Red Wings Rumblings
The Red Wings return to action tonight — hosting the red-hot Carolina Hurricanes, who are surging through a five-game win streak. Tonight could be a battle of special teams. Carolina’s PP is near the bottom of the league, while Detroit’s PK is dead last. Flip side of that, Carolina has the second-best PK, while Detroit’s PP unit is third-best in the NHL. Expect Petr Mrazek to get the start against his old team. HSJ wrote that the Red Wings skipped practice before the win against Buffalo, so they’re doing the same with this game. McLellan said it’s a way for the team to manage fatigue at this time of the year. Worked once, so why not try again?
In other news, Detroit signed defensive prospect Anton Johansson to his entry-level contract on Thursday. Johansson is a gritty two-way defender with some offensive upside. He will be reporting to the Grand Rapids Griffins and could see some ice time despite the AHL affiliate recently trading for defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov. At the very least, it’s another Steve Yzerman pick making a move up the system. Don’t forget that Axel-Sandin Pellikka will be heading over to North America once Skelleftea’s season is over.
Speaking of prospects — Detroit forward prospect Jesse Kiiskinen has an injury and is out day-to-day. He will miss the last regular season game with his Liiga club. Kiiskinen finishes his season with 44 points (14-30–44) in 46 games. Kiiskinen was acquired from Nashville along with a 2nd round pick in 2024 in exchange for Andrew Gibson. Unfortunately this trade was tied to the Jake Walman trade (Detroit sent its 2nd round pick to San Jose along with Walman), but don’t let it get lost that they got an extremely good prospect in Kiiskinen in all of this. He’ll be a name to watch over the next couple of years. Still just 19 years old and lit up the Finnish league.
Finally, staying with prospects, Trey Augustine is up for the 2025 AAU Sullivan Award. You can vote for Augustine through March 20. Other nominees include college football star Ashton Jeanty and college basketball start Cooper Flagg.
Maybe this isn’t news, but the NHL is considering an extension to its regular season from 82 games to 84 games, as reported by Pierre LeBrun:
”’So in other words, they’d extend the calendar on the regular season to create a schedule that’s not quite as jam-packed,” [LeBrun] wrote. “And also takes into account best-on-best hockey breaks every two seasons for the Olympics and World Cups, as well as accommodating 84 games.’”
I guess I understand that reasoning. It’s going to take some time for me to actually warm up to it. I’m indifferent at the moment.
Enjoy your weekend, friends. See you at game time.
