The Malik Report

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an article in which he surmises that the Red Wings will rely heavily upon goaltender John Gibson to make up for some of the team’s losses in terms of goal-scoring abilities. Khan isn’t wrong in presuming that, one way or another, the 33-year-old Gibson faces a pivotal season ahead in Detroit:

Gibson struggled through November, going 4-7-1 with a 3.59 GAA and .865 save percentage. He flourished since the start of December, going 25-15-3, with a 2.45 GAA and .912 save percentage.

“I think just for whatever reason, it took a little longer to kind of find my game this year and make sure that next year kind of put more emphasis on getting off the hot start,” Gibson said. “I’ve kind of taken pride in that throughout my career. Want to get off to a hot start and unfortunately, it wasn’t the case this year.”’

Gibson, 33, is entering the final year of his contract. He hasn’t appeared in a playoff game since 2018 with the Ducks.

The Red Wings haven’t reached the postseason since 2016, a drought that appeared would be ending when they were tied for the Eastern Conference lead in late January, only to collapse down the stretch again.

“I was just looking for a fresh start, new opportunity,” Gibson said. “Obviously, the last four weeks wasn’t what we hoped to be, but in general, I think there’s a good group of guys here. I had a lot of fun playing, playing a lot of games and that was what I wanted to do. It just ultimately came a little short but a lot of lessons to be learned a lot of things we can use to build off and hopefully come back better next year.”

The Red Wings ranked 22nd in goals and 30th in five-on-five scoring. They signed Viktor Arvidsson (25 goals with Boston) but lost Patrick Kane (16 goals) and James van Riemsdyk (15 goals) and Larkin (34 goals) has requested a trade.

Continued (paywall); whether we’re talking about Gibson, the unproven back-up in Daniil Tarasov, Grand Rapids Griffins starter Michal Postava or rookie Trey Augustine, there’s going to be flux in the Wings’ crease this upcoming season, and it would benefit from its eldest member (Gibson) leading the charge.

WDIV Local 4’s Erika Ericksson posted an article and conducted a lengthy interview for a 9:17 feature video in which Red Wings play-by-play broadcaster Ken Daniels and Lisa Daniels-Goldman discuss the 10th anniversary of the Jamie Daniels Foundation, which aims to reduce the stigma of and promote treatment for substance use disorder:

Tabula Rasa Magazine’s Markus Hofmann spoke with German-born players during the NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour last week, and he asked Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider about his off-ice entertainment activities. This is a little fluffy, but I figured that you might want to read it anyway.

Here’s a rough translation from German:

Moritz Seider (Detroit Red Wings)

Among other things, I talked to Moritz Seider about his leisure activities off the ice – he used to like to play or gamble for a round. Today it’s different, as he revealed: He rarely plays poker, mostly on long flights on extended road trips with the team, he might treat himself to a game. He hasn’t touched his PlayStation for a long time, however – where the device has stopped completely, he doesn’t know exactly. For him, it’s a sign that you grow out of such things at some point.

However, a game could appeal him to get back in: the long-awaited successor to GTA 5. Should GTA 6 actually appear, he would even get a new console for it. When asked if he would be on time to watch the German NHL game on November 19th, Seider joked that on that day he would probably find him in his basement in front of the TV screen after the NHL game. After all, GTA 5 was the biggest game ever – and its successor has been announced after about six years, after which time fans are impatiently eager.

DobberHockey.com’s Alexander MacLean examines the Red Wings’ off-season moves from a fantasy hockey perspective today, giving the Red Wings an interim C+ until Dylan Larkin is moved:

Fantasy Outlook

This is a team that finished in the bottom-third for goals scored last season, and lost more offensive talent than they gained. There might be a bit of internal growth to help them hold steady, but at best this would be a 20th overall team in the league on offence, with an average power play. If and when Larkin is traded, that offence won’t be replaced right away, and there will be a gaping hole up the middle. There is still value in Lucas Raymond and others further down the draft board, but there is no high-end piece here, and Detroit is suddenly lacking in both the middle of the lineup and in the quality of their depth pieces. 

For those worried about the key remaining piece in Lucas Raymond losing some value after a Larkin trade, you probably don’t have to worry. Larkin was Raymond’s linemate about 80% of the time in 2025-26, and Raymond scored 75-78% of his points with Larkin on his line (depending on how you include the points from penalty shots or times when it was Raymond and two defensemen on the ice). In a smaller sample size, being separated from Larkin doesn’t seem to affect Raymond’s scoring.

On defence, Mortiz Seider is the team MVP, and with both scoring and peripheral numbers, he’s a huge fantasy value player too. After Justin Faulk joined the team, Seider’s SOG and scoring rates both increased. If he can keep that up for more of the season next year he jumps into the top-five in terms of fantasy value quite easily. However, with Seider leeching all of the value, it holds others like Axel Sandin-Pellikka back, who would need a heavy dose of PP time to be relevant in standard leagues. 

In net, Gibson and Tarasov are entrenched in the starter and backup roles, and should be able to provide similar numbers to last year, though maybe with a handful less wins for Gibson. With a full year of Faulk it could be that the goals against numbers drop a bit as well, especially since the team may need to focus a bit more on defence to win games this year. 

Continued; regardless of whether and/or when and/or if Larkin is traded, Detroit’s got to improve defensively to win more games.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses the Red Wings’ lack of depth at center behind disgruntled forward Dylan Larkin, and Kulfan ponders who might have the best opportunity to succeed Larkin as the Red Wings’ #1 center:

Andrew Copp, J.T. Compher, Marco Kasper and Michael Rasmussen are options to center the next three lines, with Nate Danielson a possibility to move up from Grand Rapids. Copp had a good season while centering Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane for much of the schedule. But Copp is best suited as more of a second- or third-line center and would have extreme difficulty matching the 30-goal outputs that Larkin has produced the last five consecutive seasons.

Kasper is an intriguing wild card. Kasper scored 19 goals his rookie season playing on a wing on a line with Larkin and Lucas Raymond. Coach Todd McLellan placed Kasper at center between DeBrincat and Kane last season but Kasper faltered quickly and barely resembled the player from his rookie season.

Kasper’s production fell to nine goals and 19 points while playing through a knee injury and being shuttled between wing and center. McLellan said after the season the Wings must decide at some point where they feel Kasper is most suited for.

Continue reading Is this season Marco Kasper’s time to shine?

The Jamie Daniels Foundation will hold the Roast of Chris Osgood at the MotorCity Casino this Saturday (there’s a silent auction attached to the Roast that has some really tremendous items), and both Ken Daniels and Lisa Daniels-Goldman conducted an 8-minute interview with WXYZ this noon.

They discussed both the Roast of Chris Osgood and the mission of the Jamie Daniels Foundation as a whole.

I can’t embed the video, but you can watch it here.

Per DetroitHockey.net’s Clark Rasmussen:

The Detroit Red Wings didn’t announce jersey numbers for their summer acquisitions in a social media post this year. Instead they simply updated the roster on their website with the changes on Thursday morning.

Viktor Arvidsson has been assigned the #33 he has worn for most of his career, with the number now available do to the trade of Sebastian Cossa to Utah.

Backup netminder Daniil Tarasov takes #80 – as I had guessed he might – with his usual #40 at least informally out of circulation.

Summer trade acquisition Keegan Kolesar takes the #55 that he wore with the Vegas Golden Knights, becoming the first Red Wing to wear it since Niklas Kronwall.

Continued with prospect and AHL signings’ numbers…

Sports Illustrated’s Jason Fink suggests that the Hockey Hall of Fame can only snub former Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood for so long. Fink argues that Osgood has a HOF resume, and that Osgood is statistically a top netminder (in addition to having won 401 games and 3 Stanley Cups) thanks to three key Stanley Cup Final runs:

Osgood went 16-6 with a .918 save percentage and a 2.12 GAA during Detroit’s 1998 championship run. That was his first Cup as a primary starter. He was the backup to Vernon the year before, when the Wings defeated the Philadelphia Flyers for their first Cup in 42 years.

A decade later, he did it again. The Red Wings entered 2008 with Dominik Hasek at the helm. Hasek had already won a Cup of his own in 2002 when he had his first stint with the Red Wings. When he faltered, Osgood took over and led the Wings to another Cup. His postseason numbers were ridiculous. 19 games played, a 14-4 record, a 1.55 GAA, a .930 SV%, and three shutouts. And he was 35. Ten years later, a completely different Wings team turned to Osgood and got the same result.

Continue reading Making the case for Chris Osgood as a Hockey Hall of Famer

Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis has posted a list of his top 25 NHL-affiliated goaltending prospects, and Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine finishes second on Ellis’ list, while Michal Postava finishes 15th:

2. Trey Augustine, 21 (Detroit Red Wings)

2025-26 Rank: 3rd (+1)

Augustine has consistently been near the top of these lists for a few years now. The 21-year-old is coming off a strong three-year run with Michigan State, and while he failed to win a national title, he did rack up a career record of 66-25-7 with nine shutouts and a .922 save percentage in 99 games. He was a proven winner at the junior level and is easily one of the most technically sound goalies around, which helped build up the hype. Augustine tends to play better when he’s busier, and he has the lightning-quick reflexes teams absolutely crave – and never seems to slow down during a game. Augustine will have the opportunity to steal starts in the AHL before pushing for the long-time starter gig in Detroit, especially with Cossa now with Utah.

…

15. Michal Postava, 24 (Detroit Red Wings)

2025-26 Rank: Unranked

It’s rare for an undrafted free agent signing from Europe to amount to much. But, man, Postava looks legit. He shared the net with Cossa last year, but after posting a 17-6-0 record with four shutouts and an incredible .937 SV%, Postava earned the net for the playoffs. He has been one of the top goalies in just about every league he has played in since junior, and he has used that to parlay himself into the Red Wings’ third-goalie role. I like his athleticism, but he’s also always square to the shooter with his 6-foot-2 frame. If Daniil Tarasov isn’t the answer as backup to John Gibson, Postava could end up getting his first taste of NHL action this coming season.

Continued

From the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRIFFINS UNVEIL 2026-27 PROMOTIONAL SCHEDULE

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins have announced their promotional schedule for the 2026-27 season, featuring a number of giveaways and the return of many popular season-long promotions. Single-game tickets for each of the team’s 36 regular-season home games at Van Andel Arena will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at griffinshockey.com/tickets.

The Griffins will launch the home portion of their 72-game slate on Friday, Oct. 9 against the Manitoba Moose with the Home Opener presented by Huntington Bank. Promotions for the home opener include a magnet schedule giveaway, a postgame open skate and $3 beers/hot dogs.

Grand Rapids’ other giveaways this season include a Crayola kids tumbler (Oct. 18), team calendar (Oct. 23), Super Griff bobblehead (Oct. 24), military t-shirt (Nov. 6), Hot Wheels car (Nov. 29), trainer trucker hat (Dec. 19), Griffins building block set (Jan. 9), 2017 Calder Cup commemorative poster (Jan. 16), and a Wizards scarf (Feb. 27).  

Continue reading Press release: Grand Rapids Griffins release promotional schedule