Analyzing the Gostisbehere signing from a fantasy hockey perspective

ESPN’s Victoria Matiash examined the major free agent signings from a fantasy hockey perspective, determining which players might make the biggest fantasy hockey impact, and she suggests that Shayne Gostisbehere is the Red Wings’ most consequential signing:

Shayne Gostisbehere, D, Detroit Red Wings: Of Detroit’s myriad signings, the puck-moving defenseman merits the most immediate fantasy attention. Inked to a one-year audition with the Wings, Gostisbehere will want to make as much productive hay as possible ahead of signing his next deal. Fated to anchor the club’s secondary power play – presuming Moritz Seider hangs onto his first-unit role – the one-time 65-point producer should rack up 45 or so with relative ease. Less fantasy relevant, at least ahead of the season, netminding newbies James Reimer and Alex Lyon are poised to battle it out for playing time behind Numero Uno Ville Husso.

Continued; the Red Wings could use Gostisbehere’s offense.

Some sort-of-kind-of praise for the Sprong deal

The Athletic’s Harman Dayal posted a list of the NHL’s best unrestricted free agent contracts, and he believes that Steve Yzerman’s signing of Daniel Sprong counts toward the positive category:

Daniel Sprong, Detroit Red Wings

Contract: $2 million x one year

Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way: Daniel Sprong is flawed defensively and probably needs to play in a sheltered bottom-six role to perform best. Some teams don’t have the appetite to accommodate a one-dimensional player like that, but Detroit’s a team where that fit makes sense.

The Red Wings finished 24th in goals-per-game last season and have had trouble adding scoring this summer. Sprong helps in that department, as he notched 21 goals and 46 points in 66 games while averaging 11:25 per game for Seattle. He has a quick release and can beat goalies from distance with regularity at both even-strength and on the man advantage. The encouraging aspect of his production last season is that he didn’t need offensively gifted linemates by his side — he scored five-on-five points at a prolific rate while spending most of the year in a fourth-line role with Geekie and Brandon Tanev.

In a best-case scenario, Sprong could solidify himself in a third-line role with whichever one of Andrew Copp or J.T. Compher becomes the 3C, since either center would be able to shelter him defensively. Adding Sprong’s finishing ability at a modest $2 million cap hit, with just a one-year commitment, makes him a solid signing for Detroit.

Continued (paywall)

Spring, Sprong, paycheck?

Yahoo Sports’ Nick Ashbourne believes that several of the NHL’s unrestricted free agents who “bet on themselves” with short-term contracts might end up cashing in on their wagers, and Ashbourne includes new Red Wings forward Daniel Sprong in his list, noting that Sprong’s 1-year, $2 million contract might yield a much larger payday a summer from now:

How it could pay off: Sprong has been one of the NHL’s most effective scorers on a per-minute basis and he’s joining a team that should be able to give him a bigger role than he’s accustomed to.

Since 2018-19, the winger ranks 10th among all qualified (100-plus games played) skaters in 5-on-5 goals/60 at 1.20. A Detroit Red Wings team hardly bursting with forward talent will be able to test whether that efficiency holds up with a larger workload.

He’s also likely to get some power-play time, which could help juice his numbers. Last season he logged a career-high 127:18 with the man advantage. His six power-play goals were tied for second on the Seattle Kraken. If given enough runway, Sprong might just put up some eye-popping numbers and hit free agency prior to his age-27 season.

Where it could go wrong: While Detroit should provide some solid opportunities from an ice-time perspective, Sprong won’t have elite teammates to lean on.

He’s joining a Red Wings club that ranked just 24th in the NHL in scoring (2.89 goals/game) with the 17th-ranked power play (21.1%).

Unless he works his way to the top line alongside Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, he’s unlikely to play with guys capable of elevating his game.

Continued; I think Sprong will do just fine on a second line…

Impressions from the third (skill development) day of the Red Wings’ 2023 Summer Development Camp

The Red Wings’ prospects engaged in their third and final day of skill development at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center today.

Working with skating coaches Brodie and Tracy Tutton, and then skills coach Dwayne Blais, the players built upon their progress made during the first and second days of the skill development part of camp.

Tomorrow, the 2023 Summer Development Camp wraps up with a set of 3-on-3 games, starting at 8:30 AM EDT (to be streamed on DetroitRedWings.com). It will be particularly interesting to see some of the prospects engage in physical play for the first time over the course of their five-day adventure here in Detroit…

But, for the most part, I’m going to be honest: I hope that nobody gets seriously injured or suffers a bruised ego. Development camp is about playing through bumps and bruises, to be certain, but nobody wants to sustain a major injury in a camp where evaluation, not competition, is the name of the game.

Continue reading Impressions from the third (skill development) day of the Red Wings’ 2023 Summer Development Camp

Bally Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson interviews Axel Sandin Pellikka

From tonight’s Detroit Tigers broadcast comes an interview with Red Wings 2023 draft pick Axel Sandin Pellikka:

Kulfan on Amadeus Lombardi

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article regarding one Amadeus Lombardi, the 5’11,” 171-pound dynamo who hopes to turn pro with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins this upcoming season:

“I was also [small] growing up, kind of late bloomer and I’m still kind of growing into my body,” said Lombardi, who is participating in the Wings’ development camp this week. “It’ll obviously take time. It kind of helped me growing up, being so small, because I had to deal with it at such a young age, and I dealt it with my whole life. It’s always going to come up, but there’s a lot of small players who’ve played. I’ll try to make it work if I can.”

What Lombardi does lack in size, he’s made up for in playmaking and pure offensive ability.

Lombardi took a major step forward this season, posting a career-high 45 goals and 57 assists for 102 points (in 67 games) with Flint in the Ontario Hockey League.

That gained him a late-season reassignment to minor-league affiliate Grand Rapids, where Lombardi had one assist in two games in his pro debut.

“As soon as I got there, I realized what a cool place it would be to play, obviously,” Lombardi said. “The games, what I took from them was how prepared they are, even with two games left (in the season). Everyone was preparing real well and you’re eating well. I have to get stronger at that level, and it’ll be an adjustment, but I’m excited to make that.”

Continued

On the ‘polarizing’ Nate Danielson

EP Rinkside’s J.D. Burke and Cam Robinson offered a set of 2023 NHL Draft “Odds and Ends” this afternoon, and they noted that Red Wings 9th overall pick Nate Danielson remains a somewhat “polarizing” prospect:

Going into last week, it seemed that Nate Danielson was the most extreme example of the divergence between public and team side scouts in this year’s draft – the team side in the pro camp and most in the public sharing a less enthusiastic appraisal of his game.

When the Detroit Red Wings stepped up to the podium to take him with the ninth overall pick, it seemed to confirm that. Now, we’re not so certain.

“It was a little surprising to see him go at nine, but one of my scouts had him in that range,” one executive said. “He was a little polarizing, but there were people that were high on him.”

As we continued to talk with people for this piece, their opinion of that pick seemed to align with that – that Danielson was divisive rather than universally revered.

“No, I wasn’t surprised to see him go at nine. He’s terrific,” one scout said.

On the opposite end of the spectrum: “We just don’t understand why some clubs value safe, middle-of-the-lineup players that early,” another scout told EP Rinkside. “You can find those players in trades, free agency, and the (waiver) wire. If you trust your pro scouts, they can get you those players. The job is to find difference makers early in the draft”

Danielson is going to be a fascinating prospect to track in the coming years. The Red Wings had to swing on upside in that spot, because it’s not likely that they’ll be in that range again in the coming years, and they still need a game-breaking talent in their NHL lineup. Clearly, they see him as that guy.

Continued (paywall); after three viewings, I’m not worried about Danielson, but it’s early yet for the 18-year-old.