Impressions from the Red Wings prospects’ 10-7 loss vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets at the 2023 Prospect Tournament: better a goaltender than a goat lender

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects lost a weird one, a 10-7 decision against the Columbus Blue Jackets’ prospects at the 2023 Prospect Tournament on Saturday.

0-and-2 Detroit will have to turn things around in a hurry as the 1-and-1 Toronto Maple Leafs await tomorrow as the prospect tournament concludes with a 2 PM game between the Original Six rivals (to be streamed on the Red Wings’ social media channels).

Put bluntly, these kinds of games are hard to evaluate. Detroit blew leads of 3-0, 3-1 and 4-1 en route to a 10-7 outcome, which was richly deserved team-wide, but the fact that Sebastian Cossa gave up 6 goals on 21 shots–as the Red Wings team surrendered seven consecutive second-period goals–is probably going to be the talk of the town.

And we’ll get around to that. But we need to talk about the game as a whole, or at least the “highlights” thereof, via MLive’s Ansar Khan’s recap:

Continue reading Impressions from the Red Wings prospects’ 10-7 loss vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets at the 2023 Prospect Tournament: better a goaltender than a goat lender

On Elmer Soderblom’s path toward an NHL job

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses the possibility of Big Elmer Soderblom making the Red Wings’ roster out of training camp and the exhibition season, presuming that the 22-year-old does certain things correctly:

Elmer Soderblom knows that learning how to be an effective big NHL player is no small task.

“I just have to show I can be a player who makes a difference out there, a reliable guy,” Six-foot-eight Detroit Red Wings forward Elmer Soderblom said. “…I am different from everyone with the size. Have to take advantage of that.”

Soderblom is embracing his size  at the NHL Prospects Tournament at Centre Ice Arena. He looked particularly beastly in Thursday’s 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars. Soderblom scored a goal,  generated six shots on goal and used his impressive length, width and reach to claim pucks all night. The man weighs 250 pounds. He followed that up with another goal in Detroit’s 10-7 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Former University of Michigan player Adam Fantilli had three goals and two assists, plus nine shots on goal, for Columbus

“The size and strength he has — that’s a skill. You can’t teach that skill,” Red Wings assistant general manager Kris Draper said. “The beauty of the other night was that he got angry. That was something.”

Continued

Red Wings’ prospects lost 10-7 to Columbus at the 2023 Prospect Tournament

What a strange game. The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects lost 10-7 to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ prospects on Saturday afternoon/evening at Centre ICE Arena.

Detroit blew leads of 3-0 and 4-1 en route to their disastrous outing, and Sebastian Cossa had a rough outing in the process of the Wings’ awful second period, giving up 6 goals on 21 shots.

Adam Fantilli had a hat trick for Columbus, and while Nate Danielson had 3 assists and Alexandre Doucet a goal and an assist, the biggest contribution might have been from Marco Kasper, who fought Carson Ceulemans in the third period.

The Wings will attempt to salvage their tournament with tomorrow’s game vs. Toronto at 2 PM EDT, to be streamed on the Wings’ social media channels.

Rosters for today’s Detroit-Columbus game: no Carter Mazur for Detroit

Per, well, me and the Red Wings and Blue Jackets’ PR departments, here are the rosters for today’s game between Detroit and Columbus’ prospects (3:30 PM EDT start on the Red Wings’ social media channels):

You can watch the game here. Ken Kal and Daniella Bruce will represent the Wings; Dylan Turner will represent the Blue Jackets on the broadcast.

Prospect round-up: Johansson, Sandin Pellika earn ice time in SHL losses; Kilpinen scores in J20

Of prospect-related note on Saturday:

In the SHL:Anton Johansson finished at +1 with 3 shots in 16:33 played as Leksands IF lost 5-2 to Frolunda HC;

And Axel Sandin Pellikka finished even with no shots in a very healthy 20:09 played as Skelleftea AIK dropped a 5-2 decision to Farjestads BK.

