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 of note: Red Wings Alumni Association to play STAHLS on Friday, November 15th in Saint Clair Shores

Per the Red Wings Alumni on Twitter:

Tweets of note: St. James, Custance publishing hockey books this fall

If you are interested, the Free Press’s Helene St. James and The Athletic’s Craig Custance and are both releasing books this fall:

Red Wings-Penguins rematch, morning skate Tweets: It’s a Bally Sports Detroit game; Pens hit the ice first

Updated 2x at 11:22 AM: The Detroit Red Wings will attempt to battle back from an 0-1-and-1 performance last night as they face a stacked Pittsburgh Penguins lineup tonight in Pittsburgh (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit).

This is indeed Bally Sports Detroit’s first of three preseason telecasts…

Continue reading Red Wings-Penguins rematch, morning skate Tweets: It’s a Bally Sports Detroit game; Pens hit the ice first

Waiving Lyon?

The Athletic’s Jesse Granger believes that, should the Red Wings waive a goaltender and attempt to send him down to Grand Rapids, they’re going to pick Alex Lyon:

Alex Lyon, Detroit

The Red Wings carried three goaltenders for most of last season, but general manager Steve Yzerman said this summer he prefers to move forward with only two on the roster. That means one of Ville Husso, Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon could be waived, and whoever it is likely would be the top target for any team looking for help in the crease.

Husso has the biggest cap hit of the three, entering the final season of his deal with an average annual value of $4.75 million. Yzerman signed Talbot to a two-year contract worth $2.5 million per season just this summer, so his spot on the NHL roster should be secure.

That leaves Lyon, who is also entering the final year of his deal but carries a cap hit of only $900,000. That figure, combined with his wealth of experience, could make him an attractive waiver claim. Lyon had 44 NHL stars last season, posting a .904 save percentage (just above the league average). There were stretches last season when Lyon appeared to be the Red Wings’ best goalie, and he’s only two years removed from starting playoff games in Florida ahead of Sergei Bobrovsky, so the talent is evident. He also showed well in his two starts for Team USA at the World Championships this summer.

As is the case with most goalies looking to establish themselves as NHL starters, consistency is the issue for Lyon. He ended last season on a 3-10-3 run with a .887 during that span. Perhaps Yzerman ends up reluctantly holding three goalies again, but if not, I could see Lyon getting claimed before making it down to Grand Rapids.

Continued (paywall); I just don’t see the Wings waiving Lyon until the goaltending situation sorts itself out after the first month of the season, presuming that he loses out to Husso or Talbot.

Predicting a breakout season for Simon Edvinsson

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski predicts “breakout performances” from young NHL players this upcoming season, and the Red Wings are mentioned in the article once, with Wyshynski suggesting that “The wait is over” for one prospect:

Simon Edvinsson
D, Detroit Red Wings

Edvinsson has always had the vertical, standing 6-foot-6. In the offseason, he decided to address the horizontal by adding some muscle to his frame for his first full NHL season. The secret to his bulk? “It was just a lot of avocados,” he said.

Edvinsson saw time with veteran Jeff Petry last season, and should do so again in 2024-25. Fans have waited a bit to see the No. 6 pick from 2021 make his impact. This could be the time.

Continued (paywall); it’s taken a while for Edvinsson to physically fill out, and it’s taken a while for Edvinsson to fill out in terms of his game. He’s tremendously smooth in terms of his skating and his ability to be a difference-maker offensively, but he’s also needed to work on playing dependable, reliable defense, and that aspect of his game is coming around in a big way. Employing a predictably solid two-way game will take the superb skater to another level.

The Athletic’s ‘model’ predicts an 80.9-point performance from the Wings this season

Bleh. The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn, Sean Gentille and Shayna Goldman preview the Red Wings this morning, and they’re predicting that a team that earned 91 points this past season will earn 80.9 points…As well as predicting that the Red Wings are going to be an “also-ran” for some time to come:

Here’s what they say about Luszczyszyn’s “model,” which predicts that the Wings have an 8% chance of making the playoffs…

We admit, this does feel low for the Red Wings. Detroit had a respectable 91 points last season and looks poised to finally take the next step — but the model isn’t quite convinced this team is legit. At least not as currently constructed.

At 80.9 points, the team’s forecast is actually below where they were to start last season (85 points) which may surprise some. That’s a byproduct of uninspiring underlying numbers last season (weaker overall than the year prior when Detroit earned just 80 points) and a tepid offseason that saw the team arguably get worse.

Perhaps the core can take a massive leap or a prospect will surprise, but the Red Wings still have a lot of holes that have been filled rather poorly via free agency — especially on defense. With the rest of the East looking a lot better, this may be a season primed for disappointment.

Then there’s some bagging on Raymond and Seider’s statuses as ranked by the Luszczyszyn/Gentille/Goldman player tiers, which were quite hard on a “fringe star player” and a middling defenseman given his hard minutes, respectively…

So their bottom line comes down to defense, and Seider, specifically:

Continue reading The Athletic’s ‘model’ predicts an 80.9-point performance from the Wings this season

Morning Khan: Repetition should bear results for the Red Wings’ power play

The Red Wings’ special teams were pretty mediocre over the course of Monday night’s 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, with the Wings going 1-for-6 on the PP, surrendering a power play goal against and a shorthanded goal against.

As such, MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the special teams issue this morning, suggesting that repetition will probably solve what ails the power play:

“(The power play) needs its reps,” Derek Lalonde, who coached in the home game, said. “Their penalty kill played a little more pace than our power play. I didn’t hate our five-on-five. Again, talk about reps. Our inability to hit the net. A little credit to them to block shots, but it’s exactly why you have exhibition games. They need reps for the guys.”

A team consisting mainly of prospects and AHL players will play at Pittsburgh on Tuesday (7 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit), before the Red Wings close out the preseason with three games in three nights Thursday through Saturday.

Lucas Raymond’s power-play goal, on his team’s fifth opportunity, cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 2-1 at 9:31 of the second. It was his second goal in as many preseason games.

The Red Wings lost some key contributors on a power play that ranked ninth last season – point man Shayne Gostisbehere and forwards David Perron, Robby Fabbri and Daniel Sprong. Two of their replacements, winger Vladimir Tarasenko and point man Erik Gustafsson, played on Monday.

“I think we have a lot of skillful players who make good plays and can finish as well,” Raymond said. “I think it’s about getting on the same page, moving the puck well and taking the shots and create opportunities from there. I think when we got the best chances tonight is from retrieval. It’s not always the prettiest, but retrieve the puck well in a quick attack, and I think that leads to a lot of good stuff.”

Continued; the Red Wings need to simplify their power plays a bit. Less passing on the perimeter, more shots on goal from high-danger areas, and better rebound retrieval–the fundamentals of good power play habits–will solve the issues pretty quick, regardless of personnel.