Author: George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

Roughly translated: Albin Grewe speaks with HockeyNews.se

Red Wings prospect Albin Grewe is playing a part-time role with Djurgardens IF of the SHL, playing mostly “fourth line” minutes, but Grewe will head over to the OHL to play for the Saginaw Spirit in a couple of months, and he managed to score his first goal of the SHL season this week after being promoted to Djurgarden’s third line on an interim basis.

Grewe spoke with HockeyNews.se’s Mattias Ek regarding his experiences playing for Djurgarden and his status as the most unusual kind of Swedish prospect–a “shift disturber.”

What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

Grewe’s battle in Djurgarden will lead to his NHL dream with the Detroit Red Wings

STOCKHOLM. While waiting for his hockey adventure in the USA, Albin Grewe, 19, takes every chance he can to play for Djurgarden in the SHL.

The NHL team Detroit, via Niklas Kronwall and Shawn Horcoff, keeps a close eye on him.

“I talk to them, especially Kronwall, every week,” Grewe says to HockeyNews.se.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Albin Grewe speaks with HockeyNews.se

Gustav Lindstrom extends stay with Almtuna IS (until the Red Wings recall him)

According to both Hockeysverige.se’s Rasmus Kagstrom and Hockeynews.se’s Sebastian Von Eichwald, Red Wings defenseman Gustav Lindstrom has signed an extension with Almtuna IS of the Swedish Allsvenskan after his contract with the team expired on November 15th.

Lindstrom will now stay with the team until the Red Wings recall him, according to Almunta’s website and Lindstrom himself, per Almtuna’s Twitter account:

Canadiens.com posts ’24 Questions With Chris Chelios’

Former Red Wings, Canadiens and Blackhawks defenseman Chris Chelios had a long and storied career, and this afternoon, the Montreal Canadiens’ website posted a video of a Q and A session that Chelios gave to the Canadiens a year ago, while driving to last year’s Captains’ Reunion…

And there’s an accompanying Q and A with Canadiens.com’s Shauna Denis:

You’re probably the most interesting person we’ve ever interviewed… 
I don’t know why I ended up playing hockey. Obviously for a reason, that was my thing, but it was not my intention to be a hockey player. I enjoyed doing everything. Growing up I was never saying, “I can’t wait to play in the NHL” or “I’m going to make it to the NHL.” It wasn’t realistic. I was small, there were no Americans playing at the time. I think not having that burden or pressure on me, like some kids do, it helped me and it got me out doing other things. 

When it finally did come time and it was a reality that I might just make it, I concentrated on hockey a lot more but even then, once I got out of the rink, it was whatever I wanted to do. And I never let anything stop me. 

Khan: Moritz Seider made the decision to skip the World Junior Championship

Much earlier today, Hockeysverige.se’s Uffe Bodin broke the news that Moritz Seider won’t take part in the World Junior Championship with Team Germany as he’s going to stay with Rogle BK of the SHL, and, this evening, MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that Seider made the decision to stay with Rogle of his own accord, per Red Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin:

“We left it up to the player,” Martin said. “He has made the decision that he would like to continue playing with Rogle (in the Swedish Hockey League) as opposed to the World Juniors. We would have been supportive of whatever he wanted to do.”

Seider weighed several factors, including the travel, having to spend time in a bubble and having to miss several games in Sweden.

The 6-4, 207-pound defenseman is on loan to Rogle BK, in Sweden’s top men’s league, and flourishing. He has two goals and five assists in eight games.

“He’s playing very well, getting a lot of opportunities, special teams time,” Martin said. “We’re watching on video. That league isn’t allowing scouts in buildings (due to the coronavirus pandemic). It’s been a great fit for him.”

Martin said Seider will remain with Rogle until its season is complete, which is a requirement for new players entering Sweden’s top league. He will then join either the Red Wings or the Grand Rapids Griffins – if the AHL is playing — after Rogle is done.

NHL Network posts a short interview with Steve Yzerman

The NHL Network posted a quick interview with Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman this evening…

And The Score’s Brandon Maron took note of Yzerman’s remarks:

General manager Steve Yzerman continues to steer the rebuilding Detroit Red Wings in the right direction, but he knows he still has a lot of work to do.

“Yeah, I think so,” Yzerman said Wednesday on NHL Network when asked if he’s happy with the direction of his team after its offseason additions. “Obviously we have a lot of work to do. … Every team feels good about their offseason but the players that we’ve added I think will help us.”

