DETROIT – Here's a quick recap of some key moves of this offseason for the Detroit Red Wings:
- April 19 -- Steve Yzerman is named the new general manager. Pat Verbeek, who worked alongside Yzerman in Tampa, joins him in the Detroit front office. Ken Holland ends up leaving for Edmonton.
- May 1 -- Top prospect Joe Veleno signs with the Red Wings.
- May 28 -- Finnish defenseman Oliwer Kaski officially signs with Red Wings.
- July 2 -- Free Agency opens: Valtteri Filppula returns to Detroit, defenseman Patrik Nemeth signs with Red Wings, and Yzerman also adds goalie Calvin Pickard to the roster.
- July 10 -- I took a shot at mocking up the lineup.
- July 14 -- The Red Wings sign top draft pick Moritz Seider to a three-year contract.
- July 18 -- Joe Hicketts signs 2-year deal with Red Wings.
- Aug. 14 -- Red Wings make trade with Lightning to acquire forward Adam Erne. A bunch of people joke about a "Bert and Erne" line. It's not that funny and we all move on.
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And remember, NEXT summer is the "Summer of Stevie," when a bunch of aging contracts come off the books for the Red Wings and Yzerman is "allowed" to start spending.
Here is another educated guess at what the roster and lines could look like by the start of the season:
Forwards:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
| Tyler Bertuzzi | Dylan Larkin | Anthony Mantha |
| Andreas Athanasiou | Valtteri Filppula | Filip Zadina |
| Evgeny Svechnikov/Taro Hirose | Frans Nielsen | Michael Rasmussen/Jacob de la Rose |
| Justin Abdelkader/Adam Erne | Luke Glendening | Darren Helm |
Notes: What is going on with Svechnikov? He was hurt all last year, but can he be healthy enough to get a spot on this roster when the season starts? Also, is Justin Abdelkader in danger of losing a spot on this roster? He is coming off of a real bad year (6 goals, 13 assists, -14 rating in 71 games played) and the Red Wings have suddenly added Erne to the roster. Abdelkader has that hefty contract that does not look good sitting on the 4th line.
What about Christoffer Ehn? The 23-year-old winger played 60 games with the Wings this past season (3 goals, 6 assists) -- is he in the mix?
Finally, Taro Hirose needs to get a good tryout for a full-time spot on this team -- he looked so good at the end of this past season. He looks like a cerebral player who can jump in and contribute right away.
Defense:
| Danny DeKeyser | Mike Green |
|---|---|
| Dennis Cholowski | Filip Hronek/Niklas Kronwall |
| Patrik Nemeth/Oliwer Kaski | Jonathan Ericsson/Trevor Daley |
Notes: No one knows what this defense is. We do know that it's not, by any standard, "good," and that's not exactly an attack on some of the players here. It's just a mess of different/bad contracts, aging players, young players with unknown value, and players like Cholowski and Hronek who look like the future, but we still can't quite tell -- although Hronek dominated at the 2019 World Championships.
There's also Madison Bowey, who the Red Wings acquired through the Nick Jensen trade in February. Is he competing for a spot on the Wings?
As for Niklas Kronwall, is he even playing hockey this year? Yzerman said the veteran has a spot if he wants it. Does he want it? It's almost September.
And then there's Kaski, a young pro in Finland who decided to jump over to North America. Same goes for Moritz Seider, the 6th-overall pick out of Germany. Is he on the team at some point this year, or is he staying in Germany?
What is this defense? Who is actually going to be playing for the Red Wings?
We want to know!
Goalies:
- Jimmy Howard
- Jonathan Bernier
- Calvin Pickard
Notes: No surprises in net, but adding Pickard makes it a bit more interesting. Who wants to spend more time in Grand Rapids?
We have a lot to learn over the next couple of months. Yzerman might not be done making moves, either. Buckle up and enjoy.
Training Camp schedule
- Prospect Tournament runs Sept. 6-10 at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City -- here are the game schedules
- Training Camp runs Sept. 13-16 at Centre Ice Arena:
- Friday, Sept. 13 - Practice - 9:30 a.m.
- Saturday, Sept. 14 - Practice - 9:30 a.m.
- Saturday, Sept. 14 - Alumni/Celebrity Game - 6 p.m.
- Sunday, Sept. 15 - Red and White Game - 12 p.m.
- Monday, Sept. 16 - Practice - 9:30 a.m.
- Tickets are on sale here .