DETROIT RED WINGS ROOKIE WATCH: WHO MAKES THE OPENING NIGHT ROSTER?

DETROIT RED WINGS ROOKIE WATCH: WHO MAKES THE OPENING NIGHT ROSTER?

[Music] Yo, what is up everyone? Welcome back to this brand new episode of Hockeytown Rundown. You’re here with us once again, your beautiful host Carlo and Zach and Michael as well, our beautiful guests. Boys, welcome back. How’s everyone doing today? Good. Really good. Is it seven o’clock? Really good preseason. I’m pretty excited finally about stuff. I think a lot of people are kind of feeling feeling the feels. Where’s the hype level? Is it we’re hype? We’re lit. We’re higher than high or we’re space deep high. Where are we on the vibe level? Vibe. It’s got to be space deep. I’m talking three Atlas. It’s got to be up there. There there’s some really good news stories, right? Like there’s you have to be optimistic. After last year I think ended without optimism. I felt very negative about things. You’re like god this is never going to end. This is like they’re in the trough of despair and they’re just they’re mediocre and we keep hearing no we’re not we don’t want in until we’re ready. Well now you see why. Like there’s the guys that are drafted are ready almost if they are ready. I mean I don’t see anybody that’s not ready who’s not ready. And it’s amazing right? considering how the season ended last year and you had plenty of people saying, you know, we should have brought some kids in. We should have allowed them to play. Granted, we did already have three to four rookies on the team at that point. But before we touch on any more, let’s just go ahead and stop and say thanks for joining us on this brand new episode. Once again, if you are returning, if you are brand new, we appreciate you stopping by. As always, if you have not already, if you are watching or listening to us on YouTube, go ahead and hit that subscribe button, hit that thumbs up, and then hit that little notification bell. That lets you know when these brand new episodes come out every week, once a week. During the season, we will try to do two episodes throughout the week. If if anything comes up throughout the week that is pertinent to the Red Wings, we will touch on that. But yes, if you are watching or listening to us on Spotify, you can do both. We appreciate you doing that. Go ahead and rate us the five stars. Hit that follow button. If you are listening to us on Apple Podcast, go ahead and do the same thing over there. You can also follow us on all the major social media platforms like Twitter X, Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, and threads. And Michael, take a moment and tell the fans, viewers, watchers, listeners where they can find you online. I mean, the easiest place is on Twitter,x, pucks, and dreams, and there’s an underscore. I still can’t figure out the other prior accounts, how to get into them. Still working on it. It’s like my eternal like every every so often I’ll try and like nope, nope. It’s like that one guy who can’t get into his Bitcoin account and he one last Bitcoin in my old Twitter account. So funny. And then Michael, for those that don’t know what you do, what do you do? uh currently head North American scout for Gold Star hockey. Um it’s a new the last three, four months, so I’m watching a lot of 2011 and 12 right now. Yeah, I guess we’ll see. But yeah, it’s it’s interesting. I mean, the reality, I mean, I’ve coached Phantoms before and they’re they’re pretty good. Like, they’re just they’re still growing a lot. And even pee-wise can be really good. Like, so it’s just weird because um yeah, there’s there’s a certain element I got to get used to, which is people are like you got like 15 agents trying to get a hold of these families and kids and be their adviser, right? It’s just what it is. But um you can see the talent, man. There’s some really good 2011, the 2011 group is really, really good. In the US, it’s very even Canada, there’s some really good players. It’s gonna be very exciting. And 12, I don’t know. I I’ll have to get used to 12, but definitely the 11s are crazy, which is weird to say, but we’ll take it. We We need talent coming up. Keep things spicy and interesting, just like this Detroit Red Wings squad. You know what, Michael? I think that’s a great opener to this episode. Let’s actually touch on Carter Bear real quick, who actually was announced that he is an alternate captain for the Silver Tips this year, and he was participating in some of the Detroit Red Wings preseason games. He got to play in three games. He did go pointless. However, he did average 17 minutes and 13 seconds of ice time and he did have a couple shots on there as well. So, what should Detroit Red Wings fans expect from Carter Bear going into hopefully his final season with the Everett Silver Tips? You think it’s his final season? I don’t know. It’ be interesting to see if that’s the case. So, he’s coming off obviously an Achilles injury. great motor, right? He He’s not afraid to play physical. He’s really got excellent hockey sense, good playmaker, and he can score. His season was kind of abruptly cut last year. So, he was coming in to the Red Wings camp having missed the rookie, like the prospects camp, because he was still recovering. That’s a tough injury, Achilles. Like, I don’t know exactly the details of his, but I mean, I’ve had I have that injury and it definitely takes a long time to recover from it. I think it’s just like Pton Krebs. When Pton Krebs was drafted, he had that same injury. It’s very tight after. Yeah. So, after the repair and it takes a long time. You got to be real careful because you could rupture the other one or rerupture that one very easy. But I think you got to be patient with him. But man, he is if you like I don’t know what prospector is like him. If you like Marco Casper or Well, if you like Casper, why wouldn’t you like Carter Bear? He’s a winger, but he can play center a little bit. I think he’ll be a winger in the NHL. And I think the comparisons to Brandon Hegel are really good. So I I think be patient with him. He, you know, he might go back again next year. You don’t know. And you don’t know what’ll happen. If NCAA comes knocking with a big check, maybe he goes a year there. You don’t know. But man, that’s really good player. Awesome prospect. I think he would have been drafted before where he fell to Detroit. Like he would have been picked up like six or eight spots before. Like if you like Ben Kindle, then I think he can he’s better than Ben personally. The skating’s even before the injury is a little odd. Maybe he’s kind of bent over. So I think he acknowledges that. But man, he’s an interesting kid. He’s just really kind of he’s got that dead pan stoic sort of talk. I don’t know. He looks to me when I look at him, I think he could put on 20 25 pounds between now and when he’s like a pro and he already is physical. Like he he could be a really effective player in the NHL. Yeah, they had him in all situations on the ice. When they did have him in preseason, they had him on the top line. They would put him on the third line with different players, which was great to see. And I and I learned about this actually not long ago that he could have went to college and he decided to stick in the WHL. I’m not sure if you want to touch on that real quick, but I thought that was kind of I didn’t know specific honestly. I was kind of gone from Everett when maybe that conversation was going on. I don’t know when that conversation was like I’m sure they were recruiting him. Like why wouldn’t you? I don’t know. I mean I think he he’s gonna have an amazing opportunity in Everett this year. Like if if you’ve watched Everett the last you know the first few games like they’re very deep. There’s a lot Yeah. I I mean Landon Dupon too as well a high draft pick going pretty soon you know. So I I totally get that. I just thought that was very interesting. Yeah. I I don’t know the specifics like is he going to you know I’m sure people in the NCAA are going to revisit it. Our old coach is in the NCAA, right? Like so Dennis Williams is um at Bowling Green. Like I’m not saying that’s where he would go, but why wouldn’t he knock on Carter’s door? I mean he he could play anywhere. Like he’s he’s going to be a pro though eventually. Like I don’t I think it might take a you know a few years but he’s got all the stuff that is now looking really good for all the Red Wings prospects. Like he’s got a high compete level. He’s willing to play physical but he’s really really got high hockey IQ. He’s a good playmaker and he can score. Like and he’s a 200 foot player. Like all right those things are looking I don’t know. He’s a he’s an enticing prospect. Detroit got lucky with that. Yeah. Very very tenacious from what I saw him in camp. He’s not afraid. He’s a much better player in my opinion than Emtt V. And now it’s another guy I was going to say who’s been very tenacious on the puck and just one of those hounds. And you know, speaking of the hound identity, the dogs, whatever you want to call it, that really brings us to where we are right now before we head into this game, this final preseason game, Detroit versus Toronto. We got some hounds banging down the door in Finny. MBN Danielson was playing unreal. So responsible. Unfortunately, he took that nasty uh cross check to the back by Dumba. So, I know he’s skating. Todd mentioned he was skating in full gear, but hopefully he’s he’s back soon. And then we got ASP just dominating the power play. Like his movement on the power play is unbelievable and immediately makes our power play too lethal. Why would you send him down? I don’t know. Like what what do you gain by sending him down? Like what what does he learn that he doesn’t have? Michael’s asking the questions we’re supposed to be asking him. But that is the question, right? Why would we send down someone that you can clearly see makes the team better in an area that you need to score goals in and take upon those opportunities in advantage of that, especially on the power play. So yeah, why would you want to send someone down like like Elite, right? Like you watch his his decision making, his puck handling, his ability to walk the offensive line like NHL defenseman make careers on that skill alone and he can make those little pauses that open things up and he gets he he doesn’t I don’t know he does some really special stuff and I look at him one-on-one if that’s your concern defensively then you’re not I don’t know if that’ll ever change like he’s a small guy he pay plays positionally well and he challenges the puck and tries to keep defensive position like what does he gain by going to the AHL does he does change. He’s always going to play that way. He’s never going to play physical. Hang on. That’s a very fair point that I never really looked at it from that perspective, but I mentioned it where, you know, people online will say he still needs a little bit of time to learn on the defensive side. And while I would agree on that, but what’s the difference between doing it in the AHL versus the NHL when every preseason game we’ve seen him play, he just continuously improves? He doesn’t he’s getting better and better every single game. You know, I’ll say this. I think a lot of the let’s call a lot of the fan base, the people online are so used to Steve Eiserman in his very ultraconservative ways. Mhm. And if there’s one thing that I’m starting to realize now is that the tear down of the Detroit Red Wings has come to an end. And I think these kids have called that ending sooner than maybe expected by about a year. Yeah. 100%. You have to see Steve Eisermanman start to, you know, we got to see the adaptability there where he’s going to become that tear down GM to the buildup GM. And I think we’re going to start to see that. Hell, I would be shocked if he wasn’t working the phones as soon as this morning, maybe even two days ago, trying to offload comfort Bren to make some spots for these guys. I still be surprised at that just because of contracts and injuries, right? Like you look at what happened to Danielson. If Danielson goes down and you don’t have a com for then what? Yeah, that’s Hey, that’s and that’s a fair point. Gap, right? Like I I think you try to hold on to all the assets. You have a little bit of flexibility with the kids. Just specifically with ASP to me though, like who’s better than him? Edmonson Insider. That’s right. That’s right. Well, that’s what you’re hoping two years from now, but you’re like, “No, wait.” Like, it might be now. I mean, I don’t I just don’t see how that changes. And I and I think I’m not a confer fan. Obviously, the coaching staff likes him. At least they did. Like the prior coaching staff liked him because he’s a professional. He prepares. He works hard. He’s just always had a hard time holding on to a number two spot. He’s not really a true number two and he’s not great at a number three. So, it’s always been his thing. It’s like, I’ll move him to the wing to compensate, right? And it’s like you can he’s versatile that way, but you’re just I don’t think I don’t know. I I look at what you’re getting from MBN right now. He’s better than I thought. Like I knew he’s a big body, you know, he’s got a big shot. I thought the issue would be him get making space. And he seems to understand how to make space. Like he seems to be able to get into the high and mid slot. He seems to be able to shoot from the point on the power play and not take anything off. And he’s got good timing. Like better timing than I thought. The guy had four goals last year, I think, in the Swedish Elite League. So I don’t know what that’s all about. Like he is perfect for the North American game. You know what you talk about? Yeah. Go ahead, Carlo. I was just going to say, you talk about making space real quick, but what about creating space? That’s what I mean. He’s, you know, he’s a winger, so it’s a timing thing. It’s when he has the puck, does he pull it in and open up a lane? Does he like stutter step and break off the D? And when you watched him, I didn’t think he had that. And I think he wouldn’t have gone as low as he did in the draft if people thought he had that because what they looked at was like, he’s going to be a good third liner. And maybe that’s all he ends up being because we are only seeing him in preseason. But from what I’m seeing is he’s reading the play a little bit and you’ll see at times he’s like, “Oh, my shot’s not there.” And he’ll pull it in or he’ll push it out and try to make just those inches to make the shot which is like, “Whoa, wait. Okay, wait. That