Yzerman has been one of the league’s busiest executives since the opening of the free-agency period. He’s added the likes of Vladislav Namestnikov, Bobby Ryan, Thomas Greiss, Troy Stecher, and Jon Merrill.

He also re-signed two key players in Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi. Mantha secured a four-year contract worth $22.8 million, while Bertuzzi was awarded a one-year, $3.5-million deal in arbitration.

The Red Wings experienced a historically bad season last year, going 17-49-5 and finishing dead-last in the league. Despite the tough campaign, Yzerman feels hopeful about the future thanks to the team’s young stars and recent draft picks.

“Our younger players performed well. You mentioned Tyler and Anthony and Dylan Larkin and Filip Hronek,” Yzerman said. “Robby Fabbri did really well coming over from St. Louis, so if we can slowly add to that group with maybe one or two younger players again this year and keep adding to the group slowly over time, we’re hopeful as some of these younger players that the Red Wings have drafted over the last two-to-three years slowly move into the lineup and continue to try to improve the team slowly each year.”

Update: I had a feeling that the interview was longer, so I did some digging. Here’s the full 10-minute-and-55-second interview:

HSJ profiles Vladislav Namestnikov

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a profile of Red Wings free agent signing Vladislav Namestnikov earlier this afternoon. Namestnikov is a 27-year-old forward who’s the nephew of former Red Wing Vyacheslav Kozlov:

According to his agent, Dan Milstein, Namestnikov had other options in free agency but liked the idea of joining the Wings.  For one thing, it means living year-round in the area he has called home most of his life. (Namestnikov lived in metro Detroit from ages 4-9, moved back to his native Russia, then returned at 17). For another, it means being reunited with Yzerman, who as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning drafted Namestnikov 27th overall in 2011.

Namestnikov (5-foot-11, 181 pounds) was traded to the New York Rangers at the 2018 deadline. He spent one full season with the Rangers before being traded again, at the start of last season, to the Ottawa Senators. They then flipped him to the Colorado Avalanche at the trade deadline, making for a whirlwind season for Namestnikov.

The Wings offered Namestnikov stability, and a chance to enhance his value. He’s adept at playing center or wing, and could be a fit on any of the top three lines as well as helping the power play. An excellent skater, Namestnikov has an eye both for making passes and taking shots.

Continued

Red Wings prospect Jack Adams is transferring from Union

According to the Union College Daily Gazette, Red Wings prospect Jack Adams has responded to his team opting out of ECAC conference play by choosing to transfer to another school:

It didn’t take long for members of the Union and RPI men’s ice hockey programs to start looking for new schools, now that both have canceled their 2020-21 seasons.

Union head coach Rick Bennett confirmed that star senior forward Jack Adams, a Detroit Red Wings draft pick, has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

It was reported last week that RPI’s star goalie, Owen Savory, had already put his name in the portal in anticipation of the lost season, and head coach Dave Smith confirmed that Savory had landed at UMass Lowell.

RPI announced on Monday that it was canceling, and Union followed suit on Tuesday, leaving ECAC Hockey with just four of 12 teams planning to play.

Adams, projected to be Union’s leading goal scorer this season, missed his junior year in 2019-20 after blowing out his knee during the Red Wings’ prospect development camp in the summer of 2019.

Prospect round-up: an unremarkable day in the Finnish Liiga

Of prospect-related note in the Finnish Liiga:

Eemil Viro played 14:22 in TPS Turku’s 3-2 OT loss to KalPa;

Victor Brattstrom had a rough night, stopping 6 of 11 shots in KooKoo’s 6-1 loss to Ilves Tampere (he was pulled);

And Otto Kivenmaki finished at -1 in 14:48 played, and Kasper Kotkansalo took 4 shots, a penalty, and finished even in 24:33 played as Assat Pori lost 5-3 to the Lahti Pelicans.

Worrisome ECHL news from Jeff Marek: North Division to not play this year(?)

Not good news for the ECHL, from Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek:

Sounds like the ECHL will announce a number of teams will not be playing this season.— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) November 18, 2020

The Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate, the Toledo Walleye, play in the ECHL’s Central Division, and they’ll open their 2020-2021 season on January 14th.

Update: Per ESPN’s Greg Wyshysnski:

Continue reading Worrisome ECHL news from Jeff Marek: North Division to not play this year(?)

A trio of Tweets of historical note

Of historical Twitter-related note, per the Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa…

And DetroitHockey.net’s Clark Rasmussen: