In Red Wings Land

Blashill has had ‘a lot of good conversations’ with Yzerman about future in Detroit – 97.1 the Ticket

During the broadcast of the Red Wings’ shootout loss to the Stars on Tuesday night, NBC Sports color commentator Joe Micheletti reported on Blashill’s healthy relationship with Yzerman while discussing his future in Detroit.

“His contract expires after this season. He’s had a lot of good conversations with Steve Yzerman over the year,” Micheletti said. “They’re going to wait until the season ends and then they’ll address his situation, but he’s talked about how proud he is, especially of all these young players where he’s seen improvement.

“Is there frustration? He says, ‘Absolutely there’s frustration because we all want to win, we hate losing, and we’re not winning enough.’ But there are certainly some bright spots and the future for Detroit is certainly on the upswing.”

Around the League

Mikko Rantanen, P.K. Subban added to NHL’s COVID protocol list – NBC Sports

The Athletic’s Peter Baugh notes that Rantanen marks the first Avalanche to land in COVID protocol since April 16. Rantanen joins Philipp Grubauer and Joonas Donskoi as Avalanche players currently in COVID protocol, while Bowen Byram was removed from that list on Monday.

Also, stay tuned for Part 2 of Prashanth’s series on his thoughts for the Wings’ offseason strategy.