wasn’t there before.” And touching on that gold that he got from him actually starting to play to Lark and Lark and giving it back to him. him being down in the slot, creating and having that awareness on the ice and just that and just the dog in him too. And I mentioned this a couple episodes ago where I want our players to start being a little bit more selfish, hounding for the puck and being more aggressive out on the ice and and and kind of playing for themselves. And I think look or Mlen is doing a good job at telling them that and everyone else that’s in oper operations. But one thing that I love about MBM is he’s always stick tapping as soon as he sees his team get the puck and he’s open to give it to me. I’m ready for that one team. That’s why I think I you know some guys tap their stick and they just want the puck. But I think he says I’m open which that’s why he situationally I’m like seeing him play with pro guys a little bit and you know it doesn’t mean he’s gonna get 20 goals this year but he might he also might. You don’t know because he’s better than I thought. like his his idol is Ovetchkin, right? So, I’m not saying he’s gonna be Ovuchetkin, but you can see some things he does like he goes down and he gets that fork with the one knee down and he’s picked a spot, but unlike Zadena, like Zadena was so predictable that there was he wouldn’t move the defenseman off the line to get his shot off. He’s like, “No, there’s my spot and it would hit a defenseman or hit a goalie because he wasn’t adapting in opening lanes.” But you’re seeing little adjustments by him in the play. It’s really interesting on him anyway like he’s and touching on that too, Michael, you know, the assist that he got as well. I I can’t remember who the who the goal scorer was. Yeah, de Brinkat where he was basically in front of the net in the dirty area and able to see the puck get over to Alex Debrat for him to be able to get the shots. So, that type of awareness as well. He’s being able to read the plays well and get into the areas that we want our Red Wings players to do. And for some reason, a lot of them tend to not do that. So, it’s a breath of fresh air. Bringing in someone like MBN, even though it is just preseason, we may be putting too much stock in all this, but you can see what he’s doing, the decisions he’s making, how they’re setting him up for success. Like, you know, he’s not up on that high wing for by accident. Like, they’re putting him there. He knows when the puck rotates, when to go to the slot, and he’s very comfortable in front because he’s a big body. Like, he just does a lot more things than I would have anticipated based upon what, you know, I only saw him on video prior. Um, well, this we’re watching now, but it was like not, you know, you’re watching him in the Swedish League, which is a much different ice service, different type of game. So, I think he might be really well suited to North American game, even if he goes down to the A. But, man, he’s not going to be down there long, I don’t think. I don’t see it, man. He he makes the team like this whole the last two years we’ve Steve Eisermanman and and and the coaching whether it be uh Newsie or Mlullen have been talking about this lacking identity piece of being harder to play against. MBN makes the team harder to play against. Makes them harder. Yeah. Like way harder. What about Elmer? Like Elmer the other night was facewashing McMahon. He was getting he was inound, right? And McMahon was like shoot. Yeah, you can call out a couple players on this team that have been showing the grittiness and aggressiveness out on the ice. Cider has been a lot more ruthless lately. We’ve seen that ever since uh their training camp amongst his own teammates going into preeason. I think Simon Evansson in his first game back, he showed a little bit of that, but he’s getting back into the swing of things a little bit. You brought up Elmer, we can see that. And even Emtt Finny in his last game, he put up the team high in hits with seven hits. And there were a couple times where I saw him kind of get I don’t want to say dragged around or tossed around because that’s not the case. He’s he’s obviously not the biggest guy on the ice, but he’s putting it back into his opponents. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. He, you know, he’s bigger than I thought. Like I guess he’s 6’1, but he’s obviously not like 210 or something. He’s a buck 90. Yeah, maybe. Right. I’m I I looked at him and I thought maybe he’s like 185. So maybe right 190 and but he’s got a little bit of spice which is nice. He’s got good hockey sense and good decision- making like that’s that’s really helping him. He’s showing he can his game translates a little bit at least in preeason. He had a good prospect camp. So I don’t know. He’s a very that’s what you want. You want a guy that’s in the seventh round. Exactly. Popping out. And that was the old school Detroit way, right? It’s like oh where’d this Johan Franzen guy or Thomas come from? And before it was Europe. But now you can you can see all these guys to your point there’s an identity there’s consistency there’s good hockey sense they compete for pucks they have you know good decision- making and they got good overall skills so I don’t know I’m pretty you got to be excited about EMTT VM play like Carter Maer I thought was going to be real good but he seems to have leaprogged him a little bit totally totally funny Carlo how not too long ago we made the mention of Cardinal Mer’s name is pencled in to that final roster spot, but it could easily be erased. And now it got erased and there’s potentially three other forwards that you could say that are above him on the lineup. Sounds like you’re talking about the real true eer plan. Yeah, that’s what we’re that’s where we’re at right now. You know, the one thing about Finny that I think is very impressive, what about Finn’s his ability to manage his gas tank already? That’s the one thing that stands out to me the most. like, you know, towards the end of a shift, the guy’s still ready to go. Like, he’s he’s not huffing. He’s good to go. I think that’s very impressive about Finny. I think he’s going to be I think that just kind of carves out why he belongs in the NHL. I mean, all these guys have reasons individually of why they belong on this team, whether it be opening night roster or at some point this season. They’re all standing out in their own unique ways to really make this ve very, very difficult and exciting for all of us. Yep. I I I think it’s been a much more positive, you know, preseason started in the prospects. Preseason’s looked good. A year ago, weren’t people saying this is the best prospect team? And like some of the lists were saying Detroit was the best and then you had some graduation maybe, but then it dropped, right? It was like, oh no, they’re like 12th or 13th. And now I’m not so sure. Just there’s, you know, we get maybe used to the names and you kind of take them for granted. But I mean, Casper graduated for a reason. He looks like the best guy in the line sometimes, which is crazy cuz he’s playing with like the dude. Seriously. So, here’s the other thing. We’re just to preface this conversation for people like a lot of this conversation is stemming from the results of Detroit’s 3 to1 win against Toronto on Thursday night. Yeah. The reason why this this is underlined here is because Toronto iced their A team and they played Eastn Cowan. They played a couple of like their really, you know, AAA prospects, but it was it was the big squad and Detroit hung with them if not I mean technically they they outplayed them. Granted the power plays, we could talk about that a little bit later, but there was a ton of power plays for Detroit. But dude, it was it was just a crazy game where the kids all, like we were just saying, stood out individually for their own reasons. And I think that’s what a lot of this conversation, a lot of this excitement stemming from that game. Now, let’s catch up tonight. We should steamroll the Toronto Maple Leafs team that they’re might not. I said should because they’re playing 100% B team for sure. And on top of that too, regardless if they win or lose, obviously we want them to win because it’s going to be important. And I believe if they do win tonight, for those that are catching this episode on Saturday when we release it, we are recording the Saturday the day of the last preseason game, if you are catching it after this game, we’re still going to basically interp anymore. Anyways, overall, whatever happens in tonight’s game, whether if they win or lose, Tom Mlen came out and said, “This is going to be Yeah, essentially this will be one final takeaway of how we see these kids play and everyone else play.” And so, our idea, Carlo and I, that we mentioned last time that we spoke on our last episode, if you guys haven’t watched that, that episode, go ahead and check it out. It was touching on what happened after training camp and all that, but still relevant. We were essentially saying if these kids do well enough in the final preseason game like Tom Mlen wants them to do and showcase that they can provide to this team in the longevity of the season because there are the backtobacks not so much as there is in the AHL if they can continuously do that much like they have in this preseason. ASP, Finny, MBN, they’re all going into their seventh game. I would assume they are playing tonight. So, let’s just assume that they are. Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe Larkin isn’t playing tonight, whatever. But if they go out and do well, they all should have a strong chance to make the team. And I love how earlier, backing up a little bit, you brought up JT Comfort and how he went from, okay, we got him to play the two seat, didn’t work out. Then we had him play three seat, that technically really didn’t work out. And then you mentioned, well, he’s a versatile player, so we could put him on the wing. At what point do you say we got to stop trying to fit this player onto our team when we have other players that could do it at the same level or potentially better than what a JT Comfort can currently bring? And you can even throw in a Jonathan Barrren in there too because at practice today he technically was an extra forward. We don’t know what the lines are going to be yet assuming that I would assume that Bearrren and Confer are in there. They I feel like they kind of have to be in. They’re fighting for their jobs. They have to be in. Confer has value out there. Like somebody would maybe think about moving for a confer. That being said, he’s got a precedent. Didn’t work in Colorado and it didn’t work here, right? Like he can’t hold down that everyday two spot. So much so they went and tried to they gave up Bo Byum to get Casey Middlestead, right? Like to try to fill that which also didn’t work out. Um he’s just what he is. He’s a good pro and he’s not that expensive. He’s getting cheaper as the cap’s going up. So, I don’t think there’s any pressure to get rid of him. I don’t think he he’s shown he can he can play consistently. Can he produce consistently of what you need? Maybe not, but he’s not going to hurt you. So, I think the thing with the kids, it’s a long season. You already saw Danielson get hurt. I just don’t think they’re at the point where they start throwing away assets. I think they work really hard to get here and they just be patient and you’re not going to hurt a guy like if they move EMTT Finny down that doesn’t ruin EMT Finn’s career, you know, right? I think that’s kind of what they’re if they put an MBN down. It’s like no, let’s just put him in the AHL and get him games and we’ll bring him up when we’re ready. We would like to see him. I’d rather see Elmer play, right? Like I don’t want I don’t want ice time that should be going to Elmer who’s shown he looked like he scored 20 goals in the NHL. Like he’s got good hands. he’s a monster and he’s playing mean. Don’t sacrifice that. I think that’s the bigger thing because I think guys like Cop and Appleton and Comper, they’re going to have their value during the season. Again, all those guys can do different things on the ice. It doesn’t have to always be producing offensively. So, it’s very Yeah, it it’s it’s just very interesting on how the way that, you know, you look back two years ago when you already had Cop, then you signed JT Comfort, that’s the same season or off seasonason that you went out and got Nate Danielson in the draft. Thinking about it, if you were Steve Eisermanman, Michael, do you think that Nate Danielson would be as ready as he is right now back then in 2023 when you drafted him? Like were you thinking this is the year then? Is that what you mean? Correct. Yeah. I mean you could see at the end of last year in the AHL he was an everyday center for that AHL team. People were complaining about his offense but he picked that pace up after the break. He ended up with 12 goals, 39 assists. But he was all you could watch the games. You could see this is a pro. Like the guy plays like a horse. He can he’s a faster player than people realize. He’s bigger than people realize. He can he you can put him in any situation and you’re good. So I don’t know when he was drafted. He is an overager in his draft years. He 04 I think he’s an 04 and he was drafted the 05s or the 05 06es. One of the two. So he’s you know he was like a more mature player but more than anything his game is mature. So I think you knew at some point this guy’s going to be a pro. What will he be? Does the question wasn’t whether he would play pro. It’s like is he gonna be third or second line? Yeah. Yeah. The only reason why I wanted to bring up Nate Danielson, everyone knows that he’s injured, but it would Yeah, this sucks. Yeah. Low probability that he actually does make the opening night roster. However, we have mentioned that he is currently skating with the team full pads, so it’s not that severe of an injury. The regular season doesn’t start until this upcoming Thursday, so there’s still plenty of time that he could be ready to go by then. A lot of fans did like the way he was playing in the three threeseason games that he played and he was a point-ame player. He was playing on the PK as well. So, is it still a long shot for him to make the opening night roster? I don’t think it was a long shot. I think the question is, do you sacrifice a burger and put him on? Like, is there one spot that they have to make a decision on right now? I think 25 of the 23, right? Does that count with Danielson? It’s 25. You need 23. And that’s the interesting part too because JVR I would assume that he starts as an extra because they want him to get a little bit more time to get familiar probably and I totally understand that. I don’t think there’s a rush with that kind of player, right? But yeah, you have to look at who is going to be the extra forward and I think overall based on what we’ve mentioned and talked about online as well with other Detroit Red Wings fans that comfort would be Comfort would be the easiest to wave. No one would take him, but he brings more value technically than what a Janet Baragrren brings. And I think Baragren would be the easiest to trade and if you waved him, he would get claimed. So I would rather trade him if I could. Might not. Like he’s obviously got talent. Just don’t know if it’s obvious that he’s going to go into a top nine role and be effective on any NHL team right now. That’s his problem, right? Like but he’s obviously got talent. He can do a lot of good things. Com you know what you’re getting. He’s a he’s a top nine player even if you have to kind of move him around but you can move him around. So I don’t know just to answer your question I think that realistically if we’re being realistic you get an MBN going down maybe and maybe an MTF Finny or maybe you know Danielson and MBN make sense and you just hold on and see like do I get some stats out of Burger and I can move him because otherwise you don’t really want to wave him if you can get anything back for him and it’s a long season so I think you go put those guys down. they’re going to be in prominent roles. It’s not going to hurt them. Get let the veterans get the first 10 games out of the way and then see like can you improve or does somebody get hurt to bring them in? And I I just don’t think by the end of the year you’re going to keep Nate Danielson out of the lineup. If he’s healthy like he’s going to be the third line center at the least, you know. Yeah. And that’s totally fair to say because that’s essentially what they did with Oolada to bring in someone like an Albert Johansson, right? And it worked out very well. Yeah. I thought that that was a great move that that’s something that’s done. The one thing that I don’t like about that though with Yannon Barren is the fact that we currently don’t have a top nine spot for him. Kind of always had him in the bottom six and that’s fine, but we’ve seen it in the past with players like Phillips and Dena where a lot of fans were like, “Hey, we need to move on from this guy. It’s just not a good fit.” I would say that’s one major fleck that I have against Steve Eisermanman or whoever really ultimately makes this decision is that if we’re eventually going to move on from this guy, we can’t just keep playing them in the bottom six or or on the fourth line because we’re not able then to showcase what they’re able to bring. You can even throw in someone like Clim Cen who we ended up trading away as well, Philip Sadena. Eventually that might be Janet Timber and will get very minimal for him if if anything actually. But then what did they do and they left? Nothing. Yeah. Like I liked Clim. I thought he would have done a lot better in Detroit. You know, he hasn’t really unfortunately been what I hoped because he was I thought he was very good fit in Edmonton. If anything, he should have stayed at Emonson. He was big, mean, he could score a little bit. Like he’s interesting power forward, you know, and I don’t I don’t know if it’s worked out. Where is he? In San Jose now. So it’s been he’s been okay, right? And it’s not like and same thing as Zadena like goes, you know, bets on himself. He’s in then he’s gone to Europe. Yeah. He’s on paper looks good, but his game there’s something missing there and just he doesn’t create the opportunities with his mind because the skills there, the effort’s there. He’s a little hard on himself, but everything should work. There’s not the adaptability. I think Bergen’s creative, but you know, he’s smaller and he doesn’t do other stuff. So, I don’t know. It’s It’s a weird thing. Like, is he ever gonna steal someone’s job in the top nine? That’s the problem. If he can’t do it in Detroit, where is he going to do it? Yeah. And so, he would leave and I don’t know if he’d have an impact anywhere. As much as I could say that, I think too that just even thinking about it from a confer perspective. So Jordan Harris on Twitter actually shared a really great thread about the whole entire preseason process with the young guys and even the current NHLers on this team. And the one thing that he mentioned is that he brought up JT Comfort and while a lot of fans aren’t a big fan of how JT Comfort could potentially be our 4C making the $5 million, he does believe that JT Comfort does have some sort of value. But the most interesting part on top of that is that he mentioned with the cap rising a lot of teams are gonna have to meet the floor next season and with JT conference $5 million. That’s weird. And with some and with some serviceable talent as as a centerman, you know, Michael, you said it. He’s versatile, right? You can put him on the wing, you can put him on the center. But what I’m getting at with this is that teams will have to meet the floor. Well, so will Detroit. Like how is this going to work? Like correct. But if they needs a center and needs more center depth versus us where we can insert N Daniels into next year, but again, you just said something because like Cap could be at 120 very fast. The the especially if they end up expanding. So why would you dump 5 million? It it might actually I don’t know. You have to look at the numbers because suddenly the top end salaries of 8.7 or whatever is on Detroit are cheap, right? So I I think they’re okay. Wouldn’t it be weird if you needed cop and confer on the books? So hear me out on this. So this is my this is my thinking of it and from what Jordan was also saying is that teams will have to meet the cap floor and teams will be more interested in taking a JT comfort who I would say that the contract at that time with the way that the cap is structured is a more than reasonable deal rather than them whatever team it is going out in free agency and signing a center for two or three four more years longer than what JT Coner’s deal actually holds. So that’s why I thought it was very interesting that he put it in there. And I thought to myself, that actually makes a lot of sense as to why I believe that a team might actually see value in a JT comfort via a trade. I I just think they’re going to be patient there. There’s no rush and no urgency to get rid of them. Like yes, we don’t want to watch him play over some of these guys. I agree. But if you’re managing assets on the team, you’re not going to do that. You’re going to be smart because you know they come back to bite you. Like if one of these you you make a bet on a Danielson and he goes down with an injury again or you you bet on EMTT Finny and then it turns out EMTT Finn’s not ready after 15 20 games and has to go back down like oh you gave up the guy that could have plugged that spot. It it doesn’t make sense like on paper and they’re not you know they’re just they’re getting cheaper as you just stated. So I think we’re going to be patient. I don’t think it’s time to dump them. I’d be shocked if they dumped. I could see maybe Bergen they walk on and I just don’t think Bergen leaves and makes an impact anywhere. Like where is he getting a better chance? May maybe I agree with you. Anybody I guess will help the Chicago Blackhawks. No, I’m just joking. But you brought up you brought up a good point though because I think you’re right. That’s where you go. There’s not many of those teams, but that’s the one. San Jose’s even improved. Like San Jose is not as thin as they were. The Ducks too Ducks. The Ducks. The Ducks. What are we talking? Watch. Ducks are like the the Ducks are like monster lineup. Like who has better four lines than the Ducks? Carlos, speaking of the Ducks, let’s ask Michael what he thinks about the Jackson Lome signing and how that fits with a Simon Edmonson comparison. Oh my god. Well, got to be like money for Edmonson. Like he it’s not like he had 70 points. The guy the guy had 14 goals and 43 points. Like you was a power play guy. He was their number one defenseman by the end of the year. And that shocked me. He is good, don’t get me wrong, but you know that number made me really surprised. Like he’s getting paid more than Cider. Yeah. Money, right? So you go the 9 million is death valley to me. It’s Darnell Nurse Warren and Douggee Hamilton. It’s caused so much strife, right? So they’re really going on a limb saying the guy’s had one pop year. He’s going to keep playing that way. And maybe he is because he’s 24 25. He doesn’t have that many NHL games under his belt. Like, does he have 110? Maybe 130 somewhere, right? They see something in him, right? It’s it’s it’s a gamble in my opinion, but I don’t know. He’s a good player, don’t get me wrong. He’s got he can anyone that gets 14 goals from defense in the NHL is really good. But you go there and you look at Zolan Zwiger, I don’t like Olen is two years younger, three years younger. You got Mikov like our guy Mchikov is like so so many men. And then they got all those vets, right? They got like Trouba and they’ve got like what’s the defense one they just signed on the offier? I was thinking the Nashville guy, but they um what’s the let’s let’s look at their Oh, they got Gudas, right? And Radco’s there. Radco Gudas because he’s so good. Such a gamer. X Silver captain of the So here’s a question on Edmonson’s next contract then. Let’s say AASP makes this team and ASP is now your your your PP2 quarterback. What does that do for Simon Edmonson’s contract? Cuz if Simon’s not playing, I was thinking 77 or 87 before. Now he might be eight nine. Like how do you pay him more than Cider? I don’t think you could pay him more than Cider. Visman would allow that to be honest because we see it even with the Dylan Larkin with Alex Decat or even Lucas Raymond comparison on the contracts. They looked at it from that perspective. Regretting it but there’s agents going to agent and the cap’s going to cap, right? So I think you know the realistic thing is you go if he puts up 45 points this year which he is very realistic okay well he’s better than Edmonson or Simon you know Cider and Evson are 1. It’s 1 A, 1B, right? Like that’s the argument of the agent. Give him what you gave Cider or give him nine what you what they gave Lome. Like why are we taking a discount? And you’re going to see a lot of that I think happen on teams where it’s going to be tough with such an escalating cap to keep those artificial top numbers. You know, it’s going to be like Nate, you know, Nathan McKinnon and Rantin. You’re like, oh, why are you paying Rantin more than McKinnon? Well, it’s because of when he signed, right? Yeah. Delta for sure. So I think it’s a very realistic comparison. They just gave Luke Hughes that money. Yeah. So you look at both those guys like Luke Hughes has more games than Lome. He’s had two 40 point seasons, nine goals and seven goals. He started very slow last year. I think I tracked after he um I think he was hurt early or something. He had like 24 points in 27 games the last 27 games. So they right there’s 9 million. At first I thought they’d sign him to six and then he was Oh, wait. No, no, no. Nine. So, Simon Evansson could be at that nine number very quickly. If he has a big year, if he gets 40 45 points, why why would he not? So, that’s my question though. Like, if for him to get 40 45 points, you would I think you would think he’s probably playing some power play time. Oh, for sure. Okay. Over who though? Because if ASP makes this team and ASP becomes that bonafide power play two specialist and now he’s playing power play doesn’t right that’s what they’re exactly what they need to decide I think I think that um you decide are we doing a 14 on the power play or we going to do it depends on on the system because they had they had ASP and Mo on against Toronto three dude they looked awesome yeah I I prefer that like why would you not want I do you know when the wings were when the wings roll the next one was a 14. He’s still got Gustoson. I’m not a big Gustoson fan, but he’ll do better under Mlen. He was totally misused in the other, you know, regime. Yeah. Yeah. He’ll I don’t know. I’m just looking at ASP. Who adds more impact over ASP right now? You said Mo and Edson, right? I think so. Yeah. Yeah. But I think, you know, to that point, you do a two three on the top line and then you do a one four. And let’s stick on the cap conversation real quick and let’s talk about if we were to let’s say ASP hypothetically he does make the opening night roster and I’m looking at Puck Pedi and it’s so funny that they actually don’t the one thing that I caught on here just a little tidbit is that on the full roster breakdown they actually have Michael Brandgard on the roster but they don’t have Axel Sandine Pelica on there. Yeah. I mean 13 forwards, eight defenseman and two goalenders. But back to my original point, what I was going to get at is that ASP, his ELC technically ends after the 2728 season. If he were to start on the opening night roster, you would lose a year on that ELC if he plays in more than nine games this season. Now, because of that, wouldn’t it make sense for the Detroit Red Wings to hypothetically do something like that so that they can pay him sooner than later based on historically what we’ve seen? Offensive defenseman, if we think ASP is going to be as high as he’s going to be, wouldn’t we want to pay him sooner for longer term rather than later when cap is going up? I mean, theoretically, theoretically, you’re going to want to figure that out. I don’t know. I don’t see why he would not play the majority of the year in the NHL personally. Like I’m looking at what they have right now on Daily Face Off. It’s Sherro like Cider Edmonson and they have Johansson with Edmonson. What a sigh. And you’re like okay look I like you know I do like the Bernard Docker acquisition and they’ve got Gustoson with Docker which means Hamick would be the seventh. So if you if you do that, you’re putting ASP down, right? So for me, the guy you’re going to sacrifice in all this is Gustoson. So you got to be really really certain that you want to do that because Gustoson could go somewhere and put up 40 50 points. Like that’s he’s done that multiple times, right? And the thing is with Gus, too, I’ve been I’ve been looking at his it’s not that I haven’t been looking at his contract, but saying I’ve been looking at his contract. It comes in very cheap. He he does bring in some offensive potential. He could be a PP2 guy for a different team or the Detroit Red Wings. You guys can probably hear my dog howling. The the Saturday sirens are going on. He’s ready to go. Yeah, he’s ready to go. So, sorry for everyone who’s listening. But yeah, I think he actually has some sort of trade value. Is it a lot? No. But there I mean he So, you look the prior season he split. No, he played the Rangers. He had 31 points and the year before they had 42. So, he’s got potential if he’s used in that role. I I don’t like him that much. And he had one 60 point season way back in ancient history. So, he’s not like consistently been like a 40point guy, right? But ju just to wrap on that, like I think the guy for me gone would be Hall and Gustoson, right? And who’s going to be the third pair? I mean, the third pair should be like, you know, you should be Bernard Docker with either Aljo or Hamik, right? ASP with an ASP should be with Evansson. Yeah. Then you go, well, that that leaves Sherrod up there. So, realistically, I personally would rather have Johansson with Cider if you’re not gonna play. Yeah. So if you go Aljo Cider left right Evansson ASP left right then with Bernard Docker and you’re rotating in Ham like that’s your ideal scenario in my mind like if those all those guys are firing on all cylinders and you may just you could keep you could keep Hamick Gustiffson and JT Coner in the press box part of this 23man roster. God put guys in there already. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’m just saying. I’m just for conversation. I’m just saying it’s going to be crazy. It’s doable. I think they’re very Listen, this is very close. The fact that we’re able to have these conversations is not just like we’re projecting. Like you can see the guys have played really well. They’re probably on the, you know, the the precipice of being better than the guys in front of them. We haven’t seen JVR yet, though, so that complicates things, right? And he’s not a total bum or anything like he’s the same age or a year younger than Kane. They were same draft year, I think. So, I don’t know. They’re they’re vets and he he did really well, I thought, in the third line in Columbus last year, and that’s what you’re looking for for him. So, I don’t know. I just think they don’t have a McDavid. They don’t have a dry cidle. They don’t have a McKinnon. You’re going to live off of this depth of talent and speed. And we saw with both prospect and preseason, the team has speed and skill. That’s what you and it’s if you lose the depth, then that, you know, kind of gets tough. But I think you just live with the depth and you deal with what comes and then by the end of the year you’re hoping you have like 96 98 points. You’re in the playoffs and then the young guys are contributing in the way that young guys contribute in the playoffs, right? They’re the black aces and they come in. They have surprise performances that it’s like uh Broberg when he went up for Edmonton. Yeah, it was like Holloway when he when he he peaked at the end of the year in the playoffs for that. Kale Mar you could even say too coming in late like that’s what you’re looking for that bump and I think all that’s what this is lining up to. You know who we haven’t talked about which is not even in consideration and I’m curious about your thoughts on is Sebastian Kosa. You sure you want to go there? I think Pav is gonna have a better year than Kosa in GR. Yeah, let’s touch on Kosa real quick because, you know, I think Kosa is someone who I think he got a little robbed last season due to injuries. You took away Marco Casper within the second game. You also had Austin Watson. You also had Sheldon Dry. So, the Red Wings had injuries, too, as well as Grand Rapids. Uh, their defense was a little bit in shambles from what we we’ve heard and seen as well. So Kosa didn’t have a bad season by any means, but yeah, I would say this preseason was I would say a little disappointing. I’m not going to sit here and say that it was all right because it wasn’t. But I would have liked to have seen a little bit more, but that’s kind of his motto, right? It seems to be is that he doesn’t show up really in the expitions, but then comes the regular season and then come playoff time, he he can perform. Did he perform in Grand Rapids in the playoffs? I just I thought he struggled and they had to go like they had to flip him out, right? Like so I don’t I think there’s zero pressure suddenly on Kosa, but also he’s not pushing anybody. Like I think Post Dava came in and you’re like this guy might be better. He’s older I think, right? Is he a little gets here? Yeah. So I you but legitimately he might be more NHL ready. He’s not a small goalie, you know, so you like that. Gibson shows you what the real level needs to be. Like that is like a top 10 NHL talent. If he can stay healthy, that is a huge impact. And you see the gap, right? Like when you had Alex Lion in there, then you’re like, “Oh, come on. Just give the games to KOSA, you know?” Now, man, he might not get a single NHL game this year. Well, he’s got to earn it. He’s gonna have to I don’t think he’s gonna get a game. I don’t think he’s have no pressure to put him in. No. and and he and if he’s not creating the pressure then man he might be a trade chip like because you still Augustine Trey Rudy and and to that point Michael is that a lot of people maybe I shouldn’t say like that but I think some some Red Wings fans are unaware that this is technically a contract years for Sebastian Kosa so yeah we potentially could see him on on the trade block so to say his counterpart in the you know if you go back and it was like Walstead or Kosa does not exactly pop through in Minnesota either. No. So, it’s kind of an interesting comparison like you know is there or is there not pressure to do anything with him. He might get impatient like Ascarov like you know I want to play. Yeah, he could. Man, I the Postava thing like puts a twist in there. Big big twist. That’s a It’s going to be very interesting to watch how that goes through. Like I I said it I think I said it a couple weeks a No, a couple days ago. I said uh you have G you have GR whole season Postava Kosa. My I I would I would bet that Postava puts up better numbers. He might. I mean listen Kosa’s numbers are good in the AHL. They’re above average. They are good but Postava the same percentage much better than but he has moments where you’re just like oh my god there they are some really weird Lully type of moments. and Postava. The one thing that I like about Postava is he’s like a consistency king when it comes to his his numbers and his performance. Something we haven’t really seen with Kosa yet is consistency through and through. So, I don’t know. We’ll see. It’s goalies are weird. We always say it. You know what I mean? So, there’s there’s a lot to uh still wait and see on for for for Kosa and for Pustava and for really for everybody. But, Zach, I don’t know. I think this is a good good point to wrap it up. My final ask is just a quick yay or nay of the both of you, but center on the wings. Just going to run through a center position for you guys. Larkin, Casper, Cop, Confer, Rasmmerson’s