Author: George Malik

The blog’s owner is still in need of funds, so he’s asked me to make another fundraising post (ha). Just trying to pay the bills here, folks.

The Malik Report needs your support to function. You receive quite a bit of information “for free,” but providing that information is not done for free. As such, we would like to ask that you kindly contribute to our monthly expenses.

If you’re willing to lend a hand, we have a PayPal option at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport; there’s Venmo at https://venmo.com/george-malik-2; if you’re into the, “I don’t want to use any of those pages” option, here’s always the Giftly option by using my email, rtxg@yahoo.com, at https://www.giftly.com…

And in the banking options, you can contact me via email if you want to send me a paper check, or “Zelle” me via my email, rtxg@yahoo.com.

It’s my pleasure to provide you with as much information as I can give, but this is also a job, and it requires money, time, energy and effort (a.k.a. work). If you are willing or able to support this endeavor, it is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Updated 3x at 12:31 PM: After recalling Sebastian Cossa from Grand Rapids and placing Alex Lyon on injured reserve, retroactive to November 27th, the Red Wings hit the ice at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center, ahead of a two-game road trip to Boston (on Tuesday) and Ottawa (on Thursday).

The Red Wings have lost two straight 5-4 decisions, their last in overtime against Vancouver yesterday, and, last Thursday, a regulation loss to New Jersey.

The Red Wings’ most recent recall was on the ice early on Monday, as reported by EP Rinkside’s Sean Shapiro…

Sebastian Cossa is here pic.twitter.com/NZgZlwcplD

— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) December 2, 2024

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton…

Sebastian Cossa on the ice for today’s practice after being recalled this morning pic.twitter.com/HsFVt0BZMh

— Sam Stockton (@_samstockton) December 2, 2024

MLive’s Ansar Khan…

Sebastian Cossa has joined the #RedWings for practice in preparation for tomorrow’s game at Boston (7, ESPN Plus/Hulu). Husso also practicing. Talbot and Lyon (lower body injury for both) not practicing. No word yet on who’s starting tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/XRlrlApwlB

— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 2, 2024

Etc. etc.:

Today, Red Wings prospect and Michigan State University goaltender Trey Augustine was named to the preliminary roster of the United States’ World Junior Championship team. He will participate in the training camp to be held at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth from December 16th to 17th.

The Red Wings will head to Boston to play the Bruins tomorrow evening (7 PM EST on ESPN+/Hulu), and ahead of Tuesday’s game, the Associated Press posted a short game preview:

Boston has gone 12-11-3 overall with a 4-3-1 record against the Atlantic Division. The Bruins have an 8-2-0 record in games they score at least three goals.

Detroit is 10-11-3 overall with a 1-3-0 record in Atlantic Division games. The Red Wings have a 3-3-2 record when they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent.

The teams meet Tuesday for the second time this season. The Bruins won 2-1 in the last meeting. Coyle led the Bruins with two goals.

TOP PERFORMERS: David Pastrnak has nine goals and 14 assists for the Bruins. Coyle has five goals over the past 10 games.

Lucas Raymond has seven goals and 18 assists for the Red Wings. Alex DeBrincat has scored four goals with five assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bruins: 5-4-1, averaging 2.4 goals, 3.9 assists, 3.4 penalties and 9.6 penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game.

Red Wings: 4-4-2, averaging 2.9 goals, 5.1 assists, 3.1 penalties and 6.7 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game.

The Red Wings are ranked 28th overall in TSN’s latest “Power Rankings,” and at this point, it feels like pundits are just using the Power Rankings format to send pot shots the Red Wings’ way instead of simply offering valid criticism of the team’s disappointing start. That’s certainly the case for Daily Faceoff’s “Power Rankings” this week:

26. Detroit Red Wings

Record: 10-11-3, -13
Last Week: 26th (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 24th
Scott’s Rank: 27th

Scott [Maxwell]: So what exactly is the next move for this Red Wings team going forward? I think the easiest decision comes with a change behind the bench, but it feels like they need to do way more than that to turn around this team. I mean, how bad does it need to get before Steve Yzerman’s seat gets warm? It really is an awkward position for Detroit to be in because firing one of your franchise greats feels like an easy way to skewer his reputation.

