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!

Tweet of note via KK: Patrick Kane offers an Olympic sales pitch

Via Paul Kukla of Kukla’s Korner: Red Wings forward Patrick Kane gave his sales pitch to Julie Stewart-Binks and Nate Thompson regarding his desire to make Team USA’s Olympic team:

Also: Stewart-Binks and Thompson have posted an audio podcast (available on many platforms) in which Kane and agent Pat Brisson discuss a number of topics from the NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour in Las Vegas earlier this week:

Tweet of note: Ken Kal, Daniella Bruce reveal guests for Red Wings’ ‘Hockeytown Centennial Fan Fest’

Per the Detroit Red Wings…

So Scotty Bowman, Tomas Holmstrom, Igor Larionov, Joe Kocur and Doug Brown among the attendees…And you can find more information about the Centennial Fan Fest here.

Sportsnet previews the 2025-2026 Red Wings

Sportsnet’s David Morassutti has posted a Red Wings season preview for the 2025-2026 NHL season today. He spotlights players to watch in John Gibson and Mason Appleton, he dishes some praise onto Trey Augustine as the Wings’ top prospect, and Morassutti asks three “Burning Questions” of the team:

Three Burning Questions

1. Will the goaltending be good enough to reach the playoffs?
For all of the progress Detroit has made in recent seasons, the team wasn’t going anywhere with the goaltenders they were trotting out. Last year’s goaltending tandem ranked 21st in the NHL with a 3.16 goals-against average and 20th with a .896 save percentage. That’s not going to be good enough against an Atlantic Division that had four teams (Toronto, Tampa, Florida and Ottawa) finish in the top 10 in goaltending stats. Bringing in a netminder like Gibson is certainly a worthwhile gamble for this team in the short term. At his best, Gibson has been capable of carrying a team but at his worst, he’s looked worn down from years of heavy workloads behind some below average defences. At the same time, the Red Wings will need to be better defensively to help Gibson.

2. Does the team have enough secondary scoring that can deliver?
Detroit’s top line is set. Dylan Larkin remains one of the NHL’s most underrated two-way centres, Alex DeBrincat is a proven finisher, and Lucas Raymond is blossoming into a bona fide top-line winger. Patrick Kane, if healthy, still provides bursts of elite vision and playmaking. But the story of Detroit’s season may come down to whether the players behind them can chip in enough to keep the offence rolling. They are rolling the dice on James van Riemsdyk while also relying on young players like Michael Rasmussen, and Jonatan Berggren to take steps forward. If Appleton, J.T. Compher, and Elmer Söderblom can chip in consistently, the Wings will have a more balanced attack that can take some pressure of the top players.

Continue reading Sportsnet previews the 2025-2026 Red Wings

Praise for Marco Kasper’s fantasy hockey potential

Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin names Red Wings forward Marco Kasper as one of his fantasy hockey “sleeper” picks:

Marco Kasper | Detroit Red Wings | C/LW | ADP: 160.0

As recently as Jan. 7, Kasper was mired in a 15-game pointless streak. It looked like the offensive side of the prospect’s game wasn’t translating to the NHL level. But he scored at a 25-goal, 59-point pace from that point onward, not only breaking out but showcasing versatility, first as Dylan Larkin’s winger and then centering Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane on the second line. Now Kasper is entrenched as a top-six forward. My favorite breakout picks in redraft leagues are often guys who did their damage in the second half and therefore don’t have overly sexy full-season stat lines from the year before. Casual drafters may overlook Kasper, but he could easily deliver 25-plus goals, 55-plus points and 150 hits. The ceiling might be higher than that.

Continued

Emmitt Finnie discusses his development with the Hockey News

The Hockey News’s Jake Tye spoke with both Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson and Griffins forward Emmitt Finnie about the 20-year-old center’s aspirations.

Finnie was a 7th round pick (201st overall) in the 2023 draft, but the 6’1,” 190-pound forward has bucked the odds to earn an entry-level contract and play in the AHL, and he wants to accomplish much more:

“I think Emmitt Finnie is a guy, he’s a seventh round pick, but every time I see him, he continually gets better and better, he gets bigger, he gets stronger,” Watson explained “[Finnie] had a great Western Hockey League career, stepped in two years ago with us and played three games and wasn’t expected to play any games but did quite well during his playing time.”

The Hockey News recently got to speak with Finnie in an exclusive interview and asked him how the transition to pro hockey went last season and how he feels entering his first full season with the Griffins. 

“With the Griffins, I’m hoping to have a pretty big role with them, I want to establish myself pretty early on as a key player on the team,” Finnie said ”The biggest thing I noticed was the speed and physicality of the players, coming to the AHL, you’re the youngest guy, so everyone’s just more developed, everyone’s in better positions, defensively and offensively.”

The Lethbridge native did quite well through his first taste of pro hockey last season with a goal and four assists through ten AHL games. When asked what NHLer he models his game after, Finnie noted that he likes to watch a lot of a certain LA Kings winger.

“I would consider myself a 200 foot player, I like comparing myself to Adrian Kempe,” Finnie noted “The way he plays, he’s a big center, he’s a 200 foot player, he works really hard, he’s not afraid to go to some dirty areas, so he’s a player I like watching and kind of try to model my game after.”

Continued; Finnie may be a 7th round pick, but he’s got significant skill, a strong work ethic, and a big heart.

And this is a pretty neat FYI:

It helps Finnie’s development that during the off-season, he gets to train alongside other notable prospects in the Red Wings organization like Nate Danielson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård as the four all live in the same house in Michigan during the later portion of the off-season as the prospects come back to Detroit to start early training. 

Nate Danielson, Axel Sandin Pellikka ‘ones to watch’ at the Prospect Games

The Red Wings and Stars will face off in the Prospect Games on Saturday and Sunday, and both Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis and NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale offer players from all rookie tournaments to watch this upcoming weekend.

Ellis suggests that the Red Wings are best-represented by Nate Danielson…

Detroit Red Wings: Nate Danielson, C, 20

Danielson will be in the conversation to make Detroit’s opening night lineup. So a nice start to training camp season could help his chances. Danielson’s game was never going to be about pure skill or offensive domination. Instead, it was about how rounded he was and how he uses his strength and hockey sense to win battles. He had a solid 39 points in 71 AHL games as a pro rookie, and he has impressed in the past two pre-seasons, too.

While Morreale wants to see what Axel Sandin Pellikka can do:

Axel Sandin-Pellikka, D, Detroit Red Wings: The right-handed shot (5-11, 176) compensates for his lack of size with his hockey smarts and tremendous work ethic. The 20-year-old was named the 2025 Swedish Junior Hockey Player of the Year after he led all under-21 players in the Swedish Hockey League 12 goals and 29 points in 46 games with Skelleftea.

Update: The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan offers a slate of Wings prospects to watch:

▶ LW Carter Bear (13th overall, 2025): The Wings’ first-round pick in June, Bear (6-foot, 179 pounds) has apparently healed from a partially-torn Achilles tendon that shortened his last season. Bear is headed back to junior hockey, but coming off a 40-goal season at Everett (WHL), it would be good to show he’s healthy and completely healed heading into this winter.

▶ RW Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (15th overall, 2024): The Wings’ first-round pick last year might be close to being NHL-ready. He has an NHL body (6-foot-1, 206 pounds), and in a short three-game playoff stint in Grand Rapids last spring, Brandsegg-Nygard had two goals and one assist and was arguably one of the best Griffins in the series. It’s likely Brandsegg-Nygard needs more AHL seasoning, but it’s possible he could push his way into a deserving roster spot.

▶ D Shai Buium (36th overall, 2021): Buium had 25 points (23 assists) in 67 games in Grand Rapids and showed intriguing potential. Buium (6-foot-3, 209 pounds) has size, is a good skater and is responsible in the defensive end. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Buium in the NHL soon, and a good weekend in Frisco would be a good liftoff for that.

▶ G Rudy Guimond (169th overall, 2023): Guimond was among the best goaltenders in junior hockey last season and is headed to play collegiately at Harvard this winter. The Wings have a promising stable of goaltending prospects and Guimond is putting himself among the leaders.

▶ G Rudy Guimond (169th overall, 2023): Guimond was among the best goaltenders in junior hockey last season and is headed to play collegiately at Harvard this winter. The Wings have a promising stable of goaltending prospects and Guimond is putting himself among the leaders.

Tweet of note: Red Wings encourage fans to ‘crack the case’ of the red suitcase

There’s been a red suitcase involved in all the social media posts surrounding the Red Wings’ 100th anniversary and the retirement of Sergei Fedorov’s #91, and this morning, the team posted a Tweet which encourages fans to “crack the case” via an interactive game:

Larkin, Seider, Raymond, DeBrincat and Edvinsson are ranked in The Athletic’s ‘Player Tiers’

The Athletic’s Sean Gentille, Shayna Goldman and Dom Luszczyszyn have compiled a massive list of the NHL’s best players in a tiered fashion, per a 20-person panel.

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin is listed as an All-Star, but a tenuous one in the “3B” category…

Dylan Larkin

Why he’s here

Larkin, at least in the eyes of our panel, has found his level. Depending on who you ask, he’s either a middle-of-the-pack first-line center or an elite 2C, but nobody had an issue with his placement in Tier 3B.

His performance at the 4 Nations Face-Off earned him praise, as did a big season from linemate Lucas Raymond. That helped raise Larkin from Tier 3C after two years in neutral. We also felt it appropriate to leave Tier 3C center-free, reflecting a drop-off after players such as Larkin — a decision one exec called “bang on.”

Detroit’s playoff drought with Larkin as their top forward prevents him from rising further. He could counter-balance that with more production, but he has one season in his last six with more than 70 points. Still, there’s a sense that miscast or not, he’d be a winning player in the right environment, and we wanted his placement to reflect that.

And Moritz Seider occupies the same tier, just below Larkin…

Continue reading Larkin, Seider, Raymond, DeBrincat and Edvinsson are ranked in The Athletic’s ‘Player Tiers’

Roughly translated: Anton Johansson, difference-maker? His dad, Leksands IF’s GM, thinks so

Red Wings prospect Anton Johansson plays on a Leksands IF team that’s run by his father, GM Thomas “Tjomme” Johansson. Leksand isn’t expected to do well in the SHL this season as they’re a small-market team, but “Tjomme” Johansson tells Ronnie Ronnqvist that he believes that his son is going to be a big part of the team’s successes this upcoming season:

Many people are asking for a stable defender on the blueline, an Anton Lindholm, Jonas Frögren, Mattias Timander and so on, is this something you are also thinking about?


“I know how close Anton Johansson was to ending up in North America, and maybe even getting the opportunity to play in the NHL in the future. If he lives up to the quality he has, no one will miss that type of player.”

“Now he doesn’t have that ‘track record.’ That’s what I can sometimes think when you do an analysis of Leksand [as a team]. That you do it based on how many years the player has played in the league when you look at Eliteprospects, instead of looking at the potential and what’s behind it. Also look behind that door.”

“I absolutely believe that he (Anton Johansson) could be such a player, and I don’t know how many other SHL defenders could actually have had the opportunity to play in the NHL. I hope that he can take on a good, big role and play at the high level that he showed during the preseason.”

Continued (in Swedish, at length); Johansson’s been dynamite during the SHL preseason. If he can play half as good on most nights, “Tjomme’s” prediction about his son might be right in that the small-market Leksand team might not need to import a star defenseman in order to finish with a halfway decent season.