Two things: on first-day jitters and Larkin’s next level

Of Red Wings-related note this evening:

  1. DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills wrote a mid-evening column which summarizes the Red Wings’ first day of training camp…

Detroit’s Training Camp roster this year features 68 players, including 37 forwards, 22 defensemen and nine goalies. With several key pieces returning, along with a mix of faces young and new, captain Dylan Larkin said everyone’s excited to get back to work.

“It’s like the first day of school,” Larkin said. “There are some jitters, but it was good to get on the ice up here. Some guys are feeling it out, but I was very impressed with the intensity and thought the older guys – Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry, myself, Lucas [Raymond], Alex [DeBrincat] – trying to push the battle and intensity a little higher than what we’ve had in the past.”

Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said it was important the veterans set the tone with a competitive practice to kick offTraining Camp.

“Our core is growing together,” Lalonde said. “I felt I’ve grown with this core a little bit too. This was their opportunity to set the tone. We keep talking about putting some of these words into action. It’s the first opportunity for action and was a good step on Day 1, but that’s all it was. I’d like to keep pushing this going forward, but it’s going to have to come from that leadership group.”

That leadership group is headlined by Larkin, who said missing out on the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season was a tough pill to swallow.

“It was extremely hard to get over that,” Larkin said. “We found out what we had in our room with our guys. We battled hard, but we came up short by one point. You learn how valuable every point is. Sometimes when you’re not feeling your best on the road, a long trip or whatever it is, we showed through adversity what winning hockey looks like for us.”

Mills continues…

2. And MLive’s Ansar Khan took note of captain Larkin’s remarks about himself, in which Larkin suggested that there’s room for improvement:

Continue reading Two things: on first-day jitters and Larkin’s next level

Coach Lalonde on the Red Wings’ desire to deliver post-season results

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde told the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan that he understands why the Red Wings are expected to make the playoffs (by their fans, anyway):

“That’s more reality than anything,” Lalonde said Thursday, meeting the media for the first time. “It’s a natural progression. We keep going like this (upward trend) with our points, keep going like this (upward) in the standings, an 11-point improvement last year, and you literally are in a virtual tie for the last playoff spot. Of course, the expectations will keep moving forward. But it’s a little different.”

Meaning, there’s more pressure to achieve those expectations and even surpass them, to claim a playoff spot. And for a large segment of this Wings’ roster, those type of expectations are different from years before.

Lalonde talked often last year about how many national analysts picked the Wings far out of the playoff picture before the season began.

That’s not the case, as much, anymore. Many people consider the Wings capable of making the playoffs.

“It was pretty clear that we were not expected to be a playoff team going into the season, and when you get to that point and start flirting with that type of season, you start getting those points in the high 80s or low 90s, where we were last year, everyone wants a natural progression,” Lalonde said. “That’s the way we see it and what we want.”

…

“It’s pressure, but it’s the reality of our league,” Lalonde said. “It’s so competitive. The parity in our league is at an all-time high and you want to keep this going, pushing it forward. We’ve done that the last two years, and you have to keep pushing it forward. You can call that expectation or pressure, but the simple reality of it is a team going in the right direction.”

Continued (paywall)

Evening Tweets of note: On preseason ESPN+ games, ‘the best #19,’ Seider and Tarasenko

Of Red Wings-related Twitter note this evening:

  1. EP Rinkside’s Sean Shapiro posted a list of the preseason games that will be aired on ESPN+:

Here’s ESPN’s official Tweet:

It looks like Thursday October 2nd vs. Toronto, Friday October 3 vs. Ottawa, and Saturday October 4 at Toronto will be streamed on ESPN+.

2. Discuss:

3. And, from the Red Wings comes this infographic about Moritz Seider…

As well as a mini-highlight clip of Vladimir Tarasenko:

Kane, Larkin, Lalonde weigh in on Raymond, Seider re-signings

Patrick Kane and the rest of the Red Wings who spoke to the media on Thursday had some interesting things to say about the re-signings of Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, as noted by MLive’s Ansar Khan…

“Some great news the past few days with (Lucas Raymond signing and then Mo signing, so I think everyone’s kind of relieved that that’s done and over with,” Patrick Kane said. “Both of them are so deserving of their new contracts. Both of them work so hard. They want to be Red Wings. They want to do well for the city and for the organization. So happy for both those guys and for the team as well.”

Kane added, “Mo’s such a good defender, great defenseman. He’s so important playing against top lines every night. Obviously, he’s got a lot of offensive weapons as well, can be dynamic on the power play, can produce offensively from the back end, which is huge.”

And the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took note of Kane, Dylan Larkin and coach Derek Lalonde’s remarks regarding Raymond and Seider:

“You see younger players are coming in and having more of an impact and becoming some of your best players,” Kane said. “Those two guys (Seider, Raymond) are no different. Mo is just such a good defender, a great defenseman. You see him playing against top guys every night. He has the offense as well and he can be dynamic on the power play and produce offense from the back end, which is huge.”

Coach Derek Lalonde met with the media before Seider’s contract was announced. But Lalonde said Seider’s absence Thursday wasn’t a major issue.

“We’re ready to embrace Mo whenever he does arrive,” Lalonde said. “Guys (teammates) have been around enough where they understand the RFA (restricted free agent) situation. It was business as usual.”

Likewise captain Dylan Larkin talked before Seider’s signing became official. Larkin said it was “strange” not seeing Seider in camp, but was optimistic the situation would resolve itself quickly — which it did.

“That’s his situation, but I know he wants to be here,” Larkin said. “But it’s between him and his agent and Steve and the guys understand that. He’s a huge part of our team and we need him.”

An emphasis on ‘D’

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted a slate of observations from training camp today, noting that the Red Wings believe that the best way to assuage their lost offense in free agency is to become a better defensive team:

It’s no secret the Red Wings lost a lot of offensive pieces this summer. Between David Perron, Robby Fabbri, Daniel Sprong, Shayne Gostisbhere and Jake Walman, that’s 75 goals from last season out the door.

Detroit will try to replace that lost offense through contributions from new signings Vladimir Tarasenko, Tyler Motte and Erik Gustafsson, and through internal promotions for Jonatan Berggren and Simon Edvinsson, but it’s going to be a tall task. One obvious way to counteract that, though, is by keeping more pucks out of the net — something the Red Wings realistically needed to focus on anyway after allowing the ninth-most goals in the league last season.

“That’s obviously been a focus today at Day 1 of camp is the defensive side,” Larkin said. “And some key adjustments — minor adjustments, but I think they’re going to be really key — so we can be better boxing out in front of our net and make quicker stops and exit quicker, so then we can play more offense.

“I think that’s what all the best defensive teams in the league (do): the hard nights, their big, strong defensemen in the corner, that cross-check, and make it hard on the forwards. We’re trying to adopt that, and trying to build that into our game throughout camp.”

Head coach Derek Lalonde’s message to open camp was “we want to build off where we were last year, but we need more,” he said, and the emphasis in the practice was on some of those areas, starting with breakouts and defensive zone habits, and moving into the neutral zone.

“I liked where we were at,” Lalonde said. “Pretty comfortable with how well the structure looked towards the second half of the practice, which is a little exciting for a coach. But just Day 1.”

Continued (paywall)

Patrick Kane finally feels like a Red Wing as he begins a new campaign

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton took note of the comments made by Patrick Kane and his teammates (and coach) as #88 begins year #2 as a Red Wing:

When asked about his primary motivation for returning to the Red Wings this summer as unrestricted free agent, Kane replied, “How close we were last year, just looking back on the season. There’s obviously things that you think about when you’re potentially signing a new contract, and when I was looking back, there was some great moments for me personally and for the team. The excitement around the team, the way I fit in for the team, my role and what was expected of me here, I think was something I enjoy as well.”

“The last couple years, you still feel in some respects like you’re a Blackhawk, right?” explained Kane of the road to his current state of clarity. “Even when you go to New York or last year when I was in Detroit. There’s still that sense that you’re somewhat of a Blackhawk, and for me now, the page is officially turned, so it’s nice to be here in Detroit and build on what I was able to do last year and what the team was able to do and be a Red Wing, and I definitely feel like one now.”

Kane’s impact has been felt by his teammates and Red Wing fans alike.  After a stirring OT win over Colorado last February, captain Dylan Larkin said that he and his teammates had been referring to the energy at Little Caesars Arena as “the Kaner Effect.”  Today, on the first day of training camp, Larkin spoke to the respect Kane commands in the dressing room, saying”Kaner…When he speaks up in our room—and to be honest with you before playing with him last year I didn’t know he was like that—but he will stand up, and he will say things, and when he talks, people listen.  He’s earned that in this league and especially with our team, so to see that he wanted to come back and know that he had a full summer of training, he’s gonna get a full camp in, I’m very excited for him.”

After that lofty praise, Larkin was quick to point out that he sees no instinct from Kane toward resting on laurels; instead, per Larkin, “I know he’s motivated for more.  He’s motivated to make the U.S. team, I’m sure of that.  I haven’t talked to him about that, but someone like him deserves to be on that team and probably be the captain of that team, so …[I’m] expecting him to be a big impact player like he was last year.”

Derek Lalonde offered a similar picture in describing Kane’s form to open the year.  “Patrick individually had a really good summer,” the Red Wings coach said.  “Today’s NHL, expectations of players in the summer they come into camp pretty ready, but I think Patrick really took advantage of having a full summer.  He had a lot of pop throughout practice, right through the end, which is exciting to see.”

Continued

Berggren’s opportunity to ‘belong’ has arrived

The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood spoke with Jonatan Berggren regarding his opportunity to make the Red Wings’ roster full-time this season:

“This is a year for me to prove that I can belong in this league,” Berggren said Thursday on the opening day of Red Wings training camp. “So my focus on training camp is just come in with a great attitude and show them what player I am and how big a summer I had.”

Berggren played in just 12 NHL games last season after playing 67 in his rookie year the season prior. His call-ups showed flashes of the offensive impact he can make through his vision and deception, but they also exposed his flaws. Berggren was a minus defender in many of his appearances, almost all of which came in a depth role on the fourth line.

Now, the task for Berggren becomes proving he can deliver on defense.

“Two-way game,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said of the expectations for Berggren this season. “You talk about actions, the first action is he had a great summer. He looks leaner. He looks like he’s got a little bit more pop. He’s done his work. Now, it’s just being a little more responsible in that two-way game.”

Continued;

Update: And there’s this from Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen:

It was emotionally challenging for Berggren to stay positive when he couldn’t stick with Detroit.

“It been a little bit tough. I will not lie,” Berggren said on the opening day of training camp in Traverse City.  Going up and down. Basically living in my car, me and my girlfriend. So it was. I think looking back at it, it was a grow a lot and mentally strong and stuff. …But I think it will help me in the long (run).”