Praise for Seider, Veleno and Berggren from DobberProspects

DobberProspects’ Tomas Zahorak highlights the exploits of three Red Wings prospects playing in the SHL this morning:

Moritz Seider, RHD, Rögle BK (Detroit Red Wings): A human wrecking ball. There is no better way of describing Seider’s recent performance. He has been throwing around his opponents like he was playing with kids. Even though he is only 19 and plays against much older competition, his physicality is just on another level. However, he has been dominant in almost every other possible way, not just wrestling with other players. 

His defense is stunning. He plays with great poise, reads the game well, and just as much contributes offensively, which is an underrated part of his excellent overall game. He has recorded two goals and 12 points in 17 outings with roughly over 20 minutes of ice time per game. He has been so much fun to watch lately. 

…

Joe Veleno, C/RW, Malmö Redhawks (Detroit Red Wings): Veleno has found a new place on the roster. Coaches have put him on the right wing next to Fredrik Händemark (SJS) on the first line. This role suits him well, as he is on a three-game point streak as we speak. The 20-year-old forward has put up six goals and 11 points in 21 games so far. He has been very dangerous offensively, creating a lot of high-quality scoring chances around the net.

Veleno has been a threat on the power play too, where he moves all-around the offensive zone, uses his quick hands, agile and dynamic skating, and good one-timer to make a lot of noise. He seems to be getting more and more comfortable as the season progresses. 

…

Jonatan Berggren, LW, Skellefteå AIK (Detroit Red Wings): Berggren is having a lot of fun this season. He still has the most assists (19) and points (24) on his team and is second in assists and fourth in points overall. Despite being penalized for three games in late November for a crosscheck to the head, he got back on track in December. Although he has not been as dominant as he was at the beginning of the season, he has collected four points (all assists) in five outings after the suspension. He is still driving plays, creating tons of chances, and being an exceptional player at this level. 

Continued

HSJ accentuates the positive regarding Detroit’s Christmas past, present and future

The Free Press’s Helene St. James penned an article discussing items for Red Wings fans to be grateful for this Christmas morning, hearkening to the past, and then examining the Wings’ present and future:

The World Juniors offers an opportunity to get an eyeful of players eligible for the 2021 draft. While the changes made by Yzerman should make the Wings more competitive this season, they still project to finish near the bottom of the standings and, in turn, be in the draft lottery again. Wings assistant general manager Ryan Martin is at the event.

Michigan forward Matthew Beniers (USA) is one of the higher-end prospects at the tournament. Michigan did not, however, release defenseman Owen Power to Hockey Canada. (Because of travel restrictions between the U.S. and Canada, Power would have had to quarantine in Canada for two weeks before the start of Canada’s camp.) Forward Aatu Räty, was left off Finland’s roster, and Sweden left behind forward William Eklund after he tested positive for COVD-19 and cut defenseman Simon Edvinsson.

Closer to home, the rebuild looks like it will get a boost from recent draft picks as soon as the autumn. Defenseman Moritz Seider (sixth, 2019) has 12 points in 19 games for Rögle in the Swedish Hockey League; it’sthe 19-year-old’s third season in a men’s league. Forward Jonatan Berggren (33rd, 2018) has 24 points in 23 games with Skellefteå. Raymond has 12 points in 22 games with Frölunda. All project to make the Wings’ future better and brighter.

Continued

Khan discusses the ‘taxi squad’ and its utilization

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s comments regarding his team’s possible use of their “taxi squad,” and whether that group of players will be best-served by practicing with the NHL team, or whether the group of players should be playing AHL hockey games instead:

“The unknown on the taxi squad is how many games they’re actually going to play,” Yzerman said. “I think common sense tells you they’re going to have to play. Guys are going to get injured. You hope nobody contracts the virus and can’t play, but at certain points guys get called up and instead of being called up from Grand Rapids they’re going to get called up from the taxi squad.

“For a first-year pro or second-year pro, should they sit on the taxi squad and never play or are they (better off) in the American League, if they’re playing?” Yzerman said. “If the American League doesn’t play, then we have to come up with another plan for them.

“My own thought is I really want the young kids playing every night on a team. Practice is great for a little bit, but all guys want to play games. For anyone on that taxi squad, after a while it’s going to be a bit like Groundhog Day for them. We have to figure out if you can move guys from the American League to the taxi squad. In general, I thought it was a very good idea to institute that.”

Continued

Kulfan offers a WJC Wings prospect preview

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted an article this evening discussing the seven Red Wings prospects who will be participating in this year’s World Junior Championship in Edmonton. Among his prospect previews are the following:

Theodor Niederbach, center: Niederbach was the Wings’ second-round pick in October, viewed as a potential steal given he missed last season because of knee surgery.

Niederbach has been outstanding playing at the junior level this season, with 35 points in 19 games, and showing the talent of a first-rounder.

With Sweden’s lineup decimated, there’s a good chance Niederbach could play on the first line with fellow Wings’ draft pick Lucas Raymond.

Lucas Raymond, right wing: Raymond was the Wings’ first-round pick in October, the fourth pick overall, and has dazzled while playing in Sweden, with 12 points (five goals) in 22 games on Frolunda’s men’s team.

Raymond should be a dominant player in this tournament while playing against players his own age. Raymond has also had the tendency to play his best in the biggest moments, and he’ll have the opportunity here.

But Team Sweden has been ravaged with COVID-19 and the lineup has been altered. Raymond will be looked on to produce.

Continued

A bit of WJC talk from Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin

The Red Wings have seven players participating in the World Junior Championship–Theodor Niederbach, Lucas Raymond, Albert Johansson, Gustav Berglund, Elmer Soderblom (all playing for Sweden), Eemil Viro (Finland) and Jan Bednar (Czech Republic).

Today, DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter noted Red Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin’s comments regarding the Wings’ stable of WJC participants:

“For (those) that don’t know, the World Junior Tournament, in my opinion, is the best under-20 tournament in the world,” the Wings’ assistant GM said. “It’s best-on-best competition. It’s an incredibly competitive tournament with lots of players that even have NHL experience all the way down to high-end juniors.”

While many North American players have had extended pauses in their offseason regimens due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin noted that most European prospects have been able to continue their training almost uninterrupted, allowing them to develop and get a jumpstart on preparation for the World Junior Championship.

“A lot of these (European) guys have had very few interruptions in their season dating back to when their training camps opened in the late summer, early fall,” Martin said. “They’ve had some delays, but for the most part, a lot of the European leagues have been pretty consistent in getting their games back up and running, dedicating time to practice and (for) development.

“For the European players, I don’t think there’s been as much of an impact in terms of development, but the opportunity to play in this tournament regardless of what the players have been doing for the fall, it’s great experience.”

Continued

Prospect round-up: Petruzzelli, Gylander post shutouts

Of prospect-related note:

In NCAA Hockey, Keith Petruzzelli stopped 26 shots to power the Quinnipiac Bobcats to a 3-0 shutout of Holy Cross;

And Carter Gylander made his NCAA debut, pitching half-a-game’s shutout in stopping 12 shots en route to the Colgate Raiders’ 5-4 overtime win over Clarkson.

Press release: Red Wings on the 2020-2021 schedule

From the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS RELEASE 2020-21 SEASON SCHEDULE … Detroit Begins 56-Game Slate Against Carolina on Jan. 14 at Little Caesars Arena …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today released their 2020-21 regular-season schedule. The 2020-21 campaign marks the 95th season for the Red Wings in the National Hockey League, and the fourth at Little Caesars Arena. The Red Wings open the season at home on Thursday, Jan. 14 against the Carolina Hurricanes and end on the road on Saturday, May 8 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The team’s 56-game schedule is almost exclusively comprised of two-game sets against Central Division opponents, as part of the NHL’s temporary realignment for the 2020-21 season. The Red Wings will take on the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning eight times each: four times at home and four times on the road.

A 310-day gap between games will end on Thursday, Jan. 14, as the Red Wings host the Hurricanes at Little Caesars Arena – coincidentally, the same opponent they faced on March 10 prior to the pause that eventually ended the team’s 2019-20 regular-season slate. Detroit will start with four-straight home games between Jan. 14-19 before playing 10 of its next 12 games on the road, including a season-long six-game road swing from Feb. 3-13 against Tampa Bay (Feb. 3-5), Florida (Feb. 7-9) and Nashville (Feb. 11-13). The Red Wings will then return to Little Caesars Arena for 12 of their next 16 games, including a pair of season-long six-game homestands from Feb. 15-25 and March 9-20.

Detroit will play back-to-back games on eight occasions in 2020-21. Twenty-five of the team’s games will take place on weekends, including four Fridays, 12 Saturdays and nine Sundays, in addition to four Monday games, 12 Tuesdays, two Wednesday and 13 Thursdays. The 56-game regular season will wrap up in Columbus on Saturday, May 8, marking the latest date the Red Wings have ever concluded the regular season.

Your 2021 #RedWings schedule, brought to you from our home. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/YbGWihp9vs— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 23, 2020

Red Wings asking fans to engage in ‘longest puck drop’

DetroitRedWings.com’s Carley Johnston explains the parameters of a contest in which the Red Wings are asking fans to take part in their “longest puck drop” prior to this year’s home opener:

The countdown to puck drop is on! #LGRW @chevrolet

Upload your videos to be featured here: https://t.co/uaUg6NJWvt pic.twitter.com/0Ni4eklqaZ— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 23, 2020

Here’s the Red Wings’ 2020-2021 schedule

Here’s the Red Wings’ 2020-2021 schedule, per NHL.com:

DetroitRoadHomeTimeTimeGame
Thu.1/14/2021CarolinaDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.10
Sat.1/16/2021CarolinaDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.25
Mon.1/18/2021ColumbusDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.38
Tue.1/19/2021ColumbusDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.51
Fri.1/22/2021DetroitChicagoT.B.A.T.B.A.69
Sun.1/24/2021DetroitChicagoT.B.A.T.B.A.84
Tue.1/26/2021DetroitDallasT.B.A.T.B.A.103
Thu.1/28/2021DetroitDallasT.B.A.T.B.A.119
Sat.1/30/2021FloridaDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.130
Sun.1/31/2021FloridaDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.139
Wed.2/3/2021DetroitTampa BayT.B.A.T.B.A.160
Fri.2/5/2021DetroitTampa BayT.B.A.T.B.A.175
Sun.2/7/2021DetroitFloridaT.B.A.T.B.A.189
Tue.2/9/2021DetroitFloridaT.B.A.T.B.A.203
Thu.2/11/2021DetroitNashvilleT.B.A.T.B.A.219
Sat.2/13/2021DetroitNashvilleT.B.A.T.B.A.234
Mon.2/15/2021ChicagoDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.246
Wed.2/17/2021ChicagoDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.261
Fri.2/19/2021FloridaDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.275
Sun.2/21/2021FloridaDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.292
Tue.2/23/2021NashvilleDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.305
Thu.2/25/2021NashvilleDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.317
Sat.2/27/2021DetroitChicagoT.B.A.T.B.A.331
Sun.2/28/2021DetroitChicagoT.B.A.T.B.A.343
Tue.3/2/2021DetroitColumbusT.B.A.T.B.A.356
Thu.3/4/2021DetroitCarolinaT.B.A.T.B.A.365
Tue.3/9/2021Tampa BayDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.407
Thu.3/11/2021Tampa BayDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.421
Sun.3/14/2021CarolinaDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.442
Tue.3/16/2021CarolinaDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.460
Thu.3/18/2021DallasDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.473
Sat.3/20/2021DallasDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.488
Tue.3/23/2021DetroitNashvilleT.B.A.T.B.A.506
Thu.3/25/2021DetroitNashvilleT.B.A.T.B.A.520
Sat.3/27/2021ColumbusDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.533
Sun.3/28/2021ColumbusDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.544
Tue.3/30/2021DetroitFloridaT.B.A.T.B.A.560
Thu.4/1/2021DetroitFloridaT.B.A.T.B.A.575
Sat.4/3/2021DetroitTampa BayT.B.A.T.B.A.589
Sun.4/4/2021DetroitTampa BayT.B.A.T.B.A.599
Tue.4/6/2021NashvilleDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.617
Thu.4/8/2021NashvilleDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.631
Sat.4/10/2021DetroitCarolinaT.B.A.T.B.A.642
Mon.4/12/2021DetroitCarolinaT.B.A.T.B.A.657
Thu.4/15/2021ChicagoDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.681
Sat.4/17/2021ChicagoDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.695
Mon.4/19/2021DetroitDallasT.B.A.T.B.A.711
Tue.4/20/2021DetroitDallasT.B.A.T.B.A.722
Thu.4/22/2021DallasDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.734
Sat.4/24/2021DallasDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.747
Tue.4/27/2021DetroitColumbusT.B.A.T.B.A.771
Thu.4/29/2021DetroitCarolinaT.B.A.T.B.A.786
Sat.5/1/2021Tampa BayDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.801
Sun.5/2/2021Tampa BayDetroitT.B.A.T.B.A.811
Fri.5/7/2021DetroitColumbusT.B.A.T.B.A.845
Sat.5/8/2021DetroitColumbusT.B.A.T.B.A.859

The #RedWings will open the season against the @Canes on Jan. 14. Here’s their full slate with times TBA. pic.twitter.com/Ifkwo7IBeO— Stefan Kubus (@StefanKubus) December 23, 2020

Your 2020-21 Red Wings’ schedule pic.twitter.com/B4FlR0PEuD— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) December 23, 2020

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan also posted the schedule…

A feature in this is the baseball-style two-game series.

The Wings will host Columbus on Jan. 18-19 to complete the season-opening four-game homestand.

The Wings will then travel to Chicago (Jan. 22-24) and Dallas (Jan. 26-28) — both former Central Division rivals of the Wings’ before the Wings were moved to the Eastern Conference.

The Wings end their home season with back-to-back games May 1-2 against defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay, before ending their season May 7-8 in Columbus.

And this comes from Michigan Hockey’s Stefan Kubus:

The Wings will open the season Jan. 14 at Little Caesars Arena against the Hurricanes to begin a four-game homestand.

Detroit will welcome the defending Stanley Cup Champions Tampa Bay on March 9 and fellow Stanley Cup finalist Dallas on March 18. Original Six rival Chicago will first visit on Feb. 15.

Perhaps the most bizarre run will see the Wings play Dallas four times during the week of April 19-25.

Here’s a bit from MLive’s Ansar Khan as well:

The Red Wings will play 10 games in 18 days in January. Their longest trip is six games, from Feb. 3-13. They have four games in a row against the Stars from March 19-24 (two in Dallas and then two in Detroit).