Yesterday the Globe and Mail reported that Canada will drop its vaccination requirement for travelers entering the country on September 30th, and that’s theoretically good news for Tyler Bertuzzi, but Eric Atkins Robert Fife pointed out that the United States still has a requirement that all travelers be vaccinated upon entry. Atkins and Fife do not know whether the U.S. will waive its requirement as well.

The Wings’ beat writers are weighing on on the story, with MLive’s Ansar Khan discussing it yesterday, and the Free Press’s Helene St. James discussing it this morning:

Tyler Bertuzzi made headlines last season as the only player on the team (and one of the few in the NHL) to decline to get vaccinated for COVID-19, calling it a “life choice.” The Wings did not pay Bertuzzi when he missed team activities, such as games and practices, because of his unvaccinated status, and Bertuzzi had to pay his own airfare when he met the Wings on a road trip when they were coming back to the U.S. from Canada.

That may not be necessary any more, as it appears Canada is ready to drop the vaccine requirement at the end of September, according to a report in the Globe and Mail.

The Wings have 10 games in Canada this season. They begin camp under new head coach Derek Lalonde on Thursday in Traverse City.

Bertuzzi is among the storylines to watch this season, entering the last season of a two-year, $9.5 million deal. He has topped 20 goals three times in his career, reaching 30 last season in 68 games. If Wings general manager Steve Yzerman senses the framework for an extension for the 27-year-old is not in the making, Yzerman would seek to trade Bertuzzi rather than let him walk as an unrestricted free agent. That scenario would have been hampered if Bertuzzi were not able to play in Canada, but now it looks like a nonfactor.

Continued; we’ll see. This story isn’t as simple as it seems.

Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman will address the media today at approximately 10:30 AM EDT, and The Word on Woodward’s Daniella Bruce will discuss what Yzerman has to say:

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde spoke with the media today at Centre ICE Arena. Here’s an audio clip of the interview, in which coach Lalonde outlined his plans for training camp and more over the course of a 6:44 interview with DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills, the Free Press’s Helene St. James and myself:

Update: Here’s the Red Wings’ video of the press conference:

Red Wings prospect Cross Hanas scored a “Michigan” goal last season with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks, but Hanas insisted to Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff that it wasn’t something he’d intentionally planned:

It was more instinctive in that time, because at that moment it just felt like I had the puck for more time than usual behind the net,” Hanas recalled. “No one was really coming at me, so I thought, ‘You know what, I’ll try it.’

“Thankfully it worked out. It would’ve looked pretty dumb if it didn’t work out. I just felt like I had a lot of time there behind the net.

“I saw it a few days before when Zegras and Milano did it, so I thought, ‘you know what? Maybe I’ll try this.’

hat Hanas would be the creator of such hockey magic isn’t at all surprising. After all, 60 of his team-leading 86 points for Portland last season were assists.

“I think of myself as a playmaker,” Hanas said. “I like making plays. Setting guys up is kind of what I find myself enjoying. I’ve been that way my whole life.”

Continued; here’s the goal, via Duff:

📽️ HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT 📽️

It's a thing now, and we are here for it.@pdxwinterhawks | #WHLHoN pic.twitter.com/IgOEtogfXD

— The WHL (@TheWHL) December 19, 2021

Okay, folks, we’re in a bit of a fundraising emergency: the second $971 bill for the hotel came due at 3:20 AM this morning, and there’s no way that I can make it.

Actually embedding requests for Prospect Tournament/Training Camp support in articles has been a total dud, so I’m posting this stand-alone article asking you for any support you can give so that my credit card and aunt’s bank account don’t bounce like a rubber ball over the next 48 hours.

Any amount of support for this two-week odyssey, which is only halfway over, would be greatly appreciated, because the crap has hit the fan again.

If you’re are willing or able to lend a fundraising assist, 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. I’m also on Cash App under “georgeums” (an old nickname).

I’m really desperate here, folks. Anything you can help is very necessary right now.

Bleacher Report’s Sara Civian discusses the ways in which the caliber of NHL defensemen have changed and grown since Zdeno Chara broke into the league, and one of the examples she gives as a representative of the defensive evolution is Moritz Seider:

My sneaky favorite

Mortiz Seider: “Sneaky” might be a stretch considering Seider won the 2022 Calder Trophy, but I’m not sure many of us outside of Detroit have truly grasped how good and fun this kid is going to be.

His stats are good—he led a stacked rookie class in assists (43) and power play points (21), and he led rookie defensemen in points (50) and game-winning goals (four) in 82 games. But I’d rather talk about all that combined with the fact that the 6-foot-4 21-year-old also led the struggling Red Wings in average time on ice (23:02) and blocked shots (161), while bringing the physicality every night.

Listen, I am totally here for the short king, skill-based NHL defenseman era. But did we ever consider maybe we can have it all?

Continued; why can’t we have it all, indeed!

The Athletic’s “Down Goes Brown,” a.k.a. Sean McIndoe, offers “bizarro meter” takes on the offseason happenings for Eastern Conference teams this morning, and here’s what he has to say about the Red Wings:

Detroit Red Wings

The offseason so far: They signed a whole lot of guys. Some of them are good, some of them not so much, and none of them are superstars. But GM Steve Yzerman brought in enough help that Dom’s model thinks they improved more than any other team. That should give new head coach Derek Lalonde more to work with than Jeff Blashill had.

But their strangest story was: Signing David Perron to an NHL contract. Wait, only the Blues are allowed to do that!

Bizarro-meter ranking: 3.5/10. Busy? Absolutely. Newsworthy? Sure. But given how long the rebuild has been going, the only bizarre thing about Yzerman’s offseason was that he waited this long.

Continued (paywall)

ESPN’s NHL staff posted a massive article asking “lingering questions” for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams heading into training camp, and here’s what they suggest the Red Wings must answer:

Detroit Red Wings

Big question: How good will Detroit be with its new additions?

Red Wings’ general manager Steve Yzerman came to slay this offseason. He signed Andrew Copp, Dominik Kubalik and David Perron up front, added Ben Chiarot to the blue line and Ville Husso to complement Alex Nedeljkovic in net. Yzerman also made his first head-coaching hire in Detroit, replacing Jeff Blashill with Derek Lalonde. The new bench boss has plenty of fresh talent to start with. Where will it all take the Red Wings?

Last season, it was Detroit’s defensive deficiencies that stood out. The Red Wings allowed the second-most goals against in the league (3.78 per game) and the fifth-most shots (33.7). Addressing and improving that area will be critical from the outset for Lalonde, and the new guys should be an asset in doing so. Perron and Copp are both solid two-way players who will lead by example on the defensive side. Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin will also want a return to form in that area, after posting a 2.95 expected goals against in 2021-22.

Then there’s Husso. He was a stud in the regular season for St. Louis last season and now has a chance to be Detroit’s No. 1 in a tandem with Nedeljkovic. Detroit had a cumulative save percentage below .900 a year ago (Nedeljkovic was at .901) and Husso should push that number up. If he does, and if those other new players come out firing, Detroit could be flying high. — [Kristen] Shilton

Continued

NHL.com’s Dan Rosen answered mailbag questions for his Wednesday mailbag (it’s Tuesday night, but this published a little early), and he feels that the Red Wings are one of three (or four) rebuilding teams that may very well impress:

Who are the top three rebuilding teams you see taking the next step this season? — @nyrprpokemon

They’re all in the Atlantic Division, the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings. I will add the New Jersey Devils, but let’s focus on the three in the Atlantic for the purposes of your question.

We already know that Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin took part in the NHL’s Player Media Tour in Las Vegas, Nevada last week. What I didn’t expect is that the first set of comments from Larkin to come out to the press are from an NHL.com/de article written in German.

Here’s a rough translation of what Dylan Larkin had to say to NHL.com/de’s Axel Jeroma regarding Moritz Seider: