Detroit Red Wings Clips September 3-6, 2016

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1 Detroit Red Wings Clips September 3-6, 2016 Detroit Red Wings PAGE 2 Red Wings set to host prospect tournament in Traverse City PAGE 3 Red Wings outlook: Frans Nielsen can contribute in several areas PAGE 4 Justin Abdelkader, Dylan Larkin among seven Red Wings starting World Cup camps PAGE 6 Red Wings outlook: Jimmy Howard a high-priced insurance policy PAGE 7 Dylan Larkin not feeling pressure of World Cup

2 Red Wings set to host prospect tournament in Traverse City Detroit Free Press Staff 1:18 p.m. EDT September 5, 2016 The Detroit Red Wings will host seven NHL teams Sept during the NHL Prospect Tournament at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City. Twenty-four players who skated for the Red Wings during the season are alumni of the tournament: Justin Abdelkader, Joakim Andersson, Andreas Athanasiou, Pavel Datsyuk, Jonathan Ericsson, Landon Ferraro, Darren Helm, Jimmy Howard, Tomas Jurco, Jakub Kindl, Niklas Kronwall, Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Alexey Marchenko, Petr Mrazek, Tomas Nosek, Gustav Nyquist, Xavier Ouellet, Teemu Pulkkinen, Kyle Quincey, Riley Sheahan, Brendan Smith, Tomas Tatar and Henrik Zetterberg. The eight-team tournament is made up of the Red Wings, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues. Teams will be split into the Gordie Howe Division (Chicago, Columbus, Detroit and St. Louis) and the Ted Lindsay Division (Carolina, Dallas, Minnesota and the Rangers). Columbus has won the past two tournaments. Teams will play each opponent in their division before a crossover on the final day of the tournament. The first-place teams in each division will play for the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup on Sept. 20. The tournament s championship trophy was renamed last summer after Wuest, who was known for his work at CapGeek.com and RedWingsCentral.com. Wuest died in March 2015 after a two-year battle with colon cancer. The Wings schedule: Sept. 16 vs. Columbus, Sept. 17 vs. Chicago and Sept. 19 vs. St. Louis. Tickets for the tournament are $10 per day, which covers four games. They can be purchased at Centre Ice Arena or at Detroit Free Press LOADED:

3 Red Wings outlook: Frans Nielsen can contribute in several areas Ansar Khan on September 05, 2016 at 6:01 AM, updated September 05, 2016 at 9:31 AM (Another in a series of player profiles prior to training camp.) Frans Nielsen Position: Center Age: 32 Height/Weight: 6-1/ stats: 81 games, 20 goals, 32 assists, 52 points, plus-1 rating, 12 penalty minutes; (playoffs) 11 games, three goals, three assists, six points, minus-3 rating, two penalty minutes. Career stats: 606 games, 119 goals, 230 assists, 349 points, plus-4 rating, 112 penalty minutes; (playoffs) 24 games, four goals, six assists, 10 points, minus-6 rating, two penalty minutes. Contract status: Signed a six-year, $31.5 million contract with the Red Wings on July 1, including a $5.25 million cap hit and no-movement clause in review: Fourth in goals and assists and third in points on the Islanders... Career-high seven power-play goals.... Tied career-high with 20 power-play points.... Two shorthanded goals equaled Red Wings' entire team total.... Career-high 181 shots.... Won 586-of-1,169 faceoffs (50.1), a career-best percentage and just the second time in nine seasons he's topped 50 percent.... Converted 4-of-9 shootout attempts (41-of- 78 career, 52.6 percent).... Logged average of 4:42 per game on special teams (2:43 on power play, 1:59 on penalty kill) outlook: After Pavel Datsyuk returned to Russia it was imperative the Red Wings acquired a top-two center. They picked up one of the best two-way centers available in free agency. Nielsen is a good play-maker who makes his linemates better and has some finishing ability. He will be a key component on a power play that regressed significantly last season. Nielsen also can kill penalties if the club opts to utilize him in that capacity (he led the league with seven shorthanded goals in ). Nielsen should earn the Red Wings a couple of extra points in the shootout over the course the season, since he's one of the NHL's all-time best. The native of Denmark will be playing for Europe in the World Cup. Key question: Will Nielsen solidify the second-line center spot? 3

4 Justin Abdelkader, Dylan Larkin among seven Red Wings starting World Cup camps By Ansar Khan on September 04, 2016 at 6:01 AM, updated September 04, 2016 at 11:13 AM DETROIT Justin Abdelkader is excited about representing his country again. Dylan Larkin is looking forward to joining peers from both sides of the border on the international stage. Abdelkader and Larkin are among seven Detroit Red Wings participating in the eightteam World Cup of Hockey in Toronto. Abdelkader and Team USA start training camp Monday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Larkin and Team North America consisting of the top 23-and-under U.S. and Canadian-born players begin camp Monday in Montreal. The tournament runs from Sept. 17-Oct. 1 at Air Canada Centre. "It's great for the league, great for all the countries involved, the players," Abdelkader said. "It's a good way to kind of kick the season off." This is the third World Cup. The U.S. prevailed in 1996 and Canada won in The unique concept for the North American team provides an opportunity for many young players who might not have made the cut for the U.S. or Canada. "It's cool how players from Canada and the U.S. come together," Larkin said. "It's going to be a bit of a feeling-out process, lot of players from different teams, but I think it'll go well and we'll be an exciting team to watch." Larkin doesn't consider his team a dark horse. "Talking to other players in the tournament, they know we're going to be pretty good," Larkin said. "We're just excited to get together and play games." The Red Wings' Petr Mrazek (Czech Republic), Alexey Marchenko (Russia) and Tomas Tatar, Frans Nielsen and Thomas Vanek (Europe) also are taking part in the event. Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall withdrew from Team Sweden due to knee injuries, which might force them to miss the start of Red Wings training camp in Traverse City on Sept. 23. Players in the tournament will miss part or all of training camp and a portion of the preseason. But they'll have a head start on the others. "I've been skating for a while, definitely getting more intense, getting more excited about it," Larkin said. "The message from the (North America) coaches is we're excited to get in there. I don't think we're going to shock any teams, but we're definitely going to play our best. Teams know the kind of players we have. We hope to win the whole thing." 4

5 Larkin, at age 20, already has extensive international experience, having played in the past two World Championships and the 2015 World Juniors. Abdelkader was captain of the 2014 U.S. World Championship team. He received a three-game suspension for a check to the head and neck of Vladimir Sobotka in a 4-3 quarterfinal loss to the Czech Republic. Abdelkader said U.S. coach John Tortorella hasn't told him his role yet, but he doesn't expect to be on one of the top two lines, like he is with the Red Wings. "I'll most likely be on a checking line role, probably play some penalty kill," Abdelkader said. "Whatever I can do, I'm just looking forward to the experience of playing with the guys, building some relationships, playing whatever role they put me in." Larkin is among the many young, highly skilled players on Team North America. "I'm excited to play with Jack (Eichel) again," Larkin said. "Connor Hellebuyck and I grew up playing in the same rink at Lakeland. Jacob Trouba, I grew up hearing about how good of a player he is; I know how good of a player he is now. (Connor) McDavid as well. I think you look at any forward and they're all special in their own way, so I'm excited to play on different lines and learn from those guys." Michigan Live LOADED:

6 Red Wings outlook: Jimmy Howard a high-priced insurance policy Ansar Khan akhan1@mlive.com By Ansar Khan akhan1@mlive.com on September 02, 2016 at 6:05 AM, updated September 02, 2016 at 8:07 AM Jimmy Howard Position: Goaltender Age: 32 Height/Weight: 6-1/ stats: 37 games, 33 starts, (W-L-OTL), 2.80 goals-against average,.906 save percentage, two shutouts; (playoffs) two games, two starts, 0-2, 3.59 GAA,.891 save percentage. Career stats: 375 games, 363 starts, (W-L-OTL), 2.45 goals-against average,.915 save percentage, 22 shutouts; (playoffs) 48 games, 47 starts, 21-26, 2.58 GAA,.918 save percentage, three shutouts. Contract status: Three years remaining at a cap hit of $5.29 million in review: Shut out Toronto in season-opener.... Won four consecutive starts from Nov. 16-Dec Allowed three goals on six shots in 14:17 on Dec. 22 vs. New Jersey, which led to Petr Mrazek taking over as the starter.... Went winless in 10 consecutive starts (0-6-4) from Dec. 8 to Feb Regained starting job late in the season and started the first two playoff games before team turned to Mrazek.... Went 7-7-4, with 2.76 GAA and.908 save percentage at home and 7-7-1, with 2.83 GAA and.904 save percentage on road.... Fewest games and wins and worst GAA and save percentage in seven full seasons.... Allowed four goals on nine shots in the shootout (.556) outlook: The Red Wings tried to trade Howard in the off-season, but a limited market, his hefty contract and inconsistent play the past couple of seasons prevented a deal. Now Howard will start the season as Petr Mrazek's backup and the club is forced to commit $9.3 million in cap space to goaltending. But Howard also gives the Red Wings a proven, experienced backup as an insurance policy in case Mrazek is injured or falters, like he did after the All-Star break. Howard started strong in , struggled midway through and played better near the end. Consistency has been an issue since midway through , when he suffered a slight groin tear, and at times previously in his career. If Howard can regain his All-Star form, the club would have quite a goaltending tandem. Howard surely will be exposed in next June's expansion draft. If he's not selected, the Red Wings will try again to trade him. A buyout next summer is another possibility. Key question: How effective can Howard be with a much lighter workload than he is accustomed? 6

7 Dylan Larkin not feeling pressure of World Cup By Mike Morreale / NHL.com Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin can't wait to play with many of the best players age 23 and younger from the United States and Canada for Team North America at the World Cup of Hockey He's also grateful for one other thing. "I'm happy [Edmonton Oilers center] Connor McDavid is on our roster because I've been chasing him around for a while since his days with the Toronto Marlboros (in ), so it'll be nice being on his side" Larkin told NHL.com on Wednesday. "You hear nothing but positive things [about McDavid], and obviously he's a great player, and I'm happy he's on our team." Larkin, 20, should play a significant role for Team North America and could end up as a linemate with McDavid in the eight-team tournament that will be played at Air Canada Centre in Toronto from Sept. 17-Oct. 1. He is scheduled to depart for Montreal on Sunday with practices beginning at Bell Centre on Monday. "I think this is going to be great because it's a group of guys coming together who are all in the same position; we're young guys in the NHL trying to prove ourselves," Larkin said. "I think the other teams aren't underestimating us, but we don't have that pressure. We're just going to have a ton of fun and play with a lot of speed, and I think teams might be on their heels when they're playing against us." Opposing players might find themselves backpedaling often when Larkin has the puck on his stick. As a rookie last season, he finished in seconds during the Bridgestone Fastest Skater competition at the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Skills Competition in Nashville, breaking Mike Gartner's record of seconds set in "It's a little bit of a different tournament where you come together and practice and play three exhibition games, but having that experience in the World Championship, I think you'll see a similar Team Finland, a similar Team Russia," Larkin said. "Anytime you play in international competition it comes down to discipline, structure and capitalizing on your opportunities. So I do think my international experience has prepared me for this tournament." Larkin has represented the United States in international competition for many years. He played in the IIHF World Championship the past two years and in the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship. He's looking forward to renewing acquaintances with fellow U.S.-born players Jack Eichel (Buffalo Sabres) and Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs) for Team North America. Larkin, Eichel and Matthews were teammates at the 2015 WJC. 7

8 "It's pretty cool to think that the three of us played together at the World Junior Championship just a few years ago," Larkin said. "We've come up through the international program together and now we get to represent all the hockey players under the age of 23, and I'm excited to see them and play with them again." Larkin is determined to follow up a strong rookie season in Detroit at the conclusion of the World Cup. "When I look at the last 10 games of the season and then the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I think the points might not have been there, but the production was and I was playing the right way," Larkin said. "I think I want to be a more responsible, two-way player. I think you saw that from me in the first half of the year, and then it kind of tailed off. I want to be a guy that the team can rely on in all situations and especially big situations when we're up a goal or down a goal." There's a good chance Larkin could see more time at center, something he would embrace. Detroit lost a key member down the middle when Pavel Datsyuk, 38, decided to return to Russia and play in the Kontinental Hockey League. Larkin spent much of last season playing left wing with center Henrik Zetterberg, and each benefited from the other. Larkin had 45 points (23 goals, 22 assists) in 80 games and finished fifth in voting for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. "Naturally, you want to have the puck, and I feel as a center you can come underneath and you're a closer option for a defenseman to pop it to you, and when you have the puck a little bit more, you can distribute it," Larkin said. "I do like playing on the wing, and it was easy with a guy like Henrik Zetterberg because he's just able to find you so well. But I don't have a preference. There's a little more responsibility at center, but I'm totally comfortable with that responsibility." 8