Red Wings prospect Eddie Genborg spoke with ST.nu’s Nathalie Vinroth for a paywalled article, and Hockeysverige.se’s Adam Wenborg provides us with a peek behind the paywall…

Genborg: “It feels like I’ve played here for a hundred years”

There will be no season on the other side of the Atlantic for Eddie Genborg. Instead, the 19-year-old World Junior Championship gold-medal-winning hero from last year will stay at home with Timrå all this upcoming season.

“It feels incredibly good to know that I will play here for another year,” he told Sundsvalls Tidning.

There have been reports before that Eddie Genborg will stay in Timrå. The Detroit-drafted forward suffered an injury during the AHL playoffs last season that he has had problems with until recently. This was the reason there was no pre-season training camp on the other side of the Atlantic [in Detroit].

Genborg has been training with the team on the ice for two week,s and is looking forward to a whole season fresh from the start in Timrå IK.

“It feels great to know that I will play here another year. It’s been pretty safe here all along, that’s what I’ve known. Given how well I enjoyed it here, it has been pretty obvious to me all the time,” he says to Sundsvalls Tidning.

Long-time NHL reporter Frank Seravalli has landed with Casino.org, and Seravalli provides an update on the Red Wings’ managerial search this morning:

The Detroit Red Wings have been without a permanent general manager since franchise icon Steve Yzerman was dismissed in mid-July.

Sources say Detroit hoped to have Yzerman’s successor in place by Labor Day. While that target has passed, a final decision could still come soon.

Several candidates have emerged in the search, including Florida Panthers assistant GM Brett Peterson and San Jose Sharks assistant GM Jeff Kealty. Another intriguing name in internal discussions is current Detroit Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg, who previously served as an associate GM with the Chicago Blackhawks.

However, despite initial reports, sources now indicate that Kealty has not actually interviewed for the position, even though Detroit received permission from San Jose to speak with him.

In the meantime, hockey operations continue to manage day-to-day duties as Detroit prepares for training camp. Whoever ultimately takes the helm will immediately inherit a major roster decision: the future of Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin.

Continued; this is a lot better than the nothing we’ve heard from the Red Wings’ organization thus far…

The Windsor Star’s Jim Parker profiles Red Wings prospect and Windsor Spitfires forward Michal Svrcek this morning.

Svrcek hoped to play for Brynas IF’s SHL team this past season, but instead, he battled through injuries as he skated for Brynas’ J20 team, and, ultimately, Vasteras IK of the Hockeyallsvenskan. He did play for Brynas late in the SHL season and during the playoffs, but only in a limited role…

And as such, he chose to head over to North America to try his luck with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires:

“When I was in (Detroit’s) [rookie] camp, Windsor drafted me and I looked it up and I was close to Windsor,” Svrcek said. “The past is past and I’m just looking forward now. (Windsor) was one of the options. It was the main one to come here and play in such a good junior league is good for me and (my) development. When they wanted me to come here and play here, I started watching the results and I felt like that should be my team last year.”

[Spitfires head coach Greg] Walters is confident Svrcek will be a scorer in the OHL and anticipates him playing in all situations for the club.

“I would say I’m an aggressive player with a lot of energy and a lot of compete level,” Svrcek said. “Good offensive player, overall. That’s why I think they drafted me here. I think I’m the type of player this league likes, this team likes, and I’ll do everything I can to be helpful to the team. I have a couple of friends playing in this league. They said it’s a really offensive league and that suits me good.”

But aside from the skill level, Svrcek has a chance to bring some much-needed experience to a young Windsor roster. Aside from Cole Dubowsky and Shawn Costello, Svrcek is the only 2007-born forward on the roster.

Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon discusses “one player who has to deliver for every Atlantic Division team,” and he’s not wrong in suggesting that 33-year-old free agent signing Viktor Arvidsson faces a significant amount of pressure to step up and replace Detroit’s losses in the secondary scoring department:

Detroit Red Wings: Viktor Arvidsson

Arvidsson posted 54 points last year for the Bruins, his best total since consecutive 61-point showings for the Nashville Predators in 2016-2017 and 2017-18.

Now, he lands in Detroit on a two-year deal with a Wings club that features all kinds of top-six uncertainty thanks to Dylan Larkin’s trade request and Patrick Kane’s departure as a UFA.

Even in a year that went well for him, Arvidsson missed 13 games due to injury and the 33-year-old hasn’t played 75 games in a season in nearly 10 years. With all the volatility in Detroit, there’s no doubt the Wings need Arvidsson to provide a steady dose of secondary scoring. Without that, Detroit could be in a world of trouble. 

Continued; Arvidsson will have to prove durable and consistent for the Red Wings to succeed, but that’s the truth about players like Marco Kasper, Emmitt Finnie and the rest of the Red Wings’ secondary scorers as well.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Max Smith plays “two truths and a lie” this morning, and I agree wholeheartedly with his second “truth”–a suggestion that the Red Wings’ total and complete radio silence about their GM search has damaged the organization’s perception:

Truth: Red Wings’ silence has only hurt their perception

While it was typical for there to be a certain lack of communication while the team was still under Yzerman. Part of the reason that was tolerated was because of his longstanding reputation with the team and the city’s media. Yzerman was a man of few words when he was captain of the team, and he continued that tradition as GM of the franchise.

That silence wore on fans’ patience and was no doubt part of the mixed reaction to his unceremonious exit.

Now, the team has gone nearly two months without finding a new GM and they haven’t been very communicative with the search process. That’s led to an ample breeding ground for rumor mill churn and misinformation as aggregators pick up old information for new engagement.

Communicating about who they’ve interviewed, or at least where they are at in the process would do a lot to help restore confidence in team ownership.

Continued; Yzerman’s regime simply held its secrets and opinions alike very close to the vest, which is a difficult road to go in an era of better media relations by NHL Teams…

But continuing the strategy of not talking unless something happens is just not a smart option. It’s September, and the public that pays a whole lot of money to both watch the team in person and watch the team on TV/online are getting restless and worried about the product that will be on the ice later this month…

But nobody knows what’s going on with the front office. Even an, “We continue to evaluate candidates for our GM’s position” from the team would pave the road to forgiveness for radio silence, and we haven’t heard that much yet. That’s a bit dangerous as far as I’m concerned.

The Detroit Red Wings posted a 13:46 clip highlighting the offseason exploits of one Emmitt Finnie:

Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin posted a list of “the top 10 Norris Trophy candidates,” and Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider finishes quite low on the list, despite his all-round acumen, because Larkin argues that Seider just doesn’t produce enough offense to be considered an elite elite defenseman:

8. Moritz Seider, Detroit Red Wings (+1100)

The biggest case against Seider ever winning the Norris is last season, when he was as good as any D-man on the planet and it still wasn’t enough. Seider was a monster in every facet of the game, chewing up almost 26 minutes per contest and thwarting other teams’ top players. He graded out as a 100^th-percentile defensive player and a 95^th-percentile offensive player. And yet: that sublime season only landed him fifth in the Norris vote. Having compiled 60 points and possessing more of an all-around skill set than that of a pure scoring weapon, Seider lacks the ceiling of the other perennial contenders, which makes him more of a fringe Norris threat, as amazing as he is.

Continued; I suppose that Seider is a good example of why the NHL needs a “best defensive defenseman’s” award, because the Norris Trophy has become an award for the highest-scoring defenseman since Nicklas Lidstrom retired.

Red Wings prospect and University of North Dakota graduate Dylan James was pretty much dialed into spending his entire college-eligible career playing for the Fighting Hawks as it generally takes 4 years for players to truly blossom in that particular college program.

As such, the 6’1,” 192-pound forward is starting his professional career a little later than some Red Wings prospects, but, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes, the Red Wings and James alike believe that the 22-year-old will be worth the wait:

Three Reasons Why James Will Play in the NHL

1. He’s a stellar penalty killer. A strong skater, James uses his speed to take away time and space.
2. James is a physical presence on the forecheck, pressuring defensemen into committing turnovers.
3. Coaches can trust his game without the puck.

What May Hold Him Back

By taking four years to develop, James is coming into his first pro season at the age of 22. His window of opportunity to move up the ladder will be shorter than some of his compatriots with the AHL Griffins.

He has the skating ability, the defensive acumen, and the 200-foot game. The question that James will need to answer to make the show is whether he can generate enough offense to be an effective player at the NHL level.

Continued; everything I’ve heard about James is positive in terms of his work ethic and skill set. As Duff suggests, it’s going to be up to James to replicate offensive numbers like his 21-goal, 32-points-in-40-games-played offensive numbers from his final NCAA season.

The Athletic’s James Mirtle posted an installment of The Athletic’s “Red Light Newsletter” today, and Mirtle asks 5 “biggest unanswered questions,” including one about Red Wings,’ well, three unanswered scenarios in their lack of a GM, Dylan Larkin’s trade request and re-signing Simon Edvinsson. So it’s a 3-in-1:

When are the Red Wings getting a GM, and what do they do with Larkin?

Detroit is the only club without a GM right now, after Steve Yzerman was removed from the role on July 15. Some massive decisions await whoever gets the gig, too: deciding what to do about captain Dylan Larkin’s trade request and getting Edvinsson under contract.

Finding a way back to the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade is definitely on the agenda, too.

💬 Red Wings writer Max Bultman: “The GM search has been as quiet as it’s been long, but with the prospect tournament just over a week away, it’s nearing the finish line. Getting Edvinsson signed shouldn’t be a big issue; that’s something the new GM can get done fairly quickly — i.e., in time for Edvinsson to hit the ice with the Red Wings when camp opens Sept. 17.

“But the late timing of the hire points toward Larkin’s trade request not being resolved before camp opens. We’ll see what happens when the new GM speaks with Larkin, and what conclusions they reach in those initial conversations. Still, the possibility for some captain-related drama and distraction grows greater by the day.”

Here’s more from Max on the mess the next GM is inheriting.

RG.org posted a Red Wings season preview whose eventual focus involves the sports betting game, but the editorial desk and editor Sergey Demidov also provide some impressive facts about Detroit’s star players, rookies and lost offense (in the form of David Perron, Patrick Kane and James van Riemsdyk):

The most impressive individual data point in Detroit’s season belongs to its 25-year-old defenseman. Seider skated 299.85 miles, fourth-most in the NHL, blocked 180 shots, fourth-most in the league, and led all Red Wings skaters with a 53.2% share of 5-on-5 shot attempts. His hardest shot registered 98.93 mph, 93rd percentile among defensemen, and he ranked second leaguewide with 115 long-range shots on goal.

Lucas Raymond is the swing vote. He is 24, sits in the 92nd percentile in average shot speed among forwards at 60.53 mph, and produced 25 goals in 80 games — a step backward from his previous output. Detroit’s power play ranked 12th at 22.6% and fourth in the NHL in power-play offensive zone time at 60.6%, which suggests the personnel is closer than the raw goal totals imply.

In goal, John Gibson tied for 10th in the NHL with 27 quality starts and finished with a .901 save percentage and 22.04 goals saved above expected. Tarasov arrives from Florida after a 13-15-3 season with an .895 save percentage. Prospect Sebastian Cossa was traded to Utah, which leaves Trey Augustine — 24-9-1 with a 2.11 goals-against average and .929 save percentage at Michigan State — as the organizational future in Grand Rapids.

Continued (give this a read, it’s a good, coherent season preview).