The Detroit News posted its latest “Octopulse” podcast, and therein, Sportsnet’s prospect guru, Jason Bukala, discusses several Red Wings prospects who were drafted during Bukala’s time with the Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers:

Bukala was a scout with the Nashville Predators for five years, an assistant director of scouting for five years with the Florida Panthers and the director of scouting for the Panthers for four years. He’s now the founder of Pro Hockey Group, which focuses on player evaluations.

So:

Continue reading Sportsnet’s Bukala details the Seider pick

The Hockey News’s Adam Proteau suggests that the Red Wings and Maple Leafs should add assets through trade acquisitions:

The Red Wings have played well enough since changing coaches in late December to get back in the thick of the playoff race. They’re in the first wild-card spot, but one point separates four teams. They should add one or two assets to push them into the post-season.

The Red Wings could use help at both ends of the ice. They’re currently 19th overall in goals-for per game and goals-against per game. That’s a mediocrity that can’t continue if Detroit wants to tighten its grip on a playoff spot. 

Yzerman has about $4.9 million in cap space, and he’s also got all of his first-round draft picks in the next three seasons. It’s time for him to put aside part of the future and send a first-rounder and/or above-average prospect to acquire a needle-mover and a depth component to solidify the Wings’ playoff push.

A third-line center like the Flyers’ Scott Laughton – who would also be a good fit with Toronto – has the talent to step in and give a bump in depth to the Red Wings. His $3-million salary makes him affordable for Detroit and the Leafs, and he has one more year left on his contract.

Continued; I’m going to remain pretty stubborn here. I don’t believe that the Red Wings should move any assets, present or future, unless the team can acquire a player who will be part of the team’s long-term future.

I could see the Wings adding another center or defenseman of the right-shooting variety, but the rental market is just not useful for the Wings to be dabbling in. The Wings have too many good prospects to waste the replaceable ones or draft picks on somebody who’s going to help for a couple of weeks and then bolt for free agency.

MLive’s Ansar Khan compares Red Wings coach Todd McLellan’s tenure to the first 20 games that other “new coaches” have coached for the team:

Todd McLellan (2024-25): 15-4-1, 31 points

He took over a team that was 13-17-4 and has since strung together two seven-game winning streaks and capped its first 4-0 road trip since 1996.

Derek Lalonde (2022-23): 11-5-4, 26 points

The team was tied for a playoff spot in late February before three consecutive losses, including a pair of decisive defeats in Ottawa, prompted general manager Steve Yzerman to sell at the trade deadline.

Jeff Blashill (2015-16): 10-8-2, 22 points

The Red Wings qualified for the playoffs on the final day of the season when Ottawa defeated Boston. They were eliminated by Tampa Bay in the first round and haven’t been back to the postseason since.

Mike Babcock (2005-06): 15-4-1, 31 points

A 12-1-0 start included a franchise record-tying nine-game winning streak for a team that won the Presidents’ Trophy with 124 points (58-16-8) only to lose to Edmonton in the first round of the playoffs.

The list continues…

FYI:

In speaking to sources , I’m told there’s been plenty of expressions of interest from clubs in @BuffaloSabres F Cozens including ; @CanadiensMTL @NHLFlames @MapleLeafs @DetroitRedWings . #SabreHood #HockeyX pic.twitter.com/EJGtKI36f6

— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) February 5, 2025

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article which discusses the Red Wings’ 4-for-4 road trip and 7-game winning streak. Coach Todd McLellan was marginally satisfied with the Wings’ efforts, as he told FanDuel Sports Network Detroit last night:

“Above average,” said [Red Wings coach Todd] McLellan with a chuckle after the game on FSN Detroit. “To go home with eight points in the bank, I’m not sure we thought we would get that when we left, but we chipped away and chipped away. The spirit and the belief system have gone up. They’re playing to the structure that we put in. It’s easy when you’re winning, you can get people to believe in things a lot simpler than if you’re losing.”

Tuesday’s victory marked the second seven-game win streak the Wings have had under McLellan, who took over as the Wings’ coach on Dec. 26. They are 15-4-1 under McLellan, enabling the Wings to charge upward in the standings to the point the Wings now hold a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The difference before and after McLellan is startling. The penalty kill, which was porous before, has been better. The team defense is improved. But another realization in the resurgence is McLellan’s willingness to play the Wings’ young players, giving them larger roles, and watching them thrive.

Players such forwards Marco Kasper, Jonatan Berggren and Elmer Soderblom, and defensemen Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson are all playing regularly, in larger roles, and all are contributing. All made key contributions in Tuesday’s victory.

“It speaks to the organizational depth right now to have those kids come up and find a way to contribute,” McLellan told reporters afterward. “Everything is brand new for us (McLellan and assistant coach Trent Yawney). We just play them and see what we get out of them, and they’ve responded.”

Continued (paywall)

I was up until 4 AM on my birthday and up by 8 AM to check on news. I’m not at 100% right now, but I’m still busting my ass every day to give you what I can. So:

The Malik Report needs your support to function. You receive quite a bit of information “for free,” but providing that information is not done for free. As such, we would like to ask that you kindly contribute to our monthly expenses.

If you’re willing to lend a hand, we have a PayPal option at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport; there’s Venmo at https://venmo.com/george-malik-2; if you’re into the, “I don’t want to use any of those pages” option, here’s always the Giftly option by using my email, rtxg@yahoo.com, at https://www.giftly.com…

And in the banking options, you can contact me via email if you want to send me a paper check, or “Zelle” me via my email, rtxg@yahoo.com.

It’s my pleasure to provide you with as much information as I can give, but this is also a job, and it requires money, time, energy and effort (a.k.a. work). If you are willing or able to support this endeavor, it is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton reports that the Red Wings’ “blueprint” under coach Todd McLellan builds upon a foundation established at the team’s practices:

Since McLellan’s takeover, the Red Wings’ practices provide a clearer distinction between coaching eras than the underlying numbers. Sessions at the BELFOR Training Center in Little Caesars Arena offer an obvious manifestation of McLellan’s other mantra: “harder, faster, smarter.” McLellan has lengthened practices while also raising the tempo to each skate and all the while introducing new drills to provide a combination of competition and levity.

“I think there’s just a really good purpose to every practice,” defenseman Moritz Seider told The Hockey News before the Red Wings set out for their road trip. “We just either try to emphasize a new system or we’re really focusing on the next game that’s upcoming. I think today you could really see from the outside that we’re a skating team, we try to go with pace and speed out there, and that’s exactly what he told us we’re gonna need.”

Of course, all that skating in practice wouldn’t count for much if it hadn’t correlated to results. McLellan’s “road map” has proved so effective, because he demonstrated from the moment of his arrival that the changes he chose to implement would bear fruit in a hurry. As Andrew Copp put it before the trip, “He’s got a clear, concise message. He’s in command. Everything on video makes total sense. He’s the one doing the video every time, so he’s got the presence.”

“It can start with practice,” Copp added. “It can start with the effort, the pace and intensity that we have, but ultimately, the results are gonna dictate whether you have momentum or not. You can play good and not win and still feel good about yourselves, but that can only last for so long really. And if you are playing the right way, you’re going to get wins. I would say it probably started in practice and bled over to the games, but the games are the ultimate confidence builder.”

…

“You can practice as hard as you want, but if you can’t translate it onto the ice, I think it’s very stressful and painful situation for all of us,” Seider said. “Obviously, getting the results gives us a little more confidence, a little more happiness in practice. Even if it might be a little longer…we still have a smile on our face and work through it—put our work boots on and grind. And then obviously if it translates on the ice, it’s all worth it.”

Continued

97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield discusses how the Red Wings have “found their game” since coach Todd McLellan took over the team on December 26th:

The Red Wings were second to last in the East and eight points out of a playoff spot when McLellan replaced Derek Lalonde the day after Christmas — a move that, if anything, should’ve happened sooner. They were embarrassed the next night on home ice by the Leafs. They’ve been the best team in the NHL since, their 15-3-1 run rocketing them up eight spots in the standings with contributions coming up and down the lineup.

Kane had to laugh and admit, “I’m not sure any of us really thought we’d be in this position right now, but what a spot we’re in.”

“We’ve put ourselves there, and you gotta give Todd a lot of credit, too,” said Kane. “He’s done a great job job of coming in and settling things down and making sure we’re playing aggressive. Even when we get back on our heels a little bit and things aren’t going our way, to keep pushing forward and try to turn the game in our favor.”

The game turned against the Red Wings in the third period in Seattle. A 4-2 lead with under 10 minutes to go became a 4-4 tie when Cam Talbot allowed two goals that he’d probably like back. Panic might have set in for the fans watching at home. On the bench, the players remained calm, said McLellan. Kane pointed to Seider as one of the team leaders “coming up and down the bench telling us to stay confident, hang in there, we’re in a good spot.”

“And that’s huge,” he said. “That keeps us in the right mindset and wanting to play on the attack.”

The line of Kane, Soderblom and center Joe Veleno responded with a strong shift, and the crisis was over. Both teams survived a hectic overtime, before the Wings got the goal they needed in the shootout. McLellan keeps going back to one word to describe Detroit’s winning ways: “Belief.”

“The spirit and the belief system has gone up,” he said. “They’re playing to the structure that we put in. It’s easy when you’re winning. You can get people to believe in things a lot simpler than if you’re losing. They’ve been attentive, they’ve worked hard in practice and they want to win. They’re a hungry group.”

Continued at length, with some intriguing comments from Andrew Copp. This is a real must-read.

His 22nd…

Drop a HBD for Simon! 🥳 pic.twitter.com/7ppRfPXZ0e

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 5, 2025

Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka is going to play in the Swedish Beijer Games for the Tre Kronor, and the Swedish news agency TT posted an interview with ASP:

Axel Sandin Pelikka makes his debut for the Tre Kronor: “Awesome”

He makes his debut in both Tre Kronor and in the Globe [Arena].

Defensive talent Axel Sandin Pelikka, 19, is looking forward to taking a new step in his career.

“It’s going to be cool, I hope it’s very yellow in the stands,” he said.

The Tre Kronor’s meeting with the Czech Republic on Thursday in the home-held tournament, the Beijer Hockey Games, will be the first hockey game in a newly-renovated arena which is popularly still known as the Globe, but officially named the Avicii Arena.

For just over a year, the arena has been renovated on the inside, at a cost of over 800 million Swedish Kronor, including new seats and stands all the way down to the stage, black chairs that will make the arena warmer, and a new ceiling.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Axel Sandin Pellikka discusses playing in the Beijer Hockey Games