Lyle Richardson

LyleRichardson@THNews

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Caleb Kerney·2d·Partner

Red Wings Trade For Mrazek Doesn't Add Up Now

Sometimes, it’s better not to make a move than to make a move that hurts your team. Many questioned the move at the time, but now everyone is reminded of the reason why. The Detroit Red Wings had to call up top goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa recently. But why? It started with an injury to Petr Mrazek and was exacerbated with an injury to Cam Talbot. Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. The team’s (potential) future starting netminder is with the team. He didn’t see any action in Colorado, but certainly could shortly. But it didn’t have to be this way. With Ville Husso traded away, it opened up things with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Cossa had an even greater opportunity to play more games with fewer bodies crowding the AHL team’s net. And then the Mrazek trade happened. Trending Red Wings Stories Detroit Red Wings Schedule For March 2025 Red Wings Prospect Trey Augustine Backstops Michigan State to Another Big Ten Title Injury Update: Erik Gustafsson's Season Likely Over Red Wings' Austin Watson Hits Milestone Some people were excited to see Mrazek return to the team that drafted him. However, a couple of things didn’t add up. According to Fox Sports, Mrazek has been injured 10 times since January 30th of 2021. Of those 10 times, five have been explicitly labeled groin injuries, with an additional three being called “lower body” injuries. Mrazek was replaced 1:38 into the contest on Monday night against the Utah Hockey Club, before Alex Lyon stepped up and delivered a win for the Red Wings. Given his injury history, it’s safe to assume that all of the lower body injuries could have been groin-related as well. But, we also know that making assumptions is not always a great strategy. The other issue is money-related. The 33-year-old goalie has another year left on his contract after this year, valued at $4.25 million. However, they are already paying Talbot $2.5 million and Lyon $900,000. The value that Talbot and Lyon bring at their price point is more significant than Mrazek. Lyon and Talbot have better stats in virtually every category: save percentage, goals against average, and goals saved above expected. Add it all up and, well, it doesn’t really add up. If the plan had always been to bring in a goalie who could push Talbot and Lyon, there could have been a more affordable option for a player who doesn’t notoriously get injured. Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites.

Sam Stockton·1d·Partner

Despite Goaltending Struggles, Red Wings Don't Perceive Cossa as Solution (Yet)

By no means was goaltending the reason the Detroit Red Wings lost 4–3 to the Ottawa Senators Thursday night, but it certainly didn't help. Starter Alex Lyon conceded on two of the the first three shots he faced. When asked whether the defense in front of Lyon or Lyon's own struggles were the cause of the early deficit, a visibly frustrated Todd McLellan said only, "Both. Both." Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. For the month of March, Detroit's team save percentage is just .867, while the Red Wings have conceded 3.46 goals a game. That's not an easy recipe with which to win games, and, well, Detroit has won many: just three wins from 13 games and all 10 losses in regulation. However, despite the Red Wings' struggles in net, it does not appear the team has any appetite for giving top goaltending prospect Sebastian Cossa (a 2021 first round draft pick) a look in the NHL crease. Not yet anyway. Trending Red Wings Stories Clock Ticking on Red Wings' Playoff Hopes After 4–3 Loss to Ottawa Detroit Red Wings Schedule For March 2025 Red Wings Prospect Trey Augustine Backstops Michigan State to Another Big Ten Title Injury Update: Erik Gustafsson's Season Likely Over The first indicator that Detroit might be feeling something less than optimistic about Cossa's (immediate) future came in the form of the trade deadline acquisition of Petr Mrazek from Chicago. That the Red Wings would bring in goaltending help for the stretch run needn't indicate doubt over Cossa's future, but the fact that Mrazek is signed through the 2025-26 season starts to evoke that uncertainty. In explaining the move, general manager Steve Yzerman said that in acquiring Mrazek, he was solidifying his '25-26 tandem: Mrazek and Cam Talbot. Sure, Cossa could play his way into that rotation, but the unsubtle suggestion was that Cossa didn't factor into Yzerman's plans in net for the coming season. Cossa was an emergency call-up for the final game of Detroit's recent road trip, but when it ended and Talbot returned to health, Cossa went right back to Grand Rapids. In explaining that process after Thursday morning's skate, McLellan suggested Cossa wouldn't get an NHL look to close out the season unless injury necessitated it, saying, "The emergency conditions will see to exist once Cam [gets healthy], so the simple answer to that question is no, unless we get into an emergency situation again," said McLellan, when asked whether there was a chance to see Cossa start for Detroit down the stretch. "That's just the way it goes now with roster moves." None of this should be taken to mean that Cossa's NHL career is doomed before it even really begins. However, as the Red Wings limp toward the end of the regular season, the organization's actions and words have made clear that it doesn't perceive Cossa as a solution to its struggles in net. Not yet anyway. Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites.

Sam Stockton·1d·Partner

Clock Ticking on Red Wings' Playoff Hopes After 4–3 Loss to Ottawa

DETROIT—Not quite 13 minutes into the Red Wings' 4–3 loss to the Ottawa Senators Thursday night, Senators captain Brady Tkachuck caught up to Detroit forward Lucas Raymond as he rushed the puck through neutral ice, dumping Raymond to the ice, then pinning him there with an arm around his neck. With Tkachuk and Raymond still entangled, Ottawa rushed the puck the other way until Tim Stutzle used a burst of speed to get around Moritz Seider and beat Alex Lyon with a well-placed wrist shot. The goal made it 2–0 Senators, though the Red Wings had a 10–3 edge in shots, but that was the story of the night for the home team: Bullied away from the puck and beaten with it, even if the final score suggested a narrow margin. Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. You might call that discrepancy between the shot chart and the scoreboard anomalous, if only it weren't the continuation of a month-long pattern, the clearest example a Mar. 10 loss in Ottawa in which the Red Wings outshot the Sens 49–23 and lost 2–1 anyway. You might offer extenuating circumstances to explain each of Detroit's three springtime swoons over the last three seasons—trade deadline departures, injuries to the wrong players at the wrong times, a difficult schedule for this year's stretch run—but put together there can be no denying a pattern. On Thursday night, the most acute cause of Detroit's undoing was its power play, a season-long strength drying up to expose underlying vulnerabilities. The Red Wings went to five power plays in the first period (the fifth carrying over for 1:40 into the second) and failed to convert each time. The Red Wings created their share of danger over the course of those opportunities, but with nothing to show for those chances, there could be no positives to glean from spending half a period on the power play. After the game, Raymond said there was "more to" the loss than just that poor start on the man advantage but conceded that the 0-for-5 start was "obviously a huge part of it." By the end of the first, Detroit trailed 2–0 despite doubling its guests in shots at 16–8. In his post-game remarks, coach Todd McLellan stressed that winding up on the wrong side of those margins was not a matter of effort but rather defensive execution. "We play hard, we commit, we do all that type of stuff, but that's not good enough," McLellan said, the frustration of a season slipping away thanks to familiar defensive woes evident in his voice. "We have to get better defensively. We have to get better in the faceoff circle. We have to have better coverages. I look at the game tonight, 4–3, Wow! You almost came back, you made it close! but that might be the most outnumbered rush situations [against] I've seen this year from our team...The first goal was four-on-two, there were multiple two-on-ones, there were short breakaways where the D was just getting walked from the tops of the circles in... Until we learn to take that crap out of our game, we're gonna need six a night, and that can't happen. That's not good enough. When you use those words, sometimes people think effort or whatever. No, it's systematic, it's the mind, it's understanding the game. That's not good enough." In the end, the game looked close, and it was: Alex DeBrincat struck the post with what could have been an equalizer in the final minute of regulation, and the rebound beckoned for a fleeting moment in front of an unattended net with Ullmark down and out, but the Sens survived the scramble. As Raymond put it, "I think we did [make] a hell of a push in the third, but we didn't put ourselves in a good enough position coming into the third to get it done. We know that. It's on us." For the Red Wings, the late season has made for a painfully slow death. Detroit is just 3–10–0 in the month of March, yet there's been just enough futility elsewhere in the race for the Eastern Conference's final playoff berth to avoid mathematical elimination. The Red Wings got help from the out-of-town scoreboard Thursday in the form of a Montreal Canadiens loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, yet with the current state of Detroit's game, there is no logical path to the postseason despite sitting just three points to the wrong side of the current playoff cut line. "I don't know what the other scores were or anything like that yet, but our inability to win tonight and everybody else around us losing, yeah it keeps us right where we are, but the clock is ticking," said McLellan. "So that's what ends up happening: You run out of time. Unless you take advantage of someone else's mistakes, and we haven't been able to do that over the last little bit." On Thursday, regardless of the statistical probability, the Red Wings appear to have neither the car, nor the nerve, to win the race to the final wild card position. Detroit couldn't match the Sens' decisiveness in finishing or goaltending, and the Red Wings struggled to cope with the heavy, bullying brand of hockey—powerless to push back on either front until they'd fallen too far to recover. For the second year in a row, no team seems willing or able to seize control of the race for the East's final playoff spot. Those muddy waters leave Detroit with some semblance of hope for the time being, but they also further indict its ability to push across the finish line. To McLellan, unpacking the Red Wings' March woes requires a consideration of the psychological. "I think part of it, or a lot of it, was between the ears and sagging a little bit...We can't sag, so it's as much mental as it is physical and structural." Each of the Red Wings' failed playoff pushes over the previous two springs has featured a prolonged losing streak at an inopportune moment. This year, a six-game losing streak from late February into early March offered one more example of a mental sag, to borrow McLellan's phrase, from which Detroit has (thus far) failed to recover in sufficient time to redeem the season. "You can say however many times you want that we're gonna do everything in our power to get there, but I think for us right now, it's just about digging in and getting it done," said Raymond. The Red Wings' playoff odds haven't dwindled all the way to 0% just yet, but with each passing loss, the familiar writing on the wall grows harder to ignore. Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites.

Sam Stockton·8h·Partner

Struggling Red Wings Looking to Recover Rhythm, Manage Adversity vs. Bruins

DETROIT—It's been a grim month of March in Hockeytown, with the beloved Red Wings limping through the stretch run. Again. Yet despite a 3–10–0 record since the calendar turned over from February, Detroit remains within spitting distance of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Of course, grabbing that spot requires the Red Wings to start stringing together wins in a hurry, beginning Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena against the Boston Bruins. Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. "We've been lucky enough, I guess you could call it, that no one's really seized that spot, and it's tough games this time of the year," forward Lucas Raymond told The Hockey News after Saturday morning's skate. "I think that shows, but not playing good the way we've been wanting to and still being in it is huge, and we gotta seize that opportunity." "We haven't gotten the results we've wanted over the last 10 games or so, but we're still right in it, so we know that if we play our game...we might not technically control all our own destiny, but we feel like if we take care of our business, we'll be in pretty good shape," added defenseman Justin Holl. Coach Todd McLellan likened Detroit's recent struggles to golf, saying his team needs to learn to not allow one mistake spiral into disaster. "You're on the golf course and you have a bad tee shot, it doesn't mean you have to have a bad round," McLellan said after Saturday morning's skate. "You go from playing birdie golf to playing par golf during that time. You clean things up, you get on the green, you try to play safe and put it in, and you take your par instead of your birdie. When we get into a bad drive situation, all of a sudden we're swinging away and it gets worse, instead of managing it." Trending Red Wings Stories Despite Goaltending Struggles, Red Wings Don't Perceive Cossa as Solution (Yet) Red Wings Trade For Mrazek Doesn't Add Up Now Every Expiring Detroit Red Wings Contract Lineup As they look to revitalize their season, Detroit will be offering a slightly different look to its forward lines, reminiscent of the combinations that McLellan used to close out Thursday's loss to the Senators. Wingers Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane will now flank Dylan Larkin on the top line, while Lucas Raymond and Michael Rasmussen will now skate on Marco Kasper's wings on line two. "Well not just Dylan and Raymond, the group as a whole," explained McLellan, when asked whether the tinkering was meant to spark his top two scorers. "We started last game with a set of lines and by the time we got to the third, we pulled them apart, but the most energy and jump and attack time that we had was with lines that look similar to what we are going with today." Cam Talbot will start in net for the Red Wings. Injury Update On the injury front, McLellan did not have an update on Petr Mrazek, who remains unavailable after suffering an upper body injury in Utah. Meanwhile Elmer Soderblom remains out as well, but he is at least closer to getting back to action. "Elmer is still gonna be day-to-day, but I don't see him playing in St. Louis," McLellan said, alluding to the Red Wings' Tuesday night game against the Blues. "I don't know for sure though. That's how close he is, but how far away he is." Re-Tooling Bruins Pose Unique Challenge Following the trade deadline, the Bruins are a different team to the one that beat Detroit 3–2 in Boston on Dec. 3. Most notably, erstwhile captain Brad Marchand is off to Florida, where he made his Panthers debut Friday night, assisting on the overtime winner, but Marchand is not alone amongst the departures. Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo, and Trent Frederic are all also out the door. McLellan pointed out Saturday morning that while those sorts of departure theoretically deplete a roster, it can also invigorate the players who remain, with bigger roles. "Well they're a different team now," said McLellan of the current state of the B's. "For me personally, having come out here, I know them with all the pieces that they've had in the past...There's a lot of players there [now] that are getting opportunities, that have moved up the lineup a little bit as they retool. When players get that chance and they take advantage of it, they can be a handful, because they've been sitting in the weeds and wanting more and asking for more and trying to play for more, and now it's in front of them, so they can be a real dangerous team when those types of players get hungry." Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites.

Sam Stockton·2d·Partner

Red Wings Desperate for Positive Result with Senators in Town

DETROIT — The Red Wings host the Ottawa Senators Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena. Their playoff hopes are dimming, but until the bell of mathematical elimination tolls, the Red Wings have no option but to fight desperately to push themselves to the front of the wild card fray. Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. In assessing Detroit's two-part, four-game road trip from Washington to Vegas, Utah, and Colorado, coach Todd McLellan spoke to the obvious and paramount importance of results by this time of year. "Effort and drive and all those things are real important but wins have to come out of it, based on where we're at right now, and we didn't get enough of those on the road trip, so we're gonna rely on these two games here at home to try to fill the bank up for points that we didn't get [on the road]," he said. Here's everything you need to know ahead of tonght's game: Injury Updates First, let's review the Red Wings' health situation heading into the evening. Andrew Copp and Erik Gustafsson remain out (the former's season definitively done, the latter's likely the same). Meanwhile, Elmer Soderblom (who suffered an injury in Detroit's loss to the Capitals to open the road trip, missed the Golden Knights game in Vegas, returned to play Utah but suffered a knock that kept him out against the Avalanche) remains unavailable, per McLellan. Goaltender Cam Talbot—who was not healthy enough to play Tuesday night against Colorado—will be healthy enough to back-up Alex Lyon Thursday. McLellan did not yet have an update on Petr Mrazek (injured in Utah) but said the netminder will be evaluated further Thursday afternoon. Finally, per McLellan, Detroit is still waiting on official confirmation but Jeff Petry (who returned to the lineup for the firs time since Jan. 2 against Utah, then missed the following night's game against the Avs) should be available to return to the lineup Thursday night. Top Line Tarasenko Looking to Spark Raymond, Larkin As the Red Wings look to spark their sputtering offense from the top down, McLellan promoted Vladimir Tarasenko to the top left wing role, beside Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin. "If they play well, they'll be the top line," McLellan said to explain the decision. "He's gonna play with Razor and Larks, and we'll determine who that top line is at the end of the night, but he's gonna get his opportunity to go up there." "We're trying it this way now, where Razor and Larks have not scored at the same pace that they've scored at in the past, and Vladdy's kind of been in that mix, so we're throwing all three together now," the coach continued. "When you look at their résumés, you look at what they've done and the way they can play, they should be a real good line. It'll be a real good challenge for the three of them to play together and find a way to be productive." Raymond and Larkin were held scoreless in Utah and Colorado, and both players have struggled to sustain their best form since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off. When asked Thursday morning about Raymond and Larkin's recent performances, McLellan spoke to the importance of that duo at least creating chances, even if they can't convert every night. "Everybody's games kind of ebb and flow, and they've had some nights where they have been productive," said McLellan. "They've had nights where they've had great scoring opportunities and it hasn't gone in, and they've just had some dry nights. If it's one of the first two [kinds of] nights, we have to live with that. The dry nights where there's not much going on, we have to find ways to get them to be catalysts. There's pressure on both of them of course. They're looked at as our offensive leaders and leaders overall. This time of year, that pressure can be immense, so they have to handle that as well. Expectations are high for the pair and for them as individuals." Trending Red Wings Stories Detroit Red Wings Schedule For March 2025 Red Wings Prospect Trey Augustine Backstops Michigan State to Another Big Ten Title Injury Update: Erik Gustafsson's Season Likely Over Red Wings' Austin Watson Hits Milestone Detroit Knows Ullmark Poses Stiff Test The Red Wings last saw the Senators earlier this month in the Canadian capital. Detroit fell 2–1 that night, despite putting 49 shots on goal, thanks to a standout performance in net from Linus Ullmark and another lackluster performance from the Red Wings penalty kill. Thursday morning, McLellan pointed out that Detroit can and should take positives from its performance against the Senators in Ottawa but also that the clear imperative for his team is finding a way to beat Ullmark. "We're gonna refer back to the game that we played in Ottawa, and we'll try to take the same approach," McLellan said. "I'm sure they'll have a much better night. They've played with some confidence since that day or prior to it. Their goaltending has been really elite in the last few weeks, and Ullmark's given them a chance to play through some patches in games where they haven't played real well or it got ugly for a few shifts, and he's been able to bail them out. To beat that team, I think you have to get rewarded during those minutes, and we didn't in Ottawa." The Red Wings have only scored more than three goals once in the month of March. Meanwhile, Ullmark has won seven of his last 10 games for the Sens. It won't be an easy task for Detroit to break out of its offensive slump Thursday night, but it's what the Wings will have to do to keep their already dwindling playoff hopes alive. Cossa Remains an Emergency Only Option in Net One final topic of note to emerge from Thursday morning's skate was the status of Sebastian Cossa. Detroit called up the 2021 first round draft pick under emergency conditions to back-up Tuesday night in Colorado, with Talbot and Mrazek both injured. Cossa took part in Thursday morning's skate, but with Talbot back healthy, he will return to the Grand Rapids Griffins. "The emergency conditions will see to exist once Cam [gets healthy], so the simple answer to that question is no, unless we get into an emergency situation again," said McLellan, when asked whether there was a chance to see Cossa start for Detroit down the stretch. "That's just the way it goes now with roster moves." The Red Wings could recall Cossa under non-emergency conditions to make that happen, but based on McLellan's answer, it doesn't sound as though that's happening. Between acquiring Mrazek (to have a second NHL goaltender under contract for the '25-26 season along with Talbot) and this response from McLellan, there is some reason to believe some of the Red Wings' faith in Cossa has faded slightly over the course of the season. That's speculative, and there's certainly time for Cossa to change their minds, as it would of course be foolhardy to write off the 22-year-old already. However, we do have two data points that suggest a slightly bearish outlook on Cossa's future. Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites.

Caleb Kerney·1d·Partner

Ex-Red Wing James Reimer Heating Up

Goalies are the most critical players on the ice. Scoring goals is nice – but it doesn't mean anything if your netminder is not up to snuff. Former Detroit Red Wings goalie James Reimer has had a strange season. He started with the Buffalo Sabres, was put on waivers, claimed by the Anaheim Ducks, placed on waivers again, and finally claimed by the Sabres. Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. Although Reimer hasn't played much this year, he's started four consecutive games. Despite starting the year terribly, things are turning around for him. Trending Red Wings Stories Despite Goaltending Struggles, Red Wings Don't Perceive Cossa as Solution (Yet) Red Wings Trade For Mrazek Doesn't Add Up Now Every Expiring Detroit Red Wings Contract Detroit Red Wings Schedule For March 2025 He's posted a save percentage (SV%) of .900, .917, .938, and .920 with a 3-1 record in four consecutive starts. He’s hovering around league average for the season. In 17 games, Reimer has a record of 5-8-2, a 2.94 goals against average (GAA) and a .901 SV%. Digging into MoneyPuck numbers gives us a few more observations. Reimer leads all Sabres goalies in Goals Saved Above Expected with 8.1. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi have GSAx of -5.6 and -8, respectively. Amongst all NHL goalies who have played at least 15 games, Reimer ranks 26th in GSAx. The only Red Wings goalie who has done better in this metric is Cam Talbot, who ranks 22nd with 10.6. In his last season with the Red Wings, he had similar numbers. Reimer boasted an 11-8-2 record with a 3.11 GAA, a .904 SV%, and two shutouts. While it wasn’t a mistake to let Reimer go, his recent hot streak is proof that he still has some game to bring to the table. But, just like all things, it probably won’t last very long. Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites.