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!

Red Wings fans are optimistic about their team’s management, per The Athletic’s ‘front office confidence rankings’

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn posted a compilation of fans’ rankings as to how confident each and every one of the NHL’s 31 fan bases are in their respective teams’ front offices, and the Detroit Red Wings rank as the 4th-best team in terms of fan confidence in one Steve Yzerman and company:

My, oh my, what a climb for the Red Wings. It is very hard to get this kind of vote of confidence from a team that had such an abysmal season last year, but Red Wings fans are very high on the Yzerplan. Detroit got top five grades in every category except trading, where the Red Wings were sixth. Just 0.1 percent of Red Wings fans are less confident than they were a year ago, which ranks second to the top team on this list at zero percent.

This might be a case of relativity given how Ken Holland’s tenure ended, but with Steve Yzerman there’s a crystal clear vision in place, one Red Wings fans are on board with. The rebuild is in full swing and Yzerman has done well so far to accumulate picks and make good selections. He’s cleared out a lot of bad money and made some shrewd free-agent signings that could pay off in the form of future draft pick capital. 

It’s all very promising right now, but there’s also a chance the fans are acting a bit overzealous at the moment with regards to their front office. The public is pretty high on Detroit, ranking them in the top five, but not nearly to the same degree that fans have, with the 1.1-point difference tied with Minnesota for the highest. The primary concern is roster building where it’s a little implausible that the league’s worst team in the middle of a rebuild should be third – 19th feels a lot more appropriate. It’s reminiscent of the scores Devils fans gave Ray Shero last year a few months before he was fired after a spectacular offseason didn’t lead to any on-ice success. 

The lesson here for Red Wings fans is to approach with caution. The Yzerplan is off to a terrific start, but the teardown is the easy part. Building things back up is going to be much more difficult, and though Yzerman had a strong hand in Tampa Bay’s Cup win, it doesn’t necessarily mean lightning will strike twice.

Continued (paywall); the path toward rehabilitating the Red Wings players’ and prospects’ pools into those suitable for a playoff team will take at least a couple more seasons, but I do find it a little odd that Luszczyszyn chastises the fan base for its optimism.

Roughly translated: GP.se reports that Theodor Niederbach may head to MODO Hockey of the Allsvenskan

According to GP.se’s Adam Johansson, Red Wings prospect Theodor Niederbach, who’s been tearing up the Under-20 National League in Sweden, may end up heading home to the Ornskoldsvik area to play a “level up” with MODO Hockey. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

Frölunda’s super talent now open for MODO

MODO would fill the gap left by the retired Aaron Gagnon.

In Frölunda there is an son of “O-vik” who is open to play games for the team.

“A loan would be fun, especially to Modo,” says Theodor Niederbach to SportExpressen.

Continue reading Roughly translated: GP.se reports that Theodor Niederbach may head to MODO Hockey of the Allsvenskan

Prospect round-up: Berggren scores, Seider posts assist on busy day in SHL

Of prospect-related note on a busy day in the SHL:

In the SHL, Albert Johansson had 3 shots on goal and finished even in 17:50 played as Farjestads BK won 3-2 in OT over Leksand:

Jonatan Berggren scored a goal and finished even in 16:25 as Skelleftea AIK lost 2-1 to Linkoping:

Matias Brome had 1 shot and finished at -1 in 19:32 played as Orebro Hockey lost 3-2 in OT to Vaxjo;

Albin Grewe didn’t play in Djurgardens IF’s 4-2 loss to IK Oskarshamn;

Lucas Raymond had an assist and 3 shots, finishing at +1 in 12:36 played as the Frolunda Indians won 2-0 over Lulea Hockey:

Moritz Seider had an assist and a shot, finishing at +1 in 18:38 played, as Rogle BK won 2-0 over the Malmo Redhawks. Joe Veleno had 4 shots, finished at -1 and won 54% of his faceoffs in 16:59 played for Malmo:

In the Finnish Liiga, Victor Brattstrom stopped 29 of 31 shots as KooKoo won 3-2 in a shootout over IFK Helsinki;

And in Belarus, Kirill Tyutyayev didn’t play in Yunost Minsk’s 4-3 OT loss to Metallurg 2.

Tuesday Tweets of note: on the Reverse Retro Jersey, Howe hitting 545 and Delvecchio retiring

Of Twitter-related note this morning:

  1. Adidas teased their “Reverse Retro jerseys” this morning…

#ReverseRetro Coming Soon. pic.twitter.com/DknyOald0h— adidas Hockey (@adidashockey) November 10, 2020

2. The Grind Line Podcast surmises that this one is the Wings’ jersey…

looking like this one pic.twitter.com/OW4ig16gqt— The Grind Line Podcast™ (@GrindLinePod) November 10, 2020

3. I’ve made my opinion known…

This has been my favorite retro jersey thus far. pic.twitter.com/Yx3hYQxKIe— George Malik (@georgemalik) November 10, 2020

4. And in the historical department:

On this day in 1963, @DetroitRedWings‘ Gordie Howe scored his 545th career goal to become the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer #Hockey365 #LGRW pic.twitter.com/NsIntNBVcR— Mike Commito (@mikecommito) November 10, 2020

On this day (Nov 9) in 1973, @DetroitRedWings centre Alex Delvecchio retires partway through his 24th NHL season sitting 2nd in league history to ex-teammate Gordie Howe when it comes to career points (1281). He will take over as DET head coach & adds GM to his title after ’73-74 pic.twitter.com/9fgz2uhzkQ— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) November 10, 2020

Update: 5. I remember this night:

On this day in 1991. Numbers 7️⃣ & ? are retired to the rafters at Joe Louis Arena. pic.twitter.com/HF336vcquy— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) November 10, 2020

Update #2:

There will indeed be a reverse retro jersey for all 31 teams, I’m told. The unveiling is scheduled for Monday, November 16. https://t.co/7TUR0LgEQM— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) November 10, 2020

Jonathan Bernier featured in InGoal Magazine’s latest ‘Pro Reads’

This is a teaser for subscriber-only content from InGoal Magazine, but it’s still intriguing:

‘The Word on Woodward’ to air today at 12 PM EST with Ken Kal, Max Bultman

From the Red Wings’ YouTube channel: “Catch Ken Kal, the Athletic’s Max Bultman and more on today’s all new episode of The Word on Woodward!”

Update: From DetroitRedWings.com’s Daniella Bruce:

The #WordOnWoodward starts in 10 mins ?? tune in at 12pm on @tigers and @DetroitRedWings Facebook pages, YouTube pages, and websites. We’ll be joined by @KenKalDRW @m_bultman, @evanwoodbery, @TheMayorsOffice, @Daniel2cabrera, and more!! Don’t miss it ????— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) November 10, 2020

Roughly Translated: Hockeysverige.se’s Bodin interviews Theodor Niederbach

Hockeysverige.se’s Uffe Bodin conducted a lengthy interview with Red Wings prospect Theodor Niederbach, and here’s a rough translation of the Swedish-language interview:

“If it gets tougher, I usually think that ‘I can play hockey anyway'”

Theodor Niederbach discusses how patience has come to shape his young career.

For many young prospects, playing in the J20 National League is not enough. They want to go upward, forward and above all to be promoted as soon as possible. Frölunda’s center Theodor Niederbach has a different perspective on the matter. A serious knee injury early in his career has given him the realization that patience is a virtue.

“If you can learn to play a big role at the level you’re at, the next step will come automatically,” he surmises in an interview with Hockeysverige.se.

Continue reading Roughly Translated: Hockeysverige.se’s Bodin interviews Theodor Niederbach

HSJ discusses Moritz Seider’s SHL start

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an article discussing Moritz Seider’s experiences playing for Rogle BK of the SHL thus far:

Seider, the sixth pick in the 2019 draft, has one goal and four assists in five games for Rögle BK. In an interview posted on Rögle’s website, Seider shared his thoughts on his hot start.

“It was a great experience so far,” he said. “I think I can adjust from week to week a little better. I’m really settled in on the team right now and really happy to be here. I think the first five games were really solid and I can’t wait for the next one.” 

The next game is Tuesday, when Rögle faces Malmö, which is where Veleno plays. The SHL has been on a break because of the international Karjala tournament.

Seider also talked about his decision not to go to Germany to play with the national team.

“We had to argue about if it’s worth it to maybe take the risk of getting COVID and risk your own healthiness,” Seider said. “We decided to stay here and take these days off. Germany is going back to a lockdown so I think it wasn’t the best option to go there, anyway. Overall I think it’s a really good solution for everyone.” 

Continued

The Score ranks the Red Wings last among NHL teams thanks to last year’s awful campaign

The Score’s Jon Matisz ranked the NHL’s 31 teams into 8 tiers, and he’s given the Red Wings his lowest ranking as 31st, the “Worst of the Worst.” His reasoning for doing so is pretty plain–the Wings were terrible last year, and as such, “terrible” is where the bar is set:

Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings’ offseason has been undeniably productive, which is a step in the right direction for a franchise looking to regain respectability. Up front, Vladislav Namestnikov, Bobby Ryan, Sam Gagner, and Adam Erne were brought in on short-term deals. Troy Stecher, Jon Merrill, and Marc Staal are all also under contract for a year or two and were added to the blue line. And inking goalie Thomas Greiss at $3.6 million per season for two years was a tidy piece of business from general manager Steve Yzerman.

These acquisitions improved Detroit, yet the offseason work will only slightly move the needle because the bar was set so laughably low last campaign. The 2019-20 Wings lost 54 of 71 games while finishing with a minus-122 goal differential. Among 31 teams, they’re still the furthest away from a Stanley Cup in 2020-21.