And in the Swedish J20 league, Maximilian Kilpinen scored a goal in Modo’s 3-2 overtime win over Almtuna.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Mills on William Wallinder, who’s ‘making the jump’ to North America

Ahead of today’s game between the Red Wings’ prospects and Columbus Blue Jackets’ prospects, DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted a profile of Wings defenseman William Wallinder. Wallinder is one of the organization’s brightest prospects, and he’s making the jump to North America this season:

“That was a good test for me to see how it is to play on the small ice,” Wallinder said Friday at Centre Ice Arena. “It’s a lot quicker and you need to make decisions faster.”

Last season with Rogle BK, Wallinder compiled 26 points (7-19—26) in 50 regular-season games to go along with three points in nine postseason contests. His 26 points were tied for the most among any skater 22 years old or younger in Sweden’s top professional league.

“There’s a lot of good players there,” Wallinder said about the SHL. “It’s a great league. To play professional for a couple years in Sweden for sure has helped me get to where I am now.”

Wallinder, who signed a three-year entry level contract with Detroit on March 27, made his North American debut with the Griffins on April 2 at the Rockford IceHogs.

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound blueliner said while training in Detroit this summer, he focused on adapting his game to the North American rink.

“It’s a big change,” Wallinder said. “The way we play back in Sweden is a lot different than here. More possession back home than here.”

Continued; Wallinder is definitely going to face an adjustment period in terms of making decisions more quickly and moving the puck with pace, but he’s got all the tools necessary to succeed.

DHN’s Robinson on Kasper’s comeback

Detroit Hockey Now’s Tim Robinson posted a profile of Red Wings prospect Marco Kasper, who is tri-lingual, graduated from high school in Sweden this past spring, and has already played professional hockey with Rogle BK of the SHL, all at the age of 19:

Grand Rapids coach Dan Watson, who is coaching the Red Wings team in the NHL. Prospects tournament this weekend, is impressed with Kasper’s compete level and more.

“He’s got good stick detail,” Watson said. “He’s gonna find that offensive touch this year, for sure. But again just another smart player, moves his feet well and makes the players around him better. I liked his game (Thursday).”

It was Kasper’s first game since suffering a broken kneecap against Toronto in his NHL debut last season.

“It was a good game,” Kasper said of Thursday’s game. “A couple of turnovers cost us at the end of the game. We played hard. It was a gold first game.”

Kasper worked diligently in rehabbing the knee during offseason workouts in Detroit. So much so that Director of Player Development Dan Cleary fretted at one point that Kasper was working too hard.

Continued

No morning skate for Red Wings’ prospects ahead of today’s game vs. Columbus

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects cancelled their 9:30 AM-scheduled morning skate ahead of today’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets’ prospects (3:30 PM EDT, streamed on the Red Wings’ YouTube channel, Facebook page and official site).

So there’s no update on Carter Mazur’s status this morning. We’ll have to wait to find out whether he can play through his lower-body injury.

Gostis-not-be-here-long?

The Athletic asked its beat writers to name one player on each of the NHL’s 32 teams that might be traded over the course of the 2023-2024 season, and Max Bultman threw a bit of a curve ball here:

Shayne Gostisbehere: The trade bait board is less plentiful in Detroit this season, owing both to a relative dearth of pending UFAs and the fact that the Red Wings have continued to increasingly invest in the present. Really, this one comes down to Gostisbehere and veteran winger David Perron, the team’s two top pending unrestricted free agents. And while Perron would likely be in higher demand, considering the playoff brand of hockey he plays, Gostisbehere plays the much more crowded position for Detroit, giving the Red Wings more incentive to move him. — Max Bultman

Continued (paywall); my hope is that the Red Wings won’t be in “sell mode” at the trade deadline this upcoming season. I don’t necessarily expect the Wings to make the playoffs this season, but remaining relevant to that discussion from start to finish would mark significant progress.