in the press box with Hamick and Gustoson. Why are they even playing Raz on the center? I thought he was playing wing. He plays both. Yeah, I think I think they keep him on the wing. He’s the he’s the forgotten guy, but he he’s, you know, he’s a big body. He’s actually got pretty good hands. You know, his skating is never going to be otherworldly, but it is pretty good now. It’s decent. But down the middle, I mean, if if you’re gonna if you’re gonna, you know, just because the injury, I think Danielson starts, he has to I think he has to just to condition himself to get back into what he was playing. Suck, but but just a fun little exercise wanted to pull through. Yeah, I I think you probably to answer your question, I think you go like obviously Casper’s locked down second. Yeah, the top six is locked. Top six is locked in my opinion. Well, not is the top left wing position locked? See, that’s where I almost wonder I almost wonder if that’s going to be rotating, man. Are they going to rotate based off matchup? Like, I don’t know. Yeah. I don’t think anybody has established that role yet. So, it’s kind of weird. Like, you know, we’ve even seen Cop on that line. They do you should never put Cop up there again. Yeah, that was that was interesting. Maybe because they had Finny centering. I think they wanted to get some looks at Finny centering when they put Cop up there, right? Yeah, it’s interesting. Finn is interesting. So, I don’t know. I think one, two, one, two is locked. I think Casper Larkin, you probably go with comp for cop on the same line and they switch in and out who plays center and then you decide what you do with JVR. Like is he ready to fill that role? To me, Elmer I want on that top nine somewhere. One last final question before we officially wrap this up for the day. Michael, your final guess. Who makes opening night roster in terms of the rookies? And how many is it one? Is it two? Who makes it? So they’re at 25, right? Does that include Danielson? Well, he’s on IR. I don’t know if that technically includes him or not. No, I would say I guess it would. So they need to move two. So I mean, realisters and comfort. Go ahead. Sorry, man. You know, like I I just think realistically they’re going to probably put ASP down and they’ll probably put MBI down and maybe they give a sniff to EMT and that’s going to suck. And then you put Danielson down and then as soon as like someone blows it or someone, you know, they move someone. I I don’t see him wheeling and dealing. I don’t think he has that high chips yet. Unless you’re going to package up a Kosa and I don’t know why you would do that yet. So, I I think realistically you might have an Emtt Finny making the opening night roster. All right, Carlo, your final guess. Sadly, I if it’s just if we’re just going with only one guy can make the roster because we don’t want to move on from Coner and because of depth and all this stuff. So, if it’s one guy, I think it’s I think it’s Michael Branzig Negard. I think he’s got the edge. I think he’s got the edge. Uh, I think, you know, for the age group that we’re looking at, I think he is the most manly out of out of the four. She’s a monster. He’s without a doubt and the heaviness that he brings is what this team desperately needs right now. I think he’s checking a few more boxes than than the others. So, if I had to go with one, you heard it here first. It’s NBN all day. Good choice. Yeah. Yeah. And if I had to pick, you know, I always go back and forth cuz it’s it’s it’s so great that, you know, we’re very we should be very grateful. We’re very blessed and honored for what Steve Eisermanman has done in the draft. And shout out to all those who who said he couldn’t draft. Shout out to all those haters who said Steve Eisermanman couldn’t draft. Here we are today. Uh each your own words. Um, I’m very thankful to be in this situation that we are in and have this kind of conversation, this dialogue. It’s been a fantastic time, not only with Carlo, Michael, but everyone out there online and who watches and listens to us. It’s it’s a great time to be a Detroit Red Wings fan. Uh, 100 season centennial year, but I I keep on going back and forth between the three. And honestly, Michael, I think you kind of put it into me. I’m going to go ahead and say actual Sandy Pelica only because the kid’s not missing. He’s not getting worse every game. You can tell that he’s getting better. He’s gotten lots of ice time. I think his addition on the power play is going to be that much better. They have him practicing today on the PP2 being the quarterback on the PP2. I I just think skies a limit for him. I think that the Red Wings see the way that defenseman are getting paid right now. They’d much rather lock him up sooner rather than later as well. So just based on what we touched on today, I think that that’s my call. There’s no wrong there’s no wrong answer. Is right because I if it was me, I would not put that guy down. I would give him this. This is awesome because like we all had a different answer and no matter who’s right or wrong, it’s a it’s a it’s a net positive for the for the team. Yeah. So I mean like it’s a win-win, not really a win-lose. So I mean we’ll take whatever happens here because all these guys got us buzzing. John Gibson’s in the pipes in the regular season. You’re gonna be like, “Please don’t take him out ever.” Yeah. Please don’t get injured either, John. Yeah. Well, that’s tough. Yeah. I know. I know. Makes any much better than a number one, you know, like as a number two. That’s perfect. It’s true. Let’s wrap it up here. Thanks for joining us once again on this brand new episode of Hockey Town Rundown. If you are returning, if you are brand new and still watching or listening to this episode, we greatly appreciate that. Make sure you hit that subscribe button, hit the thumbs up, hit that notification bell. If you’re on Spotify or Apple, rate us a five stars, hit that follow button. Michael, one more time, tell the folks that are watching and listening where they can find you online. Pucks and dreams Twitterx. So, you can find me there, and that’s probably the best place. All right. And with that, we appreciate y’all. We love y’all and we’ll see y’all on the next one. Hey, see you later. I love you. Goodbye. Thanks, guys.

The countdown to Opening Night is on, and the Detroit Red Wings have some tough decisions to make. In this episode of Hockeytown Rundown, we’re joined by special guest Michael Devellano to break down the rookie race and predict who cracks the roster when the puck drops on Thursday.

From Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (MBN) and Axel Sandin Pellikka (ASP) to Emmitt Finnie and Nate Danielson, Detroit’s youth movement is in full swing, but not everyone can make the cut. We’ll also look at which veterans could find themselves on the outside looking in when the final roster is announced.

🔥 In this episode:
✅ Breaking down standout rookie performances
✅ Who’s earned a spot on the Opening Night roster
✅ The “odd man out” candidates heading into the season
✅ Michael Devellano’s insight on Detroit’s roster decisions

Who do YOU think deserves to make the team out of camp? Drop your predictions in the comments 👇

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