DETROIT’S ROOKIE WAVE & CENTRAL DIVISION PREVIEW – Winged Wheel Podcast – Sept. 28th

DETROIT’S ROOKIE WAVE & CENTRAL DIVISION PREVIEW – Winged Wheel Podcast – Sept. 28th

[Music] Welcome to the Wing Wheel Podcast, the number one source for news, analysis, and discussion on the Detroit Red Wings, the NHL, and all things hockey. Here are your hosts, Ryan Hannah, Brad Krisco, and Evan Lopsinger. [Music] I’ve always really hated those people who are online and just like are contrarians and are negative and and hate just for the sake of hating. And then I realized I’ve become that when I saw the Mark Andre Flurry post last night. And I’m like I have this stupid grin on my face as I’m sending the tweet about like this guy’s been retiring for like three years. Oh, this is his last game. This is his last shootout. This is his last I feel like we’ve been talking about this forever. And I send that tweet knowing two things. One, I’m being a jerk. Like, I’m just being a a dork for the sake of it’s for the love of the game at this point. Someone even replied saying like, “This is how Ryan shows up when there’s an opportunity to hate Mark Andre Flurry.” And the second thing is I knew Evan would see that and want to fight me. You’re very lucky that I did see that. I’ve only been chronically online the last little bit because of the Ryder Cup and all the drama going on there. You are the person who reminds the teacher that we had homework due. No. Yes. No. That is exactly what is happening in this scenario. You You knew it would cause a fight. You knew I would see it. You knew I would get mad. I don’t think Okay, you know what? Maybe you’re right about that characterization of me in general. I just don’t think that this is I’ll concede that. Yeah. Well, look at that. Agree to disagree. And you also agree that Mark Andre Flurry shouldn’t be a first ballot hall of incorrect. I’m very on the record of being the opposite. Folks, welcome to the Winged Wheel Podcast. Here to talk to you about all things Detroit Red Wings hockey, the world of the NHL, and lots more. I’m one of your hosts, Ryan Hannah. I’m Brad Krisco. And I’m Evan. This episode of the Wing Wheel podcast is presented by Greenlight Lending. Red Lights are meant for lighting the lamp at the rink, not your home ownership goals. Head to go greenlightending.com today for creative mortgage solutions with flexible closing cost options licensed only in Michigan and MLS267-6683 an equal housing opportunity lender and a proud sponsor of the Winged Wheel podcast. On this episode of the show, we are going to be talking about the Red Wings preseason, which is halfway done, four games in to Evans dismay. We’re going to be talking about takeaways so far now that we are a good chunk of the way into the preseason everywhere from the regular NHLers and how that checking line the PK is looking to those hopefuls for the top line left wing spot or the the depth roles in Detroit and a lot of other storylines including one story line from overseas and then we’re going to get into our central division preview this episode. So, continuing our NHL season preview as we approach the puck drop in the regular season, whatever other NHL news we get into before overtime. Very quickly, Winged Wheel Podcast night at the LCA, Saturday, November 15th against the Buffalo Sabres. That’s the Red Wings game where we are going to be hosting a live episode of the Winged Wheel Podcast at Little Caesars Arena featuring Ken Daniels and other special guests. Your ticket not only gets you access to that game and special Wing Wheel podcast seating, you also get a sweet co-branded Detroit Red Wings and Wing Wheel Podcast Centennial style blanket, a throw blanket. It’s a really cool design that has to do with not just our 10th anniversary logo, but the Red Wings Centennial logo. You also get an opportunity for a meet and greet a with more importantly Ken but also us merch giveaways and then every ticket is not only discounted but you also are donating a chunk of the ticket to the Jamie Daniels Foundation as well. So again wingedpodcast.com/redwings for tickets to winged podcast at the LCA. It is approaching quickly here. The preseason is four games in and we have four left. Evan, how does that make you feel? You know what? 84 game schedule might make sense. Oh my god. I don’t know why I never realized that eight, nine preseason games is this painful. Why do we have this many games? I say this because neither of your wives are in the room, but I have to imagine this is like a child birth thing. Like every year we feel the pain and then our bodies just convince us that it never happened. So we’re ready for for next preseason. We are one extra preseason game away from like a Patreon subscriber being included in the lineup. Actually, you know, I might watch it’s this is too much dying. I’ve long maintained I would last one shift in the NHL and last is a strong word because it would just take one body check and I would I would turn to dust. Yes. Depending on who it was. So, Detroit chugs along in the preseason and the results are the less important part here. They beat Buffalo 5-2, lost to Buffalo 5-2 a couple days later. And in between there, they lost to Pittsburgh 3 to2, but less about the actual games and more about the takeaways. And there are, I think, a lot of them. Obviously, we talked about EMTT Finny in the first episode and that he remains like the headline, the storyline to the Red Wings preseason so far, but there are a lot of other guys that are making noise both in terms of the prospects and, you know, the NHL that we’re expecting to make the team. So, why don’t we start with that? Why don’t we start with the NHLers and the focus so far is on Rasmus and Cop and Appleton which is that de facto checking line potentially representing an improved PK as well depending on how players slot in there but they seem to have found a groove almost to the amount of certainty that you can find in the second line with Casper Kanan Debrink. Yeah, they’ve done an effective job of what they’re expected to do. Like if you’re going to put that line together and you’re gonna I don’t know how to else to describe it. Fully sell out on a type, it’s got to look like that. It has to. Otherwise, that line is going to be a train wreck. But good for check, good board play, good transition. They’re not going to score a lot of goals this year. They’re not going to be devoid of offense as we’ve seen. They’ve they’ve created some stuff, but they’re not elite finishers. and and you know, I don’t think any of them are going to score 20 goals, but if they do, amazing development, but if they can get out against other teams top sixes and just pin them and just 50/50 or win shifts, that’s that’s an unreal third line. That’ll be the best third line the Red Wings have had in years. If all they can do is just tilt the ice Yeah. in their direction more than they don’t. Yeah, that’s a really good way to put it, which is tilting the ice. like you’ve noticed again preseason you’re not playing against NHL level competition for the most part or at least not consistently but they have had sustained offensive zone time and yeah tilting the ice is a good way to put it. It looks like they are not trying to keep up with the player or make up for a mistake as often as you’ve seen you know lines three and four for the Red Wings for the past however many years. If that’s something that actually sticks in the regular season, then that’s huge because you’ve not had that kind of certainty down the Red Wings lineup. And if you can just kind of set things in stone and have fewer variables in your lineup where instead of, you know, part of your first line, your entire third line, your entire fourth line being a complete toss up any given night, you can solidify the middle six that it reduces the variables. It reduces the opportunities for things to blow up or for failure. It allows players to develop that chemistry and like Brad said, there’s an obvious type on that line. It’s a checking line and Steve Eisermanman said when they brought in Apple, like that’s what they were hoping to to develop. Yeah. Sell out, but not in a negative way. Like you you’re going full send in terms of trying to create that archetype. And early returns are good and that’d be huge to be able to put that out and actually have that weapon in your arsenal. Yeah, it it is the preseason and these guys are all bonafide NHL players. They should look better than their competition almost every night. So, you know, I guess that the way things have been going so far is more than fine. They got a short-handed goal the other night. Great. It’ll be very interested as teams start to make cuts and we get closer to, you know, game 72 of the preseason to see what this line can do. But yeah, we’ve talked about the bottom six on the Red Wings over the past probably decade, unfortunately, and it’s kind of just like we’re just piecing people together, seeing what happens, throwing some spaghetti at the wall, seeing what what sticks. Finally, we’ve got three guys where they know what their role almost certainly is, barring, you know, Andrew Cop becoming uh Rocket Rashard recipient and plays up on the top line. You know, we we’ve got they’ve got an identity. They know their role. They can play within it and they can establish chemistry and it try and take some pressure off the top two lines. How will this translate? Obviously the line less so but more about the players. How do you see this mixing up the the personnel for the PK? Because obviously you talk about biggest opportunities for improvement. We go on and on and on of oh if Detroit had league average goalending, if they had, you know, decent goalending, if Detroit had a league average PK last year, they are in the playoffs. Do you see this as a kind of ray of light for the the penalty kill this upcoming season? I’ve watched the penalty kill this preseason. No, it’s looked awful. I was trying to quickly look up the the stat lines over the past three games that we’ve haven’t covered yet. And there’s a lot of this team power play goal. Yes, the P penalty kills still a major concern. And we’ll hopefully find a combination of four guys who can make it league average. I I think nobody such a bleak line. Yeah. to hopefully get it up to league average. Last year, the debate was, was it a personnel issue or was it a system issue? Now that we’ve seen better personnel deploy it against, like Evan said, not everybody’s a squad like preseason rosters. Well, we found the answer. It’s both. Well, it’s early though. It’s harsh. But like this, I get it. Systems are one of the last things to really truly get locked in during a season because when everybody talks about guys got to get timing and stuff like that back, your system is where it will notice the most because if you’re a second too late to cover or when you’re on the transition or when you’re the buffer or whatever it is your role in any given system. If you’re a second late, it throws off the whole thing. So, that’s one of those timing things you’ll hear the guys talk about a lot, but my god, it has looked awful. It was awful last year. Again, just like we’re not going to draw sweeping conclusions from everything in the preseason. You assume status quo until regular season starts and you see something different. Every once in a while like an EMTT Finny or the third line or the second line, they’re showing you things that go, “Hey, you know what? Maybe uh yeah, the penalty kill has not given us that indication at all. So until proven otherwise, it looks like a bottom five penalty kill again. This is what’s going to happen. The monkey paw is going to curl. The Red Wings are going to have a top four penalty kill in the league and be dead last power play.” Oh, we all know it for sure. Like there’s no way it’s not. That’s the funniest possible outcome. So that’s what’s going to happen. I think the one thing that gives me a saving grace is that there’s John Gibson in net for hopefully the lion share of games and the the old adage is your goalender has to be your best penalty killer. That gives me some confidence that he can move them at least a couple points up in terms of penalty kill. And that that leads into another point about preseason PK, which is you have a rotating cast of goalies. It’s, you know, one night you might have Gibson, but then the other night you might have like Postava or or Kosa. It’s the numbers are going to look a little funky one direction or another. Also, what you said, Brad, about systems are going to be the last thing to come into place, especially when you’re putting together like a new team under a new new head coach and outlook, which I understand Mlullen’s been here for a little while now, but this is his first offseason and big opportunity to kind of put his mark on the team. I’m not saying there’s no skill or intuition in terms of penalty killing, but that is probably the most pure X’s and O’s, here’s a system we’re going to deploy aspect of the NHL game, I’d wager. And so, yeah, that will be probably the last thing to come in. So, you give him some buffer. You don’t get too hung up on the the penalty kill. You’re right. You don’t make sweeping conclusions so far. But, I do think you’re also correct in saying that you can only fairly say that you can assume it’s going to be the same until they prove otherwise come regular season. So, they’ve not been kicking the door down, but I’m not sounding the alarm bell. And I I do think, you know, if this Appleton and Rasmusen and COP set comes in and finds a place and parts of that can translate to the PK or should at least be able to where instead of sucking more than pretty much everyone else in the league, just maybe bottom third would be got to be better. This penalty kill has the personnel to be at least better than somebody like it got to be better than San Jose. Let’s get all the way up to 19th. That’s the benchmark. You have no idea how thrilled I’d be with 19th. I’d say that doesn’t start with a two. I’d be thrilled. That’s That’s exactly That’s the stretch goal. We’re We’re going to get that first number to be a one. Imagine it’s going to be first and last PK and then power play respectively. All right, back to NHLers. Albert Johansson’s looked not just just as good as last season, but it looks like he’s done what Red Wings fans and the organization obviously have wanted him to do. He looks stronger on his skates, more confident as well. And it looks like he’s just kind of enhanced everything about his game cerebral skating wise, like powerful and just less slight, I guess, when he’s in the play on the puck along the boards. doesn’t look like he’s getting pushed around nearly as much if at all at this point. And that’s a huge sign because if that’s a continuation of Edmonson Johansson on the second pair, then that’s massive and that shows a net improvement on the Red Wings defense. I don’t know if that’s what I would do with Johansson with his newfound improvements. Is there a world he can anchor the third pair and like be that guy on that pair and then the Red Wings may actually for the first time in the history of this podcast trot out three usable defensive pairs which in your mind would be that’s the thing cuz you look at the other side thanks but if you put no name character one no but Bernard Darker hasn’t looked bad so if you think he can keep up with Edmonson Hamick hasn’t looked terrible but again that would be the If Johansson can be the guy and you put him with a hamik, that’s a very passable pairing, especially for a bottom pair. Now, all of a sudden, like I said, you can throw any of those three pairs out and not feel like it’s going to be a fire drill the entire time. Because again, I do love the idea of you put Evston and Johansson together again, expecting both of them and with Johansson, we’re seeing it massive improvement. That’s a really good second pair. then goes from maybe league average last year to genuinely good. But then eventually that bottom pair has to get on the ice and I don’t see a combination of what they have right now where that’s passable at all. So cuz don’t forget Mlullen was the one who separated Edmonson and Cider to get two passible pairings versus one elite pairing. Maybe this is just the continuation of that possibly. I I genuinely don’t know what the right answer is, but I think it’s worth thinking about. It is an interesting thought. I I’ll tell you it makes me cringe because it’s like so few things go right for the Red Wings defense. Are we really going to step away from something that is solid and set? Especially if it could only be better. But if you’re right that Bernard Docker could potentially work and that’s a big if obviously like you’d have to see it in action then I don’t hate the thought. It does make me nervous though. I don’t I It’s a long season though. You have room to experiment. Painfully true. And they’ve got like 12 defensemen capable of filling in on that spot. So again, painfully true. Yeah. Yeah. Like it doesn’t feel like this is a monstrous needle mover. Like the bar is so low on that third pair for that sixth defenseman spot. The fact that we need to move a guy down just to help them tread water is really an indictment on their lack of NHL talent. you know, if Bernard Docker and Ian Mitchell can separate themselves from Hall and Hamik and can actually just put in some minutes or that that six spot is like a by committee, then yeah, sure, throw Johansson down there. He’ll be the sort of stable force on that that pairing. You know, I think the ultimate goal is you want Cider playing a little bit less every single game, not having to play every single important minute the team has in a game to give him some breathing room, lower the stress on him at all times. If you can balance it just a little bit, I think that’s a win. It Yeah. Like my biggest criticism of this team and the thing I focus on most as I start to prepare for our question of, you know, the Detroit Red Wings season preview episode, how many points are they going to get and where are they going to finish? It’s I I keep zeroing in on the defense. It’s been the same as last year in previous years. And spoiler, we’re going to be talking a lot about can Eiserman make a move between now and before this season’s already too far gone if it’s you’re going to take a doomer approach. But maybe the answer could be like small incremental improvements in a bunch of different areas that don’t make things great, but make them less bad. Much like the PK, just make it so that Yeah. Are you a net negative on the second pair by a little bit by pulling Johansson off of it? Yeah. But then you’re a much higher net positive on the third pair like you both outlined. Maybe an injury happens and Shy Bouam is just lighting up the AHL and they’re like, “All right, you’re coming up. Let’s see what you got.” Yeah. You know, there’s tons of variability in in this defensive core and parts of it I’m not even considering at all. I’m thrilled about how it looks and the other parts I’m left scratching my head. But at least those guys don’t play 16 plus minutes a game. I will say like this is a very familiar conversation about the defense relative to previous seasons, but there are those small wins like the the Johansson improving. You can expect that when he’s back, Edmonson’s going to be even better. Bouam, even though he’s hurt right now, I thought looked like very good so far, you know, based on what you’d expect of him. There are those little pockets of of positivity. So, yeah, you do see the outlook here where even if it’s not one big splash, they didn’t go out and get Gavricov or or some silver bullet solution. just in around the edges, you can see a world where it’s it’s it’s better. That’s about as as much as I can say to that until we see more. But I mean, you’d like it to be best of both worlds where there is a silver bullet solution and everyone else gets better. But we’ll see. Well, we have we’ll have a large sample size by the end of preseason to make our determinations. Yeah, there’s only like 25 more preseason games and then, you know, we’ll know everybody’s middle name and we’ll be part of their family Thanksgiving by the time it rolls around and then I think he has Olympic break and there you go. Up front, you know, the focus was on Finny, but more and more attention now on guys like Danielson and Bransk Negard and and others. What have you seen so far that you’ve kind of zeroed in on as a potential story line? For better or for worse, there might be a rookie playing on the top line. JVR obviously through no fault of his own has been absent. Has not got a look there. Soderblum was okay there, but didn’t really flash. Coner’s been bad, so he won’t be a consideration. That third line, they’re not breaking up. So, I know we hypothesize Cop going up there. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. So, who are the next options? Finny Danielson, Bran Signard. The catch 22 of it all is obviously they’ve all all three of them have been really really good, but have they been I’m going to play on the first line on an NHL team good? No. Not in a way that makes you confident, but compared to their competition for that spot, genuinely, it it’s it’s a cool circumstance that’s so rarely seen in the NHL because of a really crappy circumstance about how bad the depth of this team is. But there’s genuine open competition to play with Dylan Lin and Lucas Raymond. And thus far, all the guys who have looked best suited for that role are the rookies. Again, Soder Blum looked with JVR absent, who is the defacto choice until he’s back. Big asterisk. Yeah, like Soderblum was fine there. I even have to admit without trying to like go too hype train overboard, I’ve liked Finny better there. not by like leaps and bounds, but he’s been better. He’s been more impactful. I think his style of game meshes better. And I think that’s really all it is is just he’s got that speed and that aggressive element to his game. They kind of need a honey a little bit of a honeybadger out there, right? Then they need someone whose brain is of similar hockey IQ and someone who has, you know, top I don’t want to say top tier talent, but can hang with the big guys. And as much as I think Danielson and MBN can do it, the fact that they’re both righties and the fact that they haven’t been given a look there tells me that’s probably not going to happen. So, it might really be Finny against the field. Yeah. As it stands now, because again, even if JVR comes back with what, one, two preseason games left, that’s not fair necessarily to JVR to just throw him to the Wolves and be like, “All right, buddy. Sink or swim in it.” Cuz if he has a rough start to the year on that line, no preeason, you’re playing 22 minutes a night, game one in the NHL, and you’re 36. Yeah, cuz that would be a bad look to the coaches. A 35-year-old. That sounds like hell on earth. It is. And you had one baby. He’s waiting for his wife to give birth to twins. Jeez. Yeah. Good god. And he’s doing it on no sleep. But yeah, so if he gets run there, you jump in there. You’re our first line left wing. I shoot left. Might be soon. And yeah, so if you’re JVR and you step into that role cold and perform poorly, well, Mlullen’s not going to be thrilled with you. you might not get another look there. So, you’d hope to even if he is the endgame there, ramp him up a little more before you throw him into the fire. Like, as weird as it is to say, Finn is more ready for that role right now than he is just cuz he’s been playing it for two, three weeks. Teams do that all the time where it’s like, “All right, let’s see if we catch lightning in a bottle, if not back to the status quo.” And it buys JVR more time to to get ready, right? Exactly. Because again, and again, it could end up being Soderblum. Like I said, I don’t want to make this sound like soda blum bashing. He wasn’t a train wreck there. He was fine. But it’s a first line on an NHL team that’s trying to compete for a playoff spot. Fine isn’t good enough. And especially in the Atlantic, like there’s the big dogs every single game almost, and they’re just going to eat that apart. You know what I looked at? We talked about this last episode, but I looked at all the players who I think are either good enough to be on this team’s, you know, depth roles now or will be NHL ready and big roles soon. It’s like we haven’t even mentioned so far really Danielson too much or Lombardi and Branz Niggard. Like I love his game and he’s going to fit in well. We talked last episode about Comfort and how he’s not playing well and he’s going to have to figure it out, but he’s like a he’s an NHL regular still. Like there he’s going to be on the team whether you like it or not. Brad, you made this point last episode, but it was even amplified in my head. I’m like, there are a lot of guys who it’s not even, oh, we have to graduate them to see what you got. I’m like, no, they’re going to be ready, if not ready right now. Like, you got to get that. You either got to get moving or get the hell out of the way. And I don’t want to say his seat’s getting hot because his contract makes it really difficult to to say it, but confer seat is getting hot if he doesn’t turn it around this season. And honestly, Barren though at points has looked decent, he has to be better than just decent at points. Like he has to be continuously oppressive. We said there’s people chomping at the bit. Again, positives through an unfortunate circumstance, but JVR hasn’t been at camp. Comfort has been bad. Let’s just call spade a spade. Barren has been fine, but not noticeable for the most part. He’s had moments where he’s looked bad, too. He’s had moments where he’s been decent, whatever. And the fact that that third line is going to be the checking line really opens up competition on that fourth line because that’s not a line that’s going to be expected to go out and do what like Luke Glenn Denning used to do on the fourth line back in the day. That’s a line that might get some more favorable matchups, maybe only play 12 minutes a night, but because of the third line, you can configure that as more of an offensive line. like, hey, let’s see if we can maybe shovel some goals in here. And again, purely hypothetical, and no NHL team would ever do this, but based on the lack of JVR and the performance of the other two, if you just threw out Finny, Danielson, MBN there, it’s not a drop off. No, I would. And and that’s the interesting part to me because now all of a sudden again that dynamic of how good that third line’s been does change things because now maybe you’re not scared to throw a Lombardi on the fourth line. Maybe you’re not scared to throw Mer on the fourth line. Maybe you’re not scared to give Danielson some run. Give him some favorable matchups. 12 minutes tonight NHL competition. And if it’s not because again we’d go back in the day we don’t want to staple a Danielson between you know late stage Darren Helm and Adam Ernie where you know no matter what he does no pucks are ending up in the net except for I’m not listen you can you can make fun of Luke Glenn Denning all you want but you know team leading goal scorer Adam Ernie I will not sit here quietly. Hey, quarterly he scored one of the sickest goals off the rush you’ve ever seen and then he disappeared for three more months. But yeah, so the whole point of that laying that all out is it genuinely feels like there’s open competition here. Again, I think you’re right. I don’t think they’re going to kick confer all his money to the AHL like that. If he’s still playing like this at Christmas, there’s probably more of a conversation to be had, but they’re going to give him the benefit of the doubt because he’s a seasoned good NHLer. you have reason to believe he could bounce back. We haven’t seen it, but you give him the benefit of the doubt at this point. Barren doesn’t get that benefit of the doubt. JVR might be playing on the top line. JVR might be who knows when he even starts playing. Like if one of these guys really wants to seize it, they could. Yeah. It’s And it might not be opening night. No, that that it might not be opening night, but they might be, you know, you got to have some ideas, though. You have to have a plan. You need to have I a few options because the season starts immediately. You’ve got incredibly tough schedule off the hop. You need to if it’s like we’re going to throw Danielson up there and that he gets eaten up. It’s like oh well now what do we do? We put JVR up there. He hasn’t been in the preseason yet. Like the Red Wings need to have us a a plan figured out before the season starts. Even if you just run JVR comp for Baron Run out to opening night, which would be fine. That’s a perfectly acceptable fourth line in the NHL. There have been accusations over the past few years that a lot of guys on this team seem too comfortable. If I’m the coach, I call that entire line into the office together morning of the first game and go, “Your spot is not guaranteed here game to game out of my office.” Just be like, “There’s your motivation. You want that spot, it’s yours. You have it right now. You can lose it at the drop of a hat. Get out there and play hockey. And some guys respond well to that type of motivation. Some don’t. But the players that don’t respond well to that type of motivation probably aren’t going to do well in the playoffs. So, it’s better to see if a Maser or a Lombardi or an MBN or a Danielson can handle it. It’s funny because this is such a big positive for the team. And it’s the fruits of the the years of drafting from like the you know this decade long rebuild or however long you want to call it like eventually you’re going to start to see those fruit even if it’s not you know the Mlin celebrini level players this is this is the positive result for the Red Wings and even though this is such a good problem to have like that hunger that that good competition guys who you’re not shoehorning into the lineup and just praying but it’s also like you can have that optimism but understanding that it it’s not going to be a massive not guaranteed to be a massive needle mover for the immediate term for this season. You never know. It could be like Casper and Johansson last season, but that’s also a little bit of a lofty expectation to place on whatever one to seemingly 10 guys could potentially make a feature this season. So, at the very least, it’s it’s a sign that things are headed in the right direction. But again, there’s still more, I think, immediate questions on the the the roster of guys who are like locked in. Their contracts dictate that they need to be here. We’ll see what Eisman does with them. We talk a lot about those guys who are auditioning right now for the Red Wings overseas. He hasn’t even made it over yet. It won’t be until next year, but Demetri Bachelnikov with the three goal, two assist performance today. Like, talk about, you know, more firepower on its way. Haven’t even seen him in the Red Wings preseason yet. and and all going well. The Russia factor, I get it. Things can change next year. That’s an exciting outlook. It is. And and third goal, hatrick goal on a penalty shot. Hell yeah. I don’t use this term lightly. Rockstar Oh, love it. And big deco on the goalie, too. Didn’t even just come in and pick his body. He’s like, “No, no, we’re doing this with some style. Doing it the old school way.” I I respect it on such a deep level. Not the stupid going half a mile an hour, 17 stick handles abomination. He respected the game. Yeah, just a quick backhand, forehand. Oh, look, you didn’t keep up with me. I’m just going to slide this into the net. Sell the goalie on the oldest trick in the book. That’s that’s that’s the kind of hockey puritan that I am. I appreciate it. Okay, more on the Red Wings later on the episode, but first we’re going to take a quick break to hear from the sponsors of the Wingville podcast. And when we’re back, our Central Division preview back after this. [Applause] [Music] New team merch is cool, but you should get it cuz you like it, not cuz you’re trying to cover up thinning hair. What you actually need is a plan to deal with hair loss directly. That’s where HIMS comes in. They provide access to personalized treatments that use proven ingredients designed to slow down hair loss and promote regrowth in as little as 3 to 6 months. 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There’s very few like stand out absolutely you’re going to rocket to the top storylines which means two things. One, chaos. Two, everyone predicting this division, including us, is going to look stupid, and there’s going to be teams who prove a ton of people wrong. So, why don’t we start the Central Division, the worst of the worst from last season, the Chicago Blackhawks. Do they shed any of the stink of suck from last season? And can they find a little bit of form around Connor Baddard? Who are Conor Bard’s wingers this year? Oh, you know, nameless guy. And Frank Nazar, he’s a centerman. Yeah, that’s cuz Bard will be playing on the wing. He’s a bad centerman at the NHL. I think we just about summed it up fairly well there. This team is hopeless. It’s a tough scene in Chicago. They like the personnel is one thing, but they got to change the way that they are and they play. They brought in those like they tried to do the bring in veterans and have them just like build around and help guide Bedard and and the other young upandcomers who they have a lot of in Chicago and it seemed like there was just a ton of passengers and guys who were just enjoying the free ride as they they collected their paycheck and there was no pressure to win. And I I you already saw heads roll at head coach. I wonder if you don’t see them roll elsewhere if things don’t turn around in Chicago. Something’s going to roll. Just not the puck into the opponent’s net. But they have like they have they have Bard. They have Bard. They have Frank Nazer. They have who is it? Oliver Moore. They have they have Lev Shun. Like they they have a ton of young talent where two of those three guys might not even be a regular on the team this year. And that’s fine. But you have I would actually argue in favor of it versus throwing them into this dumpster fire. But that’s another conversation. They have Spencer Knight locked up. how whatever you feel about that contract. I’m I’m very actually I I leave a lot of leeway for goalie contracts because it’s so hard to secure one with any talent at all that overpay them and give them too much term. It doesn’t matter. The cap’s going up by a ton. But you have the pieces there. A lot of it is systems, but also there’s just a culture of losing in Chicago. No. And this Chicago team feels very much like, oh, this is cool. Why do we have Luke Lindenning on the first line? Same stage, same vibes. Like Denning doesn’t deserve all these strays this episode. I just want to say no, he absolutely does. I’m not a part of this slander. All right, fine. We’ll not dismerge the good name of Luke Denning. Why is Adam Ernie up on the first line? If I wasn’t so tired, I would formulate a a rebuttal to defend. We don’t want to score Adam Ernie. But we don’t need rebuttals from you, Evan. We need you to swing. Oh, I’m getting there. I’m putting the ball on the tea. The bat is on your shoulder. I don’t watch baseball. So, let me tell you, I’m jealous of you for the past month. So, I’ve heard. But, okay. So, who did they bring in? Was it Burkovski? They locked up Spencer Knight. Uh, yes. Sam Laughaferty. The Chicago Blackhawks solving their problems with a player who the Seattle Kraken went, “Nah, we’re good.” Why are you guys acting like this team wants to be good? They don’t want to be good. They want to be bad one more time for Gavin. Run it back one more time. But they’ve they’ve talked a ton at like, okay, yeah, we’re not going to like contend, but like they they have been very clear they want to get better. They signed how many guys last summer and almost none of them worked out. So, they took a more conservative approach this year, which is probably the right approach to take. But man, you got a Bard contract coming up soon. And I’m not saying he’s going to go to the extremes, but if you’re the Hawks, you’re at least a little worried. He needs a running mate. He needs a one or two guys where he’s like, we’re going to be the core. And right now, I’m not totally set on who those other guys are going to be. I think there’s some seriously good options. But if you look at a team like San Jose, you can immediately identify who their core is going to be in the future. So I think Chicago isn’t quite there yet. Conor Bard is obviously frustrated. You know, he’s out there on an island and teams are just picking them apart. But Chicago’s going to run it back one more time, take the swing, try to get Gav McKenna, and that automatically identifies who his core running mate is. And you’re you’re right both you their standings points is like fourth on their priority list in terms of having a lot of them. Having as few as possible is actually second on their list. The most important thing for them no matter how you think about that team is getting Conor Bard moving in the same direction that Celibbrin is moving in the same direction everyone has expected him to move. He’s too good of a player to have this many questions. Like the questions, the talent is there, but it also goes to show that you need the right environment to develop in the NHL and it’s not a given that these guys are going to do it. Like doesn’t matter how much talent they have, you need to foster it. Nashville, speaking of teams who signed a billion guys last season and nothing worked out, does Barry Trotz know what he’s doing over there? No. They brought in Nick Pervix. They brought in Nick Heg, Eric Holla. like they they’ve made changes to their team, but this really feels like they have to figure it out. Otherwise, there’s going to be a sale and I don’t know, maybe like a an early I don’t think it’s going to be an early exit for the Barry Trots tenure, but it’s going to it’s going to be almost on like okay, cycle things out and then you have one go at this. It’s kind of my read on it. Here’s the catch 22 of it all. What are the movable contracts? who are the desirable players if things go south again this year, which they are almost certainly going to. O’Reilly doesn’t have a real trade protection clause, but they are, you know, de facto honoring it, but it’s not there in writing and things can change. Yeah, I I think Marsheso is cheap enough teams. I don’t think they’re giving up premiums for him, but they’d be willing to take it off Nashville’s hands. Hell, I would put Detroit in that camp. Mhm. Again, I’m not giving up a first or a good prospect for him because that contract is a lot of risk. But if it’s like a you just want some cap space for your rebuild. We can take that off your hands. But again, Sha’s contract’s not movable. Stamos without retention, I don’t even think teams would want right now. Philip Forsber is 31. And I mean, if you’re going to start to rebuild, you you have to move Philip Forsber and that would get a big haul. Yeah, but they’re again Barry Trotz with the same thing. O’Reilly. As much as it would make sense for them to do it, do you see a reality where they move Yosi Forsber or O’Reilly? If you’re tearing it down, well, if you’re moving one, you’re moving two or three, right? That’s what I mean. You’re going scorched earth. But as we just talked about with Chicago, man, teams are going to be scared to do that because you look at Detroit right now, you look at Buffalo, you look at Chicago, teams in Nashville’s position are probably looking going, you know, a retool on the fly probably doesn’t sound so bad rather than blowing it up and trading your Yosis, your Marshesos, your Forsbergs, so on and so forth. I mean, they got to get younger. Even if they are good this year, they still have to get younger though. Like that’s a lot of guys who are on the wrong side of their their talent curves. Realistically, I think they’re going to give this group another go this year just to be like, okay, was last year a fluke or are they actually this bad? The underlying say they were bad but maybe not quite that bad last year. So, I don’t think they have much of a chance at the playoffs because again, they were an old team to begin with last year and they’re only another year older now. So, that doesn’t play in their favor. They overpaid Nick Heg by a billion dollars, but he’s an upgrade. Herbik again, he’s an upgrade. Sorrowos wasn’t good last year. If he bounces back, that completely changes the dynamic of this team. Yeah, that’s a much different There’s enough signs of life there that if I’m Barry Trotz, I’m I’m not hitting the big red button yet. But like, this is probably the last year before you have to make a real serious decision on that one. More than one. We’re going to get to it, but who are they better than? Chicago. Thank you. That that’s when we do our final prediction on the standings, like I I struggle to come up with an argument, but Brad, I think you laid it out kind of best is like there’s if if if if maybe they’re a wild card 2 team. Well, do you uh let’s let’s continue to actually go in our proper order here. I was going to mix it up and and say what about St. Louis, but we’ll hold on to them. Utah this upcoming season is going to be an interesting team to watch. Do you have any hope in terms of their kind of young pieces, their talent continuing to emerge, or do you see them still as a mushy middle team? because I know they’re not projected for a ton, but I also think they’re not necessarily like the Nashville, Chicago level teams. I actually really like Utah. I their young pieces are coming along very well. They’ve got a lot of more wellestablished NHLers than I think people give them credit for. They weren’t a dumpster fire last year with like it’s easy to forget the absolute insane amount of significant injuries they had. Like what was it? two of their top three D went out for the year early in the season right away. Right away. It’s like heartbreaking. You’re like I I don’t root for other teams who aren’t the Red Wings, but that kind of made me sad. Yeah. And again, you still have Keller. You still have Schmaltz. You still have Kulie. You have other prospects coming up. Barrett Hayden showed signs of life last year in a good way. Like I again, I laid it out with Nashville. If if if I just have one if with Utah. Are they going to get a save? Yeah. as VML are going to I I don’t trust their goalending, but I up and down they’ve got a very very solid lineup. They are a team that if they can get a 910 915 team save percentage, they are going to be right in the wild card mix probably grabbing a spot because again the one thing with the Central that we haven’t mentioned yet that we mentioned a lot with the Pacific, I don’t think either any of us think the Pacific’s getting a wild card spot. I think you’re going to get your three division season and all likelihood the Central’s getting five spots. Yeah, because we talked about the fall after LA. Like it’s off a cliff in that division. So maybe one team’s frisky but not likely. So I think if we’re talking the eight seed, I I very much put Utah in that mix. Yeah, like looking at their group, you’re right. Like they added JJ Pa like everyone that happened so early in the game like Koulie Peter, Gther Gther, I didn’t even mention him. Yeah. Keller Hatton and then you look on D like okay they have what what’s their third pair gonna be like Schmidt Mada it’s not something like that better than Detroit’s their decor is kind of is you know they don’t have like superstar level talent there but Muel Sergeev is you know you’re probably your best defenseman runs the PP1 and everybody else but go on everyone is extremely serviceable in that on that group and Sergeev missed a huge chunk of last year and John Marino missed damn near the whole season. And who was the other one? Jersey. Wasn’t it? Yeah. Missed almost the whole season. Like those are might be your three top defenseman. Yeah, like you’re right. It does come down to a save here. So, it’s hard to predict that they’re going to make a massive leap forward, but that’s what I mean. I think they have an opportunity to be like a mid90s point team. They should be able to improve off of where they were last season. I think the other thing that they’ve got going for them is they’ve got an exciting young group of players. got an owner who’s by all rights treating everyone incredibly. He wants to win. He’s making arena upgrades. He’s, you know, asking players, you know, what what do you want? What makes you comfortable? What do we have to do as an organization to foster a strong culture and to bring winning? Players are going to want to go there and they’re not afraid to make a splash. like they’re going to have players waving their no trade clause to go to Utah if they’re having a good year. So Utah on paper right now might be a bubble type team, but if they start off hot and are competing in the divisional spot, they could make a big splash for for somebody. Moving along here, the St. Louis Blues. Now, obviously they’re going to win the division because they add a Pew Sudter, who Evan pointed out, I may have mistakenly said he was still on Vancouver. So that that’s my apologies. But Pew suit is one of their ads. Was it Buchad they they have pieces that they brought in. Obviously you have a goalie in net in Bennington who can either be completely invisible or win entire tournaments. They still have guys like Thomas and and Buchavic and obviously like Holloway and the everyone knows what happened with Broberg and him and but St. Louis, I feel like season over season is either really bad at some point in the year or making some monumental comeback into a playoff spot and all of a sudden they they beat out all the other middling teams in the West. Do you count on their downfall this year or is it going to continue to to look up for them? You know what you just described being stuck in the mushy middle? Their their run hot last year which they had got them just into the playoffs and got them knocked out in the first round. Like mind you, mind you, they they were literally two seconds away from winning that series. Literally two seconds. Insane series. Yeah. Again, I I don’t like them or hate them any more than I do Minnesota, Utah in the same tier. Like, it really is going to come down to of those teams who’s healthier and who’s more consistent because, you know, at least for this season, I think they’re all in the same tier long term. Obviously you like Utah more than the other two, but yeah, St. Louis is that weird one where it’s like, are they ever going to commit one way or the other? They feel a little rudderless to me, too. It’ll I think really the outcome of their season will depend on sort of the growth from the young guys. Like, is Philip Broberg going to take another step? Dylan Holloway, will he take another step? You know, they’re committed to having Jimmy Snugger on the team. will he emerge as a as an elite player in the NHL? So, I think if they can get some of those young guys to really raise the bar and, you know, it’s you can’t bet against Jordan Bennington apparently anymore. So, they’re going to be right there, I think, in the fight to make the playoffs. I can certainly see a path, but yeah, you know, from a long-term perspective, it’s very difficult to see where this organization is going. the Minnesota Wild. Ton of noise around them obviously with Capri off reportedly turning down a massive, massive number contract year and not like he needs the motivation, but he’s going to be working to earn a record-breaking paycheck. How quickly is Buum going to get up to NHL level, assuming he’s there. Are they going to get strong goalending? What can Marco Rossi do? Are they still a bonafide mushy middle team for you or do you see them trending one way or another? Oh, they’re right in that mushy middle. Like again, they’re they’ve become a parody of themselves cuz they’re always the benchmark for the mushy middle and they never seem to do anything to get out of it. I like that they’re at least being aggressive in keeping a star level player like Capriovv. But here’s the thing with Minnesota, too, with the Capri off thing. Assuming that contract doesn’t get signed, is it a boost for them because it’s Capri having a contract year or do you get kind of like these Vancouver like distractions because he won’t extend? And does that resonate through the room? Like if the room knows, you know, you’re sitting next to a guy who so badly doesn’t want to play here, he turned down $16 million a year. Man, I I don’t care what any not a hockey player alive who’s not going to feel some kind of way about that. Some guys will handle it better than others, but I I bet you they ain’t feeling good about that. Also, if you’re like bottom three in your division come, let’s say January 1, you got to start talking to him and be like, “All right, if you’re not signing, we are not going to Calgary flames ourselves here. We need to get something for you.” And imagine what Capri off would fetch at the deadline, even if it is a rental, although it’s the NHL. Nothing fun ever happens. So, he would go to a team that he would then sign long-term with, etc., etc. So, Florida, oh my god, who we’ll talk about very quickly about the Bararkov news. Oh god, don’t do that. But yeah, it’s a good point. And they have questions on defense beyond just like boo, you know, how quickly can you get up to speed? Like people are wondering how that that defense is going to take shape over the year. I don’t know. Minnesota could be the team to to slip this year in my mind. We say that about them every year. Like logically in my head I’m picking them as the team to slip. But how many times have we done that and it’s never happened? Only played half the season last year too. So if he can play but at a heart level before he went down. Oh yeah. Like if if he can play up to that level again like this is almost certainly a playoff team. Like they just needs guys to be mostly serviceable. There’s absolutely I mean I shouldn’t say this, but there’s absolutely no way that Terara Senko is as bad at Minnesota as he was in Detroit. Well, like he’s he’s got to be at least somewhat of a bounceback candidate. Like they got there’s no way that that guy is that’s it. I might we may have just become like downers on a lot of things because you say that and I’m like I don’t know. Oh, I watched a lot, man. But like Jeff Merrick, who obviously know like one of the the the best hockey commentators in media people in the the game and a good friend of ours in the podcast, he said something about, you know, if Montreal can unlock Joe Valeno, there might be something there. And all I think is like, well, well, we said the same thing for like however many years. Yeah, but I feel way more confident in that reaction than I do two years of Terasenko. That’s an indictment on one or the other, and I can’t figure out which. To be fair, 80% of Joe Valeno’s career goals have been scored in the Montreal Forum. So, or the Montreal Bell Center. So, Oh, the Forum is is a good slip up just from the the weird juju of it all might pop off for 35 this year. Don’t I would be so 35. Like, he’s a goal per game at home. Stealing my by thunder for our Atlantic division preview. Who’s the best player in that division? It’s going to be Joe Valeno this year. Nothing. Oh, I’ve I’ve never been a throw things on the ice guy. I might have to throw something on the ice when Montreal comes to town. If Joe Valeno goes and is a 35 goal scorer, who’s uh the Red Wings opening night opponent? All right, let’s move on to the Colorado Avalanche. What are they going to do? Another distraction on that team again. Marty NHS, what’s going to happen there? They they traded away Rantin last season. There’s going to be questions of like where is this team going to go with everything that they’re they’re trying to, you know, preserve. Is Landisk going to be Landiskog of olds? One of the most likable guys in the league by the way, Gabe Landiskog, in terms of at least off ice personalities. I know on ice some people have their qualms, but is this team too good to to say they’re going to slip or do they have depth questions and do they have questions of what’s NHS going to do? They have Nathan McKinnon and Gabe Landiskog to not let the NHS thing be a destruction because the thing with Mar Yeah. The thing with Capri off in Minnesota is he’s the best player on the team. Nate Chess is not a top three player on this team. So yes, while the contract thing is an issue, it’s not like it if he doesn’t sign it changes the entire trajectory of this team. You still have McKinnon, you still have Devonte’s, you still have Kale Mar. Mackenzie BL, they have a goalie now. Let’s not forget how that has gone for them in the last couple years. Colorado’s got to be right up there as a favorite to win this division. Like they are they are still the Colorado Avalanche. They are still a good team. They might have like deep depth issues, but their top six and their top four are still nuts, which I would always take that over the inverse. Their dogs are their best players, which goes a long way for pulling up the bootstraps of the guys on the third and fourth lines. Like there is no way that Nathan McKinnon and Gabe Lanniskog who fought in the preseason. He he fought in the preseason. Oh yeah. Don’t let this team scuttle into mediocrity. Yeah. When I look at Colorado’s questions, it’s like yeah, these are questions of like is this team going to be going to the cup finals or just the second round. This isn’t a question of where they’re going to be in the regular season. By all rights, barring Mackenzie Blackwood being an utter failure in net this season, they’re going to be in a divisional seed. Now, moving forward, the Dallas Stars, are they going to be able to seize an opportunity here with other teams potentially not having their their best years, a full season of Rantin? There is a Robertson question. There’s noise around him. Where’s where do they ultimately land? They they dropped Granlin. They dropped Marchment to Donov. I mean, they lost Cody Cece and Matt Dumba. So, Oh, no. Yeah. Right. The Dallas Stars, are they the favorites for the Central? How are they not? They have the best forward group. They have the best D-group and they have the second best goalie in the division. Again, on paper, this is the best team. Full stop. I have one big question mark with them. Glenn Gulletson. Is he any good as a coach? Because historically, not really. He that was a very confusing hire to me when it was made. But again, on paper, is his team too good that no matter what he does, they’re still going to be fine. If he’s a good coach, they’re a great team. If he’s a bad coach, they’re still a pretty good team. Another team that’s like, yeah, the questions about them are nothing to do with regular season is, can they beat their demons? Can Jake beat his demons in the postseason? And can they finally take that step? For me, the divisional seeds in in this division kind of like it’s who beats each other up the least. And like the seeding to me doesn’t really matter. It’s the all these teams are focusing on the playoffs where they end up one, two, or three. I don’t think they really care because they have bigger aspirations. I don’t know if Dallas really got better this year in the off season. Like they’re down Granlin, they’re down Mason Marchman. Like I think they’re still one of the best teams in the league, but I certainly aren’t I’m not as sold on them as I was this time last year, but I still think they’re a contender. Are you forgetting that they lost CC and Dumba? It’s addition by subtraction there. Well, I said they got worse. I didn’t say they I said they didn’t get better. What about the Winnipeg Jets? Do they repeat their glory run to the President’s Trophy from last season or I’m going to go out on a limb here and say no? Okay, they had obviously the it was one of the storylines of the off seasonason. You know, they lost a very very important forward to their team. you know, when you lose that kind of speed. And right now, I don’t know how they’re going to replace Mason Appleton. Yeah. Like, and I guess maybe Eers, too. Well, that’s why they brought Jonathan Taves. Yes, that solves all that. If I’m Nick Eers and I look at the picture of me in that horrendous Carolina Hurricanes jersey, I’m asking for a mulligan on that one. Just send me back to Winnipeg. Yeah, I I don’t think the Jets are going to be bad, but realistically Connor Hellbuck’s probably not putting on another heart performance. Well, it’s possible, but not likely. Might be the best. I think he he’s in a lot of me people’s mind, he is the best goalie on the planet right now. So, I don’t know that you can say that so confidently. He probably is, but again, he was Super Saiyan last year. Like, so if he’s only like somewhat Saiyan this year, that’s probably He could win the Vzna and it’ be a downgrade from last year. That’s what I’m saying. Like, And again, he’s another year older. Like, they’re not a young team. Shley’s still good, but older. Like, Morsy is still good, but like older. They’re getting to the ages where it’s like you’re not expecting the cliff, but you’re definitely not expecting them to get better. So, I I think they’re going to be good. I think they’re still a really good team even without Eers and Apple, but I don’t think they’re in that Dallas, Colorado tier. And also we talked about distractions with Nay Chass and Capri off Kyle Connor. Yeah, same boat. You know, he’s obviously leaving for Detroit and whether it’s please God. Whether it’s the trade deadline or in the off season, we all know actually, you know, I’m done hoping for players to to reach free agency. I’ve been fooled a million times. Yeah, we spend how many hours talking about these players and where they’d fit on the Red Wings and then it turns out they never even answered their phone call. Trade for him. I I am praying we trade for Kyle Connor. Here’s the thing. All the pieces, all the the the ingredients that led to the formula of the Winnipeg Jets overperforming yet again last season are still there in my mind. Yes, Nikolai Elers is gone and that could be a massive cornerstone gone and and so I can see that the whole thing could be shaken up beyond repair, but when you have the best goalie on the planet right now and Connor Hobbuk and you still have, you know, the likes of Connor and Shley and never mind and Perfetti as the younger guys and I have no faith in Jonathan Taves and and being like an effective top six player if they’re trying to use him like that at all. I don’t write them off. I still have him as a divisional seed in in my mind. There’s just too much talent there. You You don’t have the best goalie on the planet and you suck. Like, it’s just not gonna happen that way in my mind. Are they gonna be a 116 points trophy winning team? I don’t think so. Like, I think they’re primed for some regression. Are they still one of the best teams in this division? Yes. All right. Division standings rundown. Let’s go through it. I’ll give you guys the grace of myself going first this time to buy you some time because I think I went last last time. I’m going to go from the top down. I’m going to say it’s the Dallas Stars winning the division. I’m going to give it to Winnipeg over Colorado, but I think it’s going to be tight. So, I’m going to go Dallas, Winnipeg, and then Colorado. I like what Utah has in the mix, so I’ll go Utah. And then I’ll say Minnesota, St. Louis and I almost want to be brave here and say Chicago then Nashville, but I just can’t do it. I’ll go Nashville then Chicago rounding at the bottom yet again. Yeah, there’s no hope for Chicago. That would be the biggest upset in this division is if they finish anything but last. They’d raise a banner. I mean, all right, I’ll go. If we’re going top down, I am going to have the Colorado Avalanche winning this division. Okay, I trust Jared Bedard to have them playing more consistent hockey over 82 games than I do Glenn Dulitson. That being said, I’m putting Dallas second. I think they’re right in that mix with Colorado. I’m going to go Winnipeg third again. I don’t think they’re going to repeat last year, but I don’t think they’re going to fall off a cliff. I’m with you. I’m going Utah four. I I I believe in what they have coming up. And again, I don’t think they need VMLA to be a Vzna winner. league average and they probably get there. I’m going to differ a little bit here. I’m going to go St. Louis five. I’m going to go Minnesota six. I just feel like the Capri of distraction might be a lot. So, I I want to put the asterisk here if he resigns before the season. Flip these two, but fair. I’ll go Minnesota 6 and then yeah, Nashville Chicago. All right, Evan. Mine’s very similar to Brad’s. I’ve got the Avalanche winning the division. Mine’s less so about the coaches. It’s more so about the personnel. Like I just am a big believer in their best players are their best players and they’ve got the drive to win. I think that’s going to elevate that team above Dallas. With that being said, I have Dallas 2. I still really like Dallas, but I just I’m I’m struggling to see how they got better as of right now. After that, I’ve got the Jets. Obviously, they’re still an incredible team. They’ve got Connor Halbuck back there. Just that alone makes them at least third in this division. I think it’s going to be a dog fight for the divisional seeds. After that, I really like Utah. I love what they’re doing with the youth. I love that Ryan Smith is putting his money where his mouth is, his billions of dollars where where his mouth is, and is not afraid to to take swings. And I think they’re going to try and make a big splash if that team is is contending for a divisional seed. After that, it it kind of gets a little mushy. I I’m going to go with the Wild here. I if Capri off stays healthy, I think for sure they’re battling to make the playoffs. Then I’m going to go St. Louis. The that could flip at any time, too. And then after that, it’s it’s the vegetables. It’s it’s the Predators. And then it’s Chicago. We just doomed Utah to to miss the playoffs because we all put them in all. Well, it’s hard not to like what they’re doing. Like they’re they’re bringing in good pieces. They’re willing to make trades. They’ve got an established group of young players who look like they’re going to be top talent in the NHL. Like it’s hard to not like that. They’re established group of young players. Can we call them the youth p? I like that. I’ll allow it. That stays. Okay. So, I will say positions four through eight in the central, Utah, Minnesota, St. Louis, Nashville, Chicago. It is guaranteed to not happen like that because all three of us just had the same positions four through eight. All we did is visual seed. I had I was different with if Capri have signs were all the same. If he doesn’t, I have St. Louis. Yeah, that’s fair enough. All right, that is our Central Division preview. Let us know what you think. Some very quick NHL news. We’ll lead off. Mason McTavish keeps things boring. six-year, $42 million deal, $7 million AAV. Two things there for Red Wings fans. One, the dream of McTavish being a Red Wing is over. He leaves his training in Ottawa and goes back to Anaheim and and helps their fortunes this season obviously and answers that question for a long time. Also, Max did a good job to point out that this is a another good comparable for the Marco Casper. I think this is without getting McDavage. I think this is a win for Detroit because I think McTavish still has room to grow, but that contract’s fair for what he is now, especially with the again, I don’t think that people are grasping how expensive the salary cap’s going to be by the end of this. Like, that’s a phenomenal deal for a second line center. Even an average second line center in the NHL. It’s nice work by him. If we could give Marco Casper that contract today, I’m sprinting to find the nearest pen. I’m hammering that. I’ll sign in my blood if I have to. I’m shocked Mason McTavish took this contract. Yeah, you held out all that time for that. That’s what I as soon as I saw that I had, you know, you rub your eyes to see if you’re seeing things wrong. But he held out to take a team friendly deal. Seems a little crazy to me. I wonder what they were offering where he was holding out for. He had to grind his way up there and people are like, “Wow, I can’t believe he held out for such a a a pence.” Patique said, “You take eight years, $3 million per year, and I won’t beat the out of you right now in this room.” Fair enough. His agent is like, “Okay, sir.” They they do Zoom only meetings because of it. I I think the only win that McTavish gets here is the six years cuz what’s that going to walk him to UFA at 27, 28 years old, something like that? Yeah. He’s going to be 28 years old in 2031 expiring as a UFA. That’s a huge And he knows like, yeah, he’s missing maybe, call it $6 million over the lifetime of the deal, the cap’s going to be astronomical by then. Yeah, he’ll even if again he doesn’t progress from what he is now. And he has six more years exactly like he had this year. He’s a $9 million guy at the end of that. Oh, by then? That’s probably 12 million. Are you kidding? Honestly, yeah. And he’s 22 years old. He has more. Yeah, 100%. Uh, boring still. Okay. The Atlantic and thank goodness we haven’t done that division preview yet. Barov is out from anywhere from 7 to 10 months, which is Wow. Seven months from now. Do the math for me here, Ryan. Kate, is that early April? Yeah, but the problem April the problem is if he’s not good to go, like they have to make a decision before the trade deadline what they’re going to do with him. That’s a lot of time. But the new rules the new rules in the in the salary cap make it so that they can’t game this. If Bararkov returns this year, then the Panthers can exceed the cap by up to $3.8 million for his injury. So, they’re going to go get a $3.8 million player. Okay. $3.8 million player. I was like Joe Valeno. Like, no. Here’s No, here’s the thing. You get Mason McAfee. Nobody’s saying, don’t joke the Nobody’s saying the Florida Panthers are going to be better because Barov’s out. Obviously, this is a massive blow for them. But I don’t think anybody thinks the Florida Panthers are going to miss the playoffs still. and all of a sudden you’re getting a rested Alexander Barkov. Plus, call it a $3.8 million player for the playoffs. Yeah, call me crazy. I think they’re going to be fine. Well, if he’s back, then then you might then no to the player. No, you still have the player. You might just have to again, we talked about that rotating cast of scratches throughout the playoffs. If he is declared out for the full season and playoffs, like they they that’s Then they’re getting Capri off. Then they get the full $10 million. Then they get Capri off. Oh no, they get Sydney Crosby. Oh no. Plays with Brad Marshan wins his final cup. Oh my god. This is like everyone’s thinking, oh wow, Kachchuck’s out all year for a lot of the year. Barkov might be out all year. This is just going to be Florida. Oh no, this is terrible. You know, whatever the way to game the salary cap under this new system is, they’re going to find it immediately. They probably already have. Oh, this is terrible. and they’re going to come in as a wildard seed because they’re going to be rece and they’re just going to ruin some divisional seeds entire year. The Toronto Maple Leafs win the division waiting for him in the first round. The Florida Panthers. That’s really funny. Actually, that is all I’m hoping for if the Red Wings don’t make the playoffs. So, who’s the divisional seeds that Ottawa, Montreal? Ottawa, Montreal, Detroit, of course. Buffalo. Spoiler alert. Let’s not get stupid. Buffalo and Boston. It’s 1991, is it not? Brad, you called it the forum today, man. I don’t know if they both made the playoffs that year. I pulled that out of my ass. Oh, you said it so confident. You were like, Evan, yeah, man. Fake it till you make it. 90% of what I’ve said in the history of this podcast is Nobody’s bothered to check me on it because Evan doesn’t listen to 95% of it and I’m sitting here making notes for 96% of it. On that note, we’re going to take a quick break and when we’re back, the final segment here on the Windal Podcast back after this. [Music] We’re going to overtime. Overtime is brought to you by our Patreon supporters. patreon.com/wingwheelodcast if you want to support the show. You get access to benefits like our bonus overtime episodes which record right after these main ones. We let loose, we have fun, we get thoughts with Evan, which is always a a wild ride. Today the rider cup finish, so we’ll be chatting about that one a little bit. It’s a really good time. You also get access to all our bonus content that we are creating now but also have done over the entire offseason. There’s a lot there for you to enjoy. you get access to all of our giveaways. We give away two tickets to every Detroit Red Wings home game in season going directly to our Patreon supporters and you get access to our Patreon exclusive Discord. So again, patreon.com/wingedwheel podcast. We’ll take some questions from our patrons or comments as well. Jason Thompson says, “Now that he’s officially retired, it’s time to wave the waiting period and put Mark Andre Flurry in the Hall of Fame Monday morning.” Jason, send me your full address. I have an envelope and a lot of glitter to mail to you. I have nothing to say. You know who who joked that there’s teams that are going to be calling for him in January and Alan Walsh posted the eyes emoji and I swear to God if he comes back in January, my like haha I’m a hater bit is going to turn real. Like Mark Andre Flurry is the dumbest guy in the league for me to do that bit about because he is he is a good NHL goalie and he is one of the most likable goalies in league history players in league history and I’m sitting here like, “Oh, we should be ripping on him.” No, I’m I’m an idiot. But if after this entire farewell tour, he comes back in January, I’m losing it. Once you get a taste of retirement, you’re not coming back. You’re dreaming of retirement every day. Oh, you’re your your child is a month old. I better start working a little bit harder. Mottown Cider says, “If you were Mlullen, when do you decide to move to Brinket or Casper up to left wing in all the experimentation?” On the first line, is the cat Kane chemistry so good that it’s worth putting Larkin in Raymond’s production at risk? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got Finey Fever and I think he’ll produce 70 goals on the top line this year, but I wonder if 93 isn’t the best solution. Thanks. I have a lot more faith in Larkin and Raymond being able to prop up someone on that wing than I do any two in a combination of Casper, Brinking, and Kane. And if that line’s running as hot as it has looked late last season and in the preseason so far, there is zero reason to break up that line. Yeah. Yeah. Especially because like you don’t want to mess with what’s working, especially with Kane and Casper, for completely different reasons. And not that they can’t work with other players, but when it’s that good, you don’t want to. I’d rather disrupt the checking line because that’s less of a net negative on the team. Schmelt says, “I’m ripping this off from another show, but would you guys consider doing an overunder segment before the season starts? For example, overunder on Linens scoring 30 goals, ASP playing 10 games, etc., and revisiting the answers at the end of the season. Hackey correct guess could translate into donations for the Jamie Daniels Foundation. Patrons could submit categories. Yeah, that’s a good idea. We’ve done something donating $4. that. Yeah, maybe we should maybe we should be donating based on wrong answers and then the patrons can can jump in. But we do something like that. It’d be cool to do a formal little game. That’s a good idea. Moving on here, let’s take one from Joseph Barry says, “Do you guys think that letting Edmonson’s contract remain unsigned to this point of the season was the right move?” No, it wasn’t. But I don’t think Aman had a choice. If it’s Yeah, if he’s unsigned at this point, it’s because of like if I’m Simon Edmonson, there’s zero chance I’m signing a contract till I get through this season. I want to get every last dollar I can and in another year of good performance. We’ll hike that price up. Andrew Schlaw says, “Fun question. With the Centennial uniforms this year essentially being an alternate, what is all of your dream alternate uniforms for the Red Wings?” I need some purple. Yeah. Yeah. I The thing is I always say I always agree I like purple. I have no idea what the design would be. Barber Paul purple might be too out there for me. My even with the Centennial being as good as it is, I still love the Winter Classic jersey. The Big House Winter Classic jersey, the red and the cream. Even if you want to invert it, like I am all about that jersey. I think that is still my number one hockey jersey of all time. Even the09 Winter Classics really underrated as well. I would actually love a an inverse of that. the red with the white bar. Yeah. Inverse barber pole. Like you could do that. But if someone if someone can make a really cool purple jersey design, like if someone’s really into designing jerseys, I’d love to see some mock-ups of what people have cuz like we say it and like it’d be really cool to lean into the alley the octopus thing, but we haven’t seen too much of what would actually work. Well, it’s in my backyard, so if anybody wants to come take some pictures and get inspiration, just let me know. Oh, you’re you’re the guy who dropped 20 G’s on. Here you go. This this jersey, but instead of cream and red, it’s purple and cream. I My water bottle here is metal. I should hit you with it. That’s heinous. This. All right, let’s get weird. Yeah, we’ll take one more question here. This one from Jack’s dad says, “Alex Holtz, would you bring him in given his history with Raymond? Is he worth taking a gamble on to fill that left wing spot until Connor signs with us next year? I get that it’s not ideal having two righties playing wing, but he’s got a shot and might get a boost playing with someone familiar. What are your thoughts? There are no downsides to bringing in a cheap reclamation project. If the assets to get him are minimal and we know the contract’s minimal, couldn’t hurt. But do you do that with so much like do you do that with MBN and his shot in his but like if it’s for this season like again I don’t think MBN’s going to play much this year in all real like realistic scenarios. You trade a sixth round pick for Holtz. You throw them with Raymond and Lin for three games and pray to God that the Terror Twins relive their glory days. Yeah. But and if it doesn’t work out, oh well, you got another farm hand for a sixth round pick. Whoopdedoo. I mean, the Red Wings turned a seventh round pick and damn it, Finny. And he’s going to score 70 goals. So, and they’re going to turn a six round pick and then Alex Holt’s 30 goal season. Yeah. Which is going to be a shadow of Joe Rapids. Well, for a six round pick, I actually would probably take. All right, folks. We’re going to wrap up this episode of the Wing Wheel podcast. links in the description for Wing Wheel podcast nights at the LCA with the Detroit Red Wings and with the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday, January 17th. Thank you so much to all of you for tuning in. Thank you to the sponsors of the Wingedwheel Podcast. And to all of our Patreon supporters, we could not thank you enough. patreon.com/wingedwheelodcast. If you want to join the Dubdub Club and if you want to help us out, but Patreon’s not for you, that’s totally cool. Wherever you’re listening or watching, subscribe. YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, wherever, hit the subscribe button, give a thumbs up, a like, a review, the heart, whatever it may be. you tell a friend about the show. That all really does help us a lot. To our name level supporters on Patreon, we cannot thank you enough. Arjun Shanker, Aker, THL Champ, Samuel Sodome, icon, Glenn Brabbom, Rain Doa ball hockey goalie, Sea Lion, Matthew M. Rice, Darb EQ, Bingo Bango, Hassan Alcasm, Asher Killian, Kaylin Wood, Alex Toger, That’s what I appreciates about you, Derek. Stam, Matt McKay, Jacob Turner, Andy Hardcore, Sam Bankson, Citizen High Five, RA, Aaron Hudson, Admiral Matt S of the Cheesebag Navy, Auten Watson, they got you with that. Auton Watson, Steven Ortle, Jonathan Miller, Give Bloodfight, Probert, DJ Denton, Carl Brutin, Nolki, Jay Gollum, John Engles, CB55, Connor Scovi, Adam Zoza, Adam Rose, Huh? What? Steve R, Hockeytown, Matt, Mr. Koozie, Chaotic Monkey, Craig, Kibble, Eizer, Plan, Stan, Clipclop, Na Nigh, That’s What I Appreciates about you, PY 713. 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Be sure to visit wingwheelpodcast.com where you’ll find links to subscribe to the show on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast. You’ll also find ways to support the show like Patreon, official podcast merchandise, and more. And don’t forget to follow us on X at Wingwheel Pod, at Ryan Hannah WWP, at Brad Krisco, and at HockeyTown Evan, as well as Wing Wheel Podcast on Instagram. This message is brought to you by Greenlight Lending. Are you facing financial red lights on your home ownership journey? Don’t have money for a down payment or closing costs? Struggling with your current mortgage payment or other debt obligations? Or maybe you have a complicated situation like credit challenges or self-employment income. At Greenlight Lending, they turn those red lights green with creative mortgage solutions for purchase and refinance loans. 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The race is on for the remaining Detroit Red Wings roster spots, and Steve Yzerman & Todd McLellan are looking at a lot of promising young players vying for the Hockeytown squad.

Tune in as we open by discussing the Appleton – Copp – Rasmussen line, how their chemistry could solidify the rest of the lineup (DeBrincat – Kasper – Kane and even Larkin and Raymond), and whether the penalty kill could benefit. We also go over Albert Johansson’s improvement, what to expect on defense between him and Simon Edvinsson, Moritz Seider, and some potential other combinations including Bernard-Docker and Hamonic. Plus, Nate Danielson, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Carter Mazur, Amadeus Lombardi, Emmitt Finnie, and all of the young Red Wings hopefuls competing with the likes of Berggren and Compher for roster spots (plus Cossa in net).

After that, our Central Division preview & predictions: Rantanen’s Dallas Stars, Makar’s Colorado Avalanche, Hellebuyck’s Winnipeg Jets, Cooley’s Utah Mammoth, Kaprizov’s Minnesota Wild, Kyrou’s St. Louis Blues, Bedard’s Chicago Blackhawks, & Josi’s Nashville Predators.

Finally, NHL news including Mason McTavish’s contract and Barkov’s season-ending injury before we take your questions and comments in our Overtime segment – enjoy!

Intro: 00:00

Appleton Line & PK: 4:00

Johansson, Defense, & Rookie Wave: 14:05

Central Division Preview: 34:40

McTavish & Barkov News: 1:06:10

Overtime: 1:11:15

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