Wings' Yzerman excited for upcoming season

If there's one thing that's certain, it's that the Detroit Red Wings cannot wait to get back on the ice together as a group.
Steve Yzerman, executive vice president and general manager, appeared on the Word on Woodward Thursday and addressed several issues about the upcoming season.

"Ideally, us along with the other non-playoff teams would love and prefer to start a little bit early, get more time in together," Yzerman said. "So we're optimistic that we'll be able to work something out with the National Hockey League and the players' association as well."
The other teams that did not make the playoffs were the New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks.
Because those teams haven't been on the ice together since March 11-12, it will be a very different start to the 2020-21 season in many ways.
"The later start will, I think, affect every team, more so the teams that weren't in the playoffs or played very few playoff games, and the fact we've been out since March, a little bit of unpredictability as to what to expect from our team," Yzerman said. "There will be changes in our lineup. Are some of our younger players ready? Ultimately, we don't really know because we won't have a normal preseason, we won't have had an opportunity to really assess them. Decisions will be made over a short period of time so I think it makes it a little bit more difficult as to know what to expect from our team starting off."

Currently the NHL Entry Draft is set for Oct. 6-7 with free agency to start Oct. 9.
There are several roster spots that will be available on the team -- depending on what happens in the draft and free agency -- and quite a few young players hoping to grab them.
On Word on Woodward, Yzerman discussed some of the players closest to reaching the NHL, guys that played for the Wings' AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, including some who played some games with the Wings.
"We had Gustav Lindstrom come up and play some games for us and do quite well last year," Yzerman noted. "Obviously Moritz Seider, who again is 19 years of age, is turning 20, played his first year of pro hockey and we're pleased with the season that he had. Givani Smith, who saw time last year; Michael Rasmussen, who had a lot of injuries, missed a lot of time last year; Dennis Cholowski was down there. We haven't seen them since March so curious to see once we get into playing where they're at. All these guys aren't far off. Joe Veleno, as a junior-age player, did really well and finished strong and unfortunately, with the season ending prior to them getting into playing any playoff action, which we were really looking forward to seeing, they were all really excelling as the year went on."
Taro Hirose led all Griffins rookies in points with 27 (5-22-27) in 35 games but Veleno was a close second, recording 23 (11-12-23) in 54 games.
Veleno also was part of Team Canada's gold medal-winning team at the IIHF Men's World Junior Championship.

Seider, who only turned 19 on April 6, was the captain of Team Germany at world juniors and had 22 points (2-20-22) in 49 games with the Griffins.
Rasmussen missed a lot of time due to a back injury but was very effective when healthy, recording 22 points (7-15-22) in 35 games.
Smith, 22, had 19 points (9-10-19) in 37 games with the Griffins and three points (2-1-3) in 21 games with the Wings.

Cholowski, 22, had 13 points (3-10-13) in 30 games with the Griffins and eight (2-6-8) in 36 games with the Wings.
Lindstrom, who turns 22 Oct. 20, had five assists in 45 games with the Griffins and one assist in 16 games with the Wings.
"So I mentioned those names just because they're the closest. They are in Grand Rapids, playing in the American League, potentially some of those, say one or two or more could push for a spot on our team," Yzerman said. "But again, our decision will come down to, for these younger guys, if they're playing in Detroit, we want them playing regular and if they're not going to play regular, I'd prefer them playing, whether it's the American League or back in junior for that matter, or in their European leagues, wherever they're at. When they're ready to play a regular shift and contribute in the NHL, that's when we'll bring them up."
The AHL has announced it will begin the season no earlier than Dec. 4 but that is not set in stone.
It's a league that depends on attendance and the COVID-19 pandemic might not permit many, if any, fans.
"There's a lot of factors that go into the AHL returning to play next season," Yzerman said. "Obviously, we as an entire league in the NHL, it's our main development, it is our main source of all of our call-ups, our players close to playing are in Grand Rapids playing for us, so we're hopeful that we're in a position to restart and then we can make it work. Again, here we are in early September, working through, just like the NHL is working through - every league for that matter is working through all the complications that go with trying to restart in this pandemic. We're hopeful we can get it done but there's a lot of work to be done and some of the things are really out of our hands, like a lot of industries."
The main thing Yzerman is looking forward to is getting the Red Wings back on the ice together as soon as possible.
"Our season ended abruptly, the NHL season ended abruptly," Yzerman said. "Had a chance to watch the playoffs on television. I've really enjoyed watching the hockey, the level of play has been outstanding. So it just makes you yearn for wanting to get back to playing.
"For myself, it's my second year as general manager, we want to take a step forward and I'm anxious to continue with our rebuilding of our team and get back to playing."