In the WJC:
Simon Edvinsson – 1 Assist (primary), 3 SOG, +/- E, 26:09 TOI
William Wallinder – 1 SOG, +1 , 19:43 TOI
Theodor Niederbach – 1 Assist (primary), 1 SOG, +2, 15:23 TOI, 29PIM
Quick Takes: Sweden started slow and finished sloppy in this game, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before letting Switzerland back in it after taking their foot off the gas. But, when they were on their game for the middle portion, they were very good. Edvinsson’s 26 minutes were played efficiently. He doesn’t waste movement on the ice and is very hard to knock off balance. He’s got that sense of timing where he doesn’t rush passes but it also doesn’t come across like he’s waiting too long to make them.
Wallinder played more of a stay-at-home game and quietly erased players along the boards during the times when his stick wasn’t breaking up zone entries. He had a turnover and that led to a defensive miscue which ended up in Sweden’s net, but he played well.
Niederbach controlled the neutral zone well and slowed down the Swiss transition. His strong neutral zone play led to a good pass which earned him his assist, but overall he tended too much to play right along the boards where he could get pinched off, didn’t win enough board battles and took three penalties, including a game misconduct for boarding.
Donovan Sebrango – 1 Assist (primary), 2 SOG, +2, 19:53 TOI
Sebastian Cossa – 22/24 Saves (.9167) in the Win
I only saw about 20 minutes of action of this one. Sebrango looked pretty good in what I saw from a Team Canada that looked like a bunch of skilled kids who just so happen to play together.
Also Cossa did this:
Grading every NHL team’s centre depth – TSN
I missed this one a couple days ago, but we covered both wing positions previously so I might as well get caught up on the series for continuity:
Detroit: Upside in this group, but it’ll hinge on a couple of things: Robby Fabbri coming back from injury, and what the Red Wings decide to do further down the lineup. Derek Lalonde will have his choice between Pius Suter and Michael Rasmussen.
This one is weird because Fabbri isn’t a center in Detroit’s idealized lineup and there isn’t any word on thoughts about Copp’s addition, but I don’t mind Yost putting Detroit in tier 4 for underperforming center groups; this is a place where Detroit has to prove people wrong.
Grading every NHL team’s blueline depth – TSN
Detroit: Another group with plenty of upside, like Buffalo. Mo Seider was well deserving of last year’s Calder Trophy in a tough environment. It will be fascinating to see what Seider’s puck movement and awareness can do on a team with more attacking threats up top.
At some point you’ve got to draw lines and comparing the Detroit group to the rest of what Yost considers Tier 4 as well as the clubs he places in Tier 3, I’m not going to get spun up on doubts for a top four that’s 50% newcomer.
Overall, I’m interested to see where we fall in the midseason look category when Yost runs this again.