The Red Wings announced Saturday that they’ve activated winger James van Riemsdyk from the non-roster list and assigned defenseman Erik Gustafsson to AHL Grand Rapids to open a spot on the active roster. Gustafsson previously cleared waivers on Monday, so he doesn’t need them again for today’s demotion.
van Riemsdyk, 36, will presumably be making his Red Wings debut tonight when they host the Maple Leafs, where he played from 2012-18. JVR joined Detroit on a one-year, $1MM deal with up to $750K in performance bonuses in free agency this past summer after churning out 16 goals in 71 games with the Blue Jackets last year, his most since the 2021-22 season. He’s far from being the 60-point producer he was at his peak but has still averaged a healthy 41 points per 82 games over the last four seasons.
Based on line rushes at yesterday’s practice, van Riemsdyk is likely to draw in for Elmer Söderblom in a fourth-line role alongside Michael Rasmussen and Mason Appleton. That means rookies Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Emmitt Finnie, and Axel Sandin Pellikka will all remain in the lineup after making their NHL debuts in Detroit’s opening-night 5-1 loss to the Canadiens.
van Riemsdyk had missed most of training camp while on personal leave, so he landed on the non-roster list to begin the year as he got back up to game speed in practice. He and Appleton were the most notable signings from what was otherwise a relatively quiet free agency period for the Red Wings.
The reassignment for Gustafsson is the easy path to take after his waiver clearance. The lefty signed a two-year, $4MM contract in 2024 that, like a good portion of general manager Steve Yzerman’s recent free-agent pickups on the blue line, hasn’t worked out all that well. He only made 60 appearances last season due to a combination of a late-season injury and healthy scratches, and his standing on the team in this year’s camp was further limited by the emergence of Sandin-Pellikka and a new batch of newer, cheaper UFA pickups in Jacob Bernard-Docker and Travis Hamonic.
Gustafsson will still count for $850K against the cap for the Wings while in the minors. After being scratched for Detroit’s season opener, he’ll now be ticketed for his first AHL action in eight years, last recording 17 points in 25 games for Rockford while in the Blackhawks organization in 2017-18.
Activating a winger who’s pushing 40 years old should help, Honestly, The Steve Yzerman experiment has to end, Red Wings fans have suffered enough, I have a feeling, Detroit management dosen’t have the guts to fire the Red Wings legend.
I totally agree. I’ve been saying it on this board for years.
Anybody else not named Yzerman would have been fired after year three. That’s a fact.
His end of the year press conference last year was a complete train wreck. I’m sure it’s on YouTube or somewhere out there. It’s worth a watch. The guy actually read a prepared statement? That’s unprecedented. His behavior in that press conference was that of an autocrat. In other words you’re not allowed to criticize him. He knows best.
I applaud Larkin for saying he was disappointed in the lack of impactful moves at the trade deadline. Yzerman was furious with Larkin for saying the truth out loud. He has such thin skin.
They’ve needed a legit second line center for years. I like Kasper. He’s going to be a good NHL top nine guy for years, but even he is not a legit point a game type of playmaker center you need to go along with Larkin. And I’m not saying Larkin is a legit number one center. If DeBrincat is on your second line, someone has to get him the puck. He’s a legit potential 40-goal scorer with a play making center.
Yzerman is the golden child of the Ilitches. He knows it. He’s convinced Chris Ilitch that “it’s a process.” In other words, give me another contract myself. It’s called buying job security.
He’s constantly trying to catch lightning in a bottle with journeymen, guys coming off injuries who are “primed to bounce back”, and guys who he thinks played behind bad teams who will bounce back with the Wings.
They need to completely clean house and get rid Yzerman, Draper, Maltby, Fischer, Cleary. I’d keep Lidstrom, Kronwall and Shawn Horcoff.
I’m so sick of Draper talking about these draft picks whose “motor is always running, and he’s a 200 foot player, his compete level.” They need point a game type of guys.
Yzerman’s bizarre handling of the goalie situation is troubling. Substituting one mid 30 year old goalie for another isn’t going to anything.
I think of the job Jimmy Nill has done with Dallas and wonder if we can pry him back to Detroit. He seems to always find ways to make moves that help his club. He’s the guy I’d go after.
You do understand that in 2024, exaxtly the same as in 2023, there were only 28 players in the NHL who were as you put it “point per game” players right? In 2022 there was an explosion of point per game players with…. 29 players reaching that distinction. You dont think all 32 NHL teams want point per game players on every line? You cant just snap your fingers and have them magically appear.
Players have to WANT to come play for your team, and Ken Holland spent a decade giving away picks and drafting poorly to stay relevant, creating a horrible roster, with no future impact, and in the process deterring all major FAs for years.
Yzerman spent his first three years trying to get back to neutral. His 2nd three years were the actual beginning of the build we are now finally seeing come to the NHL roster. Has it been good enough? No. Could it be far worse? You bet your behind it could. I’m not saying Yzerman should be untouchable, nor am I saying he’s been perfect. But to disregard the utter disaster he inherited, is completly unfair. Not to mention he’s never had a draft pick higher than #6. He didnt get a shot at a Bedard or Celebrini or Power, or Hughes etc franchise altering players taken #1, he’s had to do it with guys who took a litte more time. Every #1 has hit so far in the Yzerman era. Every. Single. One. Raymond, check, Seider, check. Edvinsson, check. Kasper, check. Sandin-Pellika and Brandsegg-Nygaard just forced their way onto the team in their first year in America. All of them fit the description you hate from Draper.
Your comment on needing someone to feed deBrincat (who scored 39 last year by the way without that playmaking center)… pretty sure that’s what they paid Patrick Kane to do… who is one of those “guys coming off of injury primed to bounce back” you just threw away in your blanket statement of everything Yzerman has done is trash.
“Substituting one 30 year old goalie for another”, what would you rather him do? Block 2 of the top goalie prospects in the NHL for years to come with some middle of the pack guy? Who would you have signed? Dan Vladar? Vitek Vanacek? Kappo Kahkonen? Those were the top 3 not yet 30 goalies in FA this year. So who of those 3 spring boards this team to the playoffs?
The hate for Yzerman is so overblown, it’s getting ridiculous. Do I wish things were better, absolutely. But I’m also not sure there was a game changer of a move that’s been missed.
JVR’s motor is always running and his compete level is high. He’s also a “net front presence.”
Sincerely,
Stevie Y.