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Derek Lalonde

Detroit Red Wings Issue Injury Updates

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The Detroit Red Wings have issued an official update on Filip Zadina’s timeline, after suffering a lower-body injury a few days ago. The young forward will miss six to eight weeks, pausing what had already been a disappointing start to the season. Head coach Derek Lalonde also announced that Tyler Bertuzzi and Jake Walman will be out another seven to ten days, while Oskar Sundqvist is listed as day-to-day but should play on Thursday.

Zadina, 22, had gone completely scoreless through nine games before suffering the injury, recording just 12 shots on goal. That has been a common theme in his young career, which has resulted in just 25 goals and 61 points through 169 games. Selected sixth overall in 2018 there was so much more expected of the Czech forward, especially when he put up 16 goals as a teenage rookie in the AHL. But scoring has been inconsistent for him in the NHL and now he’ll miss the better part of two months when the team is finally competitive.

If there is a silver lining for Zadina, it’s that he already signed a three-year, $5.475MM contract this summer that locked him in through 2024-25. The Red Wings have enough cap space this year that it doesn’t really matter if he underperforms that $1.825MM cap hit but that won’t always be the case. With Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and others scheduled for unrestricted free agency and in need of big extensions, the money in Detroit will be counted a little more closely moving forward.

Hopefully, this time off can give him a bit of a reset and he’ll come back in a better place, but there will be other players stepping up in his absence. It’s not clear what kind of role will be left for him on his return, especially given how little he was playing before the injury happened.

Training Camp Notes: Stone, Biakabutuka, Mangiapane

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Injury troubles plagued the Vegas Golden Knights last season, something they can ill-afford a repeat of in 2022-23. There’s some good news on that front regarding one of their star players, though, as right wing Mark Stone skated in a contact jersey today for the first time during training camp.

The Golden Knights will count on Stone to have a rebound year as their captain, especially with their offensive depth thinning. The 2021 Selke Trophy finalist and 2019 runner-up played in just 37 games due to injury last season, registering nine goals, 21 assists, and 30 points. Hopefully, the serious back injuries that plagued him last season don’t become a long-term issue for the 30-year-old.

  • Somewhat of a rarity these days, a player attending camp on an amateur tryout might do well enough to earn a contract within the organization. Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen notes that the Red Wings have been impressed with defenseman Jérémie Biakabutuka, with head coach Derek Lalonde complimenting his skating and compete level. The 20-year-old is set to return to the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders next season but could receive an NHL entry-level contract from Detroit or receive an AHL offer from the Grand Rapids Griffins when his season is over.
  • Calgary Flames winger Andrew Mangiapane was a full participant in camp today after missing the first four days of group skates with what the team called a “minor lower-body injury.” He made his return to scrimmages skating on a line with newcomer Nazem Kadri, a role he’s likely to reprise in the regular season as well. Mangiapane is coming off a career-high 35 goals and 55 points.

Detroit Red Wings Hire Bob Boughner, Alex Westlund

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The Detroit Red Wings have brought in some experience to help Derek Lalonde’s transition to head coach, hiring the recently-dismissed Bob Boughner as an associate coach. The team has also brought in Alex Westlund as goaltending coach for the upcoming season.

Boughner, 51, was fired by the San Jose Sharks when they decided to allow the incoming general manager to choose his own coaching staff. That ended a run that spanned parts of three seasons, in which he went 67-85-23. While you certainly can’t blame Boughner for all of the Sharks’ struggles, moving back to an assistant role seemed likely given how late he was released into the open market.

In fact, he’ll get an associate role in Detroit, giving him even more responsibility and sway with the organization as they transition away from Jeff Blashill and into a new coaching era. Lalonde has head coaching experience at the USHL, ECHL, and AHL levels but not in the NHL, where he has only served as an assistant. Having a veteran like Boughner, who also played more than 600 games in the NHL, should only aid his move to head coach.

Westlund, meanwhile, is coming over from the Hershey Bears, where he has served as goaltending coach for the last five years. The former minor league goaltender last played in 2013-14 with the Wheeling Nailers and actually carved out quite a professional career despite standing just 5’9″, a height that is usually dismissed by most scouts. He’ll now get a chance to work with Alex Nedeljkovic and Ville Husso at the NHL level, while helping the development of top prospect Sebastian Cossa, the Red Wings’ goalie of the future.

Snapshots: Makar, Detroit, New Jersey

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Not only did Cale Makar take home the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman and win a Stanley Cup after just his third season in the league, but he was awarded the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP. It wasn’t a close race. All 18 voters selected the young Colorado Avalanche defenseman as the winner, utterly demolishing his only real competition in Nathan MacKinnon, who appeared on all but one ballot (15 second place votes, two third place).

It has been an incredible start to a career for Makar, who currently sits at 180 points in 178 regular season games, 60 more in 55 postseason contests, and now has three major individual awards before he even turns 24. His 29 points in this postseason are the fourth-most ever for a defenseman in a single year, trailing only Paul Coffey (37 in 1985), Brian Leetch (34 in 1994), and Al MacInnis (31 in 1989).

  • The Detroit Red Wings are getting closer to naming a head coach, now that they will be able to interview Tampa Bay Lightning assistants Jeff Halpern and Derek Lalonde. Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News writes that Lalonde is currently considered a slight favorite for the job after his impressive rise through the ranks as a head coach. The Tampa Bay assistant has previous stops as head man with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL, Toledo Walleye of the ECHL, and Iowa Wild of the AHL, having never experienced a losing season at any stop.
  • The New Jersey Devils have had preliminary contract talks with several pending free agents, including Mason Geertsen and A.J. Greer according to Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com, but not Frederik Gauthier, who is set to hit the open market next month. It appears as though the 2013 first-round pick might have to find a new place to ply his trade, even after his best minor league season to date. The 27-year-old Gauthier had 32 points in 51 games for the Utica Comets but was held scoreless in eight NHL contests.

Atlantic Notes: Cernak, Johnson, Ullmark, Heinen

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have seen their hit numbers skyrocket this season as the team has 200 more hits than they did at this point last season and much of that credit can go to the play of rookie defenseman Erik Cernak. The 21-year-old already has 91 hits this season as his play has only made the Lightning even tougher on the ice.

“If there’s a surprise, it’s that he’s getting better,” head coach Jon Cooper said. “You sit and say, ‘OK, this kid is going to play in the NHL, it’s a matter of when. But there’s still some development to do.’ But he’s stepped right in, played with (Ryan McDonagh). … The one thing that he has done is he can handle the big boys. He can skate with the big boys. That’s the one thing that maybe we didn’t give him enough credit for until you see him do it.

Joe Smith of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Lightning may be coming close to a point where they intend to commit to the rookie as a permanent member of their top-six. Cernak has been amongst a group of defenseman who have taken turns sitting out in a rotation that includes Mikhail Sergachev, Dan Girardi, Braydon Coburn and even Anton Stralman. Smith adds that over the next month or two, the team may want to settle on their top-six defenders before the playoffs to solidify their blueline chemistry. Cernak is making a case to being one of those top six.

  • NHL.com’s Bryan Burns writes that Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Johnson remains out with a lower-body injury that he suffered against Toronto Thursday. The scribe writes that Tampa Bay assistant coach Derek Lalonde said he expects Johnson to be back after the team returns from its bye week, which the team will start after their game tonight against San Jose.
  • At the start of the season, Buffalo Sabres goaltender Linus Ullmark was the team’s backup goaltender behind newly signed Carter Hutton, but Jon Vogl of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that things have changed in Buffalo now after Ullmark has appeared in four straight games recently. Now, they are considered co-starters as the 25-year-old has posted a 10-4-4 record this year, including a .914 save percentage, while Hutton has struggled since November. In his last 12 starts, Hutton has a 2.82 GAA and a .898 save percentage.
  • Despite an impressive rookie campaign last year, Boston Bruins forward Danton Heinen has struggled considerably this season as the 23-year-old has just five goals and 12 points in 46 games. However, while the team has scratched many of their players recently such as David Backes, Ryan Donato and Noel Acciari, Heinen has avoided being a healthy scratch recently. NBC Sports’ Joe Haggerty writes that head coach Bruce Cassidy feels that while his offense is struggling, Heinen has other parts of his game that continue to help Boston win. “As long as he helps us win he’ll stay in and we’ll allow him to play through it. Unless we find a player that’s better or more suited, then we’ll always take a look at that,” said Cassidy. “That could be from within if a player grows his game and passed him. But right now he’s still a positive for us.”

Coaching Notes: Cronin, Rallo, Lalonde

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Greg Cronin will be the new head coach of the Colorado Eagles as they move from the ECHL to the AHL for the 2018-19 season. Cronin had served with the New York Islanders for the past four seasons, first as an assistant coach and then as an associate with Doug Weight last season. With Barry Trotz coming in and bringing in a new group, Cronin will head to the AHL where the Eagles are trying to follow up incredible ECHL success with a bang in their first year of AHL contention.

