Via Bultman: Wings invite Cameron Butler to prospect tournament

Via The Athletic’s Max Bultman on Twitter: the Red Wings have invited Niagara IceDogs forward Cameron Butler, a 19-year-old right winger, to their prospect tournament:

Butler stands at 6’4″ and 203 pounds, and here’s what EliteProspects has to say about him:

He’s physical on the forecheck, laying the body and winning puck battles. Defensively, he’s in position and collapses well into the slot or the net front to lift sticks and take away opportunities. He moves with players and doesn’t get caught drifting out of the play. With the puck, he makes safe plays back to the D for breakouts. -EliteProspects 2020 NHL Draft Guide

Kulfan discusses Jordan Oesterle’s Metro Detroit connections

New Red Wings defenseman Jordan Oesterle is a Dearborn Heights, MI native, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a profile of the 29-year-old today:

Oesterle, a Dearborn Heights native who attended Dearborn Divine Child and Western Michigan, is back home. When unrestricted free agency began on July 28 and there was an opportunity to join the Wings, Oesterle was quick to say yes to a two-year contract worth $2.7 million ($1.35 million per season cap hit).

“It’s obviously something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little kid,” Oesterle, 29, said during a Zoom call after his signing. “I can’t be more excited to play for this organization.

“I didn’t know the chances. Going to free agency, the way their roster was this year, I knew they were looking for a left-shot defenseman, so I didn’t know if I was going to be the guy or have a chance (to join the Wings). Once I heard they were in the mix, I was narrow-minded to wanting this to be the destination. I was lucky enough for it to come to fruition.”

Continued

Khan profiles Red Wings prospect Red Savage

MLive’s Ansar Khan wrote an article a little earlier today discussing Red Wings 2021 draft pick Red Savage, who’s very familiar to Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper:

Draper spoke of Savage’s character and passion for the game. It helped him get named captain of Team USA at the U-18 championship.

“Watching him play even at an early age, he just understood how to play the game,” Draper said. “Very responsible two-way player. As a 14-, 15-, 16-year-old player he probably played too responsible. That’s the way he was wired. He understands that’s how he’s going to turn himself into a good pro.

“He’s in good spots for his D, he’s really good in the (face-off) circle. Watching him in Texas (U-18s) he had some big blocks on the penalty kill, kind of plays a fearless-type game. He showed throughout this year when he got a little bit of opportunity that he could produce some offense. He knows how to play without the puck. He’s very intelligent, knows how to play in his own end.

“The one thing we want him to work on is the offensive side of the game, to score goals, to challenge himself to put up numbers. It’s going to be tough going into college hockey as an 18-year-old, but we’re certainly going to encourage him to do it.”

Continued

Press release: Red Wings, Toledo Walleye extend affiliation until 2024

Here’s a press release from the Red Wings and Toledo Walleye from earlier today:

Toledo to continue Detroit affiliation for three seasons

TOLEDO – The Toledo Walleye, proud affiliate of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings and the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, today announced a three-year extension of their affiliation agreement. The 2021-22 season will mark the 12th year of partnership between the clubs and extends the affiliation through at least the 2023-24 season.

“We’re proud to continue the relationship between the Red Wings and the Walleye,” said Red Wings assistant general manager Ryan Martin. “We’ve had a number of prospects for the Red Wings and Griffins who were able to jumpstart their professional careers in Toledo, and playing in front of a passionate fanbase and an organization committed to winning has been crucial in their development. Both the hockey and business staffs are among the best in all of minor-league sports and make the Walleye an ideal partner for our organization. We’re looking forward to seeing Toledo return to the ice this fall to continue their quest for a Kelly Cup championship.”

The Walleye have served as the ECHL’s affiliate to the Red Wings beginning in 2009 when Toledo re-entered the league. From that time, the Walleye have played in one Kelly Cup Finals (2019), captured four division championships and two regular season titles (2014-15, 2016-17), and have qualified for ECHL’s postseason in seven seasons. Detroit was previously affiliated with the ECHL’s Toledo Storm from 1991-99 and 2000-07. The Storm won ECHL championships in 1993 and 1994 and captured six division titles over their 16-season history.

