As the Wings call kids back home and get ready to start training camp in preparation for the mid-January start, Red Wings’ GM Steve Yzerman had a media availability today that we’ll share here at the bottom of the article if you’ve got a free 27 minutes to spare. The video starts with a question already having been asked, but part of what was reported on Twitter that isn’t said in this video is that the Wings intend to name a captain this year, but haven’t decided on how they want to do that. Steve starts things talking about the heightened sense of responsibility that comes along with being named captain.
He should know.
Lots of other topics get mentioned. He speaks a lot about the challenge of figuring out in such a short time with no preseason games how to make the calls they have to make for their roster, hinting at how he feels most teams will go into cap with an expectation of the roster and then make changes as they see fit. However, he’s careful to mention that just because a player isn’t on the roster on the 13th doesn’t mean he won’t be there very soon.
Another big consideration that’s in the air is how the team will utilize the taxi squad. With the AHL being uncertain right now, he can’t commit to how things will work, but more than once, Yzerman indicates that parking kids on the taxi squad to not play is likely not going to be best for their development and they’ll have to explore ways to get them involved in playing games however they can.
In speaking about the kids, Yzerman confirms Seider and Veleno will not come over before their SHL seasons are over (because they can’t), but the other kids, Zadina, Hronek, Rasmussen, Brome have already been recalled.
Justin Rose asks about his expectations for the team and gets a good GM-speak answer in regards to avoiding making specific predictions, but calling on his team to be prepared, energetic, and in shape. He later speaks about the role of the conditioning staff as well as development staff in Shawn Horcoff, Dan Cleary, and Nik Kronwall in helping the kids find ways to keep themselves in shape, despite a situation that lends itself very well to making excuses.
There’s plenty more in here, including some talk about the team always looking for ways to make moves that will help out, helmet sponsorships, and what he knows so far about the schedule, the division format, and fans in the stands (a whole bunch of not a whole lot, really)
You can watch the full vid here on Youtube:
