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!

A bit of praise for John Gibson

DobberHockey’s Eli Feldman includes Red Wings goaltender John Gibson on his list of the “Top 10 Players on New Teams for 2025-2026“:

John Gibson, G, Detroit Red Wings

Following three-straight underwhelming campaigns, John Gibson ranked T-13th in goals saved above expected in 2024-2025, albeit, in just 29 games played. Gibson’s stellar performance last season was enough to entice the Red Wings, who acquired the veteran netminder in exchange for Petr Mrazek and two picks this offseason. Behind a Red Wings defence led by one of the league’s best rearguards in Moritz Seider, Gibson has a chance to replicate last season’s stellar play and, in turn, ingrain himself as the Wings’ No. 1 goalie.

Continued; if Gibson’s healthy, the Wings will theoretically see an upgrade in goal this season.

Bultman offers half-a-dozen Prospect Games observations, praises Nate Danielson’s initial impact

The Athletic’s Max Bultman offers half-a-dozen impressions of the Red Wings prospects’ play over the course of this past weekend’s Prospect Games in Frisco, Texas:

I like what I see from Nate Danielson just about every time I watch him. He’s always in the right place defensively, a testament to his hockey sense. He’s a strong skater, he’s skilled and he shows a real feel for distributing the puck. All of that, at 6-foot-2, is a strong collection of traits for a young center.

The question with him, historically, has tended to be whether his statistical production matches his tools and the visual impact. This weekend it did, as Danielson was on the scoresheet in both games, tallying a goal and an assist while playing in every possible situation for the Red Wings.

“I was hoping that he was going to be one of the best players on the ice tonight, (and) he was,” head coach Dan Watson said after the Saturday game, and Sunday was much of the same.

He transported the puck, showed off an advanced defensive stick and looked noticeably thicker, too, later saying he put on “probably seven or eight pounds.” He measured in at 197 lbs. going into camp. That should be valuable as he tries to translate his strong two-way game against NHL size and strength.

Based on how Detroit has handled top prospects under Steve Yzerman, Danielson will need to be virtually undeniable to break camp with the Red Wings. But in my eyes, their best-case scenario this season involves him being part of the roster for a large portion of the year.

Continued (paywall)

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s adaptation to North American hockey may not take a particularly long time

After the Detroit Red Wings’ prospects split their two-game series against the Dallas Stars’ prospects this past weekend, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff asked Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson about Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s adjustment period to North American hockey:

“I don’t think there’s going to be a long transition period for him to get used to how to play here in North America,” Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson said.

Could it happen fast enough for Brandsegg-Nygard to open the NHL season in Detroit? Maybe. It’s not like such an outcome would be unprecedented.

In 2022, another big forward, Elmer Soderblom, grabbed a spot off a strong preseason showing. The year before, Lucas Raymond did likewise and never looked back.

Even if he doesn’t break camp with the big club, Brandsegg-Nygard could show the Red Wings he’s ready by dominating in the AHL. That’s what got Marco Kasper quickly promoted last season.

A clear asset in Brandsegg-Nygard’s toolkit is that what he brings to the ice is a quality that the Red Wings don’t possess in quantity. He plays a hard, heavy game. He’ll go into traffic and barge into the corners with a determined ferocity.

“I think one thing is we can see he’s a competitor,” Watson said. “He’s winning a lot of 50-50 battles with a stick, with his body. He’s a physical player. He gets right in there.”

Continued; Duff notes that Brandsegg-Nygard himself believes that he’s well-adapted to playing bump-and-grind, north-south hockey:

“I feel like it’s more physical over here, and I like to be the physical player of the game, so I’m trying to do that,” Brandsegg-Nygard said. “And, I mean, I like that it’s always going north every time, so we get like skating toward the O zone. And I do not like to play in the D zone. So it’s fun to, like, just get it up right away. And yeah, I mean, hockey is hockey.”

Recapping the Red Wings’ 6-5 loss during Sunday’s Prospect Games affair, and offering some implications thereof

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects split their “Prospect Games” against the Dallas Stars, winning a 6-2 decision over Dallas on Saturday, and dropping a 6-5 decision on Sunday.

I shared my impressions regarding the second game a couple of hours ago, and while I was getting Aunt Annie dinner, Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson spoke with the Wings’ media corps regarding his take on the game.

Watson told the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan that fatigue was an issue as the young team tried to grind out a pair of wins over the course of a pair of evenings:

“I knew they (Stars) were going to come out on fire, which they did,” said Dan Watson, the Grand Rapids Griffins coach, who coached the Wings’ prospects in these two games. “But I was proud of the way our guys settled in. Once we got some offensive zone time, we were able to wear them down and they took some penalties and then our power play took over, and that was a big momentum boost. (The Wings) probably got a little tired, especially our top six forwards there, we shuffled the lines around later in the game to try and generate some offense. But overall, we’re pleased with what we saw.”

Watson felt the Wings may have been looking for offense too much late in the game.

“When you do that, we didn’t have the numbers back and they capitalized on some wide rush chances and came away with the win,” Watson said.

[Center Nate] Danielson felt the Wings were more structured the night before in a convincing victory.

“We definitely played a lot better as a team (Saturday),” Danielson said. “The games were maybe kind of run around a little bit, and a little sloppy. I know there were a couple of play I’d like back, but that’s kind of the way these games go.”

As DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills noted, there are very few negatives when you’re playing a two-game slate of what are essentially “get a jump on the NHL competition” events against 25-and-under opponents, but coach Watson did see some progression of the positive variety, too:

“I think it’s a great opportunity for the young guys to gel,” Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Dan Watson said. “They’re draft picks, again I mentioned that we hope to see them play together whether it’s in Grand Rapids or Detroit. It’s an opportunity to know each other, learn about each other. The guys I obviously had in Grand Rapids, it was an opportunity for us to see what kind of summer they had. I thought our guys competed really hard all the way through. They probably got a little bit tired, especially our top six forwards there. Shuffled some lines around later in the game to try to generate a little more offense, but overall pretty pleased with what I saw.”

Watson praised the players who ate into the Stars’ early 2-0 lead…

Continue reading Recapping the Red Wings’ 6-5 loss during Sunday’s Prospect Games affair, and offering some implications thereof

Red Wings drop Sunday’s Prospect Games finale 6-5; here are some thoughts and impressions from the game

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects cruised to a 6-2 victory over the Dallas Stars’ prospects on Saturday night, but Sunday night’s affair was a very different matter.

Detroit battled their way back from a 2-0 1st period deficit to push their way into a 5-3 3rd period lead, but Dallas would respond with 3 3rd period goals to swipe a 6-5 victory from the Red Wings’ prospects.

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a fine recap:

Shai Buium, Carson Bantle, Liam Kilfoil, Nate Danielson and Ondrej Becher scored for the Red Wings, who converted three times on the power play.

The Red Wings scored a pair of power-play goals in the first period, which ended tied 2-2.

First, Buium capped a nice passing play with Amadeus Lombardi and Bantle to score his second goal in as many games. Then Bantle, from the edge of the crease, banged in a rebound. Buium is preparing for his second season with the Griffins after tallying two goals and 29 points in 67 games in 2024-25. Bantle appeared in 23 games with Grand Rapids (one goal) and 39 games with the ECHL Toledo Walleye (21 goals, eight assists).

Kilfoil snapped a 2-2 tie by roofing a backhand shot off the rush at 6:28 of the second period. Kilfoil, 18, invited to camp on a tryout, plays for Halifax of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.

Danielson added to the lead with his team’s third power-play goal, cutting to the middle of the ice and firing in a wrist shot from the slot at 11:46.

Becher fired in a one-timer on a pass from Lombardi to put the Red Wings ahead 5-3 at 5:03 of the third period.

Minus PointStreak, which provides detailed stats when the teams are in Traverse City, we’ll rely on Red Wings Prospects on Twitter for the goals and assists…

Continue reading Red Wings drop Sunday’s Prospect Games finale 6-5; here are some thoughts and impressions from the game

Stream link: Game 2 of the Prospect Games between Detroit and Dallas

On Saturday night, the Detroit Red Wings’ Prospect Games team took a 6-2 decision over the Dallas Stars’ prospects.

Tonight, the two teams will battle in the second and final game of the Prospect Games from Frisco, Texas, at 7 PM EDT (6 PM Central). You can watch the game stream on here on DetroitRedWings.com (no embed code, sorry).

It appears that coach Dan Watson’s going with an 11 forwards and 7 defensemen lineup tonight, with Michal Pradel in goal:

Stupid anxiety returns

My apologies for my absence on Saturday. I suffered a massive anxiety attack.

While I availed myself of all the medication I can take and ask the coping mechanisms I know of, I was unable to knock the anxiety back down to a reasonable level.

I will return as soon as I’m able to feel like a human being again. Right now, I’m in a lot of pain and I need to rest as best as I can.

I really hate when this happens. I just want to do my work.

A bit of preseason praise for Noah Dower Nilsson, Anton Johansson and Michal Svrcek

Before every SHL season, Aftonbladet takes some of the SHL’s star players and analysts, and Aftonbladet asks them to create a salary-capped “dream team” roster.

According to Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff, both an SHL expert and an SHL player mentioned Red Wings prospects in their dream team selections:

According to analysts at Sportsbladet, one of those [difference-makers] is going to be Dower Nilsson.

“I think an injury-free Noah Dower Nilsson will get a new lease of life under (new coach) Robert Ohlsson in Frölunda, where he has impressed in the preseason,” Sportbladet’s Jonathan Konekta wrote.

In 35 games last season with Frölunda, Dower Nilsson, 20, accounted for four goals and six assists. Detroit selected him 73rd overall in the 2023 NHL entry draft.

Noah Dower Nilsson was coming off shoulder surgery a summer ago, so he didn’t get a full season in during the 2024-2025 campaign…

Along with himself, former Red Wings forward Mathias Brome is including Red Wings prospects Anton Johansson and Michal Svrcek on his team.

“Anton Johansson will get to play a lot (in Leksand),” Brome said. “Michal Svrcek is a cheap wing in Brynäs.”

21-year-old Anton Johansson comes highly-heralded by many, including his father, Tjomme, who happens to be Leksands IF’s GM, and Svrcek, a 2025 draft pick, has pluck, and may very well play the majority of his season on Brynas’ A-Team.