There will be plenty of eyes on the future of the Detroit Red Wings during training camp and the NHL preseason.

From Nate Danielson to Marco Kasper to Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, there are a number of first-round draft picks to eyeball and assess their NHL readiness.

However, it could be that the Red Wings prospect who’s the closest to being NHL ready isn’t any of them.

It just might be Carter Mazur.

Certainly, Mazur’s work is leaving an impression on Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman. He’s truly excited about the determination Mazur is displaying to do the things he needs to do in order to get better.

Extended highlights of Carter Mazur's pro debut with the Grand Rapids Griffins #GoGRG #LGRW pic.twitter.com/MVJ4aNt6E7

— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) March 30, 2023

“You’ll see if you get a chance to see Carter in training camp,” Yzerman said. “He’s worked very hard physically getting stronger, and that was really an important thing for him.”

Detroit forward Patrick Kane is another whose head has been turned by Mazur’s performance on the ice.

“I was actually on the same team as Mazur in our little three on three tournament, and he was pretty impressive,” Kane said. “Just the way he shoots the puck in, the way he’s able to get his release off so quickly. I think he surprised some goaltenders with his shot.”

Injury Deprived Mazur Of Rookie Red Wings Camp

Last season, his first full one in the pro ranks, got off to an inauspicious beginning for Mazur. A leg injury right off the bat during the club’s rookie tournament put him on the shelf for quite some time.

“Maze gets hurt right away,” Red Wings player development director Dan Cleary recalled. “He looked good. Disappointing. It took a little while to come back.”

When he did come back, Mazur did so with a vengeance. He’d score 17 goals in 60 regular-season games with the Griffins. During the Calder Cup playoffs, he was good for 3-5-8 totals over nine games.

Carter Mazur CTR ALT DELETE #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/iNaQgl1LLy

— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) December 27, 2021

In the six-foot, 170-pound Mazur, hockey people draw parallels with Boston Bruins star Brad Marchand. Like Marchand, Mazur is an agitating type with a knack for scoring big goals.

“Mazur is a phenomenal player,” said Red Wings defense prospect Shai Buium, who won an NCAA title alongside Mazur at the Univeraty of Denver. “He does everything right.”

Draper Knows Mazur Well

Perhaps no one in the Red Wings organization is as fluent in Mazur’s charge to the top of the hockey world as Kris Draper. Detroit’s assistant GM and director of amateur scouting was Mazur’s youth hockey coach.

“Carter is an incredible kid,” Draper said. “The one thing I knew about Maze was that this kid was always low maintenance. It was just go out and play. You could see at 15, 16 years old he had a good feel for the game. He had the smarts, he had the competitiveness.

“He’s a wiry, strong player. You look at him and everyone says he’s gotta get stronger. But the thing you realize when he goes out and plays the game is No. 1, he has the puck. No. 2, he’s always hard to knock off the puck and that’s something that you don’t teach. It’s just something that’s there.

“He’s got that inner drive. He’s got that competitiveness. Carter was a kid that always wanted to get better. He was always asking the right questions. At practice time, a lot of the little things. The puck protection, the wall play. Understanding PK stick placement.”

That overall package might not get Mazur to the Red Wings out of this camp, but it will get him to the Red Wings. And it will be sooner rather than later.

The post Mazur Could Be Red Wings October Surprise appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

If you are a Detroit Red Wings fan suffering from rebuild fatigure, this story isn’t for you. We respect those of you who prefer to think about where the team is in terms of the NHL playoffs. Eight years out of the playoffs is too long.

But our recent ranking of Detroit’s prospects, made us think how close we are to knowing what this Yzerman-built team will look like. In case you missed it, we ranked our Top 15 Red Wings prospects last week. It was a paywall story. We didn’t rank Simon Edvinsson, Jonatan Berggren (drafted by Ken Holland) and Albert Johansson because all three are likely to make the roster this season. Berggren and Johansson are no longer waiver-exempt, meaning the have to clear waivers to be sent to Grand Rapids. Yzerman has said he doesn’t believe they would clear waivers.

Our top six prospects included 1. Marco Kasper, 2. Axel Sandin Pellikka, 3. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, 4. Nate Danielson, 5. Carter Mazur and 6. Sebastian Cossa. Kasper, Brandsegg-Nygard and Danielson project to be top six forwards, and Sandin Pellikka will be a Sergi Zubov-type high scoring defenseman. Mazur can be a poor man’s version of Tyler Bertuzzi. In other words, he’s a scrappy competitor with scoring ability. At 6-foot-6, Cossa has the goalie size every GM covets. He will be the Grand Rapids’ Griffins’ No. 1 goalie this season and then, if all goes well, he will be competing for a roster spot in 2025-26.

COOOOSSSSSAAAAA

Sebastian Cossa set a new franchise record with a 19-game point streak from Jan. 19-April 5 (13-0-6), beating out Marc Lamothe’s 15-game run from Oct. 19-Nov. 30, 2002 #GoGRG

SEASON REVIEW >> https://t.co/mIrHO7xZZf pic.twitter.com/SRDwd7PY50

— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) July 11, 2024

All six of those players should be, or could be, playing in Detroit by 2025-26. We also think defenseman William Wallinder could get a shot by 2025-26. Six-foot-five Finnish D man Antti Tuomisto could also be knocking at the door.

If you add up those players, the Red Wings will have at least four Yzerman draft picks (including Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond) on the roster this season, and it could be five or six. By 2025-26, at least half of Detroit’s roster will be players drafted by Yzerman’s regime.  The rebuild isn’t over, but we will have a good idea of what kind of talent Yzerman has assembled.

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Red Wings In Case You Missed It

A former Red Wings prospect and a current prospect faced off at the World Junior Summer Showcase. It was an interesting moment for Andrew Gibson. 

Jiri Fischer’s son, Lukas, is drawing attention as a St. Louis Blues prospect. Jiri still works for Detroit as a scout.

Prospect John Whipple projects to be a heavy hitter for GM Steve Yzerman’s team up the road. He likes that role.

Red Wings Offseason

It’s 68 days until the Red Wings season opener. Will GM Steve Yzerman work out deals with Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond before then? Detroit’s training camp hasn’t been announced, but it is roughly 47 or 48 days away.

Hockey Now Network

Buffalo: Jason Moser looks at whether Tage Thompson will have a bounce-back season in 2024-25. Buffalo Sabres

Montreal: Marc Dumont’s Habs prospect ratings enters the top 10

Philadelphia: Flyers forward Denis Gurianov has signed a two-year deal to play in the Kontinental Hockey League. Philadelphia Flyers.

The post The Daily: Red Wings Rebuild Picks Up Steam; Andrew Gibson Speaks appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

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The post Ranking Red Wings Prospects: The Forwards (+) appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

This story was updated to reflect an AHL official scoring change. Detroit Red Wings prospect Berggren was originally credited with three goals. However, an AHL review the next day showed one of his shots was tipped in by Marco Kasper. Simon Edvinsson also lost an assist on a goal and Elmer Soderblom gained an assist.

GRAND RAPIDS–The Griffins got the dominant scorer they needed and Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman saw a performance he wanted to see when Jonatan Berggren turned an AHL playoff game into his show.

Berggren produced two impressive goals and an assist in a span of 3:30 minutes to lift the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 4-2 come-from-behind win against the Milwaukee Admirals in Game 4 of their playoff series.  That sets up a Game 5 Sunday in Milwaukee (6 p.m.) to decide who advances to the next round of the AHL playoffs.

“He wants the big stage and he’s ready for it,” Griffins coach Dan Watson said. “He thrives in those situations. You can see how he engages more when stuff is on the line.”

Griffins Top Line

Linemates Berggren, Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur combined for 14 shots on goal. Berggren generated six of them.

