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!

Tweets from Thursday’s practice: coach Lalonde will start Lyon for 2 periods vs. Chicago Friday; Talbot will play 3rd period

Sorry these are late; I got sick today and needed to rest a bit:

Tweet of note: Red Wings will hold ‘red carpet walk’ on Saturday, October 12th vs. Nashville

FYI:

Prospect round-up: Sandin Pellikka registers assist on an SHL Thursday

Of Red Wings prospect-related note today:

In the SHL, Noah Dower Nilsson finished even with 1 shot in 7:23 played in Frolunda HC’s 3-1 win over HV71;

Anton Johansson finished even with a shot on goal, a penalty taken and 10:36 played in Leksands IF’s 4-1 win over Rogle BK;

And Axel Sandin Pellikka had an assist, took a penalty and finished at +3 in 19:26 as Skelleftea AIK won 4-0 over the Vaxjo Lakers:

Praise for Simon Edvinsson as a potential break-out star

Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli lists 10 players who he believes are ready to break out as star players this upcoming season, and he lists Simon Edvinsson among their number:

SIMON EDVINSSON
Left Defense, Detroit Red Wings
Age: 21
Last Year: 16 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 Pts
Seravalli Sees: 70 GP, 3 G, 15 A, 18 Pts
Scoop: Without making too bold of a prediction, Edvinsson is already the Wings’ second-best defenseman behind only Moritz Seider. It’s been a methodical development from Grands Rapids to Motown, with a taste of the NHL each of the last two seasons. But it’s only been a taste. Edvinsson is ready for more. He might not be a significant point producer at the NHL level, but the 6-foot-6, No. 6 overall pick from 2021 has a strong shot and moves really well for a mountain of a man. He should be chewing up 20 minutes a night this season.

Continued

Tweets from Thursday’s practice: Red Wings work on special teams as ‘second group’ prepares for Hawks rematch

Updated at 11:43 AM: The Detroit Red Wings’ probable “game day” group for Friday’s rematch with the Chicago Blackhawks practiced early this morning at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center:

Continue reading Tweets from Thursday’s practice: Red Wings work on special teams as ‘second group’ prepares for Hawks rematch

A positively middling goaltending ranking for the Wings

Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin ranked the goaltending tandems/trios of the NHL’s 32 teams, and I’m surprised how highly the Red Wings rank, all things considered:

19. DETROIT RED WINGS: Cam Talbot, Alex Lyon & Ville Husso

Talbot was one of the NHL’s best goalies for much of last season. He also played with a stingy Kings defense in front of him. It will be interesting to see how he fares with the leaky Red Wings. He’s the presumed 1A, but Lyon had his moments in spurts last season and, weathering a storm of opposing chances, graded out above average in goal saved above expected. Husso, on the other hand, did not. He’s clearly the tertiary option right now.

Continued; I’m gonna be honest and suggest that Lyon was so inconsistent down the stretch that he is probably the Wings’ second option right now, if not the third. Detroit needs to see what Ville Husso can do as well…

But the honest truth is that it’s not up to us. It’s going to be up to the goaltenders themselves to sort their respective situations out over the course of the exhibition season and the first 10-15 games of the regular season.

‘Just win, baby’

Bleacher Reports’ estimable Joe Yerdon pondered “1 problem to solve for each NHL team” as the 2024-2025 season approacheth, and here’s what he suggested the Red Wings need to do:

Detroit Red Wings

Win…Or else

Is it a cop-out to say that the one problem the Detroit Red Wings have to address is just winning? Perhaps, but that’s what all of it boils down to for GM Steve Yzerman now.

The team he’s put together is his project and this is the vision he’s set forth and they’ve got a lot of excellent players to make it work. Dylan Larkin, Patrick Kane, Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider…they’re all outstanding. Their depth of veterans has all been there, seen and done it elsewhere to varying levels of success, and their younger players have grown into this setting.

We could highlight how their possession numbers or scoring chance quality has to be better and the goaltending in general must improve. But they showed for a good part of last season that they can perform at a playoff-caliber level and get back to the postseason for the first time since 2016, but their inconsistency later in the year crushed them and despite a valiant attempt to get back into it late in the year, they fell short again.

The Red Wings have to adopt the old Al Davis saying: Just win, baby. Because if they don’t, the offseason could get really uncomfortable.

Continued; I don’t think that making the playoffs will be the success-or-failure metric for Yzerman and the Red Wings’ management team this upcoming season, but it will factor into the overall assessment as to whether the Wings made forward progress.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 25: Dylan Larkin #71 of the Detroit Red Wings talks with Lucas Raymond #23, Alex DeBrincat #93 and Olli Maatta #2 against the Chicago Blackhawks 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)

Between the salary cap’s likely substantial rise next summer and the fact that the roster begins to open up in terms of free agent slots (if you check out PuckPedia), there is potential for substantial change should the Wings not perform up to their fan base’s expectations.

The Athletic ranks prospects into ‘tiers’

A couple of days after The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn, Sean Gentille and Shayna Goldman ranked established NHL players into “tiers,” The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler posted a lengthy article in which he ranks NHL prospects according to “prospect tiers,” and here’s an image of where the Red Wings’ prospects stack up:

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.

Tweet of note: Kienan Draper ‘takes a lap’ with his new teammate

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: