Updated 2x at 10:03 PM: Team Canada defeated Latvia 5-2 in the teams’ first of four “round robin” games at the World Junior Championship on Wednesday, but, as you’ll see and read below, the game was a little closer than the score indicate. Red Wings prospect and Edmonton Oil Kings goaltender Sebastian Cossa had to work very hard in the 3rd period in order to ensure that Latvia didn’t stage a late-game rally.

Ultimately, Cossa stopped 22 of 24 shots–with 14 of those saves coming in the 3rd period.

Donovan Sebrango had both a primary assist on the game’s opening goal and he finished at +2 with 2 shots in 19:53 played (on the Canadians’ first defensive pair). The more I see Sebrango play, the more he reminds me of another throwback defenseman in former Leaf nemesis turned 2-time Wings Cup winner Bob Rouse. Sebrango is spare and “sneaky dirty” at times, but he’s workmanlike, using his long stick to break up plays and his skating to steer opponents away from the puck. He’s got an edge to him, but mostly, he’s quietly efficient.

As for Cossa, he’s starting to really develop into a strong goaltender, as Team Canada coach Dave Cameron noted yesterday, and while I don’t expect him to unseat Jussi Olkinuora and Victor Brattstrom in the Griffins’ crease, I think that he’s going to be just fine in Edmonton.

In terms of the game’s narrative, here are some highlight clips from TSN:

Here’s Sebrango’s primary assist on the Connor Bedard goal, as noted by the Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa on Twitter…

Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson had an assist and played 26:09 in Sweden’s 3-2 win over Switzerland at the World Junior Championship on Wednesday, and he offered a few comments after the game to SVT.se:

First, Edvinsson addressed the Swedes’ sloppy win with the following, which is roughly translated from Swedish…

“It was extremely nice to win. I think we needed the win. It was a slow start and [we] got better after that. But we can do much better. Both from my side and from the team’s side,” says defensive talent Simon Edvinsson.

And Edvinsson spoke with SVT.se about the news that Borje Salming has been diagnosed with ALS:

Before the Junior Krona’s opening game in the WJC against Switzerland, the news reached the team that Swedish legend Borje Salming has suffered from the disease ALS.

Then the team chose to pay tribute to Salming by putting the #21 on each stick.

“He’s a legend, he has all of Sweden behind him,” says Simon Edvinsson to SVT Sport.

Borje Salming was the first Swedish player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. And even though he stopped playing in 1993, i.e. long before today’s Junior Krona were born, the respect is great.

“He’s a great player in Swedish hockey. He wasn’t really active in my time. But you’ve seen highlights and heard him speak. He’s meant a lot to Swedish hockey,” says Simon Edvinsson.

TSN’s Mark Masters spoke with Red Wings prospect and Team Canada alternate captain Donovan Sebrango regarding his role on the Canadian World Junior team ahead of tonight’s game vs. Latvia (6 PM EDT on TSN/NHL Network):

“I’ve put on size,” the Detroit Red Wings prospect noted. “I’ve put on 10 pounds since Christmas, and I feel good. I feel strong. I feel ready to go here.”

“He’s a pro,” said [Canadian coach Dave] Cameron of Sebrango. “He’s played pro hockey. When you go pro, your experience is that it’s every day. That’s the biggest difference between pros and kids coming out of junior is that ability to do it every day whether anyone’s watching or not.”

Sebrango, who stands 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, has been skating on Canada’s top pair alongside [Olen] Zellweger, who led all Western Hockey League defencemen in scoring last season with 78 points in 55 games.

“He’s a special player,” said Sebrango. “He’s got some of the best hands I’ve seen for a d-man. I’ll shut down the guys, give him the puck and let him work his magic.”

Despite the strange circumstances, Sebrango still senses magic in the air in Edmonton. 

