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!

Bultman discusses what might be a breakout campaign from Lucas Raymond

Among The Athletic’s 32 “Breakout Candidates” is one Lucas Raymond:

Detroit Red Wings

Lucas Raymond: Raymond might be the Red Wings X-factor this season, as a player coming off a bit of a dip in year 2 but still with the tremendous talent he displayed as a rookie. He added weight in the summer, which should make him tougher on the puck, and he now has one more year of experience behind him. He also opened camp on a line with Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat, and while it’s far from a guarantee that he will stick even until opening night, the idea of playing with two other forwards who can think the game like him would be a huge help to his breakout potential. — Max Bultman

Tweets of note: Fans at training camp, ‘Dogg’ speaks, and Rasmussen is iso-cammed

Bally Sports Detroit got out the “mini mic” as Natalie Kerwin spoke with Wings fans at training camp…

Griffins equipment manager Brad “Dogg” Thompson and Red Wings assistant equipment manager Brady Munger talked gear…

And the Red Wings posted a clip of Michael Rasmussen doing Rasmussen things:

A bit of optimism regarding the Wings’ cap situation going forward

Pro Hockey Rumors’ Brian LaRose posted a “deep dive” regarding the Red Wings’ salary cap expenditures, and among his observations are the following:

Looking Ahead: Despite quite the spending spree by Yzerman this summer, cap space isn’t an issue for Detroit which is well-positioned to absorb the bonuses that Raymond and Seider are likely to hit.  If they’re in a position to add at the trade deadline, they should be a team to keep an eye on as they can take on some contracts and have a decent prospect pool to deal from.

While the Red Wings will have around 10 roster spots to fill next summer, they should have around $30MM to work with to fill them, putting them in a good position to take a swing at adding another core piece.  Longer-term, they’re similarly well-positioned as a lot of their signings have been medium-term fillers.  It has been a very slow build in Detroit but more spending sprees to build their roster should be on the horizon.

Continued

Michael Rasmussen appears on ‘The Red and White Authority’

Enjoy:

Stockton: Perron is leaner and meaner

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton wrote about David Perron’s minor transformation this past offseason:

Now 35 years old and entering his 17th NHL season, David Perron knows he can’t get ready for a new year the way he might have at 23.

“I talked with Alex Tanguay at my end-of-year meeting, and he mentioned himself that in the later years of his career, he wished that he maybe dropped five, six, seven pounds and made sure he showed up to camp in incredible shape, and that’s exactly what I did over the summer,” Perron explains to the press after a Friday morning practice. 

“I went from probably 200, 202 [pounds], and I’m at probably 194, 195 right now…I feel really good right now. Just working through those first couple days of soreness and then I’m gonna really start pushing…It’s one thing to play 3-on-3 in the summer, and there’s no physical plays, but I think you saw in the first two days, guys are trying to get physical to really increase the pace, and that’s what I’m out there to do.”

When asked what his motivation was, the Sherbrooke, Quebec-native quips cutting a few pounds “just to be able to follow Larks [Dylan Larkin] around.”  In a moment of greater sincerity, he offers, “I don’t want to just take on a leadership role and just do that in the room. I want to be a guy that does it on the ice too.”

Continued

Tweets of note: Buccigross on Augustine and the Wings on ‘social’ pressures

Of Red Wings-related Twitter note this morning:

This is cute, too:

HSJ in the morning: DeBrincat’s looking to bounce back this season

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted her customary morning article, and she discusses the Red Wings’ addition of Alex DeBrincat to the Wings’ roster this morning. As St. James notes, DeBrincat sounds like he had a much rougher season in Ottawa last year than he let on:

The Wings acquired the 25-year-old forward in a trade with the Ottawa Senators in July, and then signed him to a four-year, $31.5 million contract. DeBrincat comes to the Wings off a 27-goal season with the Senators, after twice reaching 41 goals during five seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks.

DeBrincat is confident he can recapture that 40-goal form in a new uniform.

“A lot of it is different looks in different situations,” DeBrincat said Friday. “I’ve got to focus a little more on bearing down when I get my chances. I think last year I gave up a lot of chances, maybe got lazy on it or whatever it may be, hit a post, stuff like that. I think a lot of it was like that. I’m pretty comfortable getting back to that form and obviously, we have a lot of great players here to play with, so I’ll just try to find the space out there and they’ll get me the puck.”

DeBrincat made a point of noting that he wants to bring a better 200-foot game to Detroit: “Last year I didn’t have the best two-way game, but in past years I’ve been a pretty good two-way forward, and that’s what I have to get back to. That creates so many more chances for me and my linemates.”

Continued; I find it interesting that both DeBrincat and David Perron have mentioned that playing a strong defensive structure leads to more offensive plays.