sure not to leave a spot open that would have defaulted to one of the rookies, but that doesn’t mean one can’t surprise in training camp and win a job (although Simon Edvinsson’s performance from last preseason, which still ended in an assignment to Grand Rapids, poses some real questions over just how high a bar they’ll have to clear).

    To me, Mazur is the one to watch, as the oldest of the bunch and with a fearless game that looks naturally suited to succeed on this type of third line. He’ll need to gain some muscle this summer, which is really the last remaining question for him, but if he can then it’s not hard to picture him slotting in next to Rasmussen and Copp — and bringing a nice scoring threat — with Fischer dropping down to the fourth line.

    In the scenario where a surprise rookie makes the team, one of Veleno and Berggren could find themselves on the outside looking in when everyone is healthy. Veleno’s game is more tailored to a classic bottom-six feel, and a line with him, Fischer and Motte would have legit tough-matchup potential, while Berggren has more natural scoring and power-play utility.

    Historically, the Red Wings coaches have trusted Veleno more, but Detroit does have a lot of goals to make up for, and Berggren has the most obvious special teams fit on the power play. If both are playing well, perhaps Detroit has enough penalty killers to bump Motte out on occasion, though the reliability he should bring — especially in difficult assignments — should not be underestimated.

    Bultman continues at length (paywall). It’s always a fun experiment to try to sort out the Red Wings’ personnel machinations in July, but come September, injuries and preseason performances always yield surprises in terms of the composition and order of the team’s roster.

    Ultimately, the Red Wings are approximately as “deep” as they were last season, though they could use an upgrade on their “right D” (and is Aaron Ekblad “that guy?”), so we should witness some really excellent battles for roster spots on the big club–and some good battles in Grand Rapids as well.

    What does your Red Wings roster projection look like?

    Update: Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen weighs in on the Wings’ third and fourth lines:

    Continue reading Bultman on the shape of the Wings’ roster

    HSJ, Khan in the morning: on Tarasenko and Kane’s desire to join the Red Wings

    The vast majority of the Red Wings’ media corps posted articles regarding Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane’s press conferences on Monday afternoon, well…on Monday afternoon.

    The Free Press’s Helene St. James joins the fray this morning with an article which notes that Patrick Kane played a part in recruiting Tarasenko to come to Detroit:

    “I talked to a lot of guys who used to play there, who are playing there right now,” Tarasenko said Monday. “Lot of family guys. They are all happy there. I like the way the team played last year and we decided with the family, this is the best decision for us moving forward. We are really excited about it. It’s a new chapter for us and we can’t wait to get to Detroit and get settled and start training camp. Lately I talk to Kaner. I talk to him. There’s a lot of guys that used to play in St. Louis, so familiar faces. They all say only good things about Detroit, the city and the team and that’s why we decide to come.”

    Kane – who didn’t appear upset at all about having to wait a few minutes for his Zoom call – explained that his life partner, Amanda, was the one who fielded the first call from the Tarasenko camp – and then he got a call from general manager Steve Yzerman, who needed to add an offensive player after losing several goal scorers in free agency.

    Tarasenko is a former 40-goal scorer and two-time Stanley Cup champion.

    “His wife reached out to Amanda and said that Detroit seemed interested,” Kane said. “You get excited about that. Steve called me as well, just asking about him as a player.  I think he is going to be so good for the group. He’s a proven winner. The way he plays, how hard he plays – I think a lot of players in general, not just young guys, will see how hard he works and how much effort he gives every shift, and that’s why he has a couple Stanley Cups to his name, too. So adding that winning presence is going to be huge for the group.”

    St. James continues (paywall), and MLive’s Ansar Khan specifically addresses Kane’s decision to re-sign with Detroit:

    Continue reading HSJ, Khan in the morning: on Tarasenko and Kane’s desire to join the Red Wings