Detroit News columnist John Niyo, Oakland University coach Greg Kampe and Fox 2’s Dan Miller were on SportsWorks last night, and they addressed the Red Wings between 14:28, when Jennifer Hammond interviews Wings coach Derek Lalonde, and 18:18 of the video. Kampe discusses the expectations the Red Wings face before a long season’s worth of play, and Niyo says that Lucas Raymond and the Wings’ youngsters must step up:

As Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes, Simon Edvinsson made a surprising admission during Sunday’s media availability:

When Simon Edvinsson is seeking someone to blame for his failure to make the Detroit Red Wings out of training camp a year ago, he points to the guy in the mirror.

“I think from last year I came with a bad attitude,” Edvinsson explained. “I didn’t compete.”

Chalk it up as a lesson learned for the 20-year-old defenseman. And if he is in requirement of any reinforcement to remind him of those shortcomings, there’s plenty of leaders inside the walls of the Detroit locker room ready to step up and offer Edvinsson a reminder that he’s needing to stay at the top of his game every day he’s in training camp.

“They’ve been on me,” Edvinsson said, pointing specifically to captain Dylan Larkin and Calder Trophy-winning defenseman Moritz Seider as two Red Wings keeping in his ear about keeping up the intensity.

“I hear that. This year I want to compete with them. I see what they do. I try to learn from that. I want to compete against them. I want to compete against everybody. It’s really good players on the roster of the Red Wings overall.”

Continued; my sense last season was that Edvinsson wanted the transition to the NHL to be an easy thing, and he wanted to not have to worry about playing defense, and instead, use his fantastic skating skills to generate offense instead.

He’s a year older now, with a season of AHL experience under his belt, and he knows that, despite his immense talent, he’s got to improve his defensive game in order to succeed at the NHL level. I fully believe that Edvinsson will do just that in thriving as an NHL’er one day, but in the interim, he does need to continue to improve as a two-way defender.

NHL.com’s William Douglas posted a season preview for the Detroit Red Wings this morning. Here are his “3 Keys” to the Wings getting off to a fast start:

1. Jell quickly: General manager Steve Yzerman bolstered the roster from front to back with the additions of forwards Alex DeBrincat, J.T. Compher and Daniel Sprong, center Klim Kostin, defensemen Jeff Petry and Shayne Gostisbehere and goalie James Reimer. These key additions must mesh with the existing core if the Red Wings hope to move up in the Eastern Conference and end their seven-year Stanley Cup Playoffs drought.

2. Score more: Detroit finished 24th in the NHL in goals last season (237) and hasn’t had a 40-goal scorer since Marian Hossa in 2008-09. That could end with the addition of DeBrincat, who scored 41 goals twice with the Chicago Blackhawks (2018-19, 2021-22). He had 66 points (27 goals, 39 assists) for the Ottawa Senators last season and joins an offense led by captain Dylan Larkin who had an NHL career-high 79 points (32 goals, 47 assists) in 80 games last season. The Red Wings should have more firepower with Compher, who had 52 points (17 goals, 35 assists) in 82 games with the Colorado Avalanche last season, and Sprong, who had an NHL career-high 46 points (21 goals, 25 assists) in 66 games with the Seattle Kraken.

3. Better net results: Detroit ranked 22nd in the League in goals against last season (3.35 per game). Goalie Ville Husso had NHL career highs in games played (56), wins (26) and shutouts (four) last season, but struggled down the stretch, when he was 1-6-1 with a 4.32 goals-against average and .839 save percentage in his final eight games. Reimer, who signed on July 1 to be Husso’s backup, was 12-21-8 with a 3.48 GAA, .890 save percentage and three shutouts in 43 games (41 starts) with the San Jose Sharks last season. Should Reimer falter, Detroit also signed Alex Lyon, whose six-game winning streak helped propel the Florida Panthers into the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. He was 9-4-2 with a 2.89 GAA, .912 save percentage and one shutout in 15 games (14 starts) for the Panthers.

Continued; the Red Wings would probably agree with Douglas’ “3 Keys.” The team’s turned over about 40% of its roster, so it definitely needs to form bonds and familiarity in short order; the Wings do want to score more, and help Ville Husso keep pucks out of the back of his own net, too.

After three days of intense practices at the Red Wings’ 2023 training camp, the Wings let loose to some extent, with a “Red” team battling a “White” team in an intra-squad scrimmage called the “Red vs. White Game.”

The Red Wings played 1 period’s worth of 5-on-5 hockey; they utilized the entire second period to play an assortment of 5-on-4 power plays which lasted exactly one minute; and the third period consisted of 5 minutes of 4-on-4, 5 minutes of 3-on-3, and then a 10-man shootout.

The biggest news of the day might have been Matt Luff’s injury. The 6’3,” 223-pound forward went down along the right wing boards at center ice, in a lot of pain. The trainers came out and attended to him, and Luff, who suffered two major facial injuries last season, couldn’t hold his right arm very well. He went into the medical room to get an x-ray, and didn’t return; those who witnessed his “upper-body injury” up close told me that it looked and sounded like his arm popped out of the shoulder joint.

Otherwise, Daniel Sprong scored the 1-0 goal only 53 seconds in for Team Red, assisted by Joe Veleno and Elmer Soderblom; Griffins-bound Tim Gettinger scored from try-out Artem Anisimov to make it 2-0 at 10:12 of the 1st; in the third period, Simon Edvinsson made the score 3-0 at 25 seconds, from Christian Fischer; Simon Edvinsson scored a beautiful breakaway goal for Team White 55 seconds in, from Klim Kostin, to make it 3-1; Lucas Raymond then scored a 3-2 goal at 2:19, from Albert Johansson and Robby Fabbri, and Jonatan Berggren made it 4-2 from Soderblom and Olli Maatta at 3:13.

The regulation shots were 30-15 Team Red, and the score was 4-2; in the shootout, Taro Hirose and Moritz Seider (on a lovely deke) gave the Red Team two more goals, and Michael Rasmussen and Austin Czarnik scored for the white team, propelling the final score to 6-4 Team Red.

Continue reading Impressions from the Red vs. White Game at the Red Wings’ 2023 Training Camp

The Traverse City Record-Eagle’s Brendan Quealy posted a recap of the Red vs. White Game on Sunday evening…

The sold-out crowd with only standing-room spots left available warmed up the usually frigid rink as Team Red bested Team White by a 6-4 final.

Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde called Sunday’s action “productive,” adding that on top of the standard 5-on-5 play, Detroit was also able to get some reps for the special teams as well as the 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 shifts.  Lalonde said he loved the pace of the game, which was formatted a bit differently from previous Red & White games.

“We weren’t trying to think outside the box,” Lalonde said. “We had this vision of how these three periods would look because we wanted to be productive and work on some things. It went smoother than I had anticipated.”

The Red Team led 2-0 after the first period on goals from Daniel Sprong and Tim Gettinger. Unfortunately, Matt Luff, who dealt with a broken arm last season, suffered what Lalonde called an “upper-body injury” late in the first period and was helped off the ice. He did not return to action.

Lalonde said the injury to the 6-foot-3 right-wing “did not look good.”

“He’ll be out for a little bit here, but fortunately there is nothing wrong with his head,” Lalonde said. “My first thought was a head injury, so I was obviously extremely concerned.”

Continued; DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills continues the narrative…

“Worked out a lot of things today,” Lalonde said. “Obviously got some 5-on-5 structure in and a ton of special teams. Probably a credit to (Red Wings assistant video coordinator) Jeff Weintraub, who is kind of our behind-the-scenes camp organizer. I thought that went extremely smooth. Then we introduced some 3-on-3 and 4-on-4, which is part of our process along the way. We’ll get some video off it and some reps. I thought some pretty good things and all in all, a productive day.”

Sunday’s scrimmage format consisted of three 20-minute periods, with the Red Wings focusing on 5-on-5 play in the opening frame, special teams in the second and situational play in the third before concluding with a shootout competition.

“It went a lot smoother than I had anticipated,” Lalonde said about the new-look scrimmage. “Pace of the first game and special teams, probably a credit to the staff.”

Defenseman prospect Simon Edvinsson said the scrimmage was a continuation of what has been a “really competitive environment” at Detroit’s 2023 Training Camp.