Under Aaron Schneekloth—who will remain with the team as an assistant coach—the Eagles have won two consecutive Kelly Cups in the ECHL. They’ll be trying for the Calder this year, but Schneekloth, assistant Ryan Tobler and goaltending coach Ryan Bach will still be there for the journey under Cronin’s leadership. It is experienced leadership, as Cronin has many years of experience in the NHL as well as time spent as a head coach in both the AHL and NCAA.

  • Greg Rallo won’t have to wait long for his next career to begin, as the 36-year old has been named an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Admirals. Rallo only finished his playing career recently, suiting up for 29 games with the Texas Stars in the 2017-18 season. He’ll join head coach Karl Taylor—who was an assistant coach with Texas while Rallo played there—as part of a new staff with the Nashville Predators’ AHL affiliate.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have nabbed a coach from the Minnesota Wild organization, hiring Derek Lalonde as an NHL assistant coach for next season. Lalonde had been the head coach of the Iowa Wild in the AHL for the last two years, and is on a fast track to being an NHL head coach one day. He’s flown quickly through head coaching roles in the USHL, ECHL and AHL with winning records at all stops, and will now join a staff in Tampa Bay that is expected to compete for the Stanley Cup. Lalonde was hired to coach the Green Bay Gamblers just a year after now-Lightning head coach Jon Cooper left that organization following a championship season, only to bring the USHL team another championship in 2012.

Wild Blue Liner Brodin Out With Broken Finger

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Jonas Brodin met with a hand specialist today to determine the severity and treatment options for a broken finger the defenseman suffered last night, reports Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. Wild GM Chuck Fletcher is expecting the blue liner to be out at least “a few weeks” but his absence could be longer depending on whether he’ll need surgery to repair the break. According to Russo, the worst case scenario could keep Brodin sidelined for up to six weeks and given the compressed nature of the NHL schedule this season, it means he could miss as many as 18 games.

Brodin is an important cog on the team’s blue line, averaging the third-most ice time among the team’s defense corps while seeing action in all situations. In 43 games this season, the 23-year-old Swede has three goals and 16 points. That represents a significant uptick from his 2015-16 performance when Brodin registered just seven points in 68 games.

Russo relays that Wild bench boss Bruce Boudreau will reach out to the head coach of the club’s AHL affiliate in Iowa, Derek Lalonde, for input on whom to call up in Brodin’s absence. He speculates the two most likely candidates are Mike Reilly and Gustav Olofsson and would hinge on whether the team would prefer a more offensive-minded option (Reilly) who could fill in on the man-advantage or one who is better in the defensive zone (Gustafsson).

At least in the short term, it appears the team will dress Nate Prosser, though as Russo writes, the veteran coach has not yet decided which side he will play on. Prosser is a right-handed shot and should Boudreau elect to slot the 30-year-old on his natural side, it would suggest one of Mathew Dumba or Christian Folin could be scratched with the call-up from Iowa drawing into the lineup. The alternative would be using Prosser on his off-side with the call-up serving as the extra blue liner.

While losing a proven, top-four defenseman like Brodin is never ideal, the Wild are at least one of the few teams in the league with enough quality blue line depth to survive his absence. In fact, it’s this depth that has led some to wonder whether the team would attempt to parlay one of their defenders into additional scoring help, though Brodin’s injury likely reduces the odds of that possibility.

 

Snapshots: Puljujarvi, Lalonde, Backes

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With the Entry Draft getting closer and closer, there has been lots of chatter over who will go after Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine go in the top two selections. The expected #3 pick, Jesse Puljujarvi hasn’t exactly helped his stock as Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch reported yesterday that the Finnish winger underwent knee surgery after winning gold at the World U-18’s in April. He will be missing all the summer development camps, but should be ready for the regular season. While Columbus wonders what to do with the third overall pick, here’s more from around the league:

  • Up-and-coming coaching prospect Derek Lalonde has been hired on as the newest head coach of the Iowa Wild, reports Jeff Cox of ESPN. Lalonde previously coached in both the USHL and ECHL and is considered by many to be a coach on the rise. The Wild, who finished last in the AHL last season were coached by John Torchetti until he moved up to Minnesota after the mid-season firing of Mike Yeo.
  • Although they’d be open to a return, it sounds like the St. Louis Blues will not be re-signing captain David Backes.  When asked by Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Dispatch, GM Doug Armstrong related as much: “I think the unrestricted guys will most likely hit the open market. We’d like to have David back…but it has to work for both sides, not just one. We’re willing to invest a little bit of ’thank you’ money, but it has to make sense.”

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