Missing ‘Wally’ and his infectious enthusiasm for the game

Former Red Wings defenseman Jake Walman is embracing his role as something of a veteran on the rebuilding San Jose Sharks–or at least he was suggesting as much while expressing his excitement about joining the Macklin Celibrini-led team on a conference call with reporters yesterday. As a result, that infectious enthusiasm was on full display, as noted by San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng–and that’s what I’m going to miss about Walman:

Walman, on bringing the Griddy and lightheartedness to San Jose: I told Macklin, that was one of the things I said, we got to start growing this game. It starts with you guys, you got to live up to the hype. You’ll see me doing some celebrations too. I have some stuff in store, for sure.

We had some really interesting meetings this weekend at the PA meetings. Short story is hockey is pretty old school and thought about [in] an old school mentality.

[A celebration like the Griddy is] just who I am. You’ll see when I’m at the rink, even off the ice: I’m laughing, enjoying it. Being serious when it counts, but I think you need that light personality. Like you said, it’s not showboating.

My favorite player growing up was Alex Ovechkin. I just saw his crazy [celebrations] and how fired up he got when he scored, and when stuff was going well for his team. That’s why I first started celebrating. But we turned it into a positive this year when I was in Detroit.

I actually just finished coming from dropping off a check [in relation to the Griddy]: We did a charity t-shirt drop for the Boys and Girls Club there, and it did really well.  I’d say about 90 percent of the messages are positive and 10 percent that I get are people that are pissed off or the other team thinks it’s silly. Fans of the other team.

But in the end, the thing that I do it for is I get those 90 percent of messages from parents that send me videos of their kids doing [the Griddy] on the ice. Other kids doing it. People wearing 96 jerseys and their kids doing it after they score. Or, wanting to play hockey. That’s really why I do it. Just trying to grow the game because I remember when I was young, I loved meeting NHL players or going to watch a game in Toronto. So that’s really why I do it. It’s nothing more than that.

Continued; it’s too bad that he’s gone, but the business of hockey is a brutal one.

Niyo weighs in on the Red Wings’ offseason…thus far

The Detroit News’s John Niyo posted a column which discusses Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s “lukewarm approach” to the NHL offseason this spring and summer. Niyo critiques the “Yzerplan” without using that word out loud, and he suggests that the Red Wings’ offseason signings have been a net…somewhere in the middle of things…as compared to the all-in approach of Barry Trotz’s Nashville Predators:

Here in Hockeytown, though, it’s a different state of affairs, even if Patrick Kane’s decision to re-sign with Detroit — on a surprising one-year deal — sends an encouraging message about the prospects for another serious playoff push next season. Kane, who produced 20 goals and 47 points in 50 games, coming off hip surgery, is getting a full offseason to train for a full regular season, neither of which he had a year ago.

[Vladimir] Tarasenko’s addition, meanwhile, satisfies Yzerman’s stated goal of adding an “impact” forward to the Wings’ top six. A six-time 30-goal scorer in the NHL, Tarasenko potted 23 last season for Ottawa and Florida, then added five more in the Panthers’ Cup run while showing he still possesses both an elite shot and, at 6-foot-1 and 220-plus pounds, an ability to win puck battles and operate in tough spaces.

That fills some of the void left by David Perron’s signing in Ottawa, but it doesn’t change the fact Yzerman needs to replace upwards of 60 goals from a roster that, according to the analytics, netted more than its fair share a year ago. And the decision to move Fabbri (18 goals in 68 games) certainly leaves the door open for more maneuvering here.

But it also leaves room for some of the young talent waiting in the wings, including former first-round pick Marco Kasper, who proved he’s ready in the AHL last season. That’s something Yzerman hinted at after last season, and it’s where the Wings’ GM has shifted his focus over the last few years. After trying to accelerate the rebuild in free agency in 2022, and handing out a few contracts he likely regrets as the team continued to spin its wheels, now we’re finally getting an acknowledgment of the real timeline here.

“I’m hopeful that somehow in the next couple of years, (with) this nucleus of relatively young players that we have,” Yzerman said last month, pointing to Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat on one end and his most recent top picks on the other, ”all of a sudden, we have a group of 12 guys who are 21 to 29 (years old) and that’s our group for that playoff window.”

Continued; I never thought that this was less than a 10-year rebuild, and that doesn’t make me “Doubt the Yzerplan”; it makes me someone who’s tried to be realistic about the machinations of a GM and front office who sometimes make masterful choices, but are just as prone to make mistakes as any other fallible human beings are wont to do.

Press release: Red Wings make the Fabbri-for-Gage trade official

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Red Wings acquire goaltender Gage Alexander from Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Robby Fabbri and conditional fourth-round pick in 2025 NHL entry draft

6-Foot-6 netminder was selected by Anaheim in fifth round of 2021 NHL entry draft

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today acquired goaltender Gage Alexander from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward Robby Fabbri and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.

