Khan discusses Bertuzzi’s future in a subscriber-only mailbag article

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a subscriber-only mailbag article regarding Tyler Bertuzzi’s contract status, Robby Fabbri’s spot in the lineup (or the lack thereof) and the readiness of the Red Wings’ prospects for NHL action.

Here’s what Khan has to say about Bertuzzi’s contract:

Bertuzzi’s contract situation is more complicated [than Dylan Larkin’s] because of his inability to play in Canada for opting not to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

Ideally, the Red Wings would like to sign him long-term and have him continue to be an integral part of the rebuild. He brings a different dimension with his combination of skill and grit, and he’s coming off his most productive season (30 goals, 62 points in 68 games).

Bertuzzi’s current cap hit is $4.75 million, and his new deal likely would be for more than $6 million per season, maybe closer to $7 million.

If the sides don’t reach an agreement by the trade deadline, Yzerman surely will move Bertuzzi to a playoff contender. They wouldn’t get equal value for him, as a rental unable to play in Canada, but they won’t let him walk for nothing as an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Teams have been inquiring about Bertuzzi for a few years, but probably aren’t willing to relinquish fair value if that can be accurately determined due to his travel restriction.

Even if Bertuzzi does sign a long-term extension, it won’t necessarily preclude him from being moved. The Red Wings inked Anthony Mantha to a four-year, $21.8 million pact early in the 2020-21 season and dealt him five months later.

Continued (paywall);

We come back to the vaccination issue. Actions have consequences, for both player and team, and Khan is correct that Bertuzzi’s issue there is going to handicap the Red Wings’ ability to get anywhere close to “market value” for him, should the team have to trade him.

As Canada’s border rules are unlikely to change, that’s how it’s going to be. I don’t see Bertuzzi as tremendously likely to be moved, period, due to his status, but I believe that the trade rumors will swirl around both #59 and #71 until and/or if and when they’re signed.

Even in fantasy hockey, Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic will have to fight for respect

DobberHockey’s Brennan Des posted a list of Eastern Conference goaltenders ranked into tiers, based upon their fantasy hockey value, and I don’t need to tell you that the Red Wings’ goaltenders have something to prove this upcoming season:

Tier 5: Ville Husso (Detroit Red Wings) – Last season was Husso’s first opportunity in a prominent role and he made the most of it, registering a .919 save percentage and 2.56 GAA over 40 appearances. He posted those numbers behind a very good team in St. Louis, and although his new team in Detroit is on the rise, I think it’s fair to say the roster he’s playing behind this season is not as good as the one he played behind last year. 

….

Tier 6: Alex Nedeljkovic (Detroit Red Wings) – Struggled in his first year with the Red Wings but is still developing and getting better – as is the team in front of him. His spot in this tier is based on the assumption that Husso is Detroit’s starter, although Nedeljkovic certainly has the talent to earn more starts than your average backup.

Continued; no surprise here. Husso and Nedeljkovic will have to earn their respect this season.

Tweet of note: TSN’s Red and Johnson discuss ‘the Fedorov’ OT goalie pull

Coach Fedorov is up to his old tricks in the KHL…

From @7ElevenCanada That’s Hockey: Sergei Fedorov implemented an interesting tactic in the KHL last week by pulling his goalie in OT for a 4-on-3! @mike_p_johnson on whether any NHL teams may try this tactic this season – https://t.co/7yHrt6o9HP#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/gnHy5MpDwx— Gino Reda (@GinoRedaTSN) September 7, 2022

As Mike Johnson explains, you can’t pull your goalie in overtime in the NHL without losing your “extra point,” should you be scored upon. I don’t see NHL coaches adopting coaching move any time soon, unless they’re in an incredibly desperate late-season, playoffs-on-the-line situation.

Much ado about Larkin and Bertuzzi’s contracts

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen, writing a column for Hockeybuzz.com, focuses on seven contract negotiations which bear watching this upcoming season, and two of which have earned so much digital ink over the past couple of days in the Red Wings blogosphere that you’d think that one of the players has already been traded:

Detroit Red Wings/Dylan Larkin: This is a hometown hero. He grew up rooting for the Red Wings. He is the team’s captain. Larkin is popular with teammates. This was supposed to be an easy signing, even though he can be an unrestricted free agent next summer. But it’s September and there’s no deal.

Detroit Red Wings/Tyler Bertuzzi: The expectation was these negotiations were going to be bumpy. The Red Wings appreciate Bertuzzi as a player, but haven’t appreciated negotiating contracts with him. GM Steve Yzerman doesn’t discuss negotiations in public. But you could sense some tension going into this one. If they can’t get Bertuzzi signed, would they consider trading him? That seems like a possibility.

Continued; put bluntly, we don’t know what is going to happen with a Larkin and/or Bertuzzi extension until we see what happens.

Maybe I’m overreacting, but I’ve almost written a couple of, “Get a life” responses to several scribes who’ve all but spelled out the ways in which Tyler Bertuzzi is apparently going to leave town, and it’s just silly.

A lack of information from GM Steve Yzerman is of course going to lead to speculation as to whether Larkin or Bertuzzi will remain Red Wings, but that lack of information does not mean something good or something bad is going to happen. It means that we don’t know!

Historically, Bertuzzi did take the Wings to salary arbitration, and Larkin did not, and historically, Bertuzzi’s raised at least some mild dissatisfaction from the team regarding his vaccination status, but the past does not necessarily tell the future.

My best guess right now is that Larkin and Bertuzzi’s “ceilings” in terms of their “asks” have been spelled out in much more detail thanks to the J.T. Miller contract being signed recently (at an $8 million AAV), and I think that everybody needs to take a deep breath here, honestly.

If Larkin and Bertuzzi aren’t signed to contract extensions in December or January, yeah, it’s time to start worrying that one or both might not end the season as Red Wings. But it’s incredibly hard to believe that the Red Wings would trade their captain, and it’s also hard to imagine another team taking on Bertuzzi given his…complications…without knocking the value of the deal down a bit.

But for now, it’s time to take a deep breath or two, wonder whether the Wings will sign Larkin between now and the start of the regular season, and cross your fingers regarding Bertuzzi.

Right now, we just don’t know, and sometimes, even if you’re trying to read the tea leaves, the acceptance of not knowing is just part of the game.

DHN’s Duff notes that Simon Edvinsson sported his now-familiar #3 at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase

Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson took part in the NHLPA Rookie Showcase at the Capitals’ practice facility in Arlington, VA today…

Simon Edvinsson and Fabian Lysell. #redwings #bruins #nhlpa #upperdeck pic.twitter.com/Is4tUhHesO— sportsology (@sportsology) September 6, 2022

And Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that Edvinsson’s wearing the #3 he’s been assigned for the prospect tournament, and wore during the summer development camp:

The Detroit Red Wings haven’t officially committed a roster spot to defenseman Simon Edvinsson.  But that doesn’t stop sponsors, odds makers and the media from acting as if they have.

More than 30 NHL prospects were invited to the 12th annual NHLPA Rookie Showcase. It was held at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Va. Edvinsson was the only Red Wing.

The event provides Upper Deck — the league’s trading card partner — an opportunity to photograph rookies who have a chance to make NHL rosters this season. They wear their NHL uniforms.

This was the first time Edvinsson wore an official Red Wings uniform with the No. 3 he will wear in Detroit. Edvinsson wore No. 3 at the Red Wings development camp, but players wore practice jerseys. The Red Wings expect Edvinsson to be on the 2022-23 roster. However,  GM Steve Yzerman’s rule is that players have to earn a spot. He doesn’t hand out spots just on the basis of talent.

He has said that more than once since becoming Detroit’s general manager.

Continued; wearing a “low number” definitely doesn’t guarantee anything, but it’s good to see that he’s not being shuffled around.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Mills speaks with William Wallinder

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills looks back at the Red Wings’ summer development camp today, taking note of the comments made by Rogle BK defenseman and Wings prospect William Wallinder:

As a 19-year-old, Wallinder led all U20 Swedish Hockey League defensemen last season with 19 points in 47 games for Rogle BK, earning the league’s top U20 player award.

“It went just the way I wanted to,” Wallinder said about his 2021-22 campaign. “I got my game going, my defensive game started to work out and went in the right direction.”

Wallinder is the second straight Red Wings prospect to take home the honor, as Moritz Seider won the award in 2020-21 before making the jump to the NHL.

“I’m really comfortable,” Wallinder said. “This last season, it felt like everything was coming into place.”

…

When asked to describe himself, Wallinder said he is a “big defenseman with great skating.”

“I like to carry the puck,” the 6-foot-4, 191-pound blueliner said. “And lead offensive plays on the blue line.”

Continued

Kicking fundraising into high gear

Between Labor Day weekend yielding an inconvenient break for me–I’ve been a bit under the weather–and the the weekend yielding eyes away from the blog, I chose to pause the fundraising effort.

Now that the long weekend’s over, however, I find myself in difficult territory. I pack up a week from now, on the 13th, and leave a week from tomorrow, on the 14th, and I realistically need to raise about $1,500 to pay for half of the hotel bill (which comes due when I check in), pay for fixing my Pacifica’s headlight and tail light, and get me out of the door with gas, groceries and dry cleaning done.

Once I’m up in Traverse City and working, I’ll need to raise just as much to get me back home, but that’s a story for another day.

I’ll say this before engaging in the rigamarole: it takes all kinds of TMR reader support to ensure that this trip happens, and at this point, it’s where the smaller donations tend to add up. If there’s any way you can lend a hand, no matter how small the donation, I need that help now.

If you’re are willing to help, you can use PayPal at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport, Venmo at https://venmo.com/george-malik-2, Giftly by using my email, rtxg@yahoo.com, at https://www.giftly.com. And you can contact me via email if you want to send me a paper check.