HSJ in the morning: regarding the state of the rebuild and the McLellan effect

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. The Free Press’s Helene St. James wonders aloud whether the Red Wings’ rebuild is complete, as some of the team’s players have suggested:

When does a rebuild end? When a team advances to the playoffs? The Detroit Red Wings haven’t made it that far in nine years, but as they embark on the 2025-26 season, they don’t want to hear any more about how they are a work in progress.

“You are only in the NHL for so long,” said veteran forward Andrew Copp, now in his fourth season with the Wings. “Guys in here could be in their last year, they could be in their first year. We’re no longer developing. That was a word here for a while – development, rebuilding and all that. We’re done with that.”

St. James points out that the Red Wings have coach Todd McLellan to thank, in part, anyway, for the steps which the team has taken in a forward direction, and that the team has a better goaltending tandem at present…

“He’s super-honest, he’s very detailed, demanding, isn’t afraid to speak up and that’s exactly what we need right now,” defenseman Moritz Seider said. “We need a little bit of guidance and structure and he definitely provides that, with the whole team behind him.”

Beyond structure, the key to success for any team usually comes down to special teams and goaltending – and then some.

“You can throw in health and streakiness ,trying to maintain the good and eliminate the bad,” McLellan said. “But it can really go on and on for a long period. A lot of things have to go right for us and it’s up to us to make them happen.”

But she also notes that the Wings’ players aren’t necessarily talking about a miraculous run to a playoff spot just yet:

Continue reading HSJ in the morning: regarding the state of the rebuild and the McLellan effect

Overnight news: On the Habs’ loss to Toronto, the Red Wings’ rookie trio and ’10 things to know’

Of Red Wings-related note early on a Thursday morning:

  1. The Montreal Canadiens dropped their road opener via a 5-2 tally to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, but the final score is deceptive. Montreal actually blew a 2-1 lead to the Maple Leafs–surrendering the game-winner to Morgan Rielly with 9:02 left in the 3rd period (thanks to a snapped Canadiens stick)–and the Habs also gave up 2 empty-net goals. As such, the Canadiens’ garish plus-minus stats were not indicative of the competitive game that was played between the teams.

Montreal will start Jakub Dobes in goal tonight opposite John Gibson when the Red Wings and Canadiens (with Joe Veleno in the lineup) meet at Little Caesars Arena (7 PM EDT start; 6:35 PM pregame ceremony, on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit/TSN2/RDS/97.1 the Ticket).

After tonight’s home opener, the Red Wings will play a home-and-home series with the Leafs, who don’t play again until Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada game in Detroit.

Here are the Habs-Leafs game’s Sportsnet highlights, should you wish to watch them:

2. The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a late-evening article which discusses the performances of the Red Wings’ likely debutantes in Emmitt Finnie, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Axel Sandin Pellikka. Kulfan discusses the characteristics which set the trio apart from other players on the Wings’ roster:

▶ With Brandsegg-Nygard, a 2024 first-round draft pick, it’s been the fact he appears to be able to play a physical game that most 20-year-olds aren’t usually capable of doing. He’s played against men in Europe, he has an NHL shot, and carries himself like a professional.

“We have to pay attention to his strengths like his physicality, he can play as a bully a little bit,” McLellan said. “He’s got a tremendous shot. The hunt mentality we’re trying to adopt, he’s part of that.”

Brandsegg-Nygard felt it was important the Wings knew he could play a physical, hard game. They obviously know now.

“It’s pretty cool to be here and it’s been a dream, so hopefully I can keep the spot,” Brandsegg-Nygard said. “I know what I can do, and I just try my best and see what comes out of it.”

Continue reading Overnight news: On the Habs’ loss to Toronto, the Red Wings’ rookie trio and ’10 things to know’

Remembering the Detroit Red Wings…erm, Detroit Cougars’ first hockey game

NHL.com’s Dave Stubbs tells the story of the Detroit Red Wings’ first official game, in which the then-named Detroit Cougars lost a 2-0 decision to the Boston Bruins at Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario:

The splashy advertisement in the Nov. 11, 1926, edition of the Detroit Free Press trumpeted the arrival of the city’s new NHL entry, players arriving from the Victoria Cougars of the folded Western Hockey League.

“Welcome! Detroit ‘Cougars'” it announced, putting the team’s nickname in quotation marks. “Detroit’s First Year in the National Hockey League Should be a Great Success with Your Able and Experienced Big League Playing.”

It was a momentous year in the NHL with Detroit, the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks all making their debuts in the 10-team League.

The Detroit Red Wings, the Motor City’s rebranding of what were the Cougars, then the Falcons, will drop the hammer into their second century on Oct. 9, facing off at Little Caesars Arena against the visiting Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m. ET, TSN2, RDS).

One hundred years ago this Nov. 18, the Cougars took their first strides across the Detroit River at Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario, the team’s first-season home with Olympia Stadium under construction in Detroit.

The third-year Boston Bruins would spoil the opening night party, grinding out a 2-0 win on early first-period goals by Duke Keats (1:45) and (2:40), getting the puck behind last-minute Detroit goalie Herb Stuart.

Only when No. 1 Harry “Hap” Holmes fell ill shortly before the opening face-off was Stuart pushed into the net. It was one of just three games he would play that season, Holmes playing the other 41.

Continued; this is a good read!

Big Elmer still believes he’s got to prove himself worthy of full-time NHL duty

Red Wings forward Elmer Soderblom is 24 now, and the 6’8,” 247-pound winger would need waivers to be sent down to the AHL at this point. I believe that Soderblom has a full-time role with the Red Wings, even if it’s a “bottom six” one, but Big Elmer told the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker that #85 still has something to prove:

During the offseason, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman saw fit to extend Soderblom for another two seasons with a $1.125 million cap hit, and he will likely skate on the team’s fourth line to begin the season with Michael Rasmussen and newcomer Mason Appleton. 

In what will be his second opportunity to cement his place in the lineup after making the team out of Training Camp, Soderblom is already envisioning not only remaining consistent in his performance but also using his notable stature to his advantage. 

“I want to show that I can play good at this level and keep improving, and just become a better player. My goal is to keep being consistent and show what I can do,” he said. I’ve learned to be more consistent and use my size to my advantage and play with my size, and still use my hands and shot,” he continued. “I feel like I’ve found a good combination and found a way to be consistent.” 

As far as knowing no player out of the nearly 1,400 men who have suited up for the Red Wings over the last 100 years has stood taller than he does, it’s not something that’s top of mind for Soderblom – but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t think it’s an interesting reality. 

“A couple times, it’s fun,” he said with a grin when asked if he’s ever considered his status as the tallest player in team history. “Not that I think too much of it, but it’s a fun fact.” 

Continued; Soderblom is never going to be a Zdeno Chara-style crash-and-bang player, but he’s got tremendous reach, he’s maneuverable, and between his wingspan, his ever-improving puck skills and skating, and the simple fact that he can stick his butt out and block opposing forwards from getting anywhere near the puck on his stick…

We’re talking about a player who is still evolving and developing into a later-blooming contributor, and at the very worst, he’ll be a gigantic asset to the Wings’ third and fourth lines.

Tweet of note: Red Wings emphasize history in a little pre-game hype Tweet; then the sunglasses come out

Emphasis on the history meets the present here…

But this one is a little more light-hearted:

In living memory

The Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker spoke with Red Wings coach Todd McLellan about the living history of the franchise, and the effects of Detroit’s alumni upon its players (and coaches):

“Any time that you get to be a part of the Red Wings organization, it’s special,” McLellan said on the eve of the Red Wings’ season opener. “It’s not just Todd McLellan or anybody else. As I said before, this is an Original Six franchise with 100 years of history. The players who have come and gone and left their mark on the franchise and on the city, it’s incredible.”

Multiple young rookies have made the Red Wings’ roster for the upcoming season, including Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, and Emmitt Finnie. All three were born in 2005, meaning Detroit’s only Stanley Cup victory in their lifetime came when they were just barely or almost three years of age. 

While it was beyond their control not to have been around for the Red Wings’ Stanley Cup victories in 1997, 1998, and 2002, McLellan believes that a bit of an old-school history lesson could help them and other young players in the organization better appreciate Detroit’s rich hockey tradition and the countless legendary players who have worn the Winged Wheel over the years.

“Maybe one day we should sit down with the players who are here now and take them through a history class, because I’m not sure everybody knows exactly what’s happened here prior,” McLellan said. “And the individuals who have been walking around – like, we see (Nicklas) Lidstrom and (Niklas) Kronwall, these types of players come back through the locker room now. But my first go-around, it was Mr. (Gordie) Howe, Mr. (Alex) Delvecchio. It was these kind of individuals walking through the locker room, and that was for me really special.” 

“Anybody that understood the history, to have them walk through, Gordie would walk by and throw his elbow out. Even seeing Vladdy (Konstantinov) the other night on the big screen, I remember that would happen at our games all the time. They bring him and he’d watch and be cheering, and now to see him 20 years later, it’s incredible. 

That’s just how I feel about being a Red Wing. It’s special.” 

Continued; there’s nothing like having the legends of the franchise readily available to speak with the Red Wings’ younger players, even if it’s only in passing.

Khan ponders whether the Toddfather is the Red Wings’ x-factor

MLive’s Ansar Khan wonders aloud whether the Red Wings’ decision to hire coach Todd McLellan is in fact the x-factor or “difference-maker” who will power the team to a playoff berth over the course of a full season in Detroit:

“When he came in, he challenged us a lot,” Dylan Larkin said. “And every time he challenged us, we seem to rise to the challenge and do what we talked about when he came in, He’s already challenged us in camp and I hope we’re going to hit the ground running. We have important games right off the bat.”

The Red Wings open the season Thursday at home against the Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network), who earned the second wild card spot last season. Their first five games are against Atlantic Division opponents.

Players noted the difference in camp this year.

“A lot of walk-throughs, a lot of details, and very demanding,” Moritz Seider said. “But I think that’s exactly what we need right now. We need structure. We need people to tell us where to be in certain spots. And I thought the coaching staff is doing a great job of providing that. There’s always a purpose behind it, and it kind of translates into the game.”

McLellan puts faith in younger players. Marco Kasper and Albert Johansson were struggling as rookies before he arrived. They flourished in the second half.

Patrick Kane was also rejuvenated.

“Playing aggressive I think is one of the things that really changed under him,” Kane said. “Kind of getting our D up in the play on the forecheck, making sure we have a third guy high, backing each other up all over the ice, and also having that shoot-first mentality.”

Continued (paywall)

Roughly translated: Axel Sandin Pellikka is ‘a bit nervous’ about his NHL debut

Red Wings defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka spoke with NHL.com/sv’s Peter Ekholm yesterday regarding his imminent NHL debut:

Debut approaching for Sandin-Pellikka: ‘I’m a bit nervous’

Swedish defensive talent took a spot for himself in Detroit – may be featured on the NHL team against Montreal

Axel Sandin-Pellikka heads toward his NHL debut for the Detroit Red Wings. The 20-year-old defenseman has performed a good preseason and remains in the Red Wings team with only days left until the premiere against the Montreal Canadiens.

“It’s a little nervous. It’s a dream to be here. I’m still here, so it must be a good sign,” Sandin-Pellikka told NHL.com/sv.

Sandin-Pellikka is embarking upon his first season in North America after a successful year in SHL and Skellefteå. Last season, the defenseman played 49 games in the SHL and accounted for 29 points (12 goals and 17 assists). He was named junior of the year in SHL and Swedish ice hockey. He also became the World Junior Championship’s best defenseman after posting ten points (7 goals and 6 assists) in seven games.

He finished by playing in two games for the AHL team Grand Rapids, and this season he is gearing up to settle onto the Red Wings, who drafted him 17th overall in 2023.

In seven preseason games, Sandin-Pellikka accounted for four assists, impressing the team’s coach, Todd McLellan.

“He’s got a good look, he can read the game. He can ‘play chess’ from time to time on the ice, and it’s valuable to have. We think he’s just going to get better, too. We’ve seen him develop before our eyes, but we think he’s going to get better all the time,” McLellan said.

Veteran Dylan Larkin is also impressed by the Swede, who, among other things, has had playing time on the power play.

“I wouldn’t want to spend too much time against him now. I expect him to be a player on our team. I expect everyone who makes the roster is important. Hopefully he’s playing in his first game in the NHL on Thursday, it looks like that right now. He will have a nice future,” Larkin said.

If he has his debut on Thursday against Montreal–it means a dream comes true.

“Ever since I learned what the NHL it’s where I wanted to be. It’s the best of the best. It would be a dream come true.”