Berggren’s goals were highlight-reel quality “He’s an unbelievable  player,” Mazur said. “He knows where to be in the right situations and knows how to put the puck in the net. He’s just a high level player who always knows to do the right things.”

Ready or not, Berggren will be a Red Wings player at the start of the 2024-25 season. He is no longer be waiver exempt, meaning he would have to be put through the waivers to be returned to the AHL. Yzerman says he believes Berggren would be claimed by another NHL team. Clearly, scouts are intrigued by his ability to find the net.

To see what odds makers think about next season’s Red Wings, Sports betting in Canada is available for Canadian readers.

These three goals give him six goals and 10 points in eight playoff games. Four of his goals have been game-winners. Berggren put up 24 goals and 57 points in 54 regular-season games for the Griffins. In 79 career games with the Red Wings, Berggren boasts 17 goals.

Berggren has proven he can score. But there is far more to hockey than scoring goals, and Berggren’s overall game has sometimes not been to coach Derek Lalonde’s liking. Berggren has taken some poor-decision penalties and not been as attentive to his defensive responsibilities as he needs to be.

Act of Redemption

“He showed up in that third period, after (taking) a tough penalty, a bad penalty in the second period, a selfish one (for roughing),” Watson said after Berggren put on his late show. “We talked about it. But he showed up in the third period and responded and helped our team win.”

Berggren was focused in that third period. He hardly celebrated his goals. “I was pretty dialed in. Pretty mad,” Berggren said. “It was a  tough game. I am more happy now that I know we have won the game.”

Both the Rockford IceHogs last series, and the Admirals in this series, have targeted Berggren because he is the Griffins’ top scorer, but Berggren has delivered in both series.

“It’s been a little tough in both series for body and mind,” Berggren said. “But that’s playoff hockey. This is my first time playoff hockey in North America, but I’m just happy we have won some games and are still in it.”

One thing is for sure: the Griffins count on Berggren raising his level in important games. Plus, Watson has said that Berggren has worked on the areas of his game that the Red Wings have asked him to improve. He’s a better all-around player than he was at the start of this season.

The post Berggren Trying To Be The Player Red Wings Want Him to Be appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

GRAND RAPIDS — When Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson was pondering his lineup for a must-win Game 4, he settled on a sports strategy that has been around since time immemorial.

“We went with the lineup that got us here,” Watson said.

Watson wanted the players who had turned their season around after Christmas with relentless play and a penchant for pulling out games when they looked to be a lost cause. He wanted the group that created a 19-game points streak at Van Andel Arena. He wanted as many players as possible who have proven they don’t know when to quit.

“That’s why (Amadeus) Lombardi was back here and (Taro) Hirose was back in,” Watson said. “We decided to put the lineup with the guys who got us right, where we are, where we are standing right now. That was a message to them: Go do this. Don’t end it right now. Let’s live to see another day.”

That strategy paid off as the Griffins mounted a furious third period comeback, erasing a 2-0 deficit, by scoring four rapid-fire goals, three by Jonatan Berggren, to down the Milwaukee Admirals 4-2 to force a Game 5 Sunday in Milwaukee to decide the Central Division Final.

Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson also returned to the lineup after missing two games because of an undisclosed injury. However, he left the game late in the third period because of an injury. It’s not known whether it is the same injury or a different injury. His status for Game 5 is unclear.

The Griffins scored their four goals, two coming on the power play, in a span of three minutes and 30 seconds. Berggren, projected to be in Detroit’s lineup next season, now has six goals and 10 points in eight playoff games. Carter Mazur set up Berggren’s first two goals with slick, pinpoint passes.

“You can get a lot of momentum (from this game), especially with that crowd,” Mazur said. “We have the best fans in the league,  to see them throw an octopus on the ice, waving it around, and all that, especially growing up in Detroit…Seeing that — it is pretty awesome and it’s going to bring us a lot of momentum for sure.”

Marco Kasper set up the third Berggren tally. Kasper centered Mazur and Berggren in this game.

PK Saves Griffins

As Watson knew they would, the Griffins didn’t lose sight of the objective, even when trailing.

“We’ve been in that situation a lot of time this season,” Mazur said. “So we are pretty comfortable in those situations. We know we have the team in that room to win. And when Bergie scores three goals it’s pretty simple.”

To be in position to win the game, the Griffins needed to kill off two five-on-three power plays, one for 1:11 and the other for a full two minutes.

“That’s the game right there,” Watson said. “If they score on those two five-on-threes, it’s a different story, we would be talking about something different.”

Six-foot-six goalie Sebastian Cossa stood tall on those kills. “Give a ton of credit to the killers and a ton of credit to Cossa,” Watson said. “And everyone has been talking about our power play, and it came through huge in the third period with two goals.”

Cossa stopped 31 of 33 shots in the game. That’s a .939 save percentage. Cossa has been at .900 or better for five of his last six playoff starts. He has a 2.80 GAA in this postseason.

The Griffins scored all of their goals against Nashville Predators prize goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov. He seemed to injure himself on the last goal. He left the game late in the third and was replaced by veteran Troy Grosenick.

The post Red Wings Prospects Help Griffins Force Game 5 vs. Milwaukee appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

NHL general managers and scouts don’t generally like comparisons for their draft picks because they believe they create unreasonable or unfair expectations. But that doesn’t mean the Red Wings wouldn’t love to see Carter Mazur have a breakthrough postseason similar to the one Tyler Bertuzzi enjoyed in 2017.

With four in four points, plus 12 penalty minutes, Mazur is off to a strong start going into tonight’s Game 1 against the Milwaukee Admirals in the best-of-five Central Division Final (8 p.m. ET, in Milwaukee).

Mazur feisty playing style, coupled with his offensive product, has drawn comparisons to Bertuzzi. Second-round pick Bertuzzi was 22 when he got everyone’s attention with nine goals and nine assists for 18 points in 19 games.  The Griffins won the AHL championship that season. Bertuzzi also put up 50 penalty minutes. Mazur is also 22 coming off a regular-season in which he put up 17 goals and 37 points in 60 games for Grand Rapids. Bertuzzi, bigger than Mazur, was drafted 58th and Mazur was chosen 70th in 2021.

“He battles hard in the corners and around the net and that’s where he’s getting rewarded by getting to the net,” Watson said. “He’s gonna get rewarded if he’s willing to go to those areas, which he is.”

Berggren Mr. GWG

Jackson native Mazur will play on Grand Rapids’ top line with Jonatan Berggren and Austin Czarnik. Berggren leads the Griffins in postseason scoring with three goals and five points. Czarnik played much of the season with the Red Wings.

The Red Wings put emphasis on improving the Griffins this season because they wanted Detroit prospects to have playoff experience before arriving in the NHL.

GM Steve Yzerman has already watched some of his top prospects in the first. Berggren has been impressive with three game-winning goals. Like he did all season in Grand Rapids, he is rising up when the game is on the line.

Defenseman Simon Edvinsson is leading the Grand Rapids defense. The Red Wings are very interested in seeing Marco Kasper in important games. Kasper has a chance to make the Red Wings next season. Kasper has chipped in a pair of goals, and been hard to play against, in the first four games.

Goalie Sebastian Cossa, a Detroit first round pick, rotated with veteran Michael Hutchinson in the regular-season, but he’s the No. 1 goalie in the playoffs.  Meanwhile, the Admirals, Nashville’s farm team, used veteran Troy Grosenick over top prospect Jaroslav Askarov in their last three games.

This series is important to 6-foot-8 Elmer Soderblom who is trying to use his size more this season. He had a goal in the first round against the Rockford IceHogs. He missed the first two games of the postseason because of an illness.

The post Can Mazur Rise Up in AHL Playoffs Like Bertuzzi Did in 2017? appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

There wasn’t much good to be mined from the Grand Rapids Griffins first home game of the AHL Calder Cup playoffs. The stink was spraying all over the vast majority of Griffins players.

One Griffins player who successfully avoided getting skunked was defenseman William Wallinder. His positional play in the defensive zone and overall game was solid, even on a night when the good ship Griffin was leaking oil all over the place.

“I thought Wally the last couple of games he’s been pretty good,” Griffins coach Dan Watson said. “Game 1 I liked his game. Even (Wednesday) you didn’t notice him a whole lot in terms of negative mistakes or bad things.”

For many of the young Griffins who are the future of the Detroit Red Wings – players like goalie Sebastian Cossa, defensemen Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson and Wallinder and forwards like Carter Mazur and Jonatan Berggren – this is their initial taste of playoff hockey in the North American pro ranks.

Wallinder appears to be non-plussed by all the hype that is surrounding the postseason.

William Wallinder with his 3rd goal of the season, after a strong play by Berggren to keep the puck in the zone#LGRW #GoGRG pic.twitter.com/hV1HS5JLjg

— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) January 28, 2024

“I would say it’s kind of similar,” Wallinder said, comparing this experience to playoffs series in his native Sweden in which he was a participant. “Maybe it’s more physical here. You gotta be more aware and ready to stick up for each other.

“Otherwise, it’s kind of similar to what it is back home.”

Watson isn’t at all surprised to hear Wallinder speaking so matter of factly about playoff hockey.

“For him, he’s gone through playoffs in Europe, so he knows sort of what to expect.” Watson said.

Still A Learning Curve For Griffins Wallinder

That doesn’t mean there’s nothing left for Wallinder to learn about the North American brand of playoffs.

“That intensity’s gotta ramp up,” Watson said. “The compete level in the corners, killing plays as a D man and just keeping it simple.

“Those are gonna be his next steps.”

William Wallinder in the flesh. #DRWDC pic.twitter.com/KDZtfonaP4

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 12, 2022

As a rookie in the AHL, Wallinder’s been all about taking those steps and making adjustments this season. He admits it hasn’t been a linear path to success, but he thinks he’s moving toward where he needs to be.

“It took some time but I’m getting into it and feel comfortable now I would say,” Wallinder said. “It’s a good league, a lot of good players, a lot of skilled players.”

Slowly, but steadily and most assuredly, Wallinder is developing into one of them.

The post Wallinder Rare Bright Spot in Griffins Playoff Loss appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Detroit Red Wings prospect Carter Mazur scored his 13th goal and added two assists to pace the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 4-3 win against the Iowa Wild that extended the team’s American Hockey League point streak to 17 games.

Jonatan Berggren had the go-ahead goal in the third period. Zach Aston-Reese had the game-winner. Berggren boasts 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in his past 22 games. If the Red Wings lose a scorer to injury, he would appear to be the likely call-up.

This is the Griffins’ longest points streak since setting the team record of 19 games in 2014-15.

Detroit prospect defenseman Antti Tuomisto also had two assists for the Griffins are home to face Rockford tonight.

Goodnight Grand Rapids
Griffins – 4 Wild – 3
Highlights #GoGRG pic.twitter.com/FOyLBxG4CP

— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) March 2, 2024

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

• Here is a look inside the Grand Rapids Griffins 17-game points streak. They haven’t lost in regulation in 50 days.
• Coach Derek Lalonde said the boldest move the Red Wings could make at the trade deadline is to do nothing at all.
• The Red Wings are hoping goalie Alex Lyon can find success against his former Florida Panthers teammates today.
• Behind the paywall: Red Wings prospect Larry Keenan, the grandson of a former NHL player by the same name, is exploring his talent with the British Columbia team that turned out Brett Hull and Joe Murphy.

Red Wings Next Game

Detroit is home to face the Florida Panthers who own the NHL’s best record of 40-16-4. The puck drops at 3 p.m. Patrick Kane brings a 10-game points streak (5-10-15) into the game.  This is the eighth time Kane has had a point streak of at least 10 games. It is his first since a 12-game run from Dec. 31, 2019-Feb. 1, 2020 (5-13-18 in 12 GP). Kane is the eighth player in Red Wings history with a point streak of at least 10 games in his first season with the
club. He is the first since Dino Ciccarelli authored an 11-game point streak from March 18-April 15, 1993 (9-12-21 in 11 GP).

Hockey Now Network

Boston: The Bruins will be looking for players with a snarl before Friday’s NHL trade deadline. Boston Bruins.

Colorado: The Avalanche moved Kurtis MacDermid and his $987,500 salary to the New Jersey Devils for a seventh-round pick and prospect Zakhar Bardakov who is playing in the KHL playoffs. This looks like cleaning up the roster in anticipation of other moves. Colorado Avalanche.

Nashville: NHN’s Michael Gallagher weighs in on how the Nashville Predators should approach the upcoming trade deadline.

Philadelphia: Jonathan Bailey believes the Philadelphia Flyers can find a backup goalie in the NHL trade market.

Pittsburgh: Reilly Smith tells PHN that the rumors about him being unhappy in Pittsburgh and wanting to return to the Vegas Golden Knights are “totally baseless.” Pittsburgh Penguins.

San Jose: How do the San Jose Sharks matchup with Eastern Conference teams as a trading partner? Sheng Peng has the answer,

The post The Daily: Mazur Helps Griffins Extend Streak; Bruins Want Snarl appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Detroit Red Wings prospects were leading the charge in the Grand Rapids Griffins‘  come-from-behind 5-4 overtime win against the Manitoba Moose Friday night.

Marco Kasper (drafted eighth overall in 2022) scored the game-winner 48 seconds into OT.  He also had an assist, giving him his fourth multi-point game of the season.  Jonatan Berggren (drafted 33rd overall in 2018) scored with 1:41 remaining in regulation to force overtime. He has eight points in seven games since the Red Wings returned him to the Griffins. He has 26 points in 26 games for the Griffins this season.

Elmer Soderblom (drafted 159th overall in 2019)  also netted his fourth goal of the season for Grand Rapids, and finished with two points. Carter Mazur (drafted 7oth overall in 2021) posted two assists to give him 10 points in his past 12 games. Defenseman Antti Tuomisto (drafted 35th overall in 2019) also had an assist.

KASPER

GR – 5, MB – 4 #GoGRG pic.twitter.com/jxJvTzbrP5

— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) January 20, 2024

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

• Alex Lyon was steady again, but the Red Wings couldn’t score any goals against the Carolina Hurricanes.
• Detroit prospect Noah Dower Nilsson suffers an injury on the other shoulder.
• With Moritz Seider, Ben Chiarot, Jake Walman and Jeff Petry playing well defensively, the Red Wings are harder to beat on the road.
• Detroit assistant general manager Kris Draper is finding success in a different arena.

Red Wings Next Game

The Red Wings will be the other Detroit team playing Sunday. They will entertain the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team that is tied with them for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Originally, the game was scheduled for 5 p.m., but it has been moved to  7 p.m. because the Detroit Lions NFL playoff game (against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) starts at 3 p.m.

Hockey Now Network

Boston: Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic’s domestic abuse trial scheduled for Feb. 16.

Buffalo: ESPN Insider Kevin Weekes says the Buffalo Sabres may consider moving Casey Mittelstadt. He’s the young player they haven’t yet re-signed.

Florida: The Florida Panthers had an epic penalty kill meltdown in a 6-4 loss to Minnesota.

Philadelphia: Coach John Tortorella warns that more trades are coming. Don’t fall in love with Philadelphia Flyers.

Pittsburgh: Odds makers have changed their mind about coach Mike Sullivan. He has gone from short odds to 33-1 to be the next NHL coach fired. Pittsburgh Penguins.

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The post Mazur Progressing Nicely After Injury-Delayed Start (+) appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.