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 prepare for a ‘unique day’ in Detroit and Buffalo

The Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses the Red Wings’ unique preparations for tonight’s “split squad games” in a game-day notebook:

Derek Lalonde used his weekend well: Divvying up who would play where as the Detroit Red Wings face a rare situation Monday of playing two games at the same time in two different locations.

“Very unique,” Lalonde said Monday after the home-group’s morning skate at Little Caesars Arena. Patrick Kane will be among those who’ll play in that group against the Pittsburgh Penguins, in a game rescheduled from Saturday because the Penguins couldn’t fly. Another group will head to Buffalo to play the Sabres in a previously scheduled game.

“It actually works fine,” Lalonde said. “We get the two teams going. I don’t know if it’s ideal, six games in six days. It will be a little taxing on a couple guys who will do back-to-backs, or three-in-fours, but we’re pretty spread out, so it’s going to work. But we accomplished it where we beat them up so bad in practice, guys are begging for games. So it’s not that bad of a schedule coming up here.”

The Wings play again Tuesday in Pittsburgh, then Thursday at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Friday at home against the Ottawa Senators, and Saturday at Toronto.

Lalonde and his assistants will coach Monday in Detroit, while Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson and his staff are in Buffalo.

Continued (paywall); Lalonde also continued his train of thought while speaking with DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills:

Continue reading Red Wings prepare for a ‘unique day’ in Detroit and Buffalo

Red Wings ‘split squad’ morning skate Tweets, part 2: goaltending assignments set

The Red Wings’ “first group” held their morning skate ahead of tonight’s home game vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins (7 PM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com/PittsburghPenguins.com), and the Red Wings’ “second group” will play in Buffalo against the Sabres tonight (7 PM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com/BuffaloSabres.com).

Before the “second group” took to the ice, coach Derek Lalonde revealed his teams’ goaltending assignments:

For the Penguins, play-by-play announcer Josh Getzoff reports that it will be a bit of a reunion tour this evening…

And I guess sending the Copp line to Buffalo is underwhelming:

I should note that the Penguins’ “A team” played in Sudbury, Ontario last night, so they’ll be dressing their “B team,” while the Sabres’ stars are in Czechia for the Global Series, so it’s going to be a mixed bag in Buffalo.

Update #2: Here’s the Red Wings’ lineup for the Buffalo game:

Update #1: if you missed it, the Sabres announced their lineup for tonight’s game a couple of hours ago…

Continue reading Red Wings ‘split squad’ morning skate Tweets, part 2: goaltending assignments set

‘Boldly predicting’ a blueline trade

Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon makes “one bold prediction” for each of the NHL’s 32 teams today, and he’s predicting that the Red Wings will make a trade to bring a Windsorite home:

Detroit Red Wings: The Wings will continue to push for playoff action by acquiring local boy Cam Fowler to bolster the defence corps. Fowler can slide into a second-pair role with Detroit thanks to the step forward Simon Edvinsson is about to have in his first full NHL campaign.

Continued; I fully believe that the Red Wings need to make a move to add a shut-down defenseman of some sort, but I’m not sure whether Fowler is that “fit.”

The Score’s power rankings list the Wings 22nd overall, as per usual

The Score posted its first set of power rankings for the 2024-2025 season, and the Red Wings land where you’d expect them to–far lower than where they finished in the standings:

22. Detroit Red Wings

Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider are locked in, but is Detroit good enough yet to end its playoff drought? A full year of Patrick Kane in the fold should help, but the Atlantic Division is a gauntlet, and we’re not too bullish on the Cam Talbot-Alex Lyon tandem in goal.

Continued; again, the Red Wings will have to battle through the media haze of poor prognostications with strong on-ice performances.

Coach Lalonde and the Red Wings are cheering on the Tigers’ playoff run

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted an article which discusses the Red Wings’ enthusiasm about the Detroit Tigers‘ playoff run:

[Red Wings coach Derek] Lalonde said having both the Tigers and Red Wings under Ilitch ownership is special because the teams share “internal growth, beliefs and approach on some things.”

“What a resource to be owned by the same group under the same umbrella and able to lean on those guys,” Lalonde said.

Andrew Copp, an Ann Arbor, Mich., native, said he’s been a die-hard Tigers fan the last couple of weeks.

“Back when I played baseball, I probably played attention a little bit more,” Copp admitted. “I did go to the first playoff game at Comerica Park against the Yankees though, that was cool. I think everyone, not just the local guys, is pulling pretty hard for [the Tigers] in the locker room.”

Ben Chiarot said it’s cool seeing Detroit sports fans show so much love and support toward their teams.

“I think you saw that last year with the Lions and our run toward a playoff spot,” Chiarot said. “It’s a great sports city, especially when a team is having some success. It’s a fun place to be as an athlete.”

Continued

Making the best of limited opportunities

The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood asks “what should Sebastian Cossa learn from this preseason,” and here’s what Eargood surmises:

Even if Cossa can’t boast a wealth of NHL experience, he can point to success in his limited reps. In those four combined appearances, he let in three goals on a combined 44 shots. The caveats are that he has played mostly short bursts that allow him to stay fresh, and the skill present in a preseason game pales in comparison to an actual NHL matchup. So naturally, the next step is to get Cossa acclimated against tougher competition, hence what [Red Wings coach Derek] Lalonde said about experience.

So far this preseason, Cossa has already played a full period — a 10-save shutout in Chicago to open the preseason. He was scheduled to play the third period of Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh. However, it is unclear how the game’s rescheduling will affect him given that Detroit is splitting its roster between the Penguins game and a road game in Buffalo at the same time. It’s likely that Cossa will play a period in at least one of the games; it’s just a question of which one.

All of these appearances are building up to an opportunity for Cossa to get to the NHL, a future that could be rather near. Detroit has three goaltenders at the NHL level right now — Cam Talbot, Alex Lyon and Ville Husso — but only Talbot is signed through next season. There’s a spot open for Cossa as soon as next season. Getting used to NHL work now, combined with an increased workload in Grand Rapids, could prepare Cossa to claim the backup spot a year from now.

Continued; most of the Wings’ goaltenders are not going to play entire games over the course of the next six games, so they all need to make the most of the time they receive in Detroit’s crowded crease.

Red Wings ‘split squad’ morning skate Tweets: both games will be streamed; Pens, Sabres release game rosters

Updated repeatedly at 11:10 AM: The Detroit Red Wings play two games in two different locations tonight as the team will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena (7 PM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com/PittsburghPenguins.com), and a “split squad” of players will head to Buffalo to battle the Sabres (7 PM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com).

Things are going to be a little confusing tonight as both games will air on the Red Wings’ website:

FYI:

Continue reading Red Wings ‘split squad’ morning skate Tweets: both games will be streamed; Pens, Sabres release game rosters

Bultman’s observations: Kasper’s ‘stock up’ over the course of Detroit’s early exhibition action

The Athletic’s Max Bultman discusses three items of note this morning, noting Marco Kasper’s stock rising due to his preseason performances, the reinforcement of the importance of the Rasmussen-Copp-Fischer line, and the lingering mess in the Red Wings’ goal crease:

Stock up: Marco Kasper

Kasper has been a standout since early in training camp and he’s carried it into the preseason. He had an assist in his exhibition debut, but really the story of that game for him had more to do with how assertive and confident he looked, especially on the penalty kill.

That’s not an easy role for a young player to thrive in, but Kasper was very impressive in the preseason opener, even creating a couple of scoring chances — one that he started by winning a battle at the defensive blue line, and one off a high-skill play below the offensive goal line.

Those are eye-catching plays from a prospective rookie.

It’s still early, of course. But seeing Kasper translate that impressive camp into game action was the first big step. In particular, seeing that offense come out has been important. Even in practices, he’s displayed some nice touch on his shot, too.

Now it’ll be a matter of seeing if he can keep up his strong play, or even build on it.

Detroit’s roster looks like it’s going to be tough to crack, barring injury. But if Kasper can play like this all preseason, he will give himself a chance — and he already looks like a strong candidate for NHL time at some point this season.

Continued (paywall); Kasper definitely looks like he possesses the versatility necessary to excel at any role which the Red Wings deem necessary for him; for better or worse, the Rasmussen-Copp-Fischer line is the Wings’ “identity line,” and I think that it’s just too early to make any conclusions regarding the Red Wings’ crease.

I’m of the opinion that we’re going to watch the Wings’ goaltending sort itself out over the first 10-15 games of the regular season.

Eight preseason games isn’t quite enough to sort out not only where Cam Talbot, Alex Lyon and Ville Husso fit, but also where Sebastian Cossa, Jack Campbell, Carter Gylander, Gage Alexander and Griffins-contracted Jan Bednar stack up.

At this point, the Wings may not be able to give more than one goaltender a full game’s worth of play later this week, and in terms of the minor league situation, it’s probably going to consist of Cossa, Campbell and Gylander in Grand Rapids, and Alexander and Bednar in Toledo.

Three things: A busy week ahead, sorting out goaltending and taking heed of the Tigers’ playoff run

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. As the Free Press’s Helene St. James notes, this week is a particularly busy one for the Red Wings, in which the team will play six games over the course of six nights–including tonight’s pair of “split squad” games against Pittsburgh at home and at Buffalo, respectively:

Even before doubling up Monday, the Wings also had on their slate games Tuesday at Pittsburgh, Thursday at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Friday at home against the Ottawa Senators, and Saturday at Toronto.

Playing six times in six days will make it harder for coach Derek Lalonde to follow through on what he expressed at the start of camp, when he said he didn’t want to play veterans in back-to-back games. And Wednesday — the only non-game day this week — might see an adjusted practice schedule in order to keep players fresh.

At least there are plenty of youngsters — including Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson, Carter Mazur, Elmer Söderblom, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and Cross Hanas — among the 57 players who emerged from the Traverse City part of camp. And there are veterans on tryouts, too — such as Alex Chiasson and Austin Watson — who could use as many looks as possible to make their cases for contracts.

The Wings don’t lack for goalies, either: In addition to the four who split the first two games — Alex Lyon, Ville Husso, Cam Talbot and Sebastian Cossa — there’s also Jack Campbell, Jan Bednar, Carter Gylander and Gage Alexander.

There are plenty of coaches, too: Lalonde and his staff, as well as Grand Rapids head coach Dan Watson and his staff, too, to handle Monday’s double duty.

The Wings will be playing a Sabres team that’s split into squads, too — trans-Atlantic squads, no less: One group of Sabres, which includes Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson, are in Europe for the Global Series, while another squad stayed behind in Buffalo.

2. Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff suggests that the Red Wings will have to sort out their three-headed goaltending monster this upcoming week:

Continue reading Three things: A busy week ahead, sorting out goaltending and taking heed of the Tigers’ playoff run