Atlantic Notes: Detroit’s Prospects, Babcock, Canadiens
With the Detroit Red Wings still deciding on how to proceed after a disappointing season, it’s the playoff run for AHL affiliate Grand Rapids that stands as a great development tool for future prospects writes the Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan. The Griffins lead the AHL in most playoff games played (59) since 2013, and look to build upon this with a slew of young talent destined to fill the NHL roster. Yesterday’s Calder Cup playoff opener saw the Griffins drop Milwaukee 4-3, thanks to the efforts of several young players, namely Tomas Nosek and Evgeny Svechnikov. Nosek potted the overtime game winner while Svechnikov added one of his own. While it’s not the NHL, Kulfan adds that the playoff atmosphere is the perfect way to expose the younger players to the pressures that wait. Both Nosek and Svechnikov had a cup of coffee with the Wings this season, and a longer playoff run will help those two, along with the others, grow in ability as they approach a regular gig in the NHL.
- The Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons writes that in the midst of Buffalo’s turmoil, it was Mike Babcock’s wife who ultimately won the battle between Buffalo and Toronto for getting his services. It turns out, according to Simmons, that Mrs. Babcock’s decision was certainly a good one as Babcock has guided a young and talented Toronto roster to the playoffs (currently down 3-2 to Washington) while Tim Murray and Dan Bylsma find themselves on the unemployment line. This of course, is all interesting to look at in light of the recent developments. Simmons adds that Babcock initially preferred the Sabres’ roster to the Leafs–but ultimately chose the Leafs.
- The New York Post’s Brett Cyrgalis reports that the Rangers plan on pushing back at the Canadiens crease crashing as they try to close out the Atlantic Division champs tonight. The Habs have put intense pressure on Rangers’ netminder Henrik Lundqvist in the paint, and the efforts should only intensify as Montreal faces elimination. The Rangers have elevated their physical play, namely defenseman Brendan Smith who fought Andrew Shaw Thursday night. But the Canadiens, for their part, are “excited” at the pressure facing them, and plan on focusing first on game six before looking too far ahead.
Detroit Red Wings Sign Christoffer Ehn To Three-Year Deal
The Detroit Red Wings have come to an agreement with one of their Swedish prospects, inking Christoffer Ehn to a three-year entry-level deal. No financials on the deal have been released so far, but Ehn is already with the Grand Rapids Griffins and will play in their round one matchup with the Milwaukee Admirals.
Ehn, 21, is a big center who has been playing in Frolunda for the past several years, winning an SHL championship last season. Teammates with Montreal Canadiens forward Artturi Lehkonen and Maple Leafs’ prospect Andreas Johnson among others, Ehn was relied upon as a checking center instead of scorer. He scored 13 points in 52 games this season, his career high in the SHL and still has a long way to go in his offensive development.
What he can do already is play in his own end and think the game at a high level. If Detroit can unlock some of the offensive skills that he’s shown at times, they could have a solid middle-six center in a year or two. Selected in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, he has a long way to go to catch the breakout star of that round—Viktor Arvidsson. Grand Rapids will start their playoff series tomorrow night at home, but it would be unlikely to expect Ehn to be in the lineup so soon.
The Future In Detroit: Frans Nielsen & Steve Ott
When Ansar Khan of MLive caught up with Frans Nielsen for his latest article, the Red Wings center had a very clear message for the direction of the team: they need Steve Ott. No, not necessarily Ott himself, but more players like him that can open up room for their more skilled forwards by making defenders pay while retrieving a puck.
Every time we’d get the puck down in their end, he’d finish checks on their D. At some point, they’re going to be tired of that and they’re going to back off and that’s going to give our skill guys a little more room. They’re going to give up that four or five feet at the blue line and you can come in and hit guys coming in late.
This is a prevailing theory around the league, that less-skilled players create room for their more talented linemates, opening up space for them to create scoring chances. It’s a tactic that has been used to great success in Toronto, where former Red Wings coach Mike Babcock has strapped Zach Hyman to Auston Matthews‘ hip for the entire season, despite his disappointing point totals. Detroit’s new bench boss, Jeff Blashill, is a Babcock pupil of sorts and may want to employ the same strategy.
Ignoring for a moment that the Red Wings in fact had the real Ott for much of the season, only to decide that at 25-26-10 they would sell at the deadline, we’ll take a look at possible options for the team this offseason. Assuming that Nielsen is right, and that the team needs some “more mean attitude” and an ability to back up those defenders, here are some of the options they could have for relatively cheap this summer (along with their age at the start of next year and current salary).
Steve Ott, 35, $800K
They could in fact get the real thing back, though Ott will now be 35 and didn’t work out very well for them the first time. The gritty forward is playing just over 12 minutes in the playoffs for Montreal, and has been that in-your-face presence for the club in their series against the New York Rangers. He’ll likely cost around the same amount next year, if he doesn’t decide to hang up his skates.
Chris Kunitz, 38, $3.55MM
Kunitz isn’t exactly the pest Ott is, but he was among the leaders in the NHL in hits once again and would never be called a soft player. He also provides at least a little bit of offensive upside, though he took a step backwards this season with just 29 points. At 38, he wouldn’t cost very much but also could fall off a cliff in effectiveness.
Ryan White, 29, $1MM
White was traded to Minnesota at the deadline along with Martin Hanzal, and though he was an effective grinder down the stretch hasn’t shown up much in the playoffs. White will be an unrestricted free agent again this summer and will cost around the same amount as this season.
Andreas Martinsen, 27, $640K
One of the other Montreal acquisitions at the deadline, Martinsen was playing very little on Colorado even though they were last in the NHL. The move to Montreal gave him a little more icetime, but he’s been relatively ineffective in the postseason. He’ll be lucky to get a one-way deal this summer.
Roman Polak, 31, $2.25MM
Polak just suffered a nasty injury to take him out for the rest of the playoffs, but should return for next season. An unrestricted free agent, he adds some toughness and a mean streak to the back end. While he started out quite poorly for the Maple Leafs, a late season turnaround and strong playoff debut should get him another contract between $1.5-2MM. If the Red Wings decide to upgrade their grit at both ends of the rink, he could be an option.
Brian Boyle, 32, $2MM
Boyle isn’t exactly a grinder as he can contribute offensively at times, but his physical style fits perfectly into a bottom six that wants to be tough to play against. Add in that he’s a dynamo in the faceoff dot, and can kill penalties and he may be exactly what Nielsen wants on the team. His leadership and playoff success might get him a raise this summer, likely between $2.7-3.2MM per season for several years.
East Notes: Tatar, Stephenson, Sparks, Lindgren
Ken Holland has a lot of work cut out for him this summer, even if he did get a vote of confidence from the Red Wings owner today. With a team struggling to get anything going during the season, he broke some more bad news today at their final presser of the year. According to Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News, Holland said that Tomas Tatar will be out 4-6 months following shoulder surgery, putting training camp and the start of the season in jeopardy.
Tatar had 46 points this season and his third straight twenty-goal campaign, but couldn’t help the Red Wings continue their playoff streak. The 26-year old is one of the more interesting names to follow in the summer, as he is a restricted free agent and may be one of the best chips the Red Wings have in a potential rebuild. His injury doesn’t help that, as teams will be wary of acquiring a player who needs that much rehab. He made just $2.75MM this season, but will command a heft raise after three straight 45+ point seasons.
- The Washington Capitals have sent Chandler Stephenson down to the Hershey Bears, as they finalize their roster before the first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Stephenson suited up for just four games this season, and has yet to find a way to crack into the Capitals lineup on a full-time basis. The 22-year old center has 38 points in 71 games this season in the AHL, but is still waiting for his first NHL point.
- The Maple Leafs sent Garret Sparks back to the minors as Frederik Andersen returned to practice and is expected to play game 1 on Thursday. Sparks never did get a chance to start a game for the Maple Leafs this season, despite an excellent season in the AHL. His .926 save percentage was among the minor league leaders, and bodes well for his chances at a backup position this summer. Curtis McElhinney, the Maple Leafs current backup, is an unrestricted free agent this summer.
- The Leafs also dipped into their unsigned prospect pool, signing Jesper Lindgren to an amateur tryout after his season ended with MODO of the Swedish junior league. Lindgren is another small defender who has offensive upside, as he showed with 24 points in 50 games this season.
Snapshots: Holland, Blashill, Dallas
The Detroit Red Wings missed the playoffs for the first time in a quarter century, and with it many fans were calling for the head of GM Ken Holland. While his recent history doesn’t sparkle with shrewd moves, the team feels as though he’s still the man to lead them back to the promised land. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports that Christopher Illitch—son of the late Mike Illitch, who owned the Red Wings from 1982 through his death earlier this year—still has “100% confidence” in Holland and still thinks he’s the man to bring another championship to Detroit.
While votes of confidence from owners don’t always mean anything, it does seem that Holland is safe in Detroit. Illitch also said that head coach Jeff Blashill’s tenure with the team would be up to Holland, who later said that Blashill would return as coach. The Red Wings will go into the summer with several question marks on their roster, including what to do in net and on the blue line. With Petr Mrazek not running away with the starting job like the Red Wings had hoped, they again have a controversy over what to do with Jimmy Howard and his $5.29MM cap hit.
- For now, Blashill will be heading to the World Championships where he will coach Team USA. In fact, the coach will be taking Howard with him according to Ansar Khan of MLive. Blashill was an assistant coach for Team USA at the World Juniors in 2009, but has not since represented his country on the international stage. The tournament begins for Team USA on May 5th in Germany when they will take on the host country.
- Both Darren Dreger of TSN and Mark Spector of Sportsnet believe that the Dallas Stars will be moving quickly on their next head coach, perhaps even hiring him by the end of the week. Spector believes that Ken Hitchcock, a former Stars coach who was fired by the St. Louis Blues midway through this season, is one of the finalists, while Dreger names Gerard Gallant and Willie Desjardins as other top candidates. For what it’s worth, Craig Custance of ESPN guessed this morning that it would be Hitchcock. The 65-year old Hitchcock has 781 career coaching wins, putting him behind only Scotty Bowman, Joel Quennville and Al Arbour all-time.
Minor Moves: Canucks, Devils, Sabres, Red Wings
With the Utica Comets two points out of a playoff spot with three games remaining, their parent club the Vancouver Canucks have sent them some reinforcements. Nikolay Goldobin, Richard Bachman and Yan-Pavel Laplante have all been sent down to the AHL. The trio were all up with the Canucks for the final game of the season, but will now try to go on a Cup run of their own.
Despite never having suited up for the Comets, Goldobin is actually playoff eligible thanks to a paper transaction on March 1st. In fact, the same type of transaction was needed for Bachman because he was up with the club at the time. Goldobin should provide a solid offensive presence for the Comets, after he scored 41 points in 46 games for the San Jose Barracuda before being traded for Jannik Hansen at the deadline.
- New Jersey has sent their own troops down to try and hold off those Comets, as the Albany Devils will welcome back Joseph Blandisi, Blake Coleman, Ben Thomson and Miles Wood from the NHL. Albany is the team just two points ahead of the Comets for the last playoff spot in the North Division. Coleman and Blandisi especially will help the offense of the Devils, with both scoring nearly a point-per-game during their AHL time this season. The group will try to improve on a round two exit last season, despite a much worse record heading into the playoffs.
- Buffalo has returned Alexander Nylander, Evan Rodrigues and Linus Ullmark to the Rochester Americans, though the team is not headed for the playoffs. The trio will play the last few games before hanging up the skates for the summer and working to win full-time jobs again next fall. All three are in contention for the NHL come September, with Ullmark hoping the team decides not to bring back pending UFA Anders Nilsson.
- Matt Lorito, Tomas Nosek, Ben Street and Robbie Russo are all headed to Grand Rapids for their own Calder Cup run, as Detroit sends them down to keep playing. The quartet should be welcomed into the second place Griffins who look as dangerous as anyone in the AHL this year. Head coach Todd Nelson will be happy to get the group back after a recent 4-5-1 stretch that has seen them lose their first place standing to the Chicago Wolves.
Red Wings Notes: Rebuilding, Routines At The Joe, Sheahan
ESPN’s Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun give their opinions on how the Red Wings should proceed as they miss the playoffs for the first time since 1990. Burnside takes the approach that the talent in the system isn’t what it used to be and is curious to see if the likes of Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha are truly the real deal. LeBrun points out that the Wings extension of the playoff streak hurt their stock as they missed out on drafting premier talent should they have embraced changing instead of making the playoffs and getting bounced quickly. Both agree it will be a long road back, instead of a quick fix like general manager Ken Holland believes it can be.
- The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James talked to a number of players and staff about their routines at the Joe. For Holland, he drives between home and the arena during playoff games out of nerves, and looks forward to an office where he will have windows. His current digs are “in the bowels” of the arena whereas his new one will overlook the Fox Theater and Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers. Head coach Jeff Blashill spends his time at the Joe scouting and working out–so he doesn’t yell at the refs “too much.” His days are also filled with meetings–everything from watching tape to fixing the power play. Forward Justin Abdelkader spends his time eating, in meetings, and then going to lunch with teammates. A mid-afternoon nap gets wedged into day before Abdelkader returns for meetings and a game.
- In a preview for the Wings-Habs tilt, MLive’s Brendan Savage writes that the final two games of the season are big ones for Riley Sheahan. The Detroit forward is still searching for his first goal of the season. He holds the dubious honor of most shots on goal without scoring, and Savage calls it “baffling” after Sheahan posted double-digit goals in 2015-16 (14), and 2014-15 (13).
Snapshots: Zaitsev, Sobotka, Meier, Lorito
When the NHL announced its intentions to not attend the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympic Games, many Russian stars stood by their previous statements about heading there anyway. CSKA Moscow of the KHL even came out saying they would try to lure players back to Russia with the promise of the Olympics. Nikita Zaitsev, the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie was one of those players since he will technically still be a restricted free agent come the summer.
Zaitsev though is in the process of finalizing a huge extension with the Leafs, and told Chris Johnston of Sportsnet today that the Olympic decision won’t change his plans for staying in North America. “I think everybody wants to play for their national team, especially in the Olympics, but it’s not the right time to think about it right now,” he told Johnston. The 25-year old defender has represented his country at several international tournaments in the past, though never an Olympic Games.
- Both Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and Andy Strickland of Fox Sports believe that a Vladimir Sobotka decision will be announced soon, after the news broke that he was discussing a multi-year contract extension with the team. Sobotka isn’t a superstar and never will be, but could give the Blues even more depth down the middle for a long playoff run. If he returns to the team this year, he’ll be honoring the one-year $2.725MM deal that was awarded by an arbitrator before heading to the KHL three years ago.
- Timo Meier won’t unpack his bags just yet, as Kevin Kurz of NBC reports he has been recalled by the team once again. Meier went down to the Barracuda yesterday to play in an AHL contest that he dominated, scoring two goals and flying all over the ice. He hasn’t been able to find that same finishing ability in the NHL, but remains one of the top prospects in the league because of his tremendous potential.
- Andreas Athanasiou may miss Saturday’s game for the Detroit Red Wings with an upper-body injury and, according to Ansar Khan of MLive, if he does the team will call up Matt Lorito from the AHL. Lorito has 54 points in 59 games this season but has still yet to crack an NHL lineup. The 26-year old has come a long way since playing in the OJHL as a youngster, unable to crack an OHL squad. Four years at Brown University and a grind in the AHL may culminate in an NHL debut on Hockey Night In Canada against the Montreal Canadiens.
Red Wings Sign Dennis Cholowski To Entry-Level Deal
The Red Wings are set to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1990, but there’s at least some optimism in Detroit regarding the future of the franchise. Today, the organization announced that they have signed defenseman Dennis Cholowski to a three-year entry-level contract.
Cholowski, the 20th pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, played 36 games for St. Cloud State University this past season. The freshman finished the campaign with one goal, 11 assists, and 14 penalty minutes. As the press release notes, the 19-year-old collected the fourth-most points among NCAA defenseman born in 1998.
Cholowski previously played with the Chilliwack Chiefs of the British Columbia Hockey League, where he earned a Second-Team BCHL All-Star birth following a 12-goal, 28-assist 2015-16 campaign. The defender also won gold as a member of Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge, where he tallied a pair of assists.
Morning Notes: ISS Rankings, Marchand, Girard
The International Scouting Service (ISS) has released their latest draft rankings, and the center position dominates. Behind Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier—who are still ranked #1-2 respectively—Gabe Vilardi slides into the #3 slot and twelve other centers appear in the top-31 names. While many of the names down the list don’t project as elite first line players, there is a lot of talent to be had to build a team from the middle. Casey Mittelstadt has jumped to number five, and Timothy Liljegren continues to drop down the list.
A name we’ve said to watch before, Owen Tippett, has moved all the way up into the #4 position and is having a strong playoff run with Mississauga. The Steelheads are through to the next round and will face the Oshawa Generals on Friday. Tippett is the best pure goal scorer in the draft, and will have an interesting case for jumping right to the NHL next season.
- Brad Marchand will have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety on Thursday, regarding the spearing incident last night. Marchand used his stick to violently spear Jake Dotchin in the groin and was assessed a five minute major and game misconduct. With the Boston Bruins clinching a playoff spot last night, any suspension that took Marchand out for more than two games would leak into the postseason and possibly be devastating for the club. The Hart Trophy candidate has been suspended three times in the past and fined on multiple occasions. His standing as a repeat offender may mean at least one playoff game will be included.
- The Nashville Predators have assigned Samuel Girard to the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. The 18-year old defenseman was eliminated from the playoffs when Shawinigan lost to Val-d’Or on Sunday. A second-round pick last summer, Girard had 75 points in 59 games and added another nine in five playoff contests. His offensive potential is incredible, and the Predators defense factory has turned undersized players into excellent all-around defenders before.
- After playing in two games with the Red Wings, Evgeny Svechnikov has been sent back to the AHL. The young winger was held pointless, but scored the shootout winner against the Ottawa Senators on Monday night. He’ll now head down to the Grand Rapids Griffins and try to win a Calder Cup.