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.
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Continued (paywall); here’s his take on Sandin Pellika:
Sandin Pellikka often played 20-25 minutes with the SHL champions last year, including in the playoffs. His 12 goals and 25 goals in 53 combined regular-season and playoff games last season rank among the all-time best U19 seasons in SHL history, alongside names like Victor Hedman and Rasmus Dahlin. He’ll play in a third world juniors this winter for Sweden after helping them to a silver on home ice last year. He’s a strong and competitive 5-foot-11 with real power-play upside. And yet it feels like he flies a little under the radar. Edvinsson has arrived, but folks in Sweden think Sandin Pellikka will be right behind him, with some believing in him as a potential star and others viewing him more as a second-pairing type.
Wheeler is tremendously talented when it comes to evaluating prospects, but player development is an inexact science, and players can develop into better (or worse) players than anybody can prognosticate, even a prospect guru like Wheeler.
Red Wings prospect and University of Michigan junior forward Kienan Draper “took a lap” with new teammate William Whitelaw at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, asking Whitelaw some bemusing questions along the way:
He’s probably not going to make the Red Wings’ roster out of the exhibition season, but his attributes have Red Wings fans and beat writers alike wondering if the Wings might assign Brandsegg-Nygard to Grand Rapids instead of returning him to Skelleftea in the SHL–as the Wings are able to do because they signed Brandsegg-Nygard to an entry-level contract this past summer.
Add in that PTOs can be notoriously hard to turn into actual contracts, and Watson is certainly looking at an uphill battle over the next two weeks in Detroit. But having seen this team up close, from the other side of the ice, he believes he can help them.
“Very familiar with playing against this team, seeing the skill, seeing the high-end players and the growth that this team has taken over the last few years,” Watson said. “But also knowing that a little bit of that physicality, a little bit of that — pardon my French, but a little bit of that ‘F— you’ attitude, a little bit of that toughness, that meanness, is something that looked, potentially, like I might be able to come in here and help provide.”
Watson is quick to note he doesn’t feel he’s made his career as a so-called enforcer. He doesn’t view himself as “the toughest guy in the world.”
“But I’ve not backed down from anybody, ever, either,” he said. “I’m pretty active if you look at the fight card every year, and I take pride in being a loyal teammate and always looking out for guys. But that, I think, comes with playing the game hard: getting in on the forecheck, being fast up the ice, back in the own zone, really taking pride in that 200-foot game.”
Clearly, the Red Wings found that at least worth exploring over the course of the exhibition season.
“We want to have a little of that element,” Lalonde said. “But at the same time, we need the player to help us.”
Continued (paywall); at 6’4″ and 205 pounds, Watson, a former 10th overall pick of the Nashville Predators in 2010, can definitely fit the bill as an enforcer type, and I’m not one for placing a roadblock in front of Carter Mazur, Marco Kasper or Nate Danielson…
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 25: Antti Tuomisto #24 of the Detroit Red Wings and Kevin Korchinski #14 of the Chicago Blackhawks collide during the second period of a preseason game at the United Center on September 25, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
But last night against Chicago, at least, Watson made a seeing-eye pass to Tyler Motte for the Red Wings’ first goal, he looked fully capable of performing in a 4th line role, and there was a growl to his game. There was much more to his game than fisticuffs–which he did not engage in last night–and he looked like a player who is smart enough to know when to pick his spots and when to utilize a good skill set.
I’m not saying that he set the world on fire, and it was just one exhibition game, but it was an encouraging showing nonetheless.
We’ll see what happens over the course of the exhibition season. He may have to sign a two-way contract and start out the season in Grand Rapids, but if he’s willing to do so, I think that it won’t hurt to have somebody riding shotgun for all of the Red Wings’ bright prospects in GR.
I talked about this last night, and this morning, I found a video clip of what happened after A.J. Spellacy laid the boom down on Lucas Raymond via a dangerous clipping play at the Red Wings’ blueline, and Dylan Larkin took the number of the bus that his his teammate, and retaliated in kind.
AJ Spellacy didn’t waste any time getting into the spirit of what once was hockey’s greatest rivalry. Late in the first period, he delivered a big hit to Lucas Raymond in the offensive zone. Moments later, after he had darted back into the Red Wings’ end, he stumbled a bit and ended up taking a Dylan Larkin forearm shiver to the face, prompting the first skirmish of the preseason. Spellacy popped right up and jumped into the fray, shoving Detroit’s Albert Johansson in the face a couple of times. While most of the players were shaking off the rust and easing into the preseason, Spellacy was running around like it was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. That’ll happen when you’re 18 and wearing an NHL jersey in an NHL rink for the first time.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 25: Dylan Larkin #71 of the Detroit Red Wings collides with AJ Spellacy #79 of the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period of a preseason game at the United Center on September 25, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 25: Referees separate the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings during a scuffle during the first period of a preseason game at the United Center on September 25, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
We’ll see what happens in terms of George Parros and the Department of Player Safety over the next 48 hours. Spellacy’s clipping play is clearly dangerous, and Larkin’s “interference” penalty is dangerous as well.
Last season, the Red Wings pushed right to the end for a playoff spot, thanks to the NHL’s ninth best offense (3.35 goals per game) overcoming the ninth worst defense (3.33).
Goaltending woes received some of the blame for the latter, and GM Steve Yzerman turned to 37-year-old Cam Talbot to help solidify that spot. He joins no fewer than five goaltenders trying to stake a claim on NHL playing time in training camp. I believe it was the great John Madden — the football guy, not the former NHL center — who was credited with saying that “if you’ve got two quarterbacks, you’ve got none.”
But in reality, their goaltending (17th in save percentage) wasn’t the problem that their 5-on-5 defense (22nd in expected goals against) was last season. The Red Wings have to prove they can defend well enough to earn a playoff spot. I’m not confident they will, nor am I confident that they’re going to post another 12.1% shooting percentage.
Continued (paywall); again, the Red Wings will simply have to prove the media corps wrong, because we’re going to continue hearing “the Red Wings will be worse this year!” by prognosticators and predictors this fall.
The Detroit Red Wings opened their exhibition season with a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night, kicking off the 8-games-in-12-nights stretch with a victory that took approximately as much effort as one might expect from what was the first game in five months for both teams.
Because the Hawks have scrimmaged so much in training camp, they haven’t spent much time practicing power-play situations yet, and that was evident Wednesday. Their first opportunity produced some good looks, but their three man-advantages after that yielded little. That was one of many areas where the Hawks weren’t sharp in their preseason opener.
“[There were] a lot of sloppy plays…on both ends,” Connor Bedard said. “But it’s all of our first games in four or five months, so [that’s] to be expected a little, I guess. There’s definitely a lot of areas to clean up for both teams.
“It takes a few games to get your legs feeling it. I feel like I did more conditioning than I’ve ever done, and I was still pretty gassed.”
Bedard assisted Teuvo Teravainen for the Hawks’ second goal; Teravainen said his United Center return “felt like the old days” again. Goalie Petr Mrazek saved 20 of 22 shots during his two periods of action.
The Detroit Red Wings jetted to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks at the United Center on Wednesday night, kicking off their 2024-2025 exhibition season.
The Red Wings scored only a minute and ten seconds into the game, via a Tyler Motte jab of a turnover retrieval by Joe Veleno, forwarded by try-out Austin Watson, but the Blackhawks would score the next two goals, and Detroit trailed 2-1 until late in the 2nd period, when Jeff Petry ripped a sneaky shot through a Carter Mazur screen to make it 2-2 at 18:38.
In the 3rd period, Lucas Raymond would score a power play marker on assists from Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat to make it 3-2, at 3:41, and just over ten minutes later, Emmitt Finnie turned, found Erik Gustafsson at the center point, and he laterally passed the puck to Olli Maatta, who ripped a top-shelf blast over Blackhawks goaltender Mitchell Weeks.
Things got scrambly late, but Sebastian Cossa was excellent in the 3rd period, stopping 10 shots; Ville Husso made a couple of mistakes on the 2 goals he let up, but stopped 15 of 17, and Detroit both went 1-for-3 in 5:22 of PP time, and killed 4 Chicago Blackhawks power plays.
The NHL Network is posting YouTube-formatted videos of their Top 50 Players Right Now, so this is basically me posting something that I’ve been able to share in link form but not embed as NHL.com’s disabled its embedding code.
Here’s Stu Grimson and Jamie Hersch discussing the NHL Network’s 42nd-best player, one Dylan Larkin:
“It’s good to be home, a place where I played a lot of hockey growing up,” said Motte, who played at the Plymouth Township-based United State National Team Development Program and collegiately at Michigan. “But with the team heading in the right direction, hopefully I can continue this push. I had conversations with Steve (Yzerman, general manager) and the staff over the summer, and I really like the opportunity to be part of this group. There’s a lot of familiar faces, so that has helped make the transition pretty easy.”
Motte was an offensive force at Michigan playing on a line with current teammate J.T. Compher and Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets), but has evolved into an elite defensive forward in the NHL. Motte thrives on the chance to go on the penalty kill or getting to face a tough matchup.
“I enjoy it for sure; it’s my favorite part of the game,” Motte said. “It’s not the most sexy part, but I appreciate the competitive nature of it. Being down a guy and trying to get the job done, the momentum swing it can create for the group. It’s something I’ve always hung my hat on. When you’re doing your job and helping your team win, I really appreciate those opportunities to do that.”
Motte has noticed an intense, driven team so far in camp.
“The group as a whole basically fell a point short last year from getting in (to the playoffs),” Motte said. “They played a little bit of playoff-style hockey down the stretch to make it interesting and be in the conversation. (The coaching staff) just wants a little bit more from us.
