from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

Though Thursday's morning skate was an optional as to whether anyone wanted to skate, every Wing still attends to get ready for game time.

"Everybody comes and we get focused," Lalonde said. "Our meeting is vitally important. We start looking at our opponent. Where this team is, the youth of it, sometimes we like those touches (on ice work) because there's a development to it.

"You actually want them (younger players to do morning skates), maybe it's old-school, but you want those guys to get in the habit of touches and work ethic. But of course, sometimes, and Mo (Seider) is one of those guys, a perfect example, we've been asking a lot of him, we expected 30-35 minutes out of him (during Wednesday's practice) and he goes grabs the skating coach for 15 (minutes) more.

"There's a balance in there somewhere. But you want to push those young guys out of their comfort level a little bit."

Edvinsson, 19, has played 26 games in Grand Rapids with one goal and 11 assists and a minus-three rating, with 30 penalty minutes....

"Good (reports)," Lalonde said. "He battled through some illness early on, it probably set him back a little bit, but it's just learning how to be a pro, consistently, every day."

Lalonde feels there's a natural development arc for an young player, but especially a young defenseman.

"You saw him in camp, he had a couple of games in the preseason he looked like he was ready to play every day in the NHL, and the next night it looks like he was nowhere near ready to play. As a young defenseman, I personally think it's a lot harder as a defenseman than forward in that development.

"It's tough to give you an exact (report) with where he's at, but there has been some positive reviews for sure."

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