Red Wings pay tribute to Tomas Tatar + Vegas GM George McPhee on acquiring Tatar

Here’s the Red Wings’ tribute video to Tomas Tatar…

And Sportsnet’s Bob McCown spoke with Vegas GM George McPhee on Prime Time Sports, with McPhee addressing the acquisition of Tatar:

“Well, it wasn’t cheap,” McPhee said during a Prime Time Sports appearance on Thursday afternoon.

Vegas sent a first-round pick in 2018, a second-rounder in 2019 and a third-round pick in 2021 to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for the 27-year-old Tatar.

“It’s the one area where we’re deep — we have a lot of picks,” McPhee told hosts Bob McCown and Brad Fay on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. “We spread it over four years. There are times when the decisions you make are all data driven and there are times when it’s market driven. That was the price. We either get the player we thought we needed to have and give up those assets or you don’t.

“And I wanted to help the club.”

The expansion franchise has been the NHL’s biggest surprise this season, currently sitting first place in the Pacific Division.

The acquisition of Tatar was particularly interesting given that the seven-year veteran has seen his production dip this season. His best totals came in 2014-15, when he scored 29 goals and 56 points. The Slovak scored 28 points in 62 games with Detroit this season and, since the trade, has registered one goal in four games. However, he is under team control through 2020-21, a key factor for McPhee.

“It was important to us that it wasn’t a rental,” said the GM. “It was someone we’re going to have for a while. I don’t think anything is inexpensive at the trade deadline.”

 

Red Wings and Golden Knights game-day articles: On Tatar, Svechnikov and the game at hand

Of Red Wings-related note this evening:

  1. Tomas Tatar returned to Detroit as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights today, and Tatar spoke with the media regarding his return. Here’s the Free Press’s Helene St. James’ Tatar article…

Tomas Tatar wasn’t sure what to pack, how much to pack, or what to do.  His Feb. 26 trade from the Detroit Red Wings to the Vegas Golden Knights was a jolt, a sudden, life-altering event.

“The first hour was pretty stressful,” Tatar said Thursday morning as he prepared to face his former teammates for the first time. “I didn’t really know what to do. It was my first time traded. Should I start packing? What should I pack and for how long? Then when you realize what kind of team you are joining, it was fun. I was really excited.”

Tatar was home watching TV when he saw the trade announced, simultaneously as Wings general manager Ken Holland called to inform Tatar he’d been moved. It came  seven months after the Wings signed Tatar for four years and $21.2 million. The Wings are in rebuild mode and Tatar was an opportunity to flip for a first-round pick in June, a second-round in 2019 and a third-round pick in 2021.

“When you sign this kind of deal, you are thinking you are going to be here,” Tatar said. “But I knew we had to start playing better. Unfortunately we didn’t so something had to change. I’d heard rumors teams were interested about me. I was a little ready for it.”

St. James continues, and she posted a video of Tatar speaking with the media:

Continue reading Red Wings and Golden Knights game-day articles: On Tatar, Svechnikov and the game at hand

Comments on comments

The comments section has gotten a little heated of late, and it’s done so regarding a certain member. I am offering the TMR community the opportunity to hash things out in adult and courteous manners here in this thread…

In an ideal world, yes, there will be an “ignore” button (I’m working on finding one), but at present, we do not have one, and that means that we have to live with each other, even if we do not like everyone we meet. I would kindly ask that we all press the “re-set” button regarding our scraps and give each other one more chance to interact with respect, dignity and in a spirit of understanding that disagreement does not have to equal disrespect.

If you’d like to hash things out in this post–or inform me why things have been a mess over the last couple of days–I would appreciate that you do so here in the comments section. If you have concerns about a particular member or members or feel uncomfortable elucidating your concerns publicly, please email me at rtxg@yahoo.com.

In an ideal world, we are a community united by hockey; in real life, we’re different people with different ideas, and while we’re all on the “same side” as Wings and hockey fans, we have disparate points of view.

I get that, but I want you to understand that you are all here because I approved your membership into the community, and I don’t want to have to stick my dictatorial-leaning nose into the comments section…

But if I have to, I’m not going to hesitate to do so, and I’d prefer that we work things out in a semi-democratic manner.

Discuss, please!

The Athletic: Top 20 Wings prospects

The Athletic’s Craig Custance has penned a list of the top 20 Red Wings prospects. Let’s start at the top:

1. C Michael Rasmussen, Tri-City – Rasmussen, selected with the No. 9 overall pick, is turning in another productive season in the WHL. He has 25 goals and 50 points in 41 games, once again producing heavily on the power play where he has scored 14 of his 25 goals. Dan Cleary, who shares Red Wings player development duties with Shawn Horcoff, got in a viewing in of Rasmussen a few weeks ago and left feeling good about the big center. “When I saw him the first game, he was flying,” Cleary told The Athletic. “The best I’ve seen him skate. He was skating excellent, he was on the forecheck, in the middle of the ice he was backing defensemen off. He has such good poise and patience and makes plays.” Rasmussen had a strong training camp and the smart bet is that he makes the Red Wings out of camp next year if he repeats that performance. Detroit wants to get him an NHL look, likely on the wing as he breaks into the league. What Rasmussen needs to work on is his quickness and explosiveness to create space between him and defenders, and the Red Wings have talked to him about having a more shoot-first mentality. There were more dynamic players available who fit the Red Wings’ need for high-end talent better than Rasmussen, but he’s still on track to be an important part of Detroit’s youth movement.

Continued (paywall)…

A trio of pre-game videos from WXYZ’s Galli

WXYZ’s Brad Galli posted three videos on his Facebook page, including two videos of Tomas Tatar and one video in which Evgeny Svechnikov discusses his complicated journey from Grand Rapids to Ottawa, Ontario and back to Detroit to join the Red Wings:

Red Wings-Vegas Golden Knights Game Day Preview video + Golden Knights videos

Here are Ken Kal and Carley Johnston, setting up tonight’s game between the Red Wings and the Vegas Golden Knights:


The Golden Knights also posted videos of Tomas Tatar…

Continue reading Red Wings-Vegas Golden Knights Game Day Preview video + Golden Knights videos

Toledo Walleye add defenseman Jamie Doornbosch at trade deadline

The Toledo Walleye made their trade deadline move on Thursday afternoon, per the Walleye’s website:

Walleye add defenseman in trade with Brampton

(Toledo, OH) – Toledo has acquired defenseman Jamie Doornbosch from the Brampton Beast in exchange for forward Erik Bradford.

Doornbosch, a Richmond Hill, Ontario native, has appeared in 26 games this season for the Beast posting a pair of goals and 12 assists. He has also collected 12 penalty minutes while playing as a minus one. The second year pro has also skated four games this year with the Bellville Senators (1A, 2PIMS) and another two games in Bakersfield (1A) of the AHL. He started the season in Wichita, where the 28 year old collected a goal with seven helpers and 12 penalty minutes for the Thunder. Doornbosch skated in 44 games in his rookie season (2016-17) with Wichita, posting 10 goals, 20 assists and 32 penalty minutes.

Prior to turning professional, Doornbosch spent five seasons at St. Mary’s University where he collected 84 points (17G, 67A) over 133 career games for the Huskies. Never drafted, the 6’2”, 190 pound defenseman appeared in one game for the New York Islanders after the completion of his OHL career. He appeared in 264 OHL contests between Kitchener and Peterborough, collecting 41 goals and 106 assists.

Bradford was added by the Walleye earlier in the year via a trade and posted 39 points (14G, 25A) over 46 contests in Toledo.

Tatar talks playoffs with Galli

As noted in the morning skate Tweets post, Tomas Tatar met with the Wings’ media corps after Vegas’ morning skate, and here he is speaking with WXYZ’s Brad Galli regarding his change in mindset as Vegas battles to earn a playoff spot:

David Backes weighs in on his suspension

From the Boston Herald’s Rich Thompson:

David Backes accepted his three-game suspension that was handed down on Wednesday by the NHL with a touch of remorse.

Backes felt the league’s wrath for delivering a blow to the head of Detroit Red Wings center Frans Nielsen in the first period of the Bruins’ 6-5 overtime victory on Tuesday. Nielsen left and the ice after the incident and could miss several games.

“I think first and foremost the fact that Frans Nielsen is hurt sucks,” said Backes after the team’s pregame skate for tonight’s clash with the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden.

“I wasn’t intending to hurt him and I hope he has a full recovery and is back on the ice soon. That’s certainly an unintended consequence to the play. The decision is the decision and that is how the process is in the collective bargaining agreement.

“We had a little hearing on the phone and the decision is the decision and you swallow it.”

 

The Athletic III: A bit about Keith Petruzzelli

The Athletic’s Cat Silverman weighs in on Red Wings prospect and goaltender Keith Petruzzelli’s up-and-down freshman season with the Quinnipiac Bobcats:

In his first three appearances of the year, the freshman allowed a combined 10 goals, including three on just eight shots in his third appearance on Nov. 10. On Nov. 25, he allowed five goals on 13 shots in 57 minutes of play.

Fast forward to this past weekend, and he started both games of a back-to-back series against Yale, winning both starts and allowing just two goals on a combined 41 shots. His second performance of the two earned the team a berth in the ECAC Quarterfinals, and he looked as confident as he did this time last year.

For the Red Wings, patience here will be key — but that’s nothing new. As InGoal’s Greg Balloch pointed out, it worked for Howard, and it worked for Mrazek. Getting that extra year, possibly two, in the AHL after making the jump from college — which shouldn’t happen this summer, perhaps not even next — will give him a chance to properly transition his game.

For now, though, there’s the World Juniors to look forward to next year. Petruzzelli is likely on the short list for Team USA. And in the immediate future, there’s a pair of games against No. 2 Cornell this weekend.

Petruzzelli is not an immediate fix, but he’s certainly the light at the end of the goaltending depth tunnel that Detroit sorely needs right now.

Continued (paywall)…