Alexander, 22, spent the entire 2023-24 season with the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers, posting a 5-8-2 record with a 3.76 goals-against average, an 0.887 save percentage and one shutout in 19 appearances. The 6-foot-6, 205-pound netminder split time between the American Hockey League’s San Diego Gulls and Tulsa in 2022-23, logging a 5-7-3 record with a 3.59 goals-against average, an 0.887 save percentage and one shutout in 16 games with the Gulls, in addition to a 1-4-1 record with a 3.61 goals-against average and an 0.875 save percentage in six appearances with the Oilers. Originally selected by Anaheim in the fifth round (148th overall) of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Alexander has totaled a 3.72 goals-against average and an 0.884 save percentage in 25 ECHL contests with Tulsa.

Continue reading Press release: Red Wings make the Fabbri-for-Gage trade official

‘Gramps’ Augustine

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed an article about Red Wings goaltending prospect Trey Augustine, as described by his Michigan State University teammate, Red Savage:

“We call him Gramps sometimes because he’s always waddling around the rink,” said Savage, a Red Wings prospect talking about his MSU teammate and fellow Wings prospect. “You forget he’s just a little 19-year-old. I forget I’m two years older than he is.”

Augustine has certainly matured over this last calendar year, from last year’s development camp with the Red Wings to this week’s, given his experiences and accomplishments.

All Augustine did was help lead a program renaissance at Michigan State and win Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten Tournament. He also won gold at the world junior championships with Team USA, and validated every reason why the Wings selected him in the second round last year.

“Trey is a special player,” Savage said. “We have a good friendship and it’s something I take a lot of value in. His maturity is something that really stands out. He tries to learn as much as he can every day at the rink. He goes into every practice with the same mentality, to not only make himself better, but the people around him better.”

Continued with commentary from Augustine himself…

Press release: Wings confirm the Vladimir Tarasenko signing

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS SIGN VLADIMIR TARASENKO TO TWO-YEAR CONTRACT

  … Two-Time Stanley Cup Champion Has Recorded 629 Points in 751 Games Since 2012-13 …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today signed forward Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $4.75 million.

Tarasenko, 32, split the 2023-24 season between the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers, recording 41 points (17-24-41), a plus-13 rating and 12 penalty minutes in 57 games with the Senators before tallying 14 points (6-8-14) in 19 regular-season games with the Panthers. The 6-foot-1, 219-pound forward helped the Panthers win their first Stanley Cup championship, logging nine points (5-4-9) in 24 postseason contests. Tarasenko played the 2022-23 season with the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers, collecting 29 points (10-19-29) and eight penalty minutes in 38 games with the Blues, along with 21 points (8-13-21) in 31 regular-season games for the Rangers. He captured a Stanley Cup title with St. Louis in 2019, finishing with 17 points (11-6-17) in 26 playoff matchups. Tarasenko has been selected to four NHL All-Star Games, including three consecutive appearances from 2015-17. Additionally, Tarasenko was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 2014-15 and 2015-16, and was a finalist for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2016-17.

Continue reading Press release: Wings confirm the Vladimir Tarasenko signing

Tweet of note: Hunter Johannes discusses the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp

Grand Rapids Griffins forward Hunter Johannes spoke with the Grand Rapids Griffins about the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp, his summertime experiences, and his goals for the upcoming AHL season:

Es gibt learnen

The Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp is billed as an educational experience by the Red Wings’ personnel, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan got Dan Cleary to explain why that is:

“It’s been going good,” said Cleary, who is thrilled to have former teammate Pavel Datsyuk on the ice working with the prospects. “It’s been great and pretty exciting to have Pavel around the kids and great to see all of our kids (prospects). The kids are enjoying it. Some of the kids are a little rusty, they haven’t been on the ice (in a while).”(But) we tell these kids it’s more of an educational week than evaluation.”

Cleary used this year’s first-round pick, forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, as an example.

“He’s had trouble with his skates and falling down,” Cleary said. “I told him, ‘Listen, I’m not here judging whether you can’t stand up or not. We’ve seen your body of work. (Kris) Draper (amateur scouting director) has seen him all year and our scouting staff.

“It’s most important that they take all the information they can (out of this camp). We test, but we get the results and we’ve met with a few kids and we’ll tell them basically, this is what you have to work on, this is what you are good at and give them feedback and go from there.”

Continued

Red Wings trade Robby Fabbri to Anaheim for Gage Alexander, 4th round pick

Moving salary:

Here we go, Tarasenko! 2 years, $9.5 million for the scoring forward

Updated 2x at 6:30 PM: The Red Wings have signed Vladimir Tarasenko to a 2-year, $9.5 million contract while I was writing about prospects:

He’s 32, and at $4.75 million, the 23-goal-scorer isn’t what he was as a 25-year-old, but he’s going to help the top six recover from the loss of David Perron with a lot more speed and sniping.

Continue reading Here we go, Tarasenko! 2 years, $9.5 million for the scoring forward