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!

Theo Rochette among the Red Wings’ most intriguing prospects

The Athletic’s Max Bultman offers several thoughts regarding the Red Wings’ 2026 prospect tournament this morning, discussing Carter Bear’s impressive form, Theo Rochette’s North American return, Nate Danielson, Trey Augustine, Anton Johansson and draft picks Myles Brosnan and Noah Dower-Nilsson:

1. If Bear was the standout of game one, Rochette probably deserved that title for Sunday’s game. Beyond that first goal, he created multiple rush chances with takeaways, ran the left flank on the power play and showed a nice blend of skill and skating. He scored Saturday too, notching the game-tying goal with a nice move to the net from below the goal line.

And really, Rochette should be a standout. While he’s a new name to Red Wings fans, Rochette is a 24-year-old center the Red Wings signed out of Switzerland this summer after finishing eighth in the NL with 43 points in 46 games last season. He was good enough to make Switzerland’s World Championship team in the spring, and thus certainly should be expected to look a cut above the field at an event like this.

Continue reading Theo Rochette among the Red Wings’ most intriguing prospects

Jesse Kiiskinen offers offensive ‘pop’ for the Red Wings, Grand Rapids Griffins

Detroit Hockey Now’s Max Smith discusses Red Wings prospect Jesse Kiiskinen this morning, arguing that Kiiskinen brings a scoring touch to a slightly diminished Grand Rapids Griffins team:

While Kiiskinen doesn’t appear to be in line quite yet for a spot on the Red Wings roster, the young Finn proved that his 2024-25 season playing at just under a point-per-game pace (14 goals, 30 assists in 46 games) wasn’t a fluke. The 197-pound winger upped his goal-scoring totals last year to 17, though his total points dropped to 28.

However, Kiiskinen still finished in the top three of his team for offensive production and spotted three more points on HPK’s six-game playoff run. The young Finn’s production has mostly come from his ability to shoot hard and fast from the mid-range, but last night’s goal was emblematic of the effort and energy that Kiiskinen brings.

With smaller North American ice, he will get plenty of opportunities to throw his body around and mix things up with opponents in traffic. The Red Wings have plenty of players who play with that kind of energy, but not many combine that energy with the extra size and seeming durability to back it up for a full season.

Detroit’s offseason deemed the ‘most bizarre’ by The Athetic’s McIndoe

The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe discusses teams which had the “most bizarre” offseasons in the Eastern Conference this morning, with the Detroit Red Wings taking the title:

Detroit Red Wings

The offseason so far: The summer was dominated by the Dylan Larkin saga, as the team’s (then) captain decided he wanted out, shooting him to the top of the offseason trade board and making him public enemy number one for the vast majority of Wings fans. That was especially true once we found out he intended to use his no-trade clause to narrow his list of potential destinations down to just a reported three.

The response from around the hockey world was nearly unanimous: Hold the line, Steve Yzerman!

Uh, Steve? You still there, Steve?

But their strangest story was: Ditching Yzerman as GM, which is something a lot of us figured they’d never have the courage to do. (Even if it was framed as a promotion to senior advisor or whatever.)

But what made this situation even weirder is the timing. The move didn’t come after the season ended, or even after some sort of multi-week organizational review. Instead, the Wings waited until mid-July to drop the bomb. And they somehow still haven’t hired a replacement.

Bizarro-meter ranking: 9.4/10. And after all that, Larkin will report to camp after all, but will be stripped of the captaincy. Quite the way to cap off the league’s weirdest offseason. Congratulations on winning something for the first time in a decade, Wings fans.

Continued (paywall)

HSJ in the morning: Regarding Dylan Larkin’s situation

The Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses 3 topics of note during training camp including the Red Wings’ managerial search, Dylan Larkin’s future and re-signing Simon Edvinsson:

Dylan Larkin trade request to address

Larkin said Friday will report to camp (to hold out would mean he would not be paid), simultaneously with the Wings announcing Larkin has been stripped of the captaincy. So many more questions remain for Larkin to address, and the prudent thing would be to do so on opening day of camp, rather than let it linger.

Among the questions: What pushed him, shortly after the season ended in mid-April, to request a trade? Was it spurred by missing the playoffs again, or had it been simmering since winning the gold medal with his fellow USA teammates at the 2026 Milano Olympics? (Fellow USA teammate Brady Tkachuk was traded from the Ottawa Senators to Florida Panthers in June, and fellow USA teammate and Michigander Connor Hellebuyck has asked out of Winnipeg.)

Continue reading HSJ in the morning: Regarding Dylan Larkin’s situation

Red Wings-Penguins prospect tournament wrap-up: Pens’ penalty-kill, Wings’ mistakes mar Detroit’s net-front drive, Rochette’s display of skill

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects dropped a 4-3 decision to the penalty-killing Pittsburgh Penguins’ prospects on Sunday evening, dropping the Wings’ record to 1-and-1 (Detroit defeated Dallas’ prospects 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday night).

The Red Wings, Penguins, Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets will take Monday off, and the prospect tournament will conclude with a game between the Wings and Blue Jackets on Tuesday at 2 PM EDT (to be streamed on DetroitRedWings.com).

On Sunday night, the Red Wings opened the scoring only 23 seconds into the 1st period as Theo Rochette raced in and roofed a Carter Bear set-up over Penguins goaltender Xavier Wendt, and after the Penguins quickly tied the game, Jacob Truscott blasted a slapper off Kienan Draper’s pants to make it 2-1, a lead that stood up for the remainder of the 1st period…

But the wheels began to come off the Red Wings’ machine in the 2nd period. First, Tomas Galvas scored to tie the game 2-2 with a highlight reel marker…

And then Brayden Edwards leaned into a power play one-timer that beat Michal Orsulak to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead at 12:23 of the 2nd period.

Detroit would tie the game 3-3 on an Adam Levac goal at 14:16, but the game devolved into a series of power plays and penalty-kills for the duration of the 2nd and 3rd periods…

And Kienan Draper would suffer the indignity of wearing goat horns as Pittsburgh’s Jordan Charron sent a centering pass of Draper’s skate and through Orsulak’s legs early in the 3rd, and while the Red Wings received power play after power play, the Penguins ended up killing 7 of 8 Detroit opportunities on the evening.

Continue reading Red Wings-Penguins prospect tournament wrap-up: Pens’ penalty-kill, Wings’ mistakes mar Detroit’s net-front drive, Rochette’s display of skill

Red Wings-Penguins prospect tournament Tweetcap: Detroit’s prospects lose 4-3 to Pittsburgh’s penalty-killers

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects battled the Pittsburgh Penguins’ prospects on Sunday night at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center, with both teams playing in their second of three games at the Red Wings’ 2026 Prospect Tournament.

Detroit would ultimately lose a 4-3 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ prospects thanks to some spectacular penalty-killing from the Pens in a penalty-filled game, and Pittsburgh rallied from a 2-1 deficit and 3-3 tie thanks to a terribly unlucky “own goal” in which Kienan Draper accidentally redirected a Jordan Charron shot through Wings goaltender Michal Orsulak’s legs.

It was a frustrating game for the Wings’ prospects, who started out on fire, but faded down the stretch as the Penguins’ PK sapped Detroit’s momentum.

PREGAME: The Red Wings dressed the following lineup, with no Nate Danielson or Anton Johansson on the roster this evening, and Orsulak starting in goal:

Continue reading Red Wings-Penguins prospect tournament Tweetcap: Detroit’s prospects lose 4-3 to Pittsburgh’s penalty-killers

Griffins coach Dan Watson discusses evaluating the Red Wings’ prospects during Detroit’s 2026 prospect tournament

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills offers a recap of yesterday night’s 4-3 Red Wings’ prospects victory over the Dallas Stars’ prospects, and the most pertinent remarks come from Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson, who’s managing Detroit’s bench for the duration of the prospect tournament:

Behind Detroit’s bench for the fourth straight NHL Prospect Tournament, Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Dan Watson noted he’ll be in “evaluation mode” over these next few days.

“I will say that for sure,” Watson said. “I’m looking to see what their skillsets are, maybe what roles they can fill. I saw [Dylan] James and [Kienan] Draper there — they were the first ones over the boards for penalty kill. Everyone’s got a role to fill in GR, and I’m just trying to see where everyone’s going to fit and what they can bring to our team.”

Although these games don’t count in the standings, they matter a great deal to all the youngsters who are trying to take the next step. And with only four preseason contests before the NHL’s newly expanded 84-game regular-season schedule begins next month, that leaves less room than before to prove oneself.

“It’s great to get those games and come into Camp as ready as you can be,” defenseman Anton Johansson said. “You have games under your legs, and you know what it’s all about.”

Continue reading Griffins coach Dan Watson discusses evaluating the Red Wings’ prospects during Detroit’s 2026 prospect tournament

The NHL Network names Moritz Seider its 30th ‘Best Player Right Now’

Update: Per NHL.com:

30. Moritz Seider, D, Detroit Red Wings

Seider set NHL career bests in goals (10), assists (50), points (60), power-play points (28) and average time on ice (25:40) while playing all 82 games for the fifth straight season. His streak of 410 consecutive games played is second among active NHL defensemen (Brent Burns, 1,007) and tied for fifth among all active skaters. The 25-year-old was the first Detroit defenseman to have a 60-point season since Nicklas Lidstrom had 62 in 2010-11. He also led Red Wings defensemen with 180 blocked shots and was second with 128 hits, and finished fifth in voting for the Norris Trophy as the League’s top defenseman. The Red Wings were a different team with Seider on the ice — his 53.2 percent shot attempts percentage (SAT%) at 5-on-5 this season was higher than Detroit’s overall 49.2 percent SAT%.

Trey Augustine’s ready for a big transition from college to pro hockey

Red Wings prospect goaltender Trey Augustine’s “turning pro” for his first full season with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins this fall, and Augustine told MLive’s Ansar Khan that he’s very aware of the fact that he’s no longer a college student at Michigan State University…

“It has been my job for a while, but even more so now, it’s definitely a job,” Augustine said. “But I’m looking forward to the ups and downs that come with that.”

Augustine, 21, is preparing for his first full pro season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, after joining the AHL club in April. He made 26 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped all eight shootout attempts Saturday in a 4-3 victory over Dallas in the NHL Prospects Tournament. He’ll take part in his first pro training camp starting Thursday at Little Caesars Arena. Then he’ll join Michal Postava in Grand Rapids.

“It’s a new chapter in my life,” Augustine, selected 41st overall in 2023, said. “I’m just really excited to be a professional hockey player and really excited to be part of this organization.”

And Griffins coach Dan Watson explained to Khan that the differences between school-age structure and the structure (and lack thereof) surrounding professional hockey is a stark change for even the best-prepared athletes to deal with:

Continue reading Trey Augustine’s ready for a big transition from college to pro hockey

Tweet of note: a ‘tough act to follow’

In a lighthearted post on Twitter/X, the Red Wings’ social media crew asked its prospect tournament participants who they’d like to see play them in a movie: