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!

Morning news: On the ‘Bubble Team’ Wings, Raymond’s imminent milestone and Kiiskinen’s good luck charm

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski posted an ESPN+ article which discusses the levels of playoff hope for the “NHL’s Bubble Watch” teams, and here’s what he has to say about the Red Wings, who “have work to do”:

Detroit Red Wings

Record: 21-21-5, 47 points
Playoff chances: 12.9%

GM Steve Yzerman fired head coach Derek Lalonde after three seasons and a 13-17-4 record. Enter Todd McLellan, trying to end an eight-season playoff drought in the Motor City. While nothing has shifted dramatically in their underlying numbers, the Wings went 6-3-1 in a 10-game stretch under McLellan to keep pace in the East.

To his credit, the veteran coach is doing what he can to get their attention, with post-game comments such as: “Say you’re at your desk but you’re not working, then you’re useless. It’s one thing being there, it’s the other thing getting the job done.”

Playoff quality goaltending rating: Fair. The Red Wings’ goaltending depth chart looked like an “American Idol” audition earlier this season, but Detroit has settled on Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon as their tandem. Stathletes has both netminders under water in goals saved above expected; Money Puck’s numbers indicate they’re both better than expected. One thing is clear: McLellan is very familiar with Talbot, having coached him in Edmonton and Los Angeles previously.

Continued (paywall);

2. The NHL is going to reveal its “Quarter-Century Team” for the Detroit Red Wings later today, and if this player is not on the “second team,” I would be surprised.

One Lucas Raymond is about to make some history, as the Hockey News’s Caleb Kerney notes:

Continue reading Morning news: On the ‘Bubble Team’ Wings, Raymond’s imminent milestone and Kiiskinen’s good luck charm

Duff on the Wings’ 5-on-5 scoring issues

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff follows the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan in discussing the Red Wings’ troubles scoring 5-on-5:

Detroit accounts for 30.53% of all goals while on the power play. The Red Wings are scoring just 58% of goals while 5-on-5.

Relying on the power play to carry the day so much is a recipe for disaster. Power-play units tend to run like the winter weather. They’re very up and down and can be prone to enduring lone cold spells.

Detroit was 17-for-34 (50%) while going 8-2 during Todd McLellan’s first 10 games as coach. Over the last three games, the Red Wings are 1-for-10 (10%) with the man advantage.

Even though it’s not showing through yet on a regular basis, Larkin beleives the club’s 5-on-5 game is trending in the right direction since McLellan took over as coach from Derek Lalonde late last month.

“It’s been better to be honest with you,” Larkin said. “We’ve had way more of a shot focus. Shoot it and get it back and play that way. Especially when things aren’t going our way Todd is very vocal about being direct. He says it all the time, so I think it’s been better that way. We haven’t been as much on the outside.”

Continued

Even-strength scoring a big problem for the Red Wings

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article which discusses the fact that the Red Wings only scored 3 goals over the course of their 0-2-and-1 streak, with the team needing very badly to increase its efficiency in terms of scoring 5-on-5. Coach Todd McLellan told Kulfan the following:

“(The) start in Florida and play against that team and weather their storm, that was our real good win. Tampa a little bit disappointing because we got tricked with the volume of shots, but not the intensity around the net. Dallas, after falling behind 3-0, we settled in but the game really does change for both teams at that point. Then we finished strong and hard (in Philadelphia). You never head out for 50-50; you always want more and we came up a little short. An average trip for our group.”

During the seven-game win streak earlier in the month, the Wings had got to the net and converted chances that were there. On the three final games of this trip, that wasn’t happening.

“We’re getting pucks to the net, (but) we’re not getting sticks on the secondary ones (opportunities),” McLellan said. “When we were playing against Seattle (a 6-2 victory during the win streak) and having that swarm mentality, if it got to the net we found a way to get a stick on the secondary one. Right now, if we do get it, we’re kind of off in the corner. We’re just not quick enough. But we’ve probably earned some respect, too, of some of the other teams now, and they may take us a little more serious, and that’s a great thing.”

Therein lies the rub. The Red Wings need to get to rebounds, screen goaltenders, and generate secondary scoring opportunities. They’ve got to stop at the net and bang pucks into the net.

With the three losses, the Wings are again beginning to drift further away from an Eastern Conference playoff spot, as they did just before the holiday break, which led to the head-coaching change. The inability to gain much positive traction much of the first half of the season put the Wings in a hole that won’t be easy from which to dig out.

Even with a seven-game win streak, the Wings never were able to pull themselves into the top eight of the conference.

“We’ve been in this position (before); we were here last year,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “So was Philly and Pittsburgh and other teams, and teams have been in this position. You have to capitalize on your opportunities, and when you’re feeling good you have to accumulate points. A night like (Tuesday), we didn’t have our legs and it was a sloppy game, but we found a way to get a point. It would have been nice to get two, and especially with the way things have been going.”

Continued (paywall)

Stange an Hobey Baker nominee

The Hobey Baker Award nominees were named today, and Red Wings prospect and Michigan State University goaltender Trey Augustine is one of them. According to Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff, a prospect that many believe is no longer Red Wings property is also a nominee:

[Forward Sam] Stange is leading the [University of Nebraska-Omaha] Mavericks in goals (nine), points (16) and game-winning goals (three). The fifth-year senior is a transfer from Wisconsin. Detroit made Stange the 97th overall selection of the 2020 NHL entry draft. The Red Wings have until Aug. 15 of this year to sign Stange, or he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Continued; depending on who you talk to, Stange is either still Red Wings property, or he’s “aged out.”

Big Elmer makes a good first impression

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted an article about Elmer Soderblom’s attempts to stick with the Red Wings in his second go-round with the team:

“I just want to show my game and play the way I’ve been playing,” Soderblom said before Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. “Show that I can play at this level, so I’m excited.”

Making his 2024-25 season debut with the Red Wings on Tuesday night, Soderblom recorded one shot and two hits in 13:54 of ice time in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Flyers. Additionally, Soderblom skated on a line with Michael Rasmussen and Christian Fischer.

“Very happy with him,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said about Soderblom’s play against the Flyers. “Again, not knowing what to expect, just hearsay around the locker room or the organization. Right from morning skate, he looked like he fit in. He played with some authority. I thought that fourth line had an identity.”

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said he was impressed by Soderblom’s focus and skill.

“His size and hands stick out right away, but [Soderblom] was engaged,” Larkin said. “I think he made a lot of really good plays. It would have been nice to see him get one on one of those chances early, but what he brings to the table is great to have. I was really impressed with his attitude and the way he handled himself.”

Soderblom, in 38 games with the Griffins this season, has 17 points on five goals and 12 assists. He’s appeared in 119 AHL games for Grand Rapids since 2022-23, totaling 54 points (23 goals, 31 assists).

“The group in Grand Rapids is really good,” Soderblom said. “It’s a great group of guys, and I think we’re showing that through our games. We’re playing well, so this year has been really good.”

Continued

Khan: Red Wings face more challenges as they begin a 3-game home stand

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the necessity of the Red Wings earning points as the team finds itself amidst a half-dozen-team logjam in the Eastern Conference:

The Red Wings (21-21-5, 47 points) are in danger of falling further behind if they don’t stop their three-game slide (0-2-1) Thursday against Montreal in the start of a key three-game homestand (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network).

The Canadiens (24-19-4, 52 points) are 13-3-1 in their past 17 and sit in the final wild card spot. They swept a home-and-home set from the Red Wings on Dec. 20-21, winning 4-3 at Little Caesars Arena and 5-1 at home. Montreal was last in the league in 2021-22 and now it’s a playoff contender.

“It’s a team that’s around us in the standings,” Lucas Raymond told media following Tuesday’s 2-1 overtime loss at Philadelphia. “They’ve been having a good year. They’re a good team but so are we. It’s home ice for us and it’s about taking care of it. I think everyone’s excited to get out there, get back on the right track and play the way we did previous to this trip for 7-8 games. We know the way we’re supposed to play, so it’s just about getting back to that.”

…

Scoring has improved under McLellan, who has given players more rope to be aggressive offensively and has encouraged a shot mentality. They rank 24th at 2.79 goals per game.

But they’re still struggling five-on-five, ranked 30th with 76 goals.

“It’s been better,” Dylan Larkin told media after Tuesday’s game. “We’ve had way more of a shot focus. Shoot it and get it back and play that way. Especially when things aren’t going our way Todd is very vocal about being direct. We haven’t been as much on the outside. Five-on-five is hard in this league. I thought we did a better job tonight of getting around the crease and second and third looks.”

Continued (paywall)

Tweet of note: Red Savage’s ‘upper-body injury’ troublesome

Not good news from the Detroit News’s Connor Eargood:

Tweet of note: Trey Augustine named a Hobey Baker Award nominee

Per Red Wings Prospects on Twitter, Red Wings prospect and Michigan State University goaltender Trey Augustine has been named a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award:

Wednesday’s fundraising post

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