The Athletic’s Mendes discusses the within-division-trade taboo

The Athletic’s Ian Mendes discusses the taboo that involves NHL teams making trades to division rivals this morning, with Mendes suggesting that there should not be such a hubbub about teams like the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings possibly doing business to move one Alex DeBrincat:

The Red Wings could desperately use an infusion of talent in their forward group. Detroit has clearly labelled Filip Zadina a failed experiment. Their top goal-scoring winger last season was 34-year-old David Perron, who tallied 24 goals. DeBrincat’s down season in 2022-23, which saw him only score 27 goals, would still make him the highest-scoring winger for the Red Wings.

Given the fact that DeBrincat grew up in the state of Michigan, it’s safe to assume the Red Wings would be on his shortlist of preferred destinations. Detroit also has the draft capital, prospect pool and cap space to make this trade a reality. In some ways, this feels like the most natural landing spot for DeBrincat.

But should Ottawa be leery of sending a two-time 40-goal scorer to a divisional rival?

When Boston and Toronto made the Kessel trade in 2009, the Bruins were coming off a first-place, 116-point campaign. The Maple Leafs, conversely, finished dead last in the division with only 81 points. So maybe Boston didn’t feel that sending Kessel to Toronto would significantly shift the balance of power in their rivalry. (Sure enough, the Bruins were crowned Stanley Cup champions about 20 months after this trade, while the Leafs continued to languish in the basement of the standings.)

The Ottawa-Detroit dynamic right now is quite a bit different. While both the Senators and Red Wings are mired in two of the longest active playoff droughts in the league, both franchises feel like they are on the precipice of success.

Ottawa might feel concerned that by sending DeBrincat to Detroit, it would push the Red Wings over the threshold of success and into a playoff team in the Eastern Conference. If there is only one new playoff spot up for grabs in the Eastern Conference next season, the Senators would probably be kicking themselves if they improved Detroit’s roster in a manner that pushed the Red Wings into a postseason spot at the expense of Ottawa.

Continued (paywall)

HSJ in the morning: Daniel Cleary’s takes on the Red Wings’ summer…education…camp

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an article which summarizes the importance of the Red Wings’ 2023 Summer Development Camp this morning:

Nearly 50 players participated at Little Caesars Arena, including all 11 selections from the just-completed 2023 NHL draft. Dan Cleary, the assistant director of player development, was among the team personnel in charge of guiding the players the Wings are counting on to turn into future NHLers.

“We say it but I feel like they don’t believe us: It’s more just education,” Cleary said Wednesday. “Come in, have fun, meet people, hopefully your future teammates. We flood them with information. It’s almost overload and then we’ll circle back with them, whether it’s nutrition or sleep. But the on-ice stuff, the skating and the skills, a lot of these guys just need to continue to work on it. Almost every kid here has to get stronger in some aspect of their body.”

That is where team dietician Lisa McDowell has a starring role, guiding the teenagers on what to eat and when.

“A lot of these kids don’t know how to cook, they don’t know how to grocery shop,” Cleary said. “They think what they’re eating is good, but Lisa is great at educating these kids, giving them recipes that they can cook and learn, for all different times of day, whether it be breakfast, snacks, before a game, after a game. It’s a lot for these kids to take in, but when they are turning pro it’s a really big thing because they are living on their own and they have to go get groceries, they have to cook, they have to figure it out. I remember when I was 18, 19, I didn’t have that. As you get older, you get better at it. So we are just trying to give them all the information we can so they’ll be like, ‘Oh, I’ll have this instead of that.’ “

Continued (paywall)

Via KK: Garrioch talks DeBrincat and compromise

Here’s even more Alex DeBrincat trade talk from the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch, via Paul Kukla of Kukla’s Korner:

Though the talks with the Detroit Red Wings, DeBrincat’s hometown team, have been on and off again throughout this process, there’s talk those discussions have been revisited.

Andy Strickland, a well-connected St. Louis broadcaster, reported Wednesday the Wings were back in the mix. Sources told Postmedia the Anaheim Ducks and New York Islanders are also among the club’s still trying to find a way to make a deal.

The expectation is that if the Senators can find a way to get DeBrincat and his $9 million salary off the books for next season, Ottawa could sign unrestricted free agent winger Vladimir Tarasenko.

The first order of business is to get DeBrincat moved. That’s turned out to be a challenge because after being given permission to speak to at least three teams regarding a contract extension, his agent, Jeff Jackson, hasn’t been able to get the term or money he wants.

TSN’s Darren Dreger said Monday Jackson is seeking a deal similar to Timo Meier’s eight-year, $70.2 million extension with the New Jersey Devils. That’s an average of $8.8 per season, but teams don’t believe he deserves that salary.

They value him closer to a deal in the $7.8 million range, and sources say none has been willing to offer the eight-year deal that Jackson is demanding for DeBrincat.

The Wings haven’t been willing to go long-term with DeBrincat up to this point, but perhaps both sides are willing to compromise to see if there’s a middle ground that would make a trade with the Senators work.

Continued

DHN’s Duff says the Wings are talking about DeBrincat, too

If Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek weren’t enough for you, Detroit Hockey Now’s ever-estimable Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff suggests that the Red Wings are indeed in on the Alex DeBrincat sweepstakes, too:

An NHL source is confirming that the Detroit Red Wings are far from out in terms of their chances of acquiring Ottawa Senators forward Alex DeBrincat. However, the currently is a significant stumbling block that if it can’t be overcome, will certainly eventually scuttle any hopes of a deal being made between the two teams.

