Burchfield discusses Husso, Nedeljkovic (and Cossa)

97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield explains why he believes that the Red Wings are building something of a bridge toward the Sebastian Cossa era by bringing in Ville Husso to split time with incumbent starter Alex Nedeljkovic:

The Wings are very excited to have Husso. He’s coming off a breakout season in which he earned a vote for the Vezina Trophy. It’s been 10 seasons since Detroit had a goalie earn a Vezina vote, Jimmy Howard in 2012-13. Howard never quite reached that level again, Petr Mrazek wasn’t the successor the Wings thought he would be and here they are in 2022, still searching for a long-term answer in goal.

Sebastian Cossa remains their most promising candidate. He also remains at least a couple years away. Because the comparison is so popular, Steve Yzerman drafted Andrei Vasilevskiy in the first round in 2012; the future Vezina winner didn’t take over the net in Tampa Bay until midway through the 2016-17 season. The same timeline for Cossa, a first-round pick in 2021, would make him Detroit’s No. 1 goalie in 2025-26.

In the meantime, someone has to man the Red Wings’ crease. And if he mans it well enough, like Ben Bishop did for the Lightning prior to Vasilevskiy’s arrival, he’ll force Cossa to take it away. He’ll also guard the club against the possibility that Cossa doesn’t take it at all; a 19-year-old, 6’6 goaltender can land anywhere on the professional spectrum.

This is why Yzerman traded for Husso, just like he traded for Alex Nedeljkovic a year ago. And this is why he quickly signed Husso to a three-year deal worth a reported $4.75 million per season. That will bring Husso through the 2024-25, by which time Cossa should be playing in Detroit. Then it’s on Cossa to take over.

“I feel like these days in hockey, (you need) to have two good goalies on the team,” Husso said.

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The Score’s Wegman suggests that the Red Wings are an ‘interesting team’ to watch come Wednesday

The Score’s Josh Wegman posted an article discussing “the 5 most interesting teams heading into free agency,” and the Detroit Red Wings made his list:

Are the Red Wings ready to make the leap from rebuilder to playoff team? Maybe not as much as the Devils or Ottawa Senators are, but they’re close. Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond were exceptional as rookies last year, and there are still plenty of other prospects coming through the pipeline.

All of the bad contracts GM Steve Yzerman inherited from Ken Holland are off the books, so the Wings have $31 million in projected cap space this summer.

Yzerman has already showed his aggressiveness with the addition of Ville Husso between the pipes, but Detroit still has plenty of needs up front and on the back end.

Some of the older UFAs, like Kadri and Giroux, may not be suitable, but somebody who could help push the team forward now and still fit the winning timeline would be ideal. Valeri Nichushkin, Andre Burakovsky, Mason Marchment, and Andrew Copp are all potential fits. Gaudreau can’t be ruled out, either. And even though Ondrej Palat is 31, he would make sense given the connections to Yzerman and new head coach Derek Lalonde.

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Via Bultman Tweet: The Athletic’s Joe Smith tells a great Derek Lalonde story

This story comes to us via a Tweet from The Athletic’s Max Bultman: colleague and Tampa Bay Lightning correspondent Joe Smith penned an article in which he discusses Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s connection to his late mother:

When Derek Lalonde got his dream job as @DetroitRedWings coach, there was one person he wished he could have called: his late mother. How Donna, a hairdresser from Brasher Falls, shaped Lalonde’s rise. On Sunday, they celebrated her life in North Country https://t.co/lPgLGDbFbf pic.twitter.com/9rGZVJSQwc— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) July 11, 2022

Here’s the introduction to Smith’s story:

Continue reading Via Bultman Tweet: The Athletic’s Joe Smith tells a great Derek Lalonde story

Allen’s morning notebook: On Carter Mazur’s ascent

The Red Wings drafted University of Denver forward Carter Mazur last summer hoping that the 6,’ 173-pound center would be a solid 4th line forward with bite. Instead, en route to an NCAA championship, Mazur posted 14 goals and 24 assists for 38 points in 41 regular season and playoff games, and served notice that he possesses top-six potential.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen took note of Wings assistant director of player development Dan Cleary’s remarks regarding Mazur’s maturity:

The Detroit Red Wings Development camp is in Day 2 today. Monday, Red Wings Director of Player Development Dan Cleary told a story about how he knew Carter Mazur wants to be a player last November.

“He reaches out on his own without me saying anything,” Cleary said. “I’ve already seen him play twice. Then we do video. Then, he calls you after video and says, ‘Hey can you send me samples of scoring stuff. I feel like I’m having trouble finding the net.’”

The Red Wings have an entire library of that kind of information.

“You send him some clips of maybe getting his shot off quicker, finding areas in the zone,” Cleary said. “It was like a five-minute video. After that, however it clicked in his mind, he went on an absolute tear. He just felt so much more confident and it just took off. Was it the five-minute video or was it some psychological thing where he just had to see it. But he took on a huge role in Denver. He’s bigger, thicker. He’s gonna have a really important role next year in Denver.”

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Duff discusses Husso and Nedeljkovic’s searches for consistency in a DHN+ article

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a subscriber-only article this morning which discusses Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic’s similar situation’s as somewhat unproven goaltenders looking to prove something in the Red Wings’ crease this upcoming season. Duff notes that both goalies need to find a more consistent game:

Both Husso and Nedeljkovic have established beyond a shadow of a doubt that when on top of their game, they can perform on par with the elite of NHL netminders. The next step for both goalies is to prove they’re capable of doing it on a night to night basis.

Last season, Nedeljkovic was turning in a 46-save shutout against the Hurricanes and a 43-save shutout at Vancouver. However, the season also saw him enduring a stretch from Dec. 7-March 19 in which he went 8-16-3. In 14 of those games, Nedeljkovic was posting a save percentage below .900. Five of the games saw his save percentage dip below .800.

From Nedeljkovic’s point of view, his job as a netminder is to keep his team in the game, no matter the level of the play taking place in front of him.

“For me it’s finding ways to bail us out on nights that we’re not ready to play, we’re not feeling it as good as we can,” Nedeljkovic said. “It’s my job to stop the puck, it’s my job to keep us in games and help us win games every single night. I understand that.

“If you want to be a great goalie in this league, you have to do that every single night. You can’t allow those kind of games to happen.”

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Video: Will Burchfield, Pat Caputo talk Red Wings with Fox 2’s Woody Woodriffe

97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield and Pat Caputo took part in Sunday night’s “Sportsworks” round-table segment on Fox 2 Detroit yesterday night, speaking with sportscaster Woody Woodriffe.

At the 5:20 mark of the 14-minute clip, Burchfield and Caputo discuss the Red Wings’ 2022 draft haul, the acquisition of Ville Husso and the Wings’ free agency outlook:

Khan in the morning: Dan Cleary discusses the ‘why’s’ of the summer development camp

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted his customary morning column today, and in his morning missive, Khan discusses the reasons why the Red Wings are holding their first summer development camp since 2019:

Development camp for Detroit Red Wings prospects is akin to summer school on ice. It’s about educating young players, not evaluating them.

Close to 40 prospects – mostly draft picks from the past two years and undrafted free agents – took the ice Sunday at the Belfor Training Center inside Little Caesars Arena for the start of the five-day camp.

They will learn all aspects of the Red Wings way

“We talk about how we want the culture of this team to be, the work ethic, the character, how we treat each other,” Daniel Cleary, the team’s assistant director of player development, said. “In terms of the education purposes, they work out with Rob (head strength coach Campbell). They see how to work out, proper technique, what our pros are doing. We’re going to have our skills guys here, our skating coaches here.

“We also teach them about all the recovery things we have. This is a good time where you should rest, or this is a good time where you need to go cold and hot. Whatever the recovery calls for. Lisa McDowell (team nutritionist) is really important. These kids are only starting to learn what to eat, how to eat, how to cook, when to eat it. That’s an important aspect. We have one of our sports psychologists here talking to the kids. The mental side of it is huge. Some of these kids didn’t play hockey last year (due to the pandemic). That takes a grind on you. So, it’s all interesting information. Try to give them as much as you can and even if they just take a little bit here, a little bit there, that’s what this camp’s for.”

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HSJ in the morning, part 2: regarding Ville Husso

Recently acquired Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso spoke with the Wings’ media corps yesterday afternoon, and the Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a second early-morning column which discusses Husso’s “fit” with his new team:

Ville Husso was vacationing in Florida when he turned on the NHL draft. Then his phone rang and he found out he had been traded.

“I’m very happy to join the Detroit Red Wings — historic team, 11 Stanley Cups, I think that tells a lot,” Husso said Sunday following the trade. “I kind of knew that I would not stay in St. Louis. I was ready for it and excited, and am really happy right now.”

General manager Steve Yzerman sent the Wings’ third-round pick in the ’22 draft to the Blues, and then signed the goalie for three years and $14.25 million. The trade addressed the need for a partner for Alex Nedeljkovic, and did so before what is expected to be a very competitive goaltending market opens when NHL free agency begins Wednesday.

New head coach Derek Lalonde sounded excited, telling the Free Press: “It feels like Ville is going this way with his development and I think we’re going to get him at a really good time,” Lalonde said. “Those two will share the net. It will be good experience for both of them.”

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