“The partnership between the Walleye and Detroit and Grand Rapids is one that we look forward to continuing,” said Walleye executive vice president and general manager Neil Neukam. “The history of Red Wings hockey is unparalleled and we are excited to be a part of the future. We are humbled to be able to extend this partnership between our organizations for another three years. It’s a testament to the dedication of the Walleye coaching, support staff, and front office, as well as the great fanbase in Toledo. We look forward to continuing our pursuit of the Kelly Cup and helping develop players for the next level.”

Under the current affiliation, the Red Wings provide several NHL-contract players to the Walleye, as well as signing players to AHL/ECHL contracts who can play for either Grand Rapids or Toledo. Since 2009-10, 19 players and one coach from Toledo have gone on to the NHL, including ten for the Red Wings: Jake Chelios, Jared Coreau, Martin Frk, Kaden Fulcher, Luke Glendening, Nick Jensen, Brian Lashoff, Tom McCollum, Petr Mrazek and Andrej Nestrasil.

Roughly translated: Niklas Kronwall discusses his roles with the Red Wings and Team Sweden’s Olympic team with NHL.se

The Swedish Ice Hockey Federation announced that Niklas Kronwall and Henrik Zetterberg will be aiding Sweden’s 2022 Olympic ice hockey team earlier today, and Kronwall spoke with NHL.se’s Janne Bengtsson regarding his status during a press event in Stockholm. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish (and this is the more “meaty” part of Bengtsson’s article):

Henrik Zetterberg retired from hockey after the 2017-2018 season, having been captain of the Red Wings for four years. Today he lives with his family in Skane (southern Sweden), where he runs a small restaurant business in Molle harbor. He’s not active in hockey.

However, there’s also Niklas Kronwall. After his career, which ended due to a back injury after the 2018-19 season, Kronwall has become very involved in hockey in Detroit. Immediately after retiring, he stepped into the club’s front office as an advisor to Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman, an old teammate.

“Detroit is home to us,” Kronwall said at the time. “When one chapter ends, another begins. It feels very exciting to have a new role in the Red Wings’ organization.”

It’s a job that’s now taken the Jarfalla-born Kronwall and his family back to Stockholm. He currently lives in the inner city and it waiting for a house to be completed outside the city itself.

Kronwall is responsible for developing the Red Wings’ European prospects, with an emphasis on the Swedes in the team’s organization. Here are, among others, Theodor Niederbach, 19, from Frolunda, Albert Johansson, 20, from Farjestad, and 21-year-old Jonatan Berggren from Skelleftea, all drafted by Detroit.

“They’re incredibly good young Swedish players in the organization now,” says Niklas Kronwall. “But I will also keep track of the young players in Europe, and so Stockholm is a perfect base. Something’s starting to happen in the team now; it’s really fun to watch.”

Via WiiM: Rogle coach Cam Abbott discusses Moritz Seider’s NHL future

Via Winging It in Motown’s Kyle McIlmurray comes this set of quotes from Habs Eye on the Prize’s Patrik Bexell, who spoke with Rogle BK coach Cam Abbott regarding Moritz Seider:

Toledo Walleye sign JC Campagna

The Toledo Walleye added another scoring winger to the fold on Thursday afternoon:

(Toledo, OH) – Forward J.C. Campagna (cam-pag-nah) has agreed to terms with the Toledo Walleye for the 2021-2022 season.

The native of Dallas, TX has appeared in 171 career ECHL games over five seasons, collecting 123 points (65G, 58A) and 127 penalty minutes. His best season came with the Fort Wayne Komets in the 2018-19 campaign that featured a career-high 35 goals to go along with 14 assists. Prior to playing in just four games this past year, the 6’4”, 205-pound forward spent the 2019-2020 season in Norfolk with 13 goals and 15 assists spanning 43 contests.

Prior to turning professional, the 28-year-old spent three years in the Canadian College ranks between St. Thomas University and the University of Prince Edward Island. In total, Campagna appeared in 84 games with 29 goals and 26 assists. His college career came after spending five years playing junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. His best year came in the 2013-2014 year with Moncton with 45 points (21G, 24A) in just 47 contests. He is familiar with Ohio, having played 56 games for the Ohio Blue Jackets 16U AAA team in the 2008-2009 season (22G, 34A).

Update: Here’s what Toledo Walleye coach Dan Watson had to say about Campagna to the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe:

“He will add some offensive punch to our lineup and some size,” Watson said. “He knows our league, knows how to navigate the Central Division, so adding that experience was valuable. I’m looking forward to seeing him compete in training camp.”

Campagna also had the second-most power-play goals (13) and tied for the lead in shootout goals with four in the ECHL in 2018-19. He had 49 points in 61 games for the Komets.

Last season, Campagna played in one game for the Florida Everblades and three for the Wichita Thunder, notching one assist.

Via KK: Jonathan Bernier explains why he left the Wings for New Jersey

This story comes from a Tweet from Kukla’s Korner’s Paul Kukla, pointing out a story from The Hockey News’s Matt Larkin.

Larkin has written an article in which former Red Wings goaltender Jonathan Bernier explains why he left the Wings to sign with the New Jersey Devils as an unrestricted free agent (after a short detour to Carolina in the Alex Nedeljkovic trade), and it sounds like Bernier wasn’t happy on the ice in Detroit:

Despite the pride in his individual effort, playing on a team going nowhere weighed on him. By his age-32 season, he’d started five career playoff games. It was hard to block out the notion that, despite his outstanding year, he was the tree falling in the forest that didn’t make a sound. He couldn’t move the needle on a team in a scorched-earth rebuild, and that tested his morale.

“It is easy to get on that train, to be honest,” Bernier said. “Living in Toronto where expectations were very high, I was there through the rebuild, and I took a lot on my shoulders, and probably that’s why I was out of there – because I stopped focusing on my own job and worried too much about what was going on the outside. Coming into Detroit with the rebuild, I’d lived it in Toronto on a much bigger scale in a bigger market, and that gave me a lot of experience and confidence that I could just worry about my own job.

“But you’re playing every year to make the playoffs, so it’s tough when you hear that we’re just going to be OK and hopefully get a great draft pick and all these things. As players you don’t get many opportunities to win a Stanley Cup, but it’s really hard just to make the playoffs. So it’s tough mentally. You want to win, you want to play in the playoffs, you play 82 games just to make it in, so it’s not fun when you’re out of it at mid-season.”

Continued, with an explanation from Devils senior advisor Martin Brodeur as to why the Devils pursued Bernier’s services…

WDIV’s Bartkowiak wonders what Filip Hronek’s next contract will look like

WDIV’s David Bartkowiak Jr. offers an analysis of the Red Wings’ re-signing of Jakub Vrana, and Bartkowiak also looks forward to the next big question that the Wings’ management has to face:

We’re waiting to find out defenseman Filip Hronek’s deal. The 23-year-old now has played 167 NHL games — 16 goals and 64 assists. He led the Red Wings in ice time this past season at an average 23:23 per game. He appeared in all 56 games.

If you look around the league at other young defenseman who help anchor the blue line then you might expect a deal for Hronek that pulls $4 million year on a three to five-year term. Obviously the money per season would fluctuate based on term length. I think he’s worth $3-4 million against the cap right now. I would be very surprised to see Yzerman sign him for longer than five seasons, and ideally no more than three. But probably five because he’s only 23.

After the Vrana signing, the Red Wings remain about $20 million below the cap.

Continued; I’d guess that Hronek will earn $3.5-4 million as well.