“Everyone was sharp,” Edvinsson said. “I think everyone has been sharp. It’s been high tempo. Everyone is competing for roster spots, whether it’s in the NHL, AHL or somewhere else.”

Mills also continues; and the 9&10 News’s Jayden Jagtani offers a video report from the game as well.

We haven’t spoken with Gostisbehere at camp yet, but John Keating was able to speak with him during his time in Traverse City:

John Keating is in Traverse City with the Red Wings at training camp and he caught up with new defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.#LGRW#RepDetroit | @FiegerLaw @JohnKeatingBSD pic.twitter.com/S48gtEdTdG

— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) September 24, 2023

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article from the Red vs. White Game, and Kulfan duly notes that the competition between Alex Lyon and James Reimer for the back-up goaltender’s spot is alive and well:

If anyone stood out specifically, goaltenders James Reimer and Alex Lyon each made some good saves to keep goals off the board.

“Both of those guys had real strong days,” [coach Derek] Lalonde said. “It was real hard not to notice Reimer today, if you were asking me the one guy that stood out. It was him, the way he played, and Lyon had a good day too. Ville, also, he gave up the two goals early but looked real sharp.

“Part of the special-teams killing 100% over 16 minutes (of power play) was the goaltending. It was real sharp.”

The Wings return home after Monday’s practice and begin a string of eight exhibition games with a home game against Pittsburgh, the next phase before beginning the regular season.

“Getting our game in order,” Lalonde said of what needs to get done on the next two weeks. “We’ll have some decisions with personnel, and decisions on personnel on the special teams.”

Continued

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Red Wings reduce Training Camp roster by 11 

Fifty-seven players remain with Detroit ahead of first preseason game on Tuesday, Sept. 26 vs. Pittsburgh

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today assigned defensemen Andrew Gibson and Tnias Mathurin to their respective major junior clubs. Additionally, the Red Wings released forwards Orrin Centazzo and Cam Hillis from their professional tryouts and released forwards Matyas Melovsky, Israel Mianscum and Jake Uberti, defensemen Finn Harding, Jackson DeSouza and Connor Punnett, and goaltender Lukas Matecha from their amateur tryouts.

The Red Wings currently have 57 players on their training camp roster: 34 forwards, 16 defensemen and seven goaltenders. Detroit will continue practices in Traverse City, Mich., on Monday, Sept. 25 before opening its eight-game preseason schedule with a home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 7:00 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James has posted an article regarding the Red vs. White Game, which Team Red won 6-4 over Team White, shootout goals included. As St. James notes, Wings coach Derek Lalonde felt that the scrimmage, which included 1 period of 5-on-5 hockey, 1 period of power plays and penalty-killing, 5 minutes of 4-on-4, 5 minutes of 3-on-3, and a 10-man shootout, was “productive:

Lalonde went with a different format in the scrimmage, using the first period for five-on-five play, the second period for special teams, and the third for situational play (three-on-three, four-on-four). Team Red dominated the first period, carrying play in their offensive end and banking goals from newcomer Daniel Sprong (from Joe Veleno and Elmer Söderblom) and minor-league Tim Gettinger (from tryout candidate Artem Anisimov).

The second period was divided up into four, one-minute power plays per team, done twice. Moritz Seider ran one unit with Larkin, DeBrincat, Perron and Shayne Gostisbehere, while the other red unit featured Jake Walman with Sprong, Jonatan Berggren, Veleno and Söderblom. Team white’s power plays had Jeff Petry with Andrew Copp, J.T. Compher, Robby Fabbri and Sprong; and Simon Edvinsson with Michael Rasmussen, Nate Danielson, Marco Kasper and Austin Czarnik. Those units, of course, will change during exhibition season.

“There were a lot of chances, which I liked,” Lalonde said. “The power play went 0-for, probably a little credit to some penalty kill, credit to some good goaltending. But all the power plays got a ton of looks and chances. If we went through a dry stretch like that during the regular season, we’d be happy knowing as long as you’re getting those looks on the power play, it’s going to go in. Guys looked comfortable in their spots.”

Continued

Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson and coach Derek Lalonde spoke with the media after the Red vs. White Game: