Detroit Red Wings Agree To Terms With Jonatan Berggren
The Detroit Red Wings are getting another top prospect under contract, agreeing to terms with Jonatan Berggren on a three-year entry-level contract. The young forward recently completed a breakout season with Skelleftea AIK in the SHL and will now begin his journey to the NHL.
Berggren, 20, was the 33rd overall pick in 2018, just a few picks after Joe Veleno. He stayed in Sweden after being selected and ended up scoring 45 points in 49 games this season, his first spent fully at the SHL level. Impressively, that was good enough to lead the powerful club and actually tied him for sixth in league scoring. As the release from the Red Wings includes, he became just the 13th player in SHL history to record 40 points in a season at age 20 or younger.
It’s that offensive potential that the Red Wings saw in the 5’8″ forward, and what will help him succeed at the next level. He has put up huge numbers at pretty much every step and will now be joining a program in Detroit that is filled to the brim with other talented youngsters. It’s not clear exactly where Berggren fits into the depth chart, but that’s certainly not a bad thing for a rebuilding club like the Red Wings.
Though sometimes with players like this, the first year of the entry-level contract is spent overseas, Berggren’s team indicated that his time there was finished after this season ended. It seems more likely that he’ll be suiting up for the Grand Rapids Griffins next season, or even the Red Wings should he make an impression in camp.
Detroit Red Wings Sign Eemil Viro
May 20: The Red Wings have officially announced the three-year entry-level deal with Viro.
May 19: The Red Wings have signed one of their 2020 draft picks as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve inked defenseman Eemil Viro to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal, which carries an AAV of $925K, breaks down as follows:
2021-22: $750K base salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $82.5K games played bonus
2022-23: $750K base salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $82.5K games played bonus
2023-24: $775K base salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $57.5K games played bonus
The 19-year-old was a third-round pick (70th overall) last fall after splitting last season between Finland’s top level and their junior league. This season, Viro made the jump to the SM-liiga on a full-time basis, getting into 53 games with TPS Turku where he recorded four goals and ten assists. He picked up four more points in 13 postseason contests along with 31 PIMS, good for the second-most in the league.
It’s worth noting that Viro has another year left on his deal in Finland and at this point, it seems likely that Detroit will opt to loan him back there for next season over having him play junior hockey or with AHL Grand Rapids. He should have another opportunity to suit up at the World Juniors after playing an important role on their bronze medal-winning team earlier this year where he logged more than 18 minutes a night on their back end.
Dylan Larkin Won't Need Surgery, Should Be Able To Resume Training In A Month
- Red Wings center Dylan Larkin won’t need surgery due to the neck injury he suffered late in the season, mentions Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. He expects to be able to resume training in a month and should be ready to go for 2021-22 where he’ll hope to rebound from a quiet campaign that saw him pick up just 23 points in 44 games.
Snapshots: Lafleur, Sedins, Seider
The QMJHL will never again have a player wearing No. 4. Guy Lafleur‘s number will be retired league-wide as of next season, celebrating his status as the league’s all-time greatest player. Before all of his success at the NHL level, Lafleur dominated the Q, recording 379 points in 118 regular season games. Amazingly, he scored more than 100 goals in each of his two seasons in the league, including seven in a single game (and five in a period!).
Lafleur would go on to be the first player from the league to be selected first overall and won five Stanley Cup championships during his Hall of Fame career. He will actually join Sidney Crosby as the only players to have their numbers retired league-wide, though it seems likely that at least Mario Lemieux will join them before long.
- Though rumblings continue to emerge about more drastic changes in the Vancouver Canucks front office, no official announcements have been made by the team. Darren Dreger of TSN however has heard that team ownership is in talks with Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin about potential roles in the organization, without giving any specifics on what those would be. Thomas Drance of The Athletic tweets that the discussions are “not centered on a president or GM-type top decision maker role.” The twins are two of the greatest players to ever pull on a Canucks sweater and will likely be linked to the organization in some fashion for the rest of their lives; an official role would only be an extension of that connection.
- Get excited Detroit, Moritz Seider is coming. The 20-year-old prospect was named Defenseman of the Year for the SHL this season after recording 28 points in 41 games for Rogle. Selected sixth overall in 2019, Seider signed his entry-level contract later that year but has yet to play a game for the Red Wings. Instead, he spent the entire 2019-20 season in the AHL developing his game with the Grand Rapids Griffins, before heading to Sweden to ensure a full season this time around. Playing against opponents sometimes more than a decade his elder, Seider was a dominant force at both ends of the rink.
Detroit Red Wings Extend Jeff Blashill
The Detroit Red Wings have decided the improvement the team saw under Jeff Blashill this season should continue, signing the head coach to a contract extension. General manager Steve Yzerman also announced that assistant coach Dan Bylsma will not return as he is going to pursue other opportunities in 2021-22. The team did not include details on the extension.
Blashill, 47, has been the head coach of the Red Wings since 2015 and with the organization since 2011. He had previously served as head coach of the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins, where he won a Calder Cup in 2013 and won the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL Coach of the Year. On three occasions, USA Hockey has tabbed Blashill as the head coach for the World Championship, though he has taken home just a bronze medal during those appearances.
It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Blashill is coming back after reports surfaced recently about contract negotiations, but it certainly won’t please every Red Wings fan. Detroit made the playoffs during his first year behind the bench but have been one of the league’s worst in the years since, finishing below the .500 mark in each of the last five seasons. Overall, Blashill has a 172-221-62 record as an NHL head coach and owns just one postseason victory.
After bottoming out in 2019-20, winning just 17 of 71 games, the team did rebound this season under Blashill’s leadership. The group was unlikely to compete for the playoffs as they continued a rebuild, but managed to climb out of the basement and finish ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Central Division. The Red Wings even had an impressive 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning late in the season and several other strong performances down the stretch. That improvement, along with the development of the young players, is likely why Blashill is coming back.
Still, given that the Red Wings haven’t quite turned the corner on their rebuild, it’s unclear if Blashill will actually be the head coach still when the team is really ready to contend.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Albin Grewe Linked To Ilves In Finland
- Red Wings prospect Albin Grewe is likely to sign with Ilves in Finland for next season, reports HockeySverige’s Uffe Bodin. The 20-year-old was a third-rounder back in 2019 (66th overall) and was unable to play with OHL Saginaw this year as planned with that league not playing. Instead, he remained with Djurgarden but had a limited role, notching just three goals and three assists in 39 games this season. A transfer to the SM-liiga could give him an opportunity for more playing time which would help his chances of eventually signing an NHL deal. Detroit holds Grewe’s rights through June 1, 2023.
Mathias Brome Signs In Switzerland
The Detroit Red Wings won’t be bringing back Mathias Brome next season, as the free agent forward has signed a two-year contract with HC Davos in Switzerland. While they could technically retain his restricted free agent rights by extending a qualifying offer this offseason, Brome will become an unrestricted free agent by the time this new contract in the NL expires.
Brome, 26, played 26 games for the Red Wings this season, his first (and perhaps only) season in North America. The Swedish forward was a star for Orebro HK in 2019-20, scoring 17 goals and 43 points in 52 games, but failed to bring any of that production to the NHL. In Detroit, he scored just a single goal and registered two points, ending up bouncing back and forth between the active roster and taxi squad for most of the year.
The fact that he is going back to Europe shouldn’t come as much of a surprise after that performance, but he is still a player to keep an eye on down the road. He’ll still be young enough in 2023 that an NHL team could potentially take another chance on him, should Brome want to return at that point. The Red Wings, who don’t have a single player on a one-way deal past the 2022-23 season, could afford to take chances on European free agents in the hopes that one would stick as an NHL regular.
Mathias Brome Linked To Swiss League
- Earlier this month, Red Wings winger Mathias Brome told Svenskafans’ Andreas Lundskog that he was open to returning overseas but wasn’t going to limit himself to going back to his native Sweden. It appears he’s zeroing in on the Swiss NLA as Aftonbladet’s Tomas Ros and Hans Abrahamsson report that Brome is expected to join Davos. It was a disappointing first season in North America for the 26-year-old who managed just a goal and an assist in 26 games with Detroit this season despite logging a respectable 13:39 per night. Brome is set to become a restricted free agent this summer but as he’s a year away from UFA eligibility based on his age, there’s a good chance he’ll be non-tendered if a deal overseas is finalized.
Christian Djoos Signs In Switzerland
It’s the end of an NHL career for Detroit Red Wings’ defenseman Christian Djoos, at least for now. The 26-year-old Djoos has signed a two-year contract with EV Zug in Switzerland, meaning his time with the Red Wings is over. Though the team can retain his restricted free agent rights this offseason by giving him a qualifying offer, they will expire before this new contract in Switzerland does. He will be an unrestricted free agent the next time he’s looking for work.
Originally selected 195th overall by the Washington Capitals in 2012, it was a longshot that Djoos would even make it to the NHL in the first place. Make it he did, cracking the NHL lineup in 2017-18 and helping the Capitals win the Stanley Cup. The 63 regular season games he played as a rookie would end up being his career-high though, as the Capitals eventually moved him back to the minor leagues and then traded him to the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks placed him on waivers earlier this season and he found himself in Detroit, where Djoos recorded 11 points in 36 games.
Perhaps the Red Wings informed him that he wasn’t going to get a qualifying offer, given that it would have needed to be $1MM, but either way, he has decided to take his talents overseas. Djoos should certainly find plenty of success in the Swiss league, after dominating the AHL during his time in North America. In the 2016-17 season, he recorded 58 points in 66 games for the Hershey Bears, trailing only minor league fixtures T.J. Brennan and Matt Taormina for the lead among defensemen.
Christian Djoos Linked To EV Zug In Switzerland
- Red Wings defenseman Christian Djoos is on EV Zug’s shortlist of players to try to sign for next season, Zug’s sports director Reto Klay told Zentralplus’ Andreas Ineichen. The 26-year-old was claimed off waivers just before the season started and held his own with 11 points in 36 games while averaging a little over 15 minutes per night. That type of production may be hard to justify tendering the $1MM qualifying offer that’s required this summer which would put Djoos on the open market. He may be sensing that outcome already if he’s entertaining the prospect of playing in Switzerland.