- The Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned winger Dominik Shine to AHL Grand Rapids. Detroit signed the 31-year-old to a two-year, two-way deal last month, his first NHL contract which came on the heels of a strong first half with the Griffins that saw him record 32 points in 40 games. Shine got into four games with Detroit while being up with the big club, picking up an assist and four hits in a little under nine minutes a night of playing time.
Red Wings Rumors
Red Wings’ Jeff Petry Undergoes Surgery, Out 6-8 Weeks
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jeff Petry has undergone surgery to address an undisclosed injury and will miss the next six-to-eight weeks, per Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff. No specifics of the injury were provided.
Petry has been out of the lineup since suffering an injury in the team’s January 3rd game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He left that game with roughly 10 minutes left in the third period after wrapping awkwardly around Columbus’ Kirill Marchenko while the latter took a shot. Petry went down immediately and took his time getting back up. It wasn’t clear what he hurt on the play. He was designated as day-to-day with injury immediately following the game, then landed on injured reserve three days later. Now, Petry will be a candidate for long-term injured reserve, as he pushes to return before Detroit’s season ends on April 17th.
Petry has dealt with numerous injuries this season. He missed time in early October with an upper-body injury, then sat out with a lower-body injury for parts of early December. In total, he’s only played in 34 of Detroit’s 52 games this season. The 37-year-old has just one goal and six points in the games he’s played in. He’s also recorded 12 penalty minutes, a -7, 56 blocked shots, and 39 hits. Petry was Detroit’s fourth-most utilized defender before falling to injury, averaging just over 19 minutes of ice time – behind Moritz Seider, Ben Chiarot, and Simon Edvinsson.
Petry is just four seasons removed from recording 42 points in 55 games with the 2020-21 Montreal Canadiens. He’s seen a gradual decrease in scoring ever since, netting 27, 31, and 24 over the last three seasons respectively. Those numbers have fallen off a cliff this season. That decrease, during an injury-riddled season, could motivate Petry to retire when his contract ends this summer. That thought may be in the back of his head through the rest of the season, though he hasn’t been ruled out for the year yet.
Red Wings Activate Patrick Kane, Place J.T. Compher On IR
The Detroit Red Wings have swapped forward on injured reserve, activating Patrick Kane and shelving J.T. Compher. Kane has missed Detroit’s last five games with an upper-body injury. He was moved to injured reserve on January 27th, retroactive to his last game on the 21st. Meanwhile, Compher has been nursing his own upper-body injury ever since taking a high hit from Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Emil Martinsen Lilleberg on January 25th. Lilleberg was suspended for two games for the hit, while Compher will miss his fourth consecutive game on Sunday. Both Kane and Compher traveled with the team on their two-game road trip to the Pacific Northwest, but it could be a long while before Compher returns to the ice. He is currently listed as out indefinitely, per Rotowire.
With this news, Detroit receives back the all-offense, no-defense style of Kane. The future Hall-of-Famer ranks fifth on the team in scoring with 11 goals and 30 points in 42 games. That’s an 82-game pace of 52 points, continuing Kane’s gradual decline in scoring after scoring at a 77-point pace last season (47 points in 50 games) and netting 57 points in the year before. Despite ranking near the top of the team in scoring this year, Kane has also posted a dismal -11 and 2.90 xGA/60 (expected goals-against per-60), ranking him second-worst on the team in both categories per Evolving Hockey.
Detroit has often offset Kane’s near-total lack of defense with the stout two-way play of Compher, who has 21 points in 48 games of his own this year. Compher has also recorded a +4, which leads all Detroit forwards and ranks second on the team to Simon Edvinsson’s +13. He has been a stalwart centerman in the Red Wings’ middle-six, clearly benefiting from the addition of Andrew Copp to help shoulder responsibility in the middle lane. Compher has averaged nearly 17 minutes of ice time this year, nearly three minutes fewer than he averaged through the last two seasons. But the decreased minutes hardly indicate a decreased role, with Compher still serving time on both special teams and a go-to option in odd-man situations.
The Wings have so far promoted Michael Rasmussen to fill Compher’s tough minutes – to good effect. Rasmussen has two points and a +2 through his last five games, while averaging stout third-line minutes behind Copp and Dylan Larkin. Rasmussen has scored 15 points in 51 games on the year, putting him on pace for just 24 points – his lowest since the 2020-21 campaign. An extended absence for Compher could set Rasmussen up to boost his scoring up, though he’ll need to do it while commanding the team’s second power-play unit and handling tough, top-nine minutes.
Afternoon Notes: Kulich, Stolarz, Savage, Durzi
The Buffalo Sabres cleared up space in their bottom six by placing winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel on waivers. After the team’s practice, head coach Lindy Ruff shared that the decision was influenced by how well 20-year-old Jiri Kulich has performed as of late, per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. Ruff elaborated that the team will face a roster crunch with Jordan Greenway expected to return to practice soon. An undisclosed injury has forced Greenway out of 28 of Buffalo’s last 32 games.
Through the weeds of roster moves, this news shines a spotlight on Kulich. The young center recorded the first three-point game of his career last Tuesday, and was promptly awarded with the most ice time of his career on Thursday. Kulich didn’t manage any scoring, but made sure to find the scoresheet in Buffalo’s Saturday game – scoring one goal on a career-high seven shots. He’s playing much more confident and determined than he was earlier in the year, and the Sabres seem ready to reward him with a hardier role and a chance to prove his worth.
Across the Atlantic Division, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube told media after practice that he won’t hold back goaltender Anthony Stolarz if he’s healthy before the league breaks for the 4-Nations Face-Off, captured in a video from TSN. Stolarz participated in his first full practice after missing the last 21 games with a knee injury. He’s been upgraded to day-to-day and nearing a return, but will have just five chances left to return before the Leafs go on a two-week break.
Stolarz effectively leads the league in save percentage among goalies with 10-or-more games played. He’s recorded a .927 through just 17 games this season, backed by a stout 9-5-2 record. Stolarz seemed to be the reliability in net that Toronto had been seeking, but his untimely injury has put the team in a challenging spot. The Leafs have been outscored 70-to-69 since Stolarz’s injury, though they’ve still managed a 12-9-0 record. His return will be hotly anticipated as, hopefully, the catalyzing piece of a second-half run in Toronto.
Traveling south of Toronto, Michigan State Spartans captain and Detroit Red Wings prospect Redmond Savage has suffered a season-ending injury, Spartans head coach Adam Nightingale told local reporter Conor Earegood of Detroit News Sports. Savage’s season will end with 11 points in 20 games – a dip in scoring pace from his 27 points in 38 games last season, but still a better pace than his two years at Miami University of Ohio. Detroit drafted Savage in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL Draft, but haven’t yet signed him to his entry-level contract. They will lose his rights next summer if he doesn’t sign.
Finally, out in the plains of the Western Conference, Utah Hockey Club defender Sean Durzi returned to the team’s practices on Tuesday. Durzi has missed Utah’s last 45 games with a shoulder injury. Head coach Andre Tourigny joked about the defender’s return to Belle Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune, saying that Durzi looked a bit rusty but that the team is incredibly excited to have him back. Utah signed Durzi to a four-year, $24MM contract this summer, but he’s so far only played four games on the deal. He was still productive enough to illicit excitement in the brief showing – recording two assists, seven penalty minutes, and a +2. Durzi will likely return to a role on Utah’s second pair, once he eases his way back to full practice.
Red Wings Sign Dominik Shine To Two-Year Deal
The Red Wings signed free agent winger Dominik Shine to a two-year, two-way deal Monday, per a team announcement. It’s effective immediately and will carry him through the 2025-26 campaign. He joins the active roster in place of Patrick Kane, who the team subsequently announced has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Jan. 21.
Shine finally gets his first NHL contract in his ninth season in the Detroit organization. The 31-year-old has been under contract with AHL Grand Rapids since his professional career began in the 2016-17 campaign, now ranking third in franchise history with 462 games played.
The 5’11” forward has primarily been a role player among the Red Wings’ prospects throughout his minor-league career, evidenced by his 0.37 points per game average. But the hometown kid has exploded this season, leading the team with 21 assists and 32 points in 40 games. Just yesterday, PHR listed Shine among the top 10 unsigned AHLers to look for in terms of landing an NHL contract.
That jump in production earns him a contract and recall nearly eight years after a standout senior season at Northern Michigan University, where he led the WCHA club with 20 goals and 30 points in 33 games in 2016-17. He landed with the Griffins immediately following that effort and never looked back.
Shine has been steadily building up to this moment since the COVID-19 pandemic, which marked a turning point for his career for the better. He went his first four full seasons without scoring double-digit goals or topping 16 points, but after things came to a head with just four points in 29 games in 2020-21, he finally broke through with 17 goals and 32 points in 71 games in 2021-22.
