A bit more from Steve Yzerman on the Wings’ inch-by-inch forward progress

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills offers one more examination of the comments made by Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman as he spoke with the media yesterday afternoon:

“I think we’re in with that group of teams that has a chance to compete for the playoffs,” Yzerman said at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday. “If we stay healthy, if our goaltending is good and players outplay your expectations, we might get in. Or you might just miss by a point on the last game of the season. That’s the fine line of it all. I look at the roster today and compare it to last year’s group; it’s a little bit different. It might be a little bit better fit as far as roles for players where they sit on the roster today.”

Detroit made several key moves on the eve of free agency on Sunday, re-signing Patrick Kane to a one-year deal and extending qualifying offers to restricted free agents Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider, Jonatan Berggren and Joe Veleno.

“We will get contracts done with them,” Yzerman said about the club’s four restricted free agents. “It’s just a question of when and what term we do on all of them.”

…

Detroit finished with 91 points last season, an 11-point improvement from the 2022-23 campaign. To take another step forward this season, Yzerman said internal improvement will be key.

“We expect a little more out of Lucas Raymond,” Yzerman said. “Alex DeBrincat, his shooting percentage for his career was down a little bit last year. The great scoring chances that he had, hit the bar and went out. We think that’ll contribute a little more.”

Yzerman said he is confident in his long-term vision for the Red Wings, who he knows will face higher expectations this season.

“Ultimately we’re still trying to put together that core of young guys who are going to be together and start to creep into the playoffs, hang around in the playoffs then eventually win,” Yzerman said. “That is the long-term plan. We’ll stick with that. We try to surround these young players with good people and better hockey players to help them become better players and slowly inch forward.”

Continued

NHLPA: Joe Veleno elects salary arbitration

Per the NHLPA, Red Wings forward Joe Veleno is among the 14 players who have chosen to take their teams to salary arbitration; Jonatan Berggren did not choose to do so.

The Red Wings can choose to take Berggren to arbitration if they file by tomorrow at 5 PM EDT.

Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider are too young in terms of their age and experience to have arbitration rights.

TORONTO (July 5, 2024) The National Hockey League Players’ Association announced that 14 players have elected salary arbitration: 

Jake Christiansen (Columbus Blue Jackets) 

Connor Dewar (Toronto Maple Leafs) 

Jack Drury (Carolina Hurricanes) 

Ty Emberson (San Jose Sharks) 

Jet Greaves (Columbus Blue Jackets) 

Ryan Lindgren (New York Rangers) 

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres) 

Beck Malenstyn (Buffalo Sabres) 

Kirill Marchenko (Columbus Blue Jackets) 

J.J. Moser (Tampa Bay Lightning) 

Martin Necas (Carolina Hurricanes) 

Spencer Stastney (Nashville Predators) 

Joe Veleno (Detroit Red Wings) 

Oliver Wahlstrom (New York Islanders) 

The deadline for the second club-elected salary arbitration notification is July 6 at 5 p.m. ET. Salary arbitration hearings will be held from July 20 to Aug. 4.   

  1. If things go to arbitration, which is usually unlikely, Detroit gets to decide whether it’s a 1-year or 2-year deal that’s awarded;
  2. The Wings now have a second buy-out window opening up.

Bultman’s notebook: Danielson leads the charge

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted a meaty notebook article discussing the Red Wings’ stand-out summer development campers, and he begins by stating that turning-pro center/winger Nate Danielson impressed, as he should have done:

Nate Danielson, Detroit’s 2023 first-round pick, grabbed attention from the very beginning and held it all the way through Friday’s three-on-three tournament.

Coming off a big second half in the WHL with Portland, Danielson set an early tone at the camp. He “tested probably No. 1,” Red Wings assistant director of player development Dan Cleary said earlier in the week, and added on Friday that Danielson, “showed the way” to newer prospects with his professionalism and maturity. It also didn’t hurt that he scored a pair of goals — plus a shootout game-winner — in the scrimmage tournament.

While the Red Wings view the camp more for teaching than evaluation, Danielson looked like the team’s best prospect at the event, showing off his high-end skating, comfort with the puck, and displaying his finishing touch as well. His first goal in the tournament came just 11 seconds into his first game, wasting no time.

“I thought Nate Danielson was great every day,” Cleary said.

It’s exactly what the Red Wings would have wanted to see from Danielson as he gets set to turn pro this season. While a preseason push for the Detroit roster can’t be ruled out, he’s most likely ticketed for a big role with AHL Grand Rapids first. No matter where he starts the season, though, Danielson’s showing at camp was just the latest in an encouraging trajectory from Danielson.

Continued (paywall)

Turning on the screw

EP Rinkside’s Ryan Lambert is anything but a fan of the Detroit Red Wings, so his take on the direction of the Detroit Red Wings (in Lambert’s latest “Take Town” column) is not necessarily surprising:

I mostly like what the Red Wings did this summer, but the improvements are largely marginal. If they were trying to go from a wild-card team to top-three in the division, you could see the thinking. But the point is that they went from finishing lower than a rather bad Washington Capitals team that lucked into the playoffs, and it’s hard to see how they take a step back into the postseason with the changes they made so far this summer.

For instance, cleared a bunch of cap space and then kinda mostly didn’t use it. I would argue they made their blue line worse in giving away Jake Walman and letting Shayne Gostisbehere walk, and only replacing them with Erik Gustafsson (a player I quite like). They somewhat surprisingly brought back Patrick Kane and added Vladimir Tarasenko, which should juice the offence a bit. But the thing those signings are most likely to do is not necessarily juice the offence but rather make the offence slightly more sustainable.

Continue reading Turning on the screw

Tweet of note: Meet Gabriel Seger

The Grand Rapids Griffins signed Swedish collegian Gabriel Seger to a one-year AHL contract on June 11th, and they’ve posted a minute-and-a-half interview with the 24-year-old power forward:

Shai Buium’s on the professional learning curve

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a varied afternoon notebook article which discusses the following topis: Dan Cleary’s impressions regarding the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp; Axel Sandin Pellikka’s desire to continue improving his game while playing at home for Skelleftea AIK; and the experiences of one Shai Buium, who won his second NCAA Division 1 title while playing alongside his brother, Zeev, at the University of Denver:

“You never get tired of [winning],” said Buium, who signed a pro contract with the Wings last spring and will begin next season in Grand Rapids. “I just thought it was time to move on for another challenge in my life.”

Buium ironically won the 2022 NCAA championship at the University of Denver alongside current Grand Rapids teammates Carter Mazur (Jackson) and Antti Tuomisto.

Buium was a 2021 second-round pick (36th overall) of the Wings. He totaled a career-high 36 points (29 assists) with a plus-33 rating in 43 games at Denver last season. The 36 points ranked eighth among NCAA defensemen. Signing late last season, Buium (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) got into one regular-season game with the Griffins.

“I really liked the coaching staff, and it (Grand Rapids) is a great city,” Buium said. “I got to know the guys. It’ll be nice to get over there before the season and (get to know) the coaches, players and facilities. I’m excited at what’s to come.”

Buium felt he took a step forward defensively last season.

“Just learning things every year,” Buium said. “I like to be a sponge and kind of take it all in. With good defense, it just generates more offense for me.”

Continued

Duff on the Axel Sandin Pellikka’s ‘home-cooked’ development

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a subscriber-only article in which he discusses the Red Wings’ decision to leave Axel Sandin Pellikka with Skellftea AIK of the SHL for one more year, instead of bringing him over to North America to develop with the Grand Rapids Griffins this season:

Sandin Pellikka was playing quite a bit last season, to put it lightly. As an SHL rookie, he would score 10 goals for Skelleftea, helping the club win the SHL title. His performance was earning Sandin Pellikka the Borje Salming Trophy as the top Swedish-born defenseman in the SHL.

On the international stage, he was earning the nod as the top defenseman at the World Juniors as Sweden won the silver medal. Not only was Sandin Pellikka drafted by the Red Wings, the club would be signing him to an entry-level contract.

“It’s been awesome,” Sandin Pellikka said of the 2023-24 campaign. “Not much to complain about, really. Our team back home had a really good run. Winning the Swedish championship is one of my lifelong dreams, so just getting to experience that, there’s not much to complain about this season.”

…

“We just don’t see the harm in it (staying in Sweden),” Cleary said. “No sense rushing him. We got a pretty good D in Grand Rapids. Got a couple D graduating, but we have some good players still down there. Not to say Axel couldn’t come over and play in Grand Rapids, no problem, but Skelleftea is a real good development place. It’s a good league, it’s a good city, well run. Axel will be back in Ottawa at the World Juniors again.”

Duff continues (paywall)