There’s been rumors of the Red Wings making a move to acquire DeBrincat for a few months now. Speculation regarding those talks hav run hot and cold during that span. More recently, there are reports linking his name in connection with the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals.

However, that doesn’t mean that the Red Wings should be counted out of the running in the DeBrincat sweepstakes. Indications from the source are that talks between Detroit and Ottawa are continuing.

On Wednesday, the NHLPA was announcing that DeBrincat was filing for arbitration.

Continued

One final Tweet of note from development camp

I didn’t ask Kris Draper a question when he spoke about the Red Wings’ summer development camps today, because he more or less answered them.

It’s very evident to me, after attending at least a dozen of these things, that the Red Wings believe in attempting to afford their prospects and free agent try-outs every avenue that they can access in order to become better professional athletes and better people.

Whether it’s nutrition, sleep, fitness, social media, financial planning, you name it, the Red Wings probably have some sort of presentation ready to go to help a prospect with it (regardless of whether that prospect is headed for the NHL or headed for remembering that one time they went to development camp). And the Red Wings seem to really want to draft and develop the kinds of people who are self-improvers.

So, with this, I’m leaving you for the night and going to take care of my aunt by giving her dinner (we have Culver’s tonight, my favorite), filling up her medications, changing a bandage or two if necessary, and doing the kind of stuff I did in the nine months prior to the last, wonderful, wacky and exhausting week of blogging through the draft, free agency, and development camp.

See you a little later.

THN’s Stockton offers Summer Development Camp observations

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton offers up a very superb set of observations regarding the Red Wings‘ 2023 Summer Development Camp this evening:

There were two Red Wings present at development camp with a legitimate shot to start the 2023-24 season at the NHL level: Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur.

Kasper, Detroit’s first round selection in 2022, is coming off a nasty injury at the tail end of last season, and while there were hints of rust during his week of camp, he was still able to turn heads with his skating.

In particular during the 3-on-3 tournament, Kasper was a monster on zone entries.  He could wind up into his own end, traverse the neutral zone, and get the puck safely into the offensive third of the ice with ease.  He scored off one such play.

Kasper also flashed the kind of forechecking pressure that helped make him such an effective player back in Sweden.  Kasper’s puck protection put him at another level from many of his prospect peers.  The 19-year-old Austrian looked at ease with a defender draped across his back, whether in drills early in the week or the 3-on-3 games at its conclusion.  That will be an invaluable tool for Kasper when he does get to the NHL.

Still, Steve Yzerman emphasized that for Kasper (or for Simon Edvinsson, who did not skate at development camp) the Wings will default to starting the player in Grand Rapids but remain open to the possibility that they will play well enough to bypass that step.  Especially considering Kasper’s injury, I would be surprised if he makes the Detroit roster out of training camp, but he will almost certainly play himself into a steady diet of NHL minutes by season’s end.

Continued (at length!)

Tweet of note: Bally Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson interviews Trey Augustine

Hello from South Lyon, Michigan, where this blog is based, and where Trey Augustine was born:

Tweet of note: One final Red Wings Summer Development Camp media offering…to chew on

I was never allowed to have sugary cereals as a kid. “Honey Nut Cheerios” was considered a treat, so I like things like boring Cheerios, Rice Chex and Corn Flakes, and I eat them without sugar.

Anyway, enjoy one final Tweet from the Red Wings’ social media crew, who asked their 2023 Summer Development Camp participants what their favorite breakfast cereals are.

Impressions from the 3-on-3 tournament at the Red Wings’ 2023 Summer Development Camp

The Detroit Red Wings wrapped up their 2023 Summer Development Camp with a set of 3-on-3 tournaments at Little Caesars Arena this morning.

Four teams–“Team Rihela” (named for guest instructor and Lloydminster Bobcats coach Brad Rihela), “Team Osaer” (named for Red Wings goaltending development coach Phil Osaer), “Team Lashoff” (named for Grand Rapids Griffins assistant coach Brian Lashoff) and “Team Bain” (named for Toledo Walleye assistant coach Brent Bain) played each and every one of the other teams, via a 6-game preliminary round of 8-minute, running-clock 3-on-3 affairs.

The four teams then advanced to single-elimination playoff games, with seed 1 facing seed 4, and seed 2 facing seed 3.

Finally, the top two teams–ultimately, Team Bain and Team Osaer–faced off for the 3-on-3 championship, and Team Osaer came out on top thanks to an overtime goal by free agent invite Liam McLinskey.

To some extent, the 3-on-3 tournament allowed the prospects (minus the Dower Nilsson brothers, who have upper-body issues, and William Wallinder, who missed camp with an undisclosed injury) to build upon the skating and skill development drills which dominated Sunday, Monday and Tuesday’s skill sessions.

At the same time, the 3-on-3 games afforded the prospects some time to simply let loose and play physical, competitive hockey for the first time over the course of five total days of activities (the first day, July 1st, consisted of on-ice and off-ice skill testing).

In all honesty, the final day of a Summer Development Camp is something of a mixed bag, even if there are bragging rights on the line.

Continue reading Impressions from the 3-on-3 tournament at the Red Wings’ 2023 Summer Development Camp