The Malik Report

I never know whether we’re allowed to share graphically-based stories on other blogs, but TSN’s Travis Yost posted a list of the top 10 players to draw penalties and another top 10 players who “draw advantages,” and both Lucas Raymond and Emmitt Finnie are elite in the second category:

Given the quietness of this part of the off-season, I wanted to refresh penalty numbers league-wide and see who else fills in our leaderboard. On the left-hand side, you have the league’s 20 best skaters over the past two seasons at drawing penalties outright; on the right hand side, you have the league’s 20 best skaters when it comes to net penalty advantage. Both tables are even-strength specific:

McDavid, Stutzle, and Pettersson all slide into the top 10 for net penalty advantage, and given the minutes they play and the quality of competition they face in these games, that’s a meaningful finding. Anaheim’s Troy Terry and Detroit’s Lucas Raymond are in similar position; exceptionally adept at finding more power plays for their respective teams.

…

In a league that is increasingly defined by special teams efficiency and tight scoring margins, the ability to draw penalties while staying disciplined is a covetable skill. Teams that can identify and develop penalty advantage players carry a tangible edge. Over an 82-game season, it can be the difference between qualifying for the playoffs and an early summer vacation.

There’s more…

MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Red Wings prospect Carter Bear and Wings director of player development Dan Cleary regarding Bear’s progression this past season with the WHL’s WHL Everett Silvertips. Everett played its way to a WHL Championship this past season, and battled through to the Memorial Cup Final…

“It was good Carter had a long season,” Dan Cleary, Red Wings assistant director of player development, said during development camp in July. “When you go to late May, you lose a little bit of gym time. But he’ll be here all summer. I keep telling these kids my best advice I can ever give you is the harder you train in the summer, the easier the winter will be.”

Bear bounced back from Achilles surgery the previous spring to have a strong final junior season with WHL Everett. He led the Silvertips with 36 goals and was second with 77 points in 53 regular season games. He tallied seven goals and 15 assists in 18 playoff games. Everett lost to Kitchener 6-2 in the championship game.

“Just the amount of memories I gained and the friendships I made, it’s unbelievable,” Bear said. “You watch the Memorial Cup each year and playing in it was pretty special with the group of guys I had. It sucks how we fell short. But I think all that matters is I had fun and learning from my game, too.”

Now Bear, a left wing selected 13^th overall, is preparing for his first season with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

“It’s pro now; that’s a whole new level of hockey,” Bear, who turns 20 on Nov. 4, said. “It’s faster, got to be smarter and stronger. I just need to work on the game that Detroit wants me to work on.I think my skating; that’s one big thing. And obviously there’s strength, strength in the gym, off the ice.”

As Khan notes, Bear, who’s listed at 6′ and 187 pounds on EliteProspects, will have a bit of a challenge adjusting to the pace of pro hockey:

“Being a young winger, it’s going to be fast, everything’s going to happen much quicker,” Cleary said. “But he’s smart and he’s very competitive. You lose the puck; you go get it back. The adjustment for him will be the strength of defenders, the big defensemen, people leaning on you against the wall. But he’s smart and he wants it and he’s going to adapt fine.”

Detroit Hockey Now’s Max Smith spoke with incoming Minnesota-Duluth freshman Victor Plante about heading to UMD to play alongside his brothers, fellow Red Wings prospect Max Plante and Penguins prospect Zam Plante:

It’s no secret if you’ve read the scouting reports or stat sheets that the way Victor goes about his business on ice is different than either of his brothers.

He doesn’t quite have the eye popping offense of Hobey Baker winner Max. Or the vision of his brother Zam, who frequently acted as the set up man on Minnesota Duluth’s top line alongside Max last year. The eldest Plante finished the year with 20 goals and 31 assists, one point behind Max.

Continue reading A bit about Victor Plante’s ‘jam’

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff suggests that the Red Wings need not worry about losing Alex DeBrincat to a trade request #93 because plain old likes playing in front of family and friends in his hometown:

Coming back to Detroit meant the world to DeBrincat, and not merely to play for the Red Wings. Michigan is his home. His family is here. His parents, his children’s grandparents.

According to those who know him best, that they all get to be together is a factor he absolutely treasures.

There’s no Sheila E soundtrack playing in DeBrincat’s head. He doesn’t want to live the glamorous life.

Away from the rink, he just wants to stay home, be with his family, and embrace a simple existence.

“I love it here,” DeBrincat said at the end of the season, discussing his future. “This is my home. I’ve loved every bit of playing here.I think this is definitely a team I want to be a part of for a long time, and I think everyone knows that.”

Does that mean there’s absolutely no way DeBrincat would ever leave the Red Wings?No, of course not.

‘’It’s a business, so we’ll see what they want to do,” DeBrincat said.

Really, though, the Red Wings don’t have to do all that much to keep him here and keep him happy. Just pay the man what he’s worth. Give him that respect, and you’ve got him.

Continued; it is possible that someone is quite happy to be playing in a particular location despite their team’s on-ice setbacks…

It’s difficult to cover the World Junior Summer Showcase at the best of times. Team USA’s website would at least post scores and scoresheets when the event was held in Plymouth; it’s being held in Windsor, Ontario this year, and the Hockey Canada website is kind of…selective…In terms of what’s being shared with the non-media public.

What I’ve got for you today is a couple of Tweets regarding the lineups for today’s WJSS game between Team USA White and Team Finland, which won 4-1 over the Americans (per a Hockey Canada box score shared by the U.S. website).

Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis posted the teams’ lineups…You’ll note that Victor Plante and JP Hulrbert flanked Sammy Nelson on the top line, and Brent Solomon played on the 3rd line…

Continue reading It’s a World Junior Summer Showcase kind of Tweetcap: Brent Solomon scored for USA White in a 4-1 loss to Finland

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen attempts to discern how the Red Wings could add a more physical edge to their team game this upcoming season:

The [Keegan] Kolesar addition was big because [outgoing GM Steve] Yzerman understood what he had coming this season. Last year, Marco Kasper (186) and Ben Chiarot (171) were the only two Red Wings with 150 more hits.

With Kolesar’s arrival and the anticipated increase in Emmitt Finnie’s 131 hits, plus the possibility that Carter Mazur and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard will play regularly, the Red Wings could have six players with 150 or more hits. MBN and Mazur have both shown in the AHL they like to hit.

It could easily be seven if Moritz Seider chooses to dial up his physical play it could easily be seven players with 150 more hits. He had 121 hits last season as he concentrated on being a more complete defender.

The Red Wings may not be done adding hitters. Reportedly, the Red Wings are still interested in unrestricted free agent Eeli Tolvanen who has averaged 200 or more hits for Seattle over the past

If the Red Wings decide to embrace a physical theme, we all know Seider will be one of the leaders.

How much could all of this help the Red Wings who finished 29th in the NHL with 17.83 hits per 60 minutes last season?

The New York Rangers (25.47 hits per game), Florida Panthers (24.42), Ottawa Senators (23.59) and Philadelphia Flyers (22.46) were the NHL’s most frequent hitting teams last season. In that group, only the Ottawa Senators had as many as four players with 150 hits. And one of those players was Brady Tkachuk who is now with the Florida Panthers.

Continued; any amount of increased physicality that makes Detroit “tougher to play against” would be welcomed.

From Red Wings Prospects on Twitter: Every summer, Marco Kasper takes part in a summertime hockey league based in Austria called the “Sunshine Hockey League,” and it appears that the Karnten native had yet another good showing in the non-checking league:

His team wins the sunshine hockey league this year. 20pts in 5 games. Looks like he’s having a fun time. pic.twitter.com/N9pFdpteM1

— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) July 26, 2026

Kasper played on the “Lendhafen Seelöwen,” who unseated the “Slovenian Rams” as champions.

Ahead of the start of the World Junior Summer Showcase tomorrow in Windsor, Ontario, Team USA’s WJSS team held a scrimmage at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center last night.

The Detroit News’s Connor Eargood took note of the following from said scrimmage, which included Red Wings prospects and U.S. World Junior Championship hopefuls JP Hurlbert, Victor Plante and Brent Solomon:

In the moments after his shootout goal put Team White up in the count, J.P. Hurlbert wore a pensive expression as he watched the rest of the sequence play out. His eyes followed each skater as they tried to decide a winner in Friday’s bout. When the shootout finally ended in a goal for teammate Mikey Berchild, Hurlbert beelined for his goaltender Xavier Wendt with a big grin and a hug.

Overall, Michigan-bound Hurlbert showed why he is one of Team USA’s most skilled forwards in Friday’s action. He also showed that there are steps he needs to take before he is a dominant game-breaker.

Hurlbert’s game is laden with skill, which made him good enough that Detroit traded into the first round and took him 23rd overall in June’s NHL Draft. He flaunted that raw ability with a first-period goal, picking the pocket of Team Blue defenseman Odin Vauhkonen and taking the puck straight to the net on a breakaway. With a deft move to slip the puck five-hole, he scored the 2-1 goal for his side. His pass to Berchild on the power play also led to the 4-1 goal.

However, Hurlbert was also on the receiving end of a breakaway going the other way when Harvard’s Richard Gallant blocked his shot on a closeout and finished it for the 4-2 goal. Hurlbert also served a high-sticking penalty (though it may not have actually been his own) in the closing minutes of an abridged third period. That was when Michigan State-bound defenseman Tommy Bleyl scored the tying goal with 37.1 seconds to play. Hurlbert can coast at times, and that showed up Friday when his team led.More: Red Wings top draft picks starting to jell in Team USA camp at LCA

All the skill in Hurlbert’s game makes him a major scoring threat for Team USA, but he could be more effective in the defensive zone, where his skill could be a major asset in the transition game that Nightingale’s teams rely on. For a July scrimmage, though, he showed lots to like.

Continued (paywall)

I’m glad that the blogging business has been relatively quiet, because Aunt Annie and I just found out that, having been here since Tuesday for a UTI and a couple of fall-related skin tears, we’re going to be here for at least two more days due to AA having a very low hemoglobin count.

She’s having a blood transfusion today and may need some gastrointestinal testing, and if we have to deal with any further complications…

We will go home and get some home help care nursing, not head to a rehab facility, because AA does terribly away from her natural environment, but in the interim, we’re looking at a 6 to 8 day hospital stay, with me remaining by AA’s side at all times to serve as a caregiver and advocate.

I’m gonna remind you that we’re still raising funds to pay property taxes, and we need your help there…

Continue reading A full week at the hospital sucks.

Patrick Kane thanked the Detroit Red Wings organization today on Twitter, using a double-picture post to both look back and look forward to his reunion with the Chicago Blackhawks:

pic.twitter.com/isMSjxtEQO

— Patrick Kane (@88PKane) July 25, 2026