The Malik Report

Sports Illustrated’s Nathan Smith ponders whether Red Wings coach Todd McLellan should “be on the hot seat” over the course of the 2026-2027 season.

[T]his roster isn’t one that screams genuine Stanley Cup contender, as the team is relying on players in their early 20s alongside Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin, and while that’s a good starting point for a roster, this is a team that’s severely lacking star power.

Then, this off-season, Detroit made very few moves to improve the roster, and with the front office now missing a General Manager and President of Hockey Operations, there are plenty of holes for the organization to fill.

All of this heaps more and more pressure on McLellan, and while the Red Wings should likely be moving towards another rebuild, the higher-ups in the front office and the fanbase are running out of patience, and that may, unfairly at that, force McLellan and the team towards a Stanley Cup Playoffs push in 2026/27.

Continue reading Coach McLellan and the ‘hot seat’ conundrum

Trey Augustine needs to stick to goaltending here…

10/10 self portrait pic.twitter.com/FWygPBxXGc

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 6, 2026

Daily Faceoff’s Scott Maxwell examines the Red Wings’ roster if the team had better luck with the NHL’s Draft Lottery over the past 10 years:

Remember when the Detroit Red Wings had one of the longest playoff streaks in NHL history?

It feels like just yesterday the Red Wings were the model of consistency, making the playoffs every year and, at their best, competing for the Stanley Cup. But just as quickly, they fell from grace, and for the past 10 years, the only consistency found in Detroit is their consistency to miss the playoffs.

Continue reading A little draft lottery revisionist history

From the Grand Rapids Griffins:

PRESEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Griffins to Play Cleveland in Toledo in September

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Tickets for the Grand Rapids Griffins’ preseason games against the Cleveland Monsters on Sept. 26 and 27 at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio, are on sale now through toledowalleye.com.

Griffins Preseason Schedule:

Saturday, Sept. 26 – Grand Rapids vs. Cleveland, 1 p.m. at Huntington Center

Sunday, Sept. 27 – Grand Rapids vs. Cleveland, 3 p.m. at Huntington Center

These games mark the first preseason outings for the Griffins since 2016, as well as Grand Rapids’ first appearances at the Huntington Center since a preseason clash with the Lake Erie Monsters on Oct. 6, 2012. Including this September’s games, the Monsters will have been the Griffins’ opponent for 10 of their last 11 preseason contests, dating back to 2012.

Fans can secure their full-season, select-season or group ticket packages for the 2026-27 regular season by calling (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visit griffinshockey.com for more information. Single-game tickets for the Griffins’ 2026-27 season will go on sale to the public later this summer through griffinshockey.com/tickets. Be sure to sign up to receive the Griffins Nation newsletters to be the first to know when tickets go on sale.

The Hockey Writers’ Tony Wolak builds an “Ideal Post-Yzerman Front Office” this morning, naming Brendan Shanahan the Red Wings’ President of Hockey Operations, and Carolina Hurricanes associate GM Darren Yorke as Detroit’s GM:

With a front office led by Shanahan and Yorke, it’s fair to expect meaningful change. Hiring a chief professional scout and bolstering the analytics department would likely be among the organization’s first priorities.

There will almost certainly be some turnover as well. New regimes typically prefer to surround themselves with people they know and trust. That said, I would expect Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Dan Cleary, Jiri Fischer, and Kris Draper to remain in place. Each provides value within the organization and should continue to play an important role moving forward.

More broadly, this structure would provide Detroit with something it has arguably lacked in recent years: a balance between experienced executive leadership and fresh ideas. Shanahan would offer stability, strategic oversight, and organizational accountability, while Yorke would bring a collaborative, progressive approach to roster building and player development. Together, they would position the Red Wings to capitalize on the strong foundation already in place, while preparing the franchise for its next competitive window.

In addition to staffing decisions, Shanahan and Yorke will need to re-sign Simon Edvinsson, find a resolution regarding the Dylan Larkin trade request, and finalize the roster – all within roughly six weeks. Talk about hitting the ground running.

Continued at length…A good read here…

Bleacher Report’s Joe Yerdon discusses whether NHL teams should “buy or sell” to improve their position in the 2027 NHL Draft lottery, and, as you might expect, he suggests that the Red Wings burn it all down:

Detroit Red Wings

Hoo boy, Detroit. Dylan Larkin’s trade demand hasn’t been rescinded or settled and the Red Wings have yet to find a GM to replace the reassigned Steve Yzerman and their offseason outside of all of that hasn’t been overly exciting (no offense to Viktor Arvidsson) and one of those moves saw them trade goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa to Utah.

If the Red Wings can get all the loose ends tied up before camp opens in September, things would be a bit clearer, but even with everything looking so foggy, what is more than apparent is that they’re in the toughest division in the NHL and everyone else is either better or got better.

Decision: Selling

Continued; again, I’m in the minority here. I don’t believe that the Red Wings should move DeBrincat, Faulk, etc. etc. and take the rebuild down to the foundations via stripping the team for parts.

To me, the Red Wings owe their paying fans better, they owe Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider better, and, at worst, they need to accept a 1-year reset and then move forward with the foundational pieces of the rebuild in the prospect corps, aggressively working toward a youth movement-led “build.”

But the new GM is going to be the decider there, and we’ll all remain people who are only along for the ride.

Of foreign-language Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom wonders aloud whether Lucas Raymond might become the next captain of the Detroit Red Wings…

Detroit Red Wings: Long-standing captain and star forward Dylan Larkin announced earlier this summer that he wants to leave Red Wings, and named four teams, which he could conceivably iron out his “no trade” clause in the contract.

The clubs turned out to be Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights and [Dallas Stars], added to the list.

No trade has yet taken place, the question is whether Detroit can receive acceptable compensation for its star forward and captain. And should Larkin, if he remains on the Red Wings this fall, it will probably be without a C on the jersey. Fans are disappointed in him over his actions.

And then Lucas Raymond could be a hot candidate. Raymond is 24, and has scored during his five seasons in the NHL. He’s a sharp forward with good scoring production and is well-liked among teammates and fans.

The team’s 25-year-old defenseman star, Moritz Seider, is a competitor for the captaincy.

The fact that the general manager – and the club icon – Steve Yzerman recently announced that he is stepping off the mission, that no star is managing the Red Wings right now.

(I believe that Moritz Seider’s a lock to be named the Red Wings’ next captain, but that’s just my gut feeling)

2. And Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that former Grand Rapids Griffins forward Wojtech Stachowiak gave a German-language interview to Eishockey News’s Julia Pickl, in which Stachowiak suggests that he didn’t receive a fair shake in his negotiations with the Red Wings:

Continue reading Two things: Expressen’s Nordstrom suggests Raymond could be the Wings’ next captain; Stachowiak headed elsewhere as a free agent

Red Wings prospect goaltender Michal Postava spoke with iRozhlas.cz’s Adam Kodet about his rookie season in North America, and here’s a rough translation of their conversation:

From Přerov to the Red Wings. The character’s goalie has experienced a rapid rise and is now looking for his first NHL start

The hockey goalkeeper Michal Postava has risen very quickly. In the spring of 2024 he played for the first-league team in Přerov. In the next one, the Kometa of Brno secured an Extraliga title. And in the past season, he has already sat on the Red Wings’ bench in the NHL, although he did not play in the game. His transition to a new environment do not obviously cause him a problem.

“I guess I can adapt to what’s needed. It is certainly important not to try to change everything, but just to adapt in [terms of] smaller details and work on them all year. That’s what I think was doing pretty well, and I was extremely happy for that,” says Postava.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Michal Postava reflects upon his first season in North America

This is pretty cool, per the Hockey News’s Jake Tye:

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider has been recognized as the NHL’s top defensive blueliner, earning The Hockey News’ Rod Langway Award for the 2025-26 season.

The honour, voted on by a panel of THN staff and contributors as part of the publication’s annual awards, is given to the league’s best defensive defenseman. Seider’s case was built on how he tilted play in Detroit‘s favor whenever he stepped on the ice. 

Seider beat out a strong group of finalists for the award with Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin finishing as the runner-up, followed by Dallas’ Esa Lindell in third and Miro Heiskanen in fourth, giving the Stars two representatives among the top five. Minnesota’s Jonas Brodin rounded out the list at fifth.

Rod Langway was a tremendous defensive defenseman who spent the majority of his career with the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals.

Detroit Hockey Now is launching a series of articles about the Red Wings’ young players, and Kevin Allen kicks it off with a discussion of Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s readiness for NHL play:

Three Reasons Why Brandsegg-Nygard Will Play in the NHL

1. The Red Wings believed Brandsegg-Nygard boasted an NHL shot when they drafted him. Last season, he made strides in understanding how to use his shot off even when he doesn’t have much time or space.
2. Although he grew up in Norway, MBN came to the U.S. with a North American approach to hockey. He offers a physical game to go with his scoring touch.
3. A feisty competitor, the young winger is already a strong forechecker and is improving as a defensive forward. “I trust him, and he’s going to do the right things,” [Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan] Watson said. “He’s strong on pucks, he protects pucks, he’s hard to knock off pucks. So just all those intangibles he has.”

What May Hold Him Back

Brandsegg-Nygard is still learning how to get himself open in the offensive zone. He is still working to master the knack of seeing a scoring chance before it happens.

Continued; MBN is definitely a stocky, physical sniper in waiting if he is able to manifest that big, booming shot regularly, but he could also be a superb net-front player on the power play. It’s just going to take him a little more time to harness NHL timing with NHL coordination and NHL strength.