Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Questions Answered

04/28/2019 at 6:19am EDT

Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press answers s few questions from the fans and the first qustion pertains to youngsters on the Wings next season,

...one of the reasons the Wings traded Tomas Tatar in spring of 2018 was to open a spot for Bertuzzi, who at that time dominated with the Griffins. Filip Zadina, 19, hasn’t done that yet. He returned to the Griffins in mid-March following a nine-game audition with the Wings and produced one goal and three assists the remaining 14 games of the regular season. He has two goals and one assist in four playoff games heading into Sunday’s deciding Game 5 between the Griffins and Chicago Wolves, but all are from Game 3.

Michael Rasmussen, 20, was so ineffective coming out of the bye-week (five points in his last 21 games) it showed he needs time in the AHL to figure out how to assert himself against men. Evgeny Svechnikov, 22, is something of an unknown after missing the entire season because of injury.

Maybe if Zadina has a big summer in the gym, he’s around opening night. I think it’s more likely those three forwards join the season in progress.

One young forward I do see making the team out of camp is Taro Hirose, 22. He’s a college free-agent signing who impressed with seven points in 10 games. He’s small but smart and an excellent passer. Christoffer Ehn, 23, is a good skater and grinder and makes the bottom-six group better.

This answer explains the question.

I’d anticipate the Wings pick defenseman Bowen Byram if he’s available, or a center. They like both of the big centers out west — Kirby Dach (6-foot-4, 197, shoots right. Had 73 points in 62 games with Saskatoon in the WHL) and Dylan Cozens (6-3, 180, shoots right. Had 84 points in 68 games with Lethbridge in WHL). Alex Turcotte is certainly another option — a lower-body injury limited him to 30 games with the Plymouth-based National Team Development Program, but he still contributed 23 goals and 30 assists.

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Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that.

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