Simon Edvinsson, Theodor Niederbach, William Wallinder and Team Sweden battled the plucky Latvians in Wednesday’s Quarterfinal match-up, with a spot in Friday’s Semifinal round on the line.

Sweden won 2-1 in what was a ridiculously tight game, with Latvia almost pulling off a tremendous upset because the Swedes mostly sleepwalked through this one, earning a win based upon mostly a great talent disparity as opposed to a lot of heart, hard work and grit–qualities that the Latvians displayed in spades

In Terms of Red Wings prospects playing in today’s game…The good news is that they were among the best of a mediocre lot.

Simon Edvinsson: Edvinsson, who recovered from food poisoning, played on the first Swedish defensive unit with defensive partner Calle Clang. He played only 18:43, with 2 shots and an even plus-minus rating, mostly because he doesn’t play on the Swedish power play, and the Swedes had a 5-minute major. Edvinsson made some mistakes from time to time, so he was not perfect, but his tremendous skating and offensive instincts were complemented by good defense and a subtly physical edge. His skating and positioning shined.

Theodor Niederbach: Niederbach centered the Swedes’ second line, with Oskar Olausson and Daniel Torgersson as his linemates. Niederbach kept up his nearly 60% faceoff win percentage and was tenacious on the forecheck, good on the backcheck, but he was on the ice for the 1-1 goal, so he finished at -1 with 2 shots in 17:52 played. He’s gotten better and better over the years, and he’s efficient as the Swedes’ second-line center;

William Wallinder: Wallinder worked on the 3rd defensive pair with captain Emil Andrae. He had an assist on the game-winning goal, got away with an interference penalty late in the game, and generally played very efficiently and well over the course of 14:56 played, finishing even with 1 shot.

Continue reading Red Wings at the WJC: Sweden ‘escapes’ Latvia, wins 2-1 in a tight, tight game →

Eemil Viro and Finland battled Germany at the World Junior Championship in Wednesday’s Quaterfinal stage, with a spot in Friday’s Semifinal round on the line.

Finland won 5-2, but the Germans made them sweat for long stretches of the 2nd and 3rd period. They couldn’t hold the Finns’ 4-for-6 power play off the board, but, at even strength, the Germans out-played Finland for a little less than half the game.

Long story long, it was a tight affair until the Finns broke the game open in the 3rd, and Finland earned its victory through hard work, sacrifice and better special teams play.

In terms of Red Wings prospects playing in the game…Viro played on the Finns’ second defensive pairing, alongside usual partner Aleksi Heimosalmi. Viro finished even with no shots and a minor penalty taken in 17:33 played, earning some PK time and just playing his solid, spare, smart puck-moving game.

Continue reading Red Wings at the WJC: Finland defeats Germany 5-2 to advance to Friday’s Semifinal; Viro plays 17:33 →

Future Considerations is a website which focuses exclusively on NHL prospects, and their Joseph Aleong has attended the World Junior Championship in Edmonton to scout NHL-drafted players. He “empties the notebook” today, and he offers Austin Broad’s take regarding Red Wings prospect defenseman Simon Edvinsson:

SIMON EDVINSSON | D | Sweden | August 10, 2022

Draft status: 1/6 (2021) | Detroit Red Wings

Scouting report by Austin Broad

Simon Edvinsson is a solid all-round defenseman who can excel at both ends of the ice because of his skating ability and hockey IQ. His skating and offensive upside is tremendous; he has great puck skills and has the potential to become and elite skater at the NHL level. Edvinsson can drive transition play from the back end, either by skating the puck end-to-end by himself or delivering excellent passes that stretch the ice for his team. He’s an effective player with the puck on his stick in the offensive zone — using his mobility to open up passing/shooting lanes and using his vision to constantly examine the ice and find his teammates with accurate passes. Defensively he can use his size and skating to eliminate the opposition’s time and space and force them away from the center lane, making their offensive chances less dangerous.

Continue reading A bit of praise for Simon Edvinsson from ‘Future Considerations’ →

In terms of fantasy hockey impact, the Red Wings’ free agency additions aren’t exactly overwhelming, and DobberHockey’s Peter Ryell gives the Red Wings a “C+” grade today:

Fantasy Outlook: Overall Detroit made solid additions to the roster by adding Perron and Copp who should provide a boost to a bottom six power-play and depth to the roster while Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi continue to build off the excellent near point-per-game seasons the two of them produced last year. This along with a full season from Jakub Vrana and continued progress from Lucas Raymond and Filip Zadina should mean that Detroit is starting to put together a formidable top six.

