Shapiro speaks with Alex Lyon about his status as the Wings’ #3 goaltender

Sean Shapiro spoke with Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon about his status as the team’s de-facto third goaltender recently:

“I was super fortunate basically through the lifespan of my career when the third goalie became more important,” Lyon said. “The importance of that position is high in NHL organizations and I found out that I’ve carved out a career from being able to succeed when put in difficult situations, I take pride in that.”

Lyon was the No. 3 goalie for the Florida Panthers last season, spent most of the season in the AHL, and was called upon to rescue Florida’s season when Sergei Bobrovsky struggled.

Lyon started the Panthers final eight regular season games, went 6-1-1 and posted a .943 save percentage to help Florida scrap and claw into the playoffs. While he ceded the net back to Bobrovsky in the first round against the Boston Bruins, the Panthers run the Stanley Cup final was impossible without Lyon’s regular season contribution.

Several teams took note of it when Lyon was an unrestricted free agent this summer, and he picked Detroit, even with the Red Wings signing Reimer, because Steve Yzerman was willing to offer a multi-year, one-way deal worth $900,000 per season.

“It’s security at the end of the day, a one-year deal actually has it’s benefits, but it also has it’s cons,” Lyon said. “Given the season I had last year, I thought it was time to capitalize and maximize my situation. That’s how I looked at the business of this.”

Continued (paywall)

Three things: Rankings, predictions, et. al.

Of brief Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

  1. Daily Faceoff’s Scott Maxwell posted a set of “power rankings” which list the Red Wings among the NHL’s “longshots” to make the playoffs, and here’s what Maxwell had to say about the Wings:

Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings kept themselves in the playoff conversation for most of last season, and they added enough guys that they’ll continue to look competent. Will Alex DeBrincat be the kind of gamebreaking talent the Wings need to take that next step, or will they just float in mediocrity for most of the season?

2. USA Today’s Mike Brehm also promises to know the “order of finish” for each team in the NHL’s four respective divisions, including the Atlantic Division, Detroit’s home:

The Detroit Red Wings were aggressive again this offseason, as were the Ottawa Senators, and both will get more points. But the division is ultracompetitive and someone has to finish in sixth and seventh. Detroit gets the edge because it acquired the Senators’ Alex DeBrincat and Ottawa is missing injured Josh Norris and unsigned Shane Pinto.

3. And Sean Shapiro offers “32 Boring Predictions” on EP Rinkside:

Detroit Red Wings – Simon Edvinsson will become an NHL regular lineup player at the trade deadline. At some point something is going to give with the Red Wings and one of their top prospects. At some point, either by injury or Steve Yzerman finding a trade for one his surplus of veteran defenders, Edvinsson will be a regular in Detroit. 

Update: We’ll make it “four things” via The Fourth Period’s Tab Bamford’s set of power rankings:

20. Detroit Red Wings

I like the addition of Alex DeBrincat and Jeff Petry should help their blueline. I just wonder about the rest of their summer additions making them good enough to really push for a playoff berth in a loaded Eastern Conference.

Tweets from Tuesday’s practice: It’s a special (teams) day

The Detroit Red Wings hit the ice at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center on Tuesday to prepare for Thursday’s road game against the New Jersey Devils (7:30 PM EDT start on ESPN+/hulu), and MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that the Wings’ lines remain the same as they were during Monday’s practice:

Mills’ notebook: coach Lalonde hopes for continuity between Detroit and Grand Rapids

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills filed a morning notebook which focuses on Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s remarks about the Wings’ roster, Klim Kostin’s acclimation to the Wings, and coach Lalonde’s take on the Grand Rapids Griffins’ mission this upcoming season:

Led by first-year head coach Dan Watson, Grand Rapids will begin its 28th campaign in franchise history Friday night against the Colorado Eagles at Van Andel Arena.

Lalonde said Watson will play an important role in helping develop the organization’s up-and-coming prospects.  

“We had those last conversations (Sunday), and Dan was the first guy to talk about how those conversations go,” Lalonde said. “He already had a plan for all of them. That communication is important. It’s not far off from where I was with Benny (Simon) last year.”

The Griffins earned a 28-36-4-4 (64 points) record last season, finishing seventh in the Central Division and missing the Calder Cup Playoffs for the second straight campaign.

Staying organizationally aligned with Watson is important to Lalonde, who wants the transition from the AHL to NHL to be seamless for prospects.

“Structurally, things will look similar,” Lalonde said. “Verbiage will look similar. I think there will be some positives, especially since some of these guys are knocking on that door. We’re only carrying 12 forwards. It’s just a matter of time before we start seeing guys from Grand Rapids.”

Continued

THN’s Stockton talks regular season predictions, keys for success

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton issues his Red Wings season prediction this morning, and the most pertinent part thereof is his issuance of three “keys” to the Wings’ upcoming campaign:

1. Newly Acquired Depth Provides Added Stability Across Line-Up: The talk throughout Red Wings training camp—from players, coaches, and executives—has emphasized the significance of off-season acquisitions like Alex DeBrincat, J.T. Compher, and Jeff Petry.  Detroit knows because of its poor lottery luck there is a certain class of elite player it can’t add.  Instead, Red Wings brass is banking on the idea that the deepest Detroit team since Steve Yzerman returned as GM can make progress in the Atlantic, even without a top-of-the-draft prospect leading the way.

2. Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin Click Straight Away: It’s no secret that the Red Wings need to score more than they did in 2022-23, and the Michigan-born duo of DeBrincat and Larkin will be central to making that happen.  The Red Wings believe a year ago they could hang in games with anybody but struggled to grab the goal they needed to push themselves over the top.  DeBrincat (and, to a lesser extent, Daniel Sprong) came to Detroit to help solve that problem, and the Red Wings will also be hoping that the diminutive winger can help push Larkin above the point-per-game threshold for the first time in his career.

3. Ville Husso Thrives in His First Season as an Unquestioned Number One Goaltender: A year ago, injuries forced Detroit to play Husso more than they had intended, and his performance suffered (.896 SV%, 3.11 GAA).  This year, Husso enters as the team’s definitive number one option, and Derek Lalonde is counting on somewhere between 55 and 60 starts out of the Finn.  For Detroit to be successful, Husso will need to make the most of that opportunity.

Continued; I’m gonna be honest here; I’m not expecting DeBrincat and Larkin to “click immediately.” I fully expect there to be an adjustment period for DeBrincat, as well as search for the right right wing to forecheck and grind out pucks for Larkin and DeBrincat to work with.

To me, the biggest challenge for the Wings may very well be my suspicion that they’re going to have to find secondary scoring while DeBrincat finds his bearings. Between that and the back-up goaltending situation getting sorted out, those are my two biggest “worries” about the start of the Wings’ 23-24 campaign.

Another ‘mushy middle’ prediction

The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe, a.k.a. Down Goes Brown, offers a season preview this morning, and he’s predicting that the Red Wings will finish in his “Middle-of-the-Pack Division,” and he notes that it’s fashionable to bash the “Yzerplan,” at least:

Detroit Red Wings

Last season: 35-37-10, 80 points, seventh in the Atlantic

Their offseason in six words: Yzerman blockbuster! (He can do that?)

Why they’re here: You know the drill by now. Where outsiders see a rebuild that’s spinning its wheels and watching other teams zoom past, Wings fans see a patient plan unfolding without much help from the lottery gods. They trust Steve Yzerman — maybe not unanimously, but close enough that I know not to dig too deep into any criticism. Instead, I’ll put the Wings here, expecting them to be better than last season but not quite good enough for a playoff spot. Yet.

Continued; patience is necessary here in Detroit, and we’re pretty much out of it, but the Yzerplan remains an in-progress rebuild, so there’s not much else to do, other than whine and complain because the Red Wings’ GM is working at his own pace.

Thankfully for the organization, he doesn’t care what you or I, or the rest of the media, think about him.

Tuesday is TMR doctor day

I’m apologizing in advance here because I have to head to the doctor’s office for my 6-month physical this morning at 10:50 AM.

I’m not certain how long the appointment will take, and but it’s going to conflict with the Red Wings’ practice this morning, and I’ll have to catch up when I get back home.

My apologies for any inconvenience caused by the couple hours’ worth of prime-time hockey news missed. Some days, you’ve gotta take care of your body (and mind; I’ve got a 5 PM therapy appointment, too).

A blurb about DeBrincat as part of a discussion of 40-goal scorers

The Free Press’s Ryan Ford posted an article which discusses “Everything to know about Alex DeBrincat, 40 goal-scorers and the Detroit Red Wings,” but “everything to know about Alex DeBrincat” only constitutes a quarter of his article:

In Steve Yzerman’s fourth season as Detroit Red Wings general manager, playoff hopes are as high as they’ve ever been. This is due, in large part, to Yzerman’s effort to address the team’s scoring woes over the offseason.

After the Wings finished 24th out of 32 teams in goals scored, Yzerman traded for forward Klim Kostin at the NHL draft, added forwards J.T. Compher, Christian Fischer and Daniel Sprong and defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere and Justin Holl via free agency, then nabbed forward Alex DeBrincat via a July trade and defenseman Jeff Petry in an August deal. In all, Yzerman added players who combined for 109 goals last season.

The biggest offensive talent of that bunch is DeBrincat, the Farmington Hills product who had 27 goals and 39 assists with Ottawa last season in what was a down year for him. That’s because DeBrincat is a two-time 40-goal scorer, hitting the milestone with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Continued; that’s not everything about DeBrincat, but Ford’s “blurb” sets up a column which really discusses the phenomenon of high-scoring forwards in the NHL these days, the Red Wings’ 40+ goal-scorers, and the history of American 40-goal scorers.