Red Wings’ Raymond leads Swedes to World semis; Canada stunned
Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond scored a pair of goals in the first period Thursday, including what proved to be the game-winner, and Sweden defeated Czechia 5-2 at the World Championship in Stockholm.
Sweden advances to Saturday’s semifinals, where it will play the United States (8:20 a.m. ET, NHL Network).
Raymond is having another strong tournament with four goals and 12 points in eight games.
Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson logged 19:03 but didn’t figure in the scoring for Sweden.
Former Red Wings defenseman Filip Hronek had no points in 25:24 for Czechia.
In other quarterfinal games:
Denmark 2, Canada 1: In a stunning upset, host Denmark eliminated powerful Canada after Nick Olsen scored with 49 seconds remaining in the third period against Jordan Binnington. Nikolaj Ehlers had tied it for Demark with 2:17 to play in regulation. Demark advanced to Saturday’s semifinals against Switzerland (12:20 p.m. ET, NHL Network). Travis Sanheim scored for Canada at 15:17 of the second period. Frederik Dichow made 39 saves for Denmark.
United States 5, Finland 2: Connor Garland snapped a 2-2 tie at 16:04 of the second period with his second goal of the game. Zeev Buium, Shane Pinto and Clayton Keller also scored for the U.S.
Switzerland 6, Austria 0: Austria’s first appearance in the medal round since 1994 ended with a thud. Six Swiss players recorded two points each and Leonardi Genoni needed to make only 13 saves for the shutout. Red Wings forward Marco Kasper had two shots and an even plus-minus rating in 18:45. He finished a strong tournament with four goals and seven points in eight games.
Red Wings should be thrilled if this projected top-five pick drops
It’s not like it hasn’t happened in the past. Just last season, we saw a top prospect in Cole Eiserman free-fall to the New York Islanders in Round 1, so it’s not too far-fetched. Maybe the Red Wings will be lucky enough to see one of the top five prospects fall to them if and when they’re on the clock with the 13th selection. That’s if they don’t trade the pick.
But the question is, who? One player I’ll rule out immediately is Michael Misa. If there was ever someone who should be the surefire No. 1 pick in the draft, it’s Misa, even if so many mock drafts say otherwise. But hey, he’s got NHL size, he put up 134 points this past season, and he looked every bit the part of a future star.
It’s not like it hasn’t happened in the past. Just last season, we saw a top prospect in Cole Eiserman free-fall to the New York Islanders in Round 1, so it’s not too far-fetched. Maybe the Red Wings will be lucky enough to see one of the top five prospects fall to them if and when they’re on the clock with the 13th selection. That’s if they don’t trade the pick.
But the question is, who? One player I’ll rule out immediately is Michael Misa. If there was ever someone who should be the surefire No. 1 pick in the draft, it’s Misa, even if so many mock drafts say otherwise. But hey, he’s got NHL size, he put up 134 points this past season, and he looked every bit the part of a future star.
So if I’m the Islanders, I’m just making the selection now, over a month before the draft. Meanwhile, Matthew Schaefer could scare off some teams because he missed a significant portion of the season. Then, there’s Porter Martone, but he’s got way too much size and productivity to drop too far past the fifth pick.
One player who can drop to the Red Wings at 13th overall
That leaves two players: Anton Frondell and James Hagens. And to be honest, Frondell impressed me way too much in Sweden’s second-tier league and in international play, so that leaves Hagens. He can be a playmaker, but there’s nothing about Hagens that would make me go out of my way to take him in the top five.
He’s got average size compared to the other four; his play didn’t wow me the way it should have this past season at Boston College, and his productivity was, well, kind of flat. Overall, my impression of Hagens was ‘meh,’ if you want the honest truth.
I’m much more impressed with Caleb Desnoyers, Jake O’Brien, and Jackson Smith. I could see that trio also going ahead of Hagens, and along with Carter Bear and maybe Radim Mrtka. Yeah, it would take some luck, considering how well Hagens has played in the past, and he’ll be a hot topic in many draft rooms. But he’s the prime candidate to fall.
If James Hagens falls, the Red Wings need to take him regardless
Ideally, James Hagens would return to school and keep seasoning his game. He was solid this past season with the Eagles, but a player of his caliber needs to be more than that. He’s got to be exceptional and he fell short. That said, he’ll figure it out, and Red Wings fans will be grateful two, three, or even four years from today should he be available at No. 13.
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