Shine doesn’t shy away from conflict, twice recording over 70 PIMs in an AHL season. He’s on pace for 65 this year to complement his 20-goal, 58-point pace.
He’ll make his NHL debut tonight against the Kings if Vladimir Tarasenko, who’s questionable due to illness, can’t play. J.T. Compher is also day-to-day with an undisclosed injury and has been ruled out, head coach Todd McLellan told Ansar Khan of MLive.com.
Kane has missed Detroit’s last two games after aggravating the upper-body injury that held him out of five games back in November and December. The IR placement only rules him out of tonight’s game, but McLellan told Khan that Kane isn’t close to returning to practice.
The future Hall-of-Famer had a rough start to the year after signing a one-year, $4MM extension, only managing five goals and 14 points through his first 30 games. He’s exploded over the past month, however, ranking 13th in the league in scoring since Dec. 29 with 16 points (6 G, 10 A) in 12 games.
That’s the type of depth scoring Detroit needed to get back in the playoff picture, and they’re now at least back over the .500 mark with a 23-21-5 record. That still only gives them an 11% chance at the playoffs in a tight Eastern Conference race, though, so they’ll need to continue to make up ground without him.
Detroit Red Wings Recall Elmer Söderblom
Due to the lingering injury afflicting depth forward Tyler Motte, the Detroit Red Wings were positioned to recall a forward ahead of today’s contest against the Philadelphia Flyers. Although it’s unconfirmed if he’ll play tonight, the Red Wings announced they’ve recalled forward Elmer Söderblom from their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Söderblom won’t be on many top prospect boards, but he’s certainly popular in many circles. At 6’8″, he’s a towering forward who would immediately tie Tyler Myers, Adam Klapka, and Louis Crevier as the second-tallest players in an NHL game this season.
He’s a solid skater, especially for his size, but it hasn’t translated into much point production in AHL Grand Rapids. After scoring 21 goals and 33 points in 51 games for the SHL’s Frölunda HC in the 2021-22 season the Red Wings may have thought they’d found a diamond in the rough in the sixth round of the 2019 NHL Draft.
Söderblom cracked Detroit’s roster of training camp ahead of the 2022-23 season scoring two goals through the first 13 games averaging 12:58 of ice time per game. After a month-long demotion to the AHL, Söderblom returned to the roster in mid-December and performed much better scoring three goals and six points in eight games.
The Göteborg, Sweden native has largely stagnated in his development since then, scoring 23 goals and 54 points in 119 games for the Griffins including five goals and 17 points in 38 games this year. Still, he’s only 23 years old meaning there’s still plenty of time for the Red Wings to help Söderblom some of his magic from his last season in the SHL.
Marcel Bonin Passes Away
Four-time Stanley Cup champion winger Marcel Bonin passed away Sunday, according to an announcement from the Canadiens. He was 93.
Montreal was where Bonin was born and where he played his best hockey, but it wasn’t where his NHL career started. Acquired by the Red Wings in 1952 from the Quebec Aces of the Quebec Senior Hockey League, where he was briefly teammates with all-time great Jean Béliveau, Bonin made his NHL debut at age 20 that season.
He posted four goals and 13 points in 37 games during his rookie campaign with Detroit in 1952-53, splitting the year between the NHL and the Wings’ AHL affiliate at the time, the St. Louis Flyers. After spending nearly all of 1953-54 in lower-level leagues, he returned to Detroit full-time for 1954-55. Bonin was an impact piece, finishing sixth on the team in scoring with 36 points in 69 games and adding a pair of assists in 11 playoff games as he won his first of four Original Six championships.
That summer, Bonin was part of the blockbuster deal that sent Terry Sawchuk, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner and future Hall-of-Famer, to the Bruins. He spent one year in Boston, recording nine goals and nine assists for 18 points in 67 games on a Bruins offense that limped to a league-worst 2.10 goals per game.
Bonin returned to lower-tier hockey with his old stomping grounds in Quebec the following year before being claimed by his hometown Canadiens in the Inter-League Draft preceding the 1957-58 campaign. Reunited with Beliveau, then a perennial MVP candidate, and names like Henri Richard, Maurice Richard, and Bernie Geoffrion, Bonin resurfaced as a high-end complementary piece.
Bonin won Stanley Cups with Montreal in his first three seasons back in the league, recording 133 points in 182 games between the 1957-58 and 1959-60 campaigns. In year four, he recorded a career-high 35 assists and 51 points in 65 games. He was off to a good start in 1961-62, notching 21 points in 33 games, before sustaining a career-ending back injury in a game against the Red Wings in February.
He recorded 11 goals and 22 points in 34 games across four trips to the postseason with the Habs. All but one of those goals came in the 1959 playoffs, where he led the league with 10 goals in 11 games en route to Montreal’s fourth of five straight titles.
All of us at Pro Hockey Rumors offer our deepest condolences to the Bonin family and his loved ones.
Detroit Red Wings Reassign Ville Husso
Now that Alex Lyon has fully recovered from his upper-body injury and is expected to start tonight against the Dallas Stars, the Detroit Red Wings no longer require three goaltenders on the active roster. On the chopping block is netminder Ville Husso, who the team announced has been reassigned to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
After passing through waivers unscathed at the beginning of the season, Husso is only one game away from needing waivers for reassignment again. There’s little chance he’s claimed given his subpar play this season and relatively high salary of $4.75MM but any team can become desperate for a goaltender at a moment’s notice.
Still, whether he departs via the waiver wire or unrestricted free agency, Husso is likely entering the last several weeks of his tenure with the Red Wings organization. Detroit acquired Husso as a restricted free agent from the St. Louis Blues in 2022 for a 2022 third-round pick and quickly signed him to a three-year, $14.25MM contract on the same day.
The Red Wings likely had high hopes for Husso to stabilize the team’s production between the pipes given he had just managed a 25-7-6 record in 38 starts for St. Louis with a .919 save percentage. Unfortunately, partly due to the poor defensive play in front of him, Husso has fallen well short of expectations in Hockeytown.
Over 82 starts in Detroit including eight this season, Husso has amassed a 36-32-11 record with the Red Wings with a .892 SV% and 3.26 goals-against average. According to Hockey Reference, despite some blame being laid at the feet of the team’s defense, Husso has produced a more than disappointing -25.6 goals saved above the average line and 3.34 adjusted goals against average.
For what it’s worth — Husso has been more productive at the AHL level, earning a 6-1-0 record over eight games in AHL Grand Rapids, with a .935 SV% and two shutouts. This may give a goalie-needy team confidence he can rebound under the right environment at the NHL level, but it’ll be difficult to gloss over his uninspiring play with Detroit.
Tyler Motte Ruled Out For Road Trip
The Detroit Red Wings should get one player back this weekend while losing another for the foreseeable future. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reported earlier that goaltender Alex Lyon will likely start tomorrow’s contest against the Dallas Stars. She later reported that forward Tyler Motte has been ruled out until next Thursday due to an upper-body injury.
Lyon, who’s had multiple injuries this season, hasn’t played since Detroit’s overtime win against the Ottawa Senators on January 7th due to an upper-body injury. He’s still managed a similarly solid season as last year with the Red Wings when healthy managing an 8-5-0 record in 14 starts with a .902 save percentage and 2.71 goals-against average.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without one of their best defensive defensemen tonight. Gabby Shirley of FanDuel Sports Network Florida reports that Erik Černák was made unavailable for tonight’s contest against the Red Wings but added the prognosis is better than expected so he shouldn’t be on the shelf for too long. Maxwell Crozier will replace Cernak tonight, joining Ryan McDonagh on the second defensive pairing. Crozier will play in his first game with Tampa Bay this season after tallying two assists in 13 contests last year.
Red Wings' Alex Lyon Close To Returning, Tyler Motte Out With Upper-Body Injury
The Red Wings are close to having netminder Alex Lyon back in the lineup, as head coach Todd McLellan told reporters Wednesday (including Daniella Bruce of the team’s official site) he’ll travel on their upcoming four-game road trip. They don’t have a specific date circled for his return, so he likely remains unavailable tonight against the Panthers, his former team. This is the third injury-related absence of the season for Lyon, who missed a combined 12 games with a lower-body injury before New Year’s and has now missed the last three games with an upper-body injury he sustained on Jan. 7 against the Senators. Lyon has a .902 SV% and 2.71 GAA in 16 appearances, translating to 1.4 goals saved above expected (per MoneyPuck). Struggling veteran Ville Husso will continue serving as Cam Talbot’s backup.