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!

Khan: Kasper gearing up for Wings-Caps tilt

Red Wings forward prospect Marco Kasper will play in tonight’s exhibition game against the Washington Capitals (7 PM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com and the Monumental Sports Network), and MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Kasper today:

The Red Wings are dressing only a handful of players projected to be on their season-opening roster (top lines will feature Robby Fabbri-J.T. Compher-Daniel Sprong and Klim Kostin-Joe Veleno-Christian Fischer and a top defense pairing of Olli Maatta-Justin Holl).

“I especially like the fact that it’s putting our young guys in some uncomfortable situations, which typically happens in the preseason when you get a very good (opposing) lineup,” Lalonde said.

The Capitals are expected to dress many of their regulars, including Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

“Nicklas Backstrom was one of my favorite players growing up,” Kasper said. “I watched him a lot. It’s going to be really exciting to play against him.”

Kasper, 19, described his performance in the Prospects Tournament as tough.

“It’s hard to make that adjustment right away to the smaller ice,” he said. “I struggled a bit in the beginning. … Everything is just quicker with the smaller ice. I to adjust. I’m just trying to prove every day I’m getting better and better.”

Continued

Regner profiles Fredrik Olausson in another ‘How Swede It Is’ series entry

DetroitRedWings.com’s Art Regner profiles Fredrik Olausson, who was part of the Red Wings’ 2001-2002 Stanley Cup Championship team, as part of Regner’s “How Swede It Is” series on Wings Swedes:

When the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs began, Olausson was a healthy scratch. Detroit, the Presidents’ Trophy winner, hosted the Vancouver Canucks in the first round and proceeded to drop Game 1, 4-3, in overtime and followed it up with a 5-2 loss in Game 2.  

Trailing two games to none with the next two games in Vancouver, the Red Wings needed a shakeup.

“We fly overnight right after the game to Vancouver. And the next day, we had a late afternoon practice, all the coaches, all the managers, all the trainers were in this one locker room and we’re debating what are we going to do,” Dave Lewis said. “After about 45 minutes, Scotty (Bowman) went out of the room. He was sort of noncommittal anyway, listening to everybody. He comes back in about five minutes, and said, ‘Yep, I got it. I talked to Nick and Nick wants to play with Freddie Olausson so it’s all set, no worries. Uwe Krupp is out, Freddie Olausson’s in and we’ll be good to go.

“So we’re having practice and everyone’s on the ice. I go up to Nick and I said, ‘Nick, did you talk to Scotty?’ He said, ‘Oh, I haven’t talked to him today. I can’t even remember if I talked to him yesterday.’ Scotty just made that decision based on the past season’s performance with Nick and changed the chemistry.”

Inserting Olausson into the lineup and pairing him with Lidstrom worked. The tandem became a dominant pair and it paid off in a big way during the Western Conference Final.

After splitting the first two games of the series against the Colorado Avalanche in Detroit, the Red Wings and Avalanche were headed to Denver for Games 3 and 4. In Game 3, the contest was deadlocked, 1-1, after regulation.

Sometimes overtime sets the stage for the unlikeliest of heroes. For Olausson the moment came at 12:44 of OT when his slapshot beat Patrick Roy, giving Detroit a 2-1 victory and a 2-1 series lead.

Continued

Red Wings-Capitals preseason morning skate Tweets: waiting for the Wings’ lines as the Capitals ‘hold an optional’

The Detroit Red Wings take on the Washington Capitals tonight at 7 PM in Washington, DC (on the NHL Network for a bit, and the Monumental Sports Network, then DetroitRedWings.com).

In Detroit, the Red Wings are methodically shifting their two groups’ worth of players through morning skates…

But the Red Wings released their lineup for tonight’s game…

As did the Capitals…

Who are holding an optional morning skate:

Continue reading Red Wings-Capitals preseason morning skate Tweets: waiting for the Wings’ lines as the Capitals ‘hold an optional’

It looks like the TV/streaming situation for tonight’s Red Wings-Capitals game has changed

Tonight’s game between the Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals was supposed to air on the NHL Network as well as the Monumental Sports Network in DC, but it appears that plans have changed.

The Red Wings posted a streaming link in their game-day Tweet…

And the NHL Network is now promising to air Connor Bedard’s NHL debut at 8:30 PM:

So now it looks like we’ll see the first hour-and-a-half of the Red Wings-Caps game on the NHL Network, presuming that they don’t spend the entire time hyping Connor Bedard. Then it’s over to the computer to watch the Wings’ stream.

Roughly translated: Lucas Raymond speaks with Hockeysverige.se’s Uffe Bodin

Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond gave Hockeysverige.se’s Uffe Bodin an insight to his busy summer, and here’s a rough translation of the interview:

The Summer that will unlock Lucas Raymond’s NHL potential

His talent on the ice is indisputable, but to achieve his potential in the NHL, Lucas Raymond has had to put on a few extra kilos of muscle. This summer, he put in the extra work to take a big step toward a big breakthrough with the Detroit Red Wings–and to become the next Swedish NHL star.

“It’s a nice feeling to know you have more to give,” says Raymond.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Lucas Raymond speaks with Hockeysverige.se’s Uffe Bodin

Mills previews tonight’s Wings-Caps game

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills previews tonight’s game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Washington Capitals in DC (7:00 PM EDT on the NHL Network/Monumental Sports Network):

Detroit opened its eight-game preseason schedule Tuesday with a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena. Michael Rasmussen and forward prospect Nate Danielson scored even-strength goals, and captain Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider netted power-play tallies for the Red Wings.

As expected in the first preseason game, Detroit had its ups and downs throughout Tuesday’s win. But according to Rasmussen, the Red Wings are much more comfortable in the second season of Lalonde’s system.

“Stuff to clean up, for sure,” Rasmussen said. “That’s just part of it. Maybe preseason game No. 1 this year compared to last year, it was pretty good and noticeable. I thought we did a pretty good job. Obviously, we’ll look at it and get better.”

The final score in preseason games is secondary for Lalonde, who said he is using these matchups as opportunities to experiment with different lineups and strategies while evaluating the club’s talent.

The Red Wings’ expanded roster features several promising young players, including defenseman prospect Simon Edvinsson, who tallied an assist in 17:30 of ice time on Tuesday.

“These games are really important,” Lalonde said. “Especially (Edvinsson) missing an entire summer of contact. So, some positives. He can do things you just can’t teach, but there are still some things in his game he needs to keep growing.”

Continued

A pair of ‘Athletic-y’ lists

The Athletic posted, well…Two Athletic-y articles this morning. As you might imagine, the Red Wings do not rank highly on Harman Dayal’s ranking of the NHL’s defensive corps by tiers, with the Wings falling into his 5th tier, “Question Marks”…

Detroit Red Wings

Jake Walman–Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot–Jeff Petry
Shayne Gostisbehere–Justin Holl

Other defense options: Olli Määttä, Simon Edvinsson

Seider was underwhelming in the first half of the season but he started playing like a bona fide No. 1 again once he was paired with Walman, who’s been a revelation for the Red Wings.

Detroit’s second pair could be a little dicey. Petry is well-equipped for that role but Chiarot hurt any top-four pair he was on last year. Chiarot was a huge drag on Seider and had a similarly harsh impact on Filip Hronek prior to the latter getting traded.

The Red Wings’ third pair should be above average as they’re loaded with quality options like Gostisbehere, Holl and Määttä.

Continued (paywall); I don’t see why Chiarot would play with Petry…

And the other Athletic-y article of the morning comes from Sean McIndoe/Down Goes Brown, who’s made another list of all 32 teams’ offseasons as ranked by his “Bizarro Meter“:

Detroit Red Wings

The offseason so far: For the second straight year, they were one of the busiest teams in the offseason — and according to the numbers, one of the most successful. Alex DeBrincat was the big addition, but they also added names like J.T. Compher, Daniel Sprong, Shayne Gostisbehere and even James Reimer. They just keep getting better.

But their strangest story was: They keep getting better, but are they good? For a team that’s had two big offseasons in a row, they sure seem to be showing up in seventh place in a lot of Atlantic Division previews.

Bizarro-meter ranking: 4.1/10. I know, I know, we must not doubt Steve Yzerman. And to be fair, I’m not completely sure what more he could have done.

Continued (paywall); you can totally doubt Steve Yzerman these days. It’s in fashion, in fact, to bash the Yzerplan (it was this summer, anyway). But I’m not certain what more the Red Wings’ GM could have done given the free agent marketplace’s depth, or the lack thereof.

DeBrincat the catalyst

Bleacher Report’s Sara Civian has posted an article discussing players to “get excited about” on each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams, and she’s picking Alex DeBrincat from Detroit:

Detroit Red Wings: Alex DeBrincat

Do I think DeBrincat will come in and be the best player on this burgeoning Red Wings roster? No, and that would be a bad sign if he did. It’s Moritz Seider szn, with a dash of Lucas Raymond.

Do I think DeBrincat will come in and make Seider szn, along with everything else, a heck of a lot easier? Indeed. Between the cheap-ish hometown deal, the opportunity to play for a team better suited for him and the spunky winger with a million goals still left in him ready to unleash, I’m pumped for this change of scenery. Not to mention the impact he could have on Raymond, should they play on the same line.


Continued; DeBrincat’s definitely an offensive catalyst. He passes, he forechecks, he hits–he’s not just a goal-scorer.