In Red Wings Land

Yzerman on how he judges Detroit Red Wings’ progress in rebuild – Freep

If I could irresponsiblly concentrate the three minutes Yzerman speaks here into one sentence, it would essentially be “I haven’t really made any promises so we can’t say the team is breaking them.”

Probably a harsher read than intended, but I’ve had a long time to parse GM speak around here and even when I appreciate it, I think it’s worth sharing.

Around the NHL

New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin taking leave after assault allegations surface

“Artemi vehemently and unequivocally denies any and all allegations in this fabricated story,” the Rangers said in a statement Monday . “This is clearly an intimidation tactic being used against him for being outspoken on recent political events. Artemi is obviously shaken and concerned and will take some time away from the team. The Rangers fully support Artemi and will work with him to identify the source of these unfounded allegations.”

Andrei Nazarov, the man making the allegations, was a goon during his playing days in all the worst senses of the word and didn’t seem to calm down much after his playing days. News out of Russia is weird (don’t we know it), so figuring fact from fiction is more difficult.