Detroit Red Wings Exhibition Season Observations: Hopes Look Ready

We’ll find out over the next week if the Detroit Red Wings can turn up the intensity once the game results become meaningful, but their warmup period left a lukewarm impression.

With the season opening Thursday and having played three games in three days, Sunday was a day off – at least for the players. Management, led by Steve Yzerman, will work to reduce the squad to the limit of 23 players.

In this regard, there are unlikely to be any surprises at the start of the season. But these are the prospects who have stood out from the preseason, giving every indication that they are ready to join the roster at some point in the near future.

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Here are the main observations from the exhibition season.

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The Wings came into camp looking to have three goaltenders, eight defensemen and 12 forwards. Barring injuries, that’s still the forecast (especially since there’s only $200,000 left under the salary cap). Ville Husso certainly allayed doubts about the lingering effects of the lower-body injury that kept him sidelined most of last season when he made 43 saves on Oct. 1 against a loaded Penguins lineup . Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon also look good. In defense, Moritz Seider, Ben Chiarot, Simon Edvinsson and Jeff Petry form the top four, with Olli Määttä and newcomer Erik Gustafsson the favorites to form the third duo, leaving Justin Holl and Albert Johansson in reserve. Johansson can no longer be sent to the minors without being exposed to waivers. Holl wasn’t used much last season by the coaching staff, but management thinks highly of him and would like to see him in the lineup more.

Up front, the spaces are occupied by lines expected to feature Dylan Larkin with Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond, JT Compher with Patrick Kane and newcomer Vladimir Tarasenko, Andrew Copp with Michael Rasmussen and Christian Fischer and, finally, Joe Veleno with Jonatan Berggren and free agent signee Tyler Motte.

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Youth will be served

The highlight of the exhibition season was the play by Nate Danielson, Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur. They may all be assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins to start the season, but they leave feeling like they deserve to be in Detroit, and soon. Danielson, drafted 9th overall in 2023, plays with a poise and wisdom beyond his 20s, displaying a 200-foot game that makes it easy for coaches to trust him in any situation . If the Wings need a center to plug into their top six, this is the Griffin it will make sense to call upon. Kasper, 20, the No. 8 pick in 2022, probably plays well at both ends of the ice and has some bite to his game. Energy is part of his DNA. He’s another center that could crack the top nine. Mazur, 22, the No. 70 pick in 2021, has the courage to slot in as a bottom-six winger.

About Norwegian

It’s nice – and necessary – for the Wings to see their first-round picks become impact players. They took the highly unusual step of bringing 2024 first-rounder Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (drafted 15th overall) to camp, even though he was already on their Swedish Hockey League team , Skellefteå. Brandsegg-Nygård’s size – at 18, he’s already 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds – was a key factor in seeing how he looks against NHL/AHL players. The Oslo native looked great in exhibitions, defending against men and playing with the puck. Yzerman must now decide what happens next. Skellefteå is an option, and the SHL is a great league to expand into – Kasper, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider have all done so – and the Wings have Nicklas Lidström, Niklas Kronwall and Håkan Andersson in Sweden to oversee Brandsegg’s development -Nygård. But the Griffins are also an option, and there he would already be in the Wings’ system and have a good start acclimating to the North American game and the smaller ice cap.

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The A’s

Last season, the Wings alternated who would wear the “A” as alternate captain among David Perron, Ben Chiarot and Andrew Copp. Perron is gone, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see more changes to the “A” group than that. Kane is such a natural leader that it shines through whether or not he has a letter on his sweater. Seider is a logical choice given his growth as a leader and the desire to encourage more of that on his part, as well as Lucas Raymond, for that matter.

A final thought on the regulars

Määttä expertly summed up how things went in the three exhibition games that the Wings fielded almost all of their NHL players and lost three times (5-1 Monday to a minor league Buffalo Sabers outfit , 2-0 Thursday against a minor league Toronto Maple). of the Leafs and 4-3 in overtime Friday against a minor league roster of the Ottawa Senators): “I think the structure is not bad, but it’s the competition,” Määttä said. “He who competes the most wins.”

The camp itself, since Traverse City and throughout the exhibition season, has been brisk and the coaching staff has been pleased with how the practices have gone, but less so with the performances in games. “It’s probably partly due to the preseason, and partly due to the unfortunate reality of veteran players getting what they need outside of exhibition games,” Lalonde said. “I don’t like it. As a coach you object to it because I don’t think you can just turn it on. And the games start here on Thursday.”

Contact Hélène St. James at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.

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