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Filip Hronek

Atlantic Notes: Portillo, Red Wings, Smith

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While the Sabres still have another year and a bit to sign goaltending prospect Erik Portillo, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News notes that there are doubts both internally and league-wide that the netminder will actually sign with Buffalo.  The 21-year-old was a third-round pick back in 2019 (67th overall) and was quite impressive with Michigan last season, posting a 2.14 GAA along with a .926 SV% in 42 games.  While Portillo has two years of college eligibility remaining, he will be eligible to opt for free agency next August since it will be four years since he has been drafted.  If Buffalo isn’t able to sign him after the 2022-23 college season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them try to trade his rights to a team he’d be willing to sign with.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • While the Red Wings had the cap space to get involved in the chase for John Klingberg, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press outlines why they didn’t. Such a move would have forced them to trade Filip Hronek and with the trade market being as weak as it is right now, GM Steve Yzerman would have been hard-pressed to get full value in return, even with Hronek being on a team-friendly deal for two more years.  They have over $10MM in cap space, per CapFriendly, and while that amount will go down once Filip Zadina and Jake Walman re-sign, they’re well-positioned financially to try to add someone as the offseason progresses.
  • If the Bruins are forced to make a cap-shedding trade to accompany Pavel Zacha’s eventual deal plus the potential returns of UFAs Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe suggests that winger Craig Smith is the likely candidate to be moved. The 32-year-old has one year left on his contract with a $3.1MM cap hit.  He has been pretty consistent in recent years, notching at least 13 goals and 31 points in each of the last four seasons and is coming off a 36-point campaign.  Unlike some teams that are trying to shed negative-value contracts, Smith’s isn’t in that category but with so few squads looking to take on money, Boston would be hard-pressed to get a quality return for the veteran if they have to go that route.

Filip Hronek Placed In COVID Protocol

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Even though testing has been reduced, it doesn’t mean the COVID list is completely eliminated. The Detroit Red Wings have placed Filip Hronek in COVID protocol, making him unavailable to the team for the time being.

Hronek, 24, is perhaps one of the underrated success stories of Red Wings development over the last few years and a bigger part of their future than some may realize. The young defenseman has been logging more than 22 minutes a night since the start of the 2019-20 season and is on pace to break his career-high with 24 points through 46 games so far. A second-round pick in 2016, he signed a new three-year, $13.2MM contract in September that made him one of the few Red Wings players signed to one-way contracts through the 2023-24 season (Robby Fabbri, Michael Rasmussen, and Jakub Vrana are the others).

Should he miss a few games–and his spot in the COVID protocol suggests he has a confirmed case and is experiencing symptoms–the Red Wings could lean even more heavily on young Moritz Seider, who is already racking up minutes and points in his rookie season. Gustav Lindstrom, another young defenseman could receive a bump in playing time as well as the team continues through their developmental season.

The Red Wings are now 21-21-6 after a 6-3 win in Philadelphia last night but the playoffs are still quite a distance away.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Filip Hronek

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The Detroit Red Wings have locked up an important restricted free agent, signing Filip Hronek to a three-year contract. The young defenseman was not eligible for salary arbitration. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the deal will carry an average annual value of $4.4MM. PuckPedia provides the full breakdown:

  • 2021-22: $2.7MM salary + $500K signing bonus
  • 2022-23: $4.5MM salary
  • 2023-24: $5.5MM salary

Hronek, 23, may not yet be a household name because of the Red Wings’ lack of recent success, but he certainly should be. Originally selected 53rd overall in 2016, the Czech defenseman has quickly established himself as one of the team’s most important players. Even as a rookie in 2018-19 Hronek was impressive, averaging 20 minutes a night and racking up 23 points in 46 games. That performance has only improved, with 26 points this season and a whopping 23:23 every night. Those 26 points led the entire Red Wings roster.

It’s easy to look at his +/- numbers and see someone that has been -66 through three seasons, but Hronek is exactly the reason why that statistic has fallen out of favor with so many. His on-ice impact has been excellent, even while taking tough deployment with less than stellar linemates. In his three seasons, the most common defense partners for Hronek have been Danny DeKeyser, Patrik Nemeth, and Jonathan Ericsson, while routinely being matched against the opponent’s best (Hronek faced no forward more than Patrick Kane in 2020-21).

As the team around him improves, Hronek should settle into a role a little lower than the one he’s holding right now, averaging three minutes more than any other player on the team. Make no mistake though, this is a key building block for GM Steve Yzerman to work with as a legitimate top-four defenseman now locked up for three years.

Notably, Yzerman has maintained his future flexibility with the three-year bridge deal instead of locking Hronek in long-term. The Red Wings don’t have a single player signed past the 2023-24 season, meaning if this version of the rebuild doesn’t go perfectly, the team can still pivot and doesn’t have to deal with any contract anchors moving forward.

Expansion Primer: Detroit Red Wings

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Over the next few weeks, we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, who will likely warrant protection, and which ones may be on the block to avoid the risk of losing them for nothing? Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4:00 PM CDT on July 17th. The full eligibility rules can be found here, while CapFriendly has an expansion tool to make your own lists.

The last time we gathered here to determine the Detroit Red Wings’ expansion draft considerations, the team was in a steep downward decline. Yet they still ended up losing a bit of a diamond in the rough, as the Vegas Golden Knights selected forward Tomas Nosek. Nosek’s been a contributor in a bottom-six role every season in Vegas’ history, robbing Detroit of some quality depth. Now, with Detroit having hit the rock-bottom of their rebuild, their expansion situation looks fairly clear-cut this time around. With a lot of young talent exempt (and no Jimmy Howard/Petr Mrazek goalie controversy), the Red Wings and general manager Steve Yzerman are in a good position coming into 2021’s Seattle expansion draft.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards:
Riley Barber, Tyler Bertuzzi, Adam Erne, Robby Fabbri, Dylan Larkin, Frans Nielsen, Richard Panik, Vladislav Namestnikov, Michael Rasmussen, Givani Smith, Evgeny Svechnikov, Hayden Verbeek, Jakub Vrana

Defense:
Dennis Cholowski, Danny DeKeyser, Christian Djoos, Filip Hronek, Gustav Lindstrom, Troy Stecher

Goalies:
Kaden Fulcher, Thomas Greiss

Notable Unrestricted Free Agents

F Valtteri Filppula, F Sam Gagner, F Luke Glendening, F Darren Helm, F Bobby Ryan, D Alex Biega, D Marc Staal, G Jonathan Bernier

Notable Exemptions

F Joseph Veleno, F Filip Zadina, D Jared McIsaac, D Moritz Seider, G Filip Larsson

Key Decisions

The key decisions start with Detroit’s young forward group. They’ll undoubtedly be going with the seven forwards/three defensemen protection scheme. Four of those forward spots are relatively clear-cut, with Larkin, Bertuzzi, Fabbri, and recent acquisition Vrana being protection locks. That leaves three spots remaining, but with a mix of four veterans and young forwards competing for them.

The veteran of those candidates is Namestnikov. Signed to a two-year, $4MM deal prior to 2020-21 to provide some veteran presence during their rebuild, Namestnikov had his worst offensive season to date with just 17 points in 53 games. His defensive metrics were mediocre, which is on-brand for the versatile Russian forward. Detroit was Namestnikov’s fourth team since the beginning of 2019-20, and if left unprotected, Seattle could be his fifth.

However, there’s a trio of three younger forwards who could also vie for those spots. Erne, Rasmussen, and Svechnikov all looked good with the Wings this season. It was an especially important season for Svechnikov, who’s struggled with frequent injuries. He rebounded this year for eight points in 21 games while posting incredibly impressive possession metrics. Erne had a nice rebound season after a ghastly 2019-20 performance, scoring 11 goals and 20 points in 45 games. While his 15.5% shooting rate doesn’t scream sustainability, the 26-year-old showed nice flashes this season. There’s also Rasmussen, who’s still a developing project despite already playing in over 100 NHL contests. Drafted ninth overall in 2017, Rasmussen’s now totalled 30 points in 102 NHL games, including 12 points in 40 games last season. He’s consistently posted decent possession results, suggesting that the goal-scoring touch he had in juniors could be coming.

Detroit faces a similar quandary on defense with three names fighting for two spots. Hronek’s protection is a foregone conclusion, but Stecher, Cholowski, and Lindstrom are names that could fall into those last two spots.

Stecher sits as effectively a more impressive Namestnikov. Joining Detroit as a free agent prior to this season, Stecher settled nicely into a top-four role, posting admirable defensive metrics considering the hacked-together situation that was Detroit’s defense. However, like Namestnikov, he’s under contract for just one more season and there’s no guarantee that he stays. There’s also a pair of younger defenders in Cholowski and Lindstrom. Cholowski was a first-round pick in 2016 and showed great potential in his 2018-19 rookie season, but has stagnated at all levels since then. Detroit is willing to play the wait-and-see game with the young defender, who may see a full-time role again next year after just 16 games played in 2020-21. Lindstrom’s a year younger and doesn’t have as much upside, but he’s cobbled together four assists in 29 NHL games and could have third-pairing potential.

Projected Protection List

F Tyler Bertuzzi
F Adam Erne
F Robby Fabbri
F Dylan Larkin
F Michael Rasmussen
F Evgeny Svechnikov
F Jakub Vrana

D Dennis Cholowski
D Filip Hronek
D Troy Stecher

G Thomas Greiss

Skater Exposure Requirement Checklist

When Vegas had their expansion draft, a minimum of two forwards and one defenseman had to be exposed that were under contract and played either 40 games in the most recent season or 70 over the past two combined.  Due to the pandemic, those thresholds have been changed to 27 games played in 2020-21 or 54 in 2019/20 and 2020-21 combined.  In creating our expansion list for each team in this series, we will ensure that these criteria are met.

Forwards (3): Vladislav Namestnikov, Frans Nielsen, Richard Panik
Defensemen (1): Danny DeKeyser

There are very few pickings here that the Kraken would be interested in, and Detroit is likely to emerge from the expansion draft unscathed. While Detroit will have some depth forwards exposed, Seattle can likely find cheaper and better options elsewhere. Seattle could end up taking an AHL skater with limited upside like Lindstrom or Smith, or take a pending UFA like Glendening if they really don’t like any of their options.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Red Wings Recall Five From Loans

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With their training camp starting on Thursday, the Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that they have brought back several players from their respective international loans.  Forwards Mathias Brome, Michael Rasmussen, and Filip Zadina, as well as defensemen Filip Hronek and Gustav Lindstrom, are all on their way back to Detroit to participate in camp.

Brome signed with Detroit back in April as an undrafted free agent, inking a one-year, entry-level deal worth $925K plus another $212.5K in performance bonuses.  The 26-year-old had 17 goals and 26 in 52 games with SHL Orebro last season and was loaned back there to start this year.  While he had just four goals in 23 games, he’s tied for fifth in the league in assists with 16.  Brome is expected to push for a roster spot with the Red Wings in camp.

Rasmussen spent the majority of 2018-19 with Detroit as he was too young to be assigned to the minors but he was eligible to play with AHL Grand Rapids last season and he spent the entire year there, picking up seven goals and 15 assists in 35 games.  He was on loan to Graz in Austria and was relatively productive offensively with five goals and 11 assists in 18 contests along with collecting 42 penalty minutes.  He remains waiver-exempt but with the AHL still more than a month away from starting, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him break camp with Detroit, even if it’s in a taxi squad role.

As for Zadina, he split last year between the Red Wings and Griffins and put up similar numbers at both levels (8-7-15 in 28 NHL games, 9-7-16 in 21 AHL contests).  He produced at a slightly better rate with Ocelari Trinec in the Czech Extraliga, notching eight goals and six helpers in 17 games prior to today’s recall.  He should be given a long look to break camp with Detroit but if he doesn’t make it, he’s a candidate to at least start on the taxi squad as well.

There is no such uncertainty with Hronek’s situation.  He has already established himself as Detroit’s top defenseman which made it a bit intriguing that the Red Wings opted to loan him out in the first place given the potential for injury.  He was dominant with Hradec Kralove of the Czech Extraliga, putting up 10 goals and 13 assists in 22 games, getting his contract year off to a good start.

Lindstrom made his NHL debut last season, getting into 16 games with Detroit where he had one assist while putting up five helpers in 45 AHL contests as well.  He logged more than 16 minutes a night in ice time with the Red Wings but with the additions of Marc Staal, Troy Stecher, and Jon Merrill, he may have to wait for injuries to hit to get his next NHL opportunity, making him another taxi squad candidate to start as well.  Lindstrom had 11 assists in 20 games with Almtuna of the Allsvenskan in Sweden.

Joe Veleno, Moritz Seider To Remain In Europe

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Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman held a conference call with reporters (video link via the Detroit Free Press) and among the major announcements was that both Joe Veleno and Moritz Seider will be staying in Sweden until the end of the SHL season instead of returning for training camp. Filip Zadina, Filip Hronek, Gustav Lindstrom, and Mathias Brome, who are all also out on loan, will be brought back.

Veleno, 20, is playing for Malmo in the SHL where he has 11 points in 21 games so far. The 30th overall selection in 2018 had an up-and-down AHL debut last year when he scored 23 points in 54 games, but still has a very high ceiling as a two-way center that could be a staple in the Red Wings lineup for years to come. Leaving him in Europe certainly would suggest that the Red Wings believe he has more developing to do before really pushing for an NHL roster spot, though Yzerman did note there are still so many questions about what the AHL season will look like this season.

Seider meanwhile is still just 19 but is looking right at home at the SHL level. Playing with Rogle, he has 12 points in 17 games and was not released to the German World Junior squad. Selected sixth overall in 2019 to the surprise of many, Seider has quickly become one of the top prospects in the entire world and is a key to the Detroit turnaround. The 6’4″ defenseman has all the attributes of a true number one option, meaning his development is absolutely crucial to the Red Wings.

Speaking about all of the players who have suited up overseas, Yzerman noted that though playing in Europe has likely sharpened the games of Zadina and others, it isn’t the NHL and they’ll still have to prove themselves on this side of the pond.

It’s important to remember too, that though they will stay for the rest of the year, Veleno and Seider could potentially be late-season recalls for the Red Wings once things end overseas. The SHL regular season schedule completes at the beginning of April while the NHL regular season isn’t expected to be completed until May.

Filip Hronek Loaned To Mountfield HK

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The Detroit Red Wings continue to send their young players overseas to begin the season, this time loaning Filip Hronek to Mountfield HK in the Czech Republic. Hronek still has one year remaining on his entry-level contract and will almost certainly be back for the start of NHL training camp (though the release does not specifically state that).

Selected 53rd overall in 2016, Hronek has been one of the bright spots for the Red Wings in the last few seasons. His development from a second-round afterthought to full-time NHL puck-mover has been almost seamless, with plenty of success along the way. Now 22, he’s coming off his first full season in the NHL and a career-high 31 points in 65 games. While he came with a close to league-leading -38, that has a lot more to do with logging 24 minutes a night for a historically bad team than it does about Hronek’s ability at this level.

Moving forward there is no doubt that Hronek figures strongly into the Red Wings plans as a pillar on the back end, but given his offensive ability, the team would be wise to bring in other names that could take some of the defensive pressure off the youngster.

For now, he’ll be getting some time overseas to continue his development while he waits for hockey to resume on North American ice.

East Notes: Gostisbehere, Bruins FAs, Red Wings Youth

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There was quite a few rumors surrounding the trade status of Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere at the trade deadline in February, but in the end, the team couldn’t find a deal that they liked. After all, Gostisbehere was a top offensive defenseman with the Flyers for several years before back-to-back poor seasons. Of course he is just 27 years old and while he’s recovering from knee surgery this season, the team still believes he has quite a bit of value.

However, Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi writes in his most recent mailbag, that the team is still looking for a trade partner for Gostisbehere and hope to find the right deal this offseason. He adds that the team isn’t willing to just give the blueliner away as he still has vast potential, but the team might be willing to accept a second-round pick or a young forward with 20-goal potential down the road.

  • NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin reports that Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said that with the uncertainty of the salary cap going forward, the team has shelved any thought of discussing contracts with their UFAs and RFAs. The team has several unrestricted free agents, including defenseman Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, Joakim Nordstrom and Kevan Miller. The team also has several key restricted free agents, including Jake Debrusk, Anders Bjork and Matt Grzelcyk, but will have little cap room to work with and with rumors that the cap may not increase next year, could force the team to make some difficult decisions.
  • Despite a record losing season in Detroit, MLive’s Ansar Khan writes that Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman and the coaching staff do feel that the team made quite a bit of progress in their development of their younger players. He notes that the team were thrilled with the play of defenseman Filip Hronek, who averaged 23:54 of TOI, while posting nine goals and 31 points. While his minus-38 isn’t impressive, the team saw a blueliner whose defense improved greatly. The scribe also points out the improved play of 2018 first-rounder Filip Zadina, Givani Smith and defenseman Gustav Lindstrom.

Snapshots: Sharks, Marchenko, Hronek

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Call it the thinnest of silver linings, but the numerous injuries of the San Jose Sharks may actually help the team to make something of their season. In a year in which everything has gone wrong in San Jose, including the season-ending injuries of Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl, the team is now in a position to take on considerable salary due to those absences and reap the rewards of doing so, writes NBC Sports’ Marcus White. The once cap-strapped Sharks now have more than $6MM in salary cap space following the trade of defenseman Brenden Dillon and that number could increase if more deals are made. This could allow for San Jose to land a pick or prospect from a contender lacking in cap flexibility who has been weighed down by a bad contract. Of course, the team would likely be looking for expiring contracts so as not to carry the added cap weight into next season, when they hope to be healthy and competitive once again. Still, there are a number of bad contracts out there that the Sharks could take on, making the most of a deadline in which they otherwise don’t have many valuable pieces to trade away.

  • Former NHL defenseman Alexey Marchenko is eyeing a return to North America and KHL insider Igor Eronko thinks that he has identified the most likely landing spot. Eronko notes that Marchenko’s teammate with CSKA Moscow is Montreal Canadiens’ top defensive prospect Alexander Romanov and the highest likelihood that Romanov could make the jump next year would be if he is joined by a familiar face. Marchenko, who struggled to carve out an NHL role for himself previously, has improved in the KHL and could be a suitable replacement on the Montreal blue line for impending free agents such as Christian Folin or Xavier Ouellet.
  • One of the few bright spots of the Detroit Red Wings’ dismal season has been the continued growth of defenseman Filip Hronek, who has become a dependable all-around defender for the franchise. However, fans can’t even cling to that as a reason to tune in to games for the next few weeks, as the Red Wings have placed Hronek on injured reserve. His injury is not expected to be serious, but the team also lacks any reason to rush him back to action. Long-time depth asset Brian Lashoff has been recalled to take Hronek’s roster spot for the time being.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Detroit Red Wings

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Detroit Red Wings.

What are the Red Wings most thankful for?

Very little has gone right for Detroit this season as the team finds itself dead last in the league, four points out of 30th place and nine points out of 29th place, suggesting the team is likely to land another significant lottery in June. And while none of that is worthy of being thankful for, Detroit’s general manager Steve Yzerman, is eager to complete the team’s rebuild and likely has no qualms about seeing this franchise at the bottom in hopes of completely rebuilding the franchise up. It has plenty of complementary pieces and several players who could be stars, but a picking up a franchise player in a stacked draft might be the most valuable piece to this franchise.

Who are the Red Wings most thankful for?

Anthony Mantha.

Mantha missed eight games with a knee injury, returning today, but continues to be the team’s leading scorer with 12 goals and 23 points this season, which puts him on pace for almost a goal per game. After posting 48 points for the past two seasons, Mantha looks ready for a potential breakout season if he can remain healthy. He is third on the team among forwards in TOI, averaging 18:54 and looks to have taken his game to another level this year.

Considering that Dylan Larkin has seen a slight decline in his play so far, the team should be thankful that Mantha continues to improve season after season.

What would the Red Wings be even more thankful for?

Defense.

Detroit has struggled defensively this season with injuries as the team has been without several of their veteran blueliners for chunks of the season already. Other than Filip Hronek, the defense has looked to be in serious trouble. Danny DeKeyser has missed all but eight games so far this season. Trevor Daley has missed 20 games, Mike Green has missed eight games and isn’t the same player he once was, while Jonathan Ericsson has been waived and used just eight times this season. Even Dennis Cholowski has failed to live up to expectations this year and has been sent to the AHL as well.

The team needs the defense to get healthy and more importantly, they need some of their young blueliners to take that next step and provide some defense to give the team a chance.

What should be on the Red Wings’ Holiday Wish List?

Goaltending.

The teams goaltending has hit some hard times. The star of the team is Jonathan Bernier, who is boasting a 3.34 GAA and a .890 save percentage in 20 appearances. And yes, that’s the best of the bunch. 35-year-old Jimmy Howard, who is currently out with a strained groin, is struggling even worse with a 3.94 GAA and a .887 save percentage in just eight appearances. The team did add Eric Comrie to the team in a trade with Arizona. However, so far there hasn’t been any indication that he’s the answer in two appearances, although it’s still early.

Unfortunately, the team may not find the answer during the holidays. They may be more likely to fix that problem by making a big splash in the free agent market this summer when some interesting names might be available, including Washington’s Braden Holtby, Jacob Markstrom, Robin Lehner amongst others.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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