“It’s been a crazy year and it’s crazy we’re doing this in the summer,” Sebrango said. “It’s different. I mean, a week and a half ago I was doing a summer skate and working out with my buddies, but I don’t think the timing really matters. It’s still the same feeling and same honour to be here.” 

Continued

Updated with highlights at 5:44 PM: Team Sweden defeated Switzerland 3-2 in their first round robin game at the World Junior Championship, but it was a sloppy win…

In no small part because Red Wings prospect and Rogle BK center Theodor Niederbach had a rough go, negating an assist with 3 penalties, including a 5-minute major for boarding in the 3rd period.

Simon Edvinsson played major minutes and registered an assist, playing savvy, heads-up hockey, using his skating skills and confidence to register an assist on Sweden’s first goal and generally play a dominant, intelligent and physical game. Edvinsson finished with 1 assist and an even plus-minus rating, with 3 shots taken, in 26:09 played;

William Wallinder made a bad boo boo by charging up to center ice on the Swiss 3-2 goal, causing himself and Edvinsson to lose position as the Swiss players stormed the Swedish net and fired a slot shot through the pair of Wings defensemen screening Jesper Wallstedt, but in all honesty, Wallinder was very good for the vast majority of the game, shutting down the Swiss offense and playing low-event hockey to a shut-down defenseman’s tee. Wallinder finished at +1 with 1 shot in 19:43 played;

And Niederbach took two bad stick penalties 200 feet from his net, redeemed himself with a behind-the-back assist, and then took a 5-minute major penalty for boarding, ultimately finishing with an assist, a +2 and 1 shot, but 29 minutes in penalties in 15:23 played.

I’ll post the IIHF’s highlights when able, but in the interim, you’ll get Twitter clips to watch:

Red Wings prospect and Team Canada alternate captain Donovan Sebrango spoke with TSN’s Mark Masters on Canada’s game day, addressing the state of his team ahead of today’s game vs. Latvia (6 PM EDT start on TSN/NHL Network):

#WorldJuniors GAME DAY: Donovan Sebrango ‘very confident’ in Canada: We’re a bit bigger than we were at Christmas time… https://t.co/ruq4Qf2CBh#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/ag6rY0M7Vr— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) August 10, 2022

Update: Also:

#WorldJuniors GAME DAY: Team Canada head coach Dave Cameron looks ahead to the opening game against Latvia and the challenge they present, shares his thoughts on Logan Stankoven’s game and why he wanted Donovan Sebrango as part of his leadership group – https://t.co/XtE2y4VcCD pic.twitter.com/vWRBCFHvfB— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) August 10, 2022

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article which focuses on new Red Wings forward David Perron’s remarks made during his introductory press conference:

Perron, at age 34, will be the oldest player on the Wings’ roster. A 2007 first-round pick of the Blues, Perron is only 27 games shy of reaching 1,000 games played in his career.

That experience, plus the championship pedigree, could prove invaluable on a younger roster. Perron joins Robby Fabbri, Oskar Sundqvist, Ville Husso and Jake Walman as former St. Louis teammates now with the Wings. Perron was integral in the Blues’ leadership structure in recent years and feels he can help build a winning culture in Detroit.

“Those are guys I exchanged text messages (with),” Perron said. “Some of us won together there in St. Louis and would like to kind of bring some of that success to Detroit. That’s very important for the organization, the value of the older guys, the type of culture they want to build. I’m going to show up to be one of the guys at the start, but then you are going to try to instill some of the things you’ve learned over the years to help the team out. You see some of the strides that (young St. Louis forwards) Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou have taken over the last couple of years. In my mind, hopefully in a little way I’ve helped them become those guys.”

Perron’s impact on the power play was also a factor in Yzerman acquiring the veteran. Eleven of Perron’s 27 goals last season in St. Louis were on the power play. Conversely, the Wings’ power play has been consistently near the bottom of the NHL the last several seasons.

“With the Blues last year we had the best power play in the history of the team. I was part of that solution, it’s something that I want to help,” Perron said. “A team that goes on a good run on the power play usually starts the year pretty well. If you start behind the eight ball and you have to dig yourself out, it’s tough to come back and have a good season.”

Continued (paywall)

TSN’s Travis Yost continues to rank every NHL team on a position-by-position basis, and he somehow ranks the Red Wings’ blueline as “under-performing,” though he offers praise for the Red Wings’ best defenseman:

Detroit: Another group with plenty of upside, like Buffalo. Mo Seider was well deserving of last year’s Calder Trophy in a tough environment. It will be fascinating to see what Seider’s puck movement and awareness can do on a team with more attacking threats up top.

Continued; according to Yost, the Red Wings’ defense consists of Ben Chiarot, Moritz Seider, Olli Maatta, Filip Hronek, Jordan Oesterle and Gustav Lindstrom. I’m not sure whether things are going to shake out that way in training camp.

Red Wings prospect and Team Sweden alternate captain Simon Edvinsson tells SVT.se that he’s ready to play in today’s 2 PM EDT game vs. Switzerland:

Edvinsson ready for the WJC premiere

Swedish star defenseman Simon Edvinsson was injured in the WJC exhibition game.

Now he’s been given the green light to play in the opener against Switzerland.

“I’ve practiced,” he says to SVT Sport.

It was in the exhibition against Canada that 19-year-old Simon Edvinsson stepped off the ice with an injury.

However, now it’s clear that the key player, who broke through with Frolunda and has been drafted by Detroit, will play in tonight’s opener vs. Switzerland.

He has his eyes set on gold, and underlines the importance of the collective effort from Sweden.

“We will have to come together as a group to make it work. This is not a one-man show.”

The Junior Krona premiere at the WJC starts at 20:00 Swedish time tonight.

IIHF.com’s Chris Jurewicz posted a profile of Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson this morning. Edvinsson is currently in Edmonton, Alberta, playing for Team Sweden at the World Junior Championship:

Simon Edvinsson remembers his first trip to Detroit. Walking through Little Caesars Arena for a Swedish defenceman is somewhat akin to visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“Yeah, it was pretty cool when I went there for the first time,” says Edvinsson. “You see all of those players on the wall. It was pretty cool to see. Of course, we were rebuilding and now we are going forward. I feel like the team is playing a lot better and it’s new energy every day. It’s going to be fun.”

Edvinsson is the next Swedish defenceman who Red Wings fans will come to love, perhaps right up there with the great Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall. It’s never easy to be compared to legends but Edvinsson – a key member of Sweden’s team at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton – has all the right tools for stardom.

He’s 199 cm / 6-foot-6, 95 kg / 209 pounds and is noticed for high-end skill and skating. He is a product of Frolunda Gothenburg in Sweden, the same program that developed Rasmus Dahlin. He had four points in seven games in helping lead Sweden to the gold medal at he 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship and had one goal and two assists through two games at the Covid-cut-short 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in December.

This week, Edvinsson returns to Edmonton with one thing on his mind – bringing a gold medal to Sweden. For all of that country’s hockey dominance and strength over the years, gold medals at the World Juniors have been hard to come by, with just two in the country’s history at the event (2012 and 1981).

Continued

Updated 4x at 12:28 PM: Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman:

Jake Walman and DET avoid arbitration at one-year, $1.05M (one-way). With Walman (The Pride of Armour Heights) signing…arbitration cases are done for this summer— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 10, 2022

The Red Wings have yet to re-sign Filip Zadina, who is a restricted free agent without arbitration rights; and Walman will be on the LTIR to start the season as he recovers from shoulder surgery.

Update #1:

Detroit #LGRW update after signing Jake Walman.

Cap space: $9,246,111
Roster Size: 23 (12F – 9D – 2G – 1 IR)

RFAs remaining:
Filip Zadinahttps://t.co/H7WCJ5rN69— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) August 10, 2022

Update #2: The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan is confirming the news: