from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

“No place has felt this comfortable throughout my career,” he said Monday. “I hope it leads to good things going forward. I just have to take care of the on-ice stuff and then we can go from there.”

It’s an interesting development, especially with Jakub Vrana’s status up in the air. A nagging shoulder injury flared up 10 minutes into practice Saturday, and the fact he was scheduled to see a specialist this week certainly isn’t a good sign. Ryan didn’t have great numbers last season — seven goals, seven assists in 33 games — but he knows how to get himself into scoring position and the Wings know what they have in the 6-foot-2, 208-pound right-handed forward.

“It definitely helps,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought he played pretty good hockey for us last year. I know him as a person. We have the potential of starting the year without Vrana, and if that is the case, we’re going to need some guys with that offensive talent. So let’s make sure that we’re giving Bobby a good look. We’ll give him a good look in exhibition and go from there.”

Ryan skated in Tyler Bertuzzi’s spot with Dylan Larkin and Filip Zadina in Monday’s practice, because Bertuzzi was given a maintenance day. It looked like Ryan was a good fit with Zadina and Robby Fabbri at the start of last season, but that line didn’t last long because Fabbri and Zadina tested positive for COVID-19 in the opening week.

more ($$$)