The real story was the emergence of Moritz Seider who entered the league and put up 50 points in 82 games on his way to the Calder Trophy. His ascension has surely escalated the rebuild process and brought fantasy relevance and excitement back to Detroit. Along with Edvinsson and Wallinder knocking on the door, this is a team that will soon have an enviable defense corps.

In goal we have Husso taking the reins with Nedeljkovic all but certain to serve as the backup. This is on paper a good tandem to have and while Husso is likely to receive a steady workload, the team defense is lacking what he had in St. Louis. Expect to see a drop in his numbers.

Grade: C+ (last year was C)

Continued

Aftonbladet’s Matthias Karlsson reports that Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson should return to Team Sweden’s lineup for today’s World Junior Championship Quarterfinal match-up vs. Latvia (3:30 PM EDT start on TSN/NHL Network):

The dream message for the Junior Krona: star defenseman is back

Simon Edvinsson played with food poisoning against the U.S.A. and was missing against Germany.

Now the Swedish star defender will be ready to play in the WJC quarter-final against Latvia.

During Tuesday, the 19-year-old practiced fully with the Junior Crowns in Edmonton.

Simon was suddenly missing from the lineup in the last group stage game against Germany.

After the game, the national team captain, Tomas Monten, said that the defenseman was unavailable.

The uncertainty surrounding the important player was worrisome ahead of the playoffs, where Latvia awaits the WJC quarter-finals

Practiced on the ice

SVT’s seasoned reporter Dusan Umicevic was the first to report the reassuring news on Twitter: “Update on Simon Edvinsson. Played with food posioning against the USA and therefore couldn’t play against Germany. Ready for Latvia and the quarters.”

When the Junior Crowns practiced on Tuesday, Simon Edvinsson was also able tto participate seemingly unhindered on the ice.

The Junior Crowns lost the penultimate group stage game 3-2 against the USA and won the final group stage game against Germany 4-2.

Playing of the first defensive pair

Simon Edvinsson had a big breakthrough with Frolunda last season, and has signed a 3-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings.

Sportbladet’s ice hockey expert, Hans Abrahamsson, has ranked Simon Edvinsson as the WJC’s next biggest star after the newly-arrived 17-year-old Connor Bedard, the right-shooting center for Canada.

With the Junior Crowns, Simon Edvinsson has played on a defensive pair with right-handed shooter Helge Grans from the Ontario Reign of the AHL.

Sweden-Latvia will be played at 9:30 PM Swedish time on Wednesday evening.

TSN’s Travis Yost has been ranking NHL teams’ depth at various positions for the last couple of weeks, and today, he wraps up his series of articles with an examination of each and every team’s goaltending. According to Yost, the Red Wings are in the second tier in terms of goaltending depth, the “outperforming” category:

Detroit: The Red Wings went after Ville Husso and signed him to a three-year, $14-million dollar contract to shore up their goaltending position ahead of Alex Nedeljkovic. Husso was outstanding for St. Louis last year – in fact, only three goaltenders in the entire league (Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin [Fredrik] and Andersen) erased more goals versus expected on a per-game basis. It’s very promising, but it’s also true we have just 57 games of data on Husso as a player. Much like [Vitek] Vanecek in New Jersey, the range of outcomes here is quite high.

Continued; I’m not writing off Nedeljkovic yet, but it’s strange how most pundits have already decided that one mediocre season equals that he’s not a good NHL goaltender.

On a Wednesday in August, there’s over 12 hours of hockey for Red Wings fans to watch today as the 2022 World Junior Championship’s Quarterfinal stage will take place starting at 12 PM EDT.

Here’s today’s schedule:

Finland (Eemil Viro) vs. Germany at 12 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network;

Sweden (Simon Edvinsson, Theodor Niederbach, William Wallinder) vs. Latvia at 3:30 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network;

Canada (Donvan Sebrango, Sebastian Cossa) vs. Switzerland at 7 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network;

Team USA (Carter Mazur, Red Savage) vs. Czechia (Jan Bednar) at 10:30 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network.

Update: Here’s the TSN schedule:

#WorldJuniors QF GAME DAY:

Finland 🇫🇮 🆚 Germany 🇩🇪: Noon et on TSN 1/4/5

Sweden 🇸🇪 🆚 Latvia 🇱🇻: 3:30pm et on TSN 1/4

Canada 🇨🇦 🆚 Switzerland 🇨🇭: 7pm et on TSN 4/5

USA 🇺🇸 🆚 Czechia 🇨🇿: 10:30pm et on TSN4

Also LIVE on https://t.co/3PTSwVFR94 and the TSN App.#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/qr6SQSPr9h— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) August 17, 2022

Per Paul Kukla of Kukla’s Korner and ESPN’s Greg Wysynski, the NHL and NHLPA released their revised COVID policies for the 2022-2023 season, and the border restrictions remain in place for U.S.-Canada travel (i.e. one must be vaccinated against COVID to play in Canada), so nothing has changed when it comes to how one Tyler Bertuzzi will be treated by his team:

The border travel protocols for the 2022-23 NHL season. https://t.co/nhYlfGJo3a pic.twitter.com/nvxllhNf7X

— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) August 16, 2022

My policy remains the same: Tyler Bertuzzi can decide to do anything he wants to do with his body, within reason, but actions have consequences. It’s that simple.

It’s not a good thing or a bad thing to be unvaccinated; it’s somebody’s choice.

NHL.com’s Dan Rosen was asked whether the Red Wings could make the playoffs this upcoming season as part of a mailbag feature. Here’s the pertinent part of his reply:

Based on what they have done, who do you think is more likely to make the playoffs, the Senators or the Red Wings? — @punmasterrifkin

That’s a tough call because I don’t think either is ready for the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, but I like the Ottawa Senators’ chances slightly better because of their high-end scoring.

Ottawa’s expected top-six forward group of Alex DeBrincat, Claude Giroux, Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle combined for 367 points (166 goals, 201 assists) in 427 games last season, for per-game averages of 0.39 goals, 0.47 assists and 0.86 points. Each of the six has a chance to score at least 30 goals this season, and Tkachuk, DeBrincat and Norris each could score 40.

The Red Wings are solid up front with a projected top-six forward group of Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Jakub Vrana, Andrew Copp and David Perron. They combined for 317 points (145 goals, 172 assists) in 386 games last season, per-game averages of 0.38 goals, 0.45 assists and 0.82 points.

So, it’s close if you just go by those numbers, and it’s certainly reasonable to think Raymond, who had 57 points (23 goals, 34 assists) in 82 games as a rookie, will take a big step, and Vrana, who had 19 points (13 goals, six assists) in 26 games, will make a big impact if he stays healthy. But the upside of Senators’ top-six is better because of the expected continued growth from Tkachuk, Stutzle, Norris and Batherson, plus the additions of Giroux and DeBrincat.

Each team has a solid No. 1 defenseman, Moritz Seider for the Red Wings and Thomas Chabot for the Senators, but depth should be a concern for both. The goaltending is solid on both sides, Cam Talbot and Anton Forsberg in Ottawa, Alex Nedeljkovic and Ville Husso in Detroit. It’s unlikely any of the four will contend for the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL, but it should be good enough to make the Senators and Red Wings playoff contenders. But comparing them side by side, it’s hard to give either team an edge.

So it goes back to the forwards, and while bottom-six scoring could be a problem for each team, the top-six scoring puts the Senators a notch above the Red Wings at this point.

Continued; the Senators are the hip and trendy pick to make the playoffs over the Boston Bruins at this point. I’m not certain what will happen or how things will shake out, either, but I’m confident that the Red Wings can at least make the Bruins sweat–and the Senators, too.

NHL.com’s fantasy hockey department posted an article in which they offer 10 “Sleeper Picks” for fantasy hockey players to pick, and both Pete Jensen and Anna Dua feel that Red Wings forward Jakub Vrana is one of the players that poolies should target:

Jakub Vrana, LW, DET (NHL.com fantasy rank: 116) — He missed most of last season because of injury but has 30 points (21 goals, nine assists) in 37 games in two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. Vrana was fifth in the NHL in 5-on-5 goals per 60 minutes last season (1.52; minimum 25 games) and also ranks third in the category since entering the League in 2016-17 (1.25; minimum 150 games). He could return immense fantasy value outside the top 100 overall with a chance to earn more time on the top line with valuable center Dylan Larkin (69 points in 71 games last season) or an improved second unit with offseason additions David Perron and Andrew Copp under new coach Derek Lalonde.

Continued