Via Detroit Sports Nation’s Michael Whitaker, Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso’s new goalie mask, painted by IFK Helsinki equipment manager Joni “Bona” Hallikainen, very purposefully combines mask designs once worn by Mike Vernon and Eddie Mio:

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A post shared by Joni "Bona" Hallikainen (@bonahallikainencustoms)

Red Wings prospect and 2022 draft pick Owen Melenbacher spoke with his hometown newspaper, The Post of Fort Erie, Ontario, about his selection by the Red Wings and his decision to remain with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks for one more season before heading to the University of Wisconsin:

He is coming off a season where he tallied 42 points on 17 goals and 25 assists in for the Lumberjacks as a second-line centre.

“The extra year will help,” he said. “It’s about development.”

Melenbacher chose to go the collegiate route rather than play in the OHL when he was just 15. After a year with the Buffalo Jr. Sabres of the Greater Horseshoe junior-B Hockey League, he was tendered by the Lumberjacks. A full-ride scholarship to Wisconsin soon followed. While he attended the Red Wings’ prospect development camp, he will not be a part of the NHL’s club’s training camp for the upcoming season.

“I’m only allowed to go to the prospects development camp. If I went to training camp, it would hinder my college eligibility.”

On the ice, Melenbacher describes himself as two-way player who plays both ends of the ice.

“I’m a 200-foot power forward with size and strength. I have pretty good skills for a big guy.”

Continued

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that former Red Wings defenseman and current Russian Parliament member Slava Fetisov is suing the International Ice Hockey Federation for their decision to ban Russia and Belarus from international competition:

Fetisov also can’t see his national team in action. The IIHF has placed a ban on Russian involvement in international tournaments. This is also a result of the country’s attack on Ukraine.

Naturally, Fetisov isn’t supportive of this decision.

“The Russian team is always the draw of the World [Championship],” Fetisov told Russian TV program RBC Sport. “It is outrageous that the team with the most victories is missing from international tournaments.”

Fetisov previously served as head of the Russian Sport Federation. He is of the belief that any world hockey tourney minus the Russian national team is a decision on par with leaving the USA out of Olympic basketball, or Brazil and Germany out of soccer’s World Cup. It’s a move that lessens the caliber of the event.

He’s also of the opinion that allowing the political climate to influence the sporting world is a backwards philosophy. In the past he notes, sport has often proven to be a vehicle for breaking down cultural and political differences between nations.

“It is a reduction in quality and all the principles on which world sport was built,” Fetisov said. “I think it’s totally on purpose.

“It is necessary to reach a decision on the return of our players to the international stage or to abolish the sport as an international organization and create another, political organization. Then everything will be clear.”

Continued; why yes, it’s totally on purpose, and I agree with the IIHF in this situation.

Enjoy, Griffins fans:

The Grand Rapids Griffins’ Youth Foundation has named a new executive director:

GRIFFINS YOUTH FOUNDATION NAMES JENNIFER LARDIE AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Griffins Youth Foundation’s board of directors on Monday named Jennifer Lardie as the organization’s new executive director.

Lardie has a long association with the foundation, most recently having served as its director of coaching since 2014. She has also been involved with numerous volunteer opportunities within the foundation since 2009 and is a mother to two foundation hockey players, Caleb and Bradley. 

“We are absolutely thrilled to have had such a strong candidate as Jenn emerge from within our program,” said Bob Kaser, president of the Griffins Youth Foundation and vice president of community relations and broadcasting for the Grand Rapids Griffins. “Jenn is highly regarded among our foundation’s staff, coaches, players and families, and she has an extensive background in just about every capacity, including as our longtime director of coaching. Additionally, she has an intimate knowledge of our program from the perspective of a parent, as her boys have played in the foundation for many years.”

Frolunda HC defenseman Andreas Borgman took over Frolunda’s social media team’s camera for one Tweet’s worth of images, and the first one shows Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond hanging out in Gothenburg, with Liam Dower Nilsson shown on the ice in the third picture:

Andreas Borgman agerade fotograf under herrarnas ispass idag✌️ pic.twitter.com/gegv5edhsp— Frölunda HC (@frolunda_hc) August 29, 2022

Nice snag by the Winged Wheel Podcast gang:

The Athletic’s Corey Pronman posted a list compiling his top players under 23 years of age, and Moritz Seider finishes just behind Jack Hughes on Pronman’s list:

2. Moritz Seider, D, Detroit

21 years old | 6-foot-3 | 208 pounds | Shoots right

Drafted: No. 6 in 2019
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: Above NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average

Analysis: Seider’s first NHL season was the best-case scenario. He stepped in right away and was an impactful defenseman for the Wings. He’s a tall, mobile right-shot defender who plays the game hard and with skill. Defensively he’s a rock due to his length and skating combined with an edge he brings to his game. He closes on checks at a high level and breaks up a lot of plays. The offensive parts of his game continue to improve and look like a clear strength. He ran Detroit’s PP1, showing instances of high-end skill and playmaking at both ends of the rink. Seider looks like a player who will be a star defenseman in the league for a long time and will likely get Norris votes in his career.

Lucas Raymond, Simon Edvinsson (32nd), Marco Kasper (67th), Filip Zadina (80th), Elmer Soderblom (96th), Joe Veleno (122nd), Jonatan Berggren (151st) and Sebastian Cossa (165th) also make his list:

9. Lucas Raymond, RW, Detroit

20 years old | 5-foot-11 | 170 pounds | Shoots right

Drafted: No. 4 in 2020
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: High-end
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: NHL average
Shot: Above NHL average

Analysis: Raymond was about as good as anyone could have reasonably hoped he would have been in the NHL as a teenager. He played significant minutes, ran the PP1 flank and was a go-to player for the Red Wings as a teenager. Raymond’s puck game is exceptional. He has the elite hands to make defenders miss and maintain possession like a top player. He’s a highly creative playmaker who can wait out seams. He also has a strong wrist shot and it’s what makes him deadly on the man advantage. Raymond lacks ideal size and speed, but he’s shifty and doesn’t get hit much. He looks like a budding star who will be a top scorer in the league for a while.

Continued (paywall)…I agree that, as of yet, Raymond doesn’t have top speed, but he’s got the same kind of “sneaky fast” bursts of speed that Luc Robitaille once possessed. He knows how to get from point A to point B fast enough, and how to get to the net faster…

This is very high praise indeed, from the NHL Network’s Ken Daneyko and Steve Konroyd:

Update: Here’s the list, per NHL.com’s David Satriano:

11. Moritz Seider, Detroit Red Wings

Seider won the Calder Trophy last season, leading rookies in assists (43) and power-play points (21). He led rookie defensemen in points (50), game-winning goals (four) and shots on goal (187) and was second in goals (seven) while playing all 82 games. The 21-year-old led the Red Wings in time on ice per game (23:02), total ice time (1,889:22) and blocked shots (161) and was second in hits (151).

“I love the way he plays the game, I love his physicality, and he’s still growing,” NHL Network analyst Steve Konroyd said. “… You’re going to see Seider’s numbers creep up [this season] in a northward direction. The sky is the limit for this kid.”

Continued

Earlier today, the Hockey News’s Jason Chen suggested that Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider is one of the 10 best NHL defenders for fantasy hockey poolies to pick. This evening, NHL.com piggybacks on the NHL Network’s rankings of the top 20 players at each position to engage in a “thought experiment” article, in which 6 NHL.com writers discuss which defenseman they believe will be the NHL’s best some 3 seasons from now.

Seider earns the support of a pair of writers, tying Cale Makar in that department:

Moritz Seider, Detroit Red Wings

The 21-year-old certainly got off to a great start in his NHL career when he won the Calder Trophy voted as the League’s rookie of the year last season. I see him improving steadily during the next three seasons. He led rookie defensemen with 50 points and 43 assists and was second among them with seven goals (Martin Fehervary of the Washington Capitals scored eight). He led Detroit with 21 power-play points (two goals, 19 assists) last season. Seider’s already used to a good amount of ice time (he led the Red Wings with an average of 23:02 per game). With Detroit adding some veterans this offseason, including defenseman Ben Chiarot, Seider can keep improving without too much pressure. He showed great personality when he accepted the Calder at the 2022 NHL Awards He seems like a cool customer, and the Red Wings will benefit from his improvement during the next three seasons. — Tracey Myers, staff writer

Seider’s outstanding rookie season could just be the tip of the iceberg. He produced offensively, his 50 points in 82 games the most by a Red Wings rookie defenseman since Nicklas Lidstrom had 60 in 1991-92. And he was able to play against the top players in the NHL; he was one of 11 defensemen to average at least 18:00 of ice time per game at even strength (18:16), at least 2:30 on the power play (2:53) and at least 1:30 on the penalty kill (1:53), and the only rookie. And he didn’t shy away from physical play, leading the Red Wings in blocked shots (161) and finishing second in hits (151; Adam Erne had 161). And did we mention he’s just 21 and has a frame (6-foot-4, 197 pounds) that will allow him to get stronger? More experience, more strength, and in three more seasons he’ll have more than a Calder Trophy on his shelf. — Adam Kimelman, deputy managing editor

Continued…

Again, here’s hoping, because NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman’s pick is probably among the deepest crop of star defensemen I can remember since the mid-to-late-90’s. Cale Makar’s one of the better defensemen I’ve seen in a long time, and he’s just one of at least a dozen excellent NHL defensemen out there right now, so “Mo” Seider has his work cut out for him.