Hunter [Crowther]: Yzerman’s seat should be a lot warmer. J.T. Compher was a bad contract, bringing Patrick Kane back was a mistake, and you have a bottom-tier offense, averaging just 2.63 goals per game. Somehow, bringing in a 37-year-old Cam Talbot was one of the better offseason moves he made. Just fire Derek Lalonde and bring in one of Jay Woodcroft or Todd McLellan, or they can bite their knuckles and bring on Joel Quenneville and the s–t storm that will come with it. You may have your personal feelings about Quenneville and his inaction after learning one of his players was allegedly sexually assaulted, but now that he’s been reinstated into the league, eventually one of these team executives is going to be desperate enough to hold onto their own job to bring him behind their bench in an effort to win.

There is nothing awkward going on with Steve Yzerman. His seat is not “hot,” it’s insulated. He is the GM for life, and I do not believe that he’s going to be desperate enough to turn to Quenneville. I’m certain that he’s uncomfortable right now, but as long as the Ilitches own the team, he has job security.

It’s up to him to act in the team’s best interests when he feels the time is right to act deliberately and decisively, and that is that.

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS RECALL SEBASTIAN COSSA FROM GRAND RAPIDS UNDER EMERGENCY CONDITIONS

  … Detroit Places Alex Lyon on Injured Reserve Retroactive to Nov. 27 …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today recalled goaltender Sebastian Cossa from the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions. Additionally, the Red Wings have placed goaltender Alex Lyon on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 27.

Cossa, 22, has posted a 9-4-1 record with a 2.21 goals-against average, a 0.925 save percentage and one shutout in 14 appearances with the Griffins to begin the 2024-25 season. The 6-foot-6, 222-pound goaltender spent the entire 2023-24 campaign with the Griffins, logging a 22-9-9 record with a 2.41 goals-against average, a 0.913 save percentage and two shutouts in 40 regular-season games. Cossa also finished 5-4 with a 2.72 goals-against average and a 0.900 save percentage in nine Calder Cup Playoff games, helping the Griffins reach the Central Division Finals. Selected by the Red Wings in the first round (15th overall) of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Cossa has compiled a 32-14-10 record with a 2.49 goals-against average, a 0.911 save percentage and three shutouts in 57 AHL games with the Griffins. He also showed a 26-16-4 record with a 2.56 goals-against average, a 0.913 save percentage and four shutouts in 46 appearances with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye in 2022-23, representing the Western Conference at the 2023 ECHL All-Star Game. 

Prior to turning professional, Cossa spent three seasons with the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings from 2019-22, posting a 71-16-7 record with a 2.12 goals-against average, a 0.921 save percentage and 14 shutouts in 98 appearances. Cossa backstopped the Oil Kings to a WHL championship in 2022, earning a place on the Central Division’s First All-Star Team. During the 2020-21 season, Cossa authored a 17-1-1 record and led the WHL in goals-against average (1.57) and save percentage (0.941), while tying for the league lead with four shutouts. Cossa also played three seasons with the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers in the Alberta minor hockey ranks from 2016-19, earning a league championship in addition to Top Goaltender and Most Valuable Player honors in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League in 2016-17. On the international stage, Cossa won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, recording a victory in his only appearance at the tournament. The Hamilton, Ont., native also played in two games with Canada White at the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted a column discussing 5 Red Wings-related thoughts this morning, and here’s his most positive take:

If there was a bright spot Sunday, it was probably the play of two Jonatan Berggren and Marco Kasper, the youngest Red Wings. Kasper had two assists, and while his game will always likely be more about winning races and puck battles, it’s significant to see him getting rewarded on the scoresheet for some of that.

In particular, Vladimir Tarasenko’s third-period goal (a go-ahead goal at the time) came on a slick play by Kasper through the neutral zone, corralling a pass and then maneuvering for a controlled entry and drop-off to Berggren rather than a dump-in. That’s something the Red Wings have needed more of, and it resulted in a beautiful setup by Berggren for a classic Tarasenko finish.

The play by Berggren, a cross-ice feed across the slot, was a sign that his confidence is returning, too — which makes sense after he scored on a big rebound in the first period for his fourth goal in the last 10 games. Sitting this deep into the season with just four goals and six points still certainly isn’t ideal for a player whose biggest contributions are supposed to be on the scoreboard.

But the chances are coming, and increasingly, they’re ending up in the net.

Continued (paywall)

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a morning news column in which she discusses the Red Wings’ concerns about both goaltending and their atrocious penalty-killing unit:

The other [issue] is that it doesn’t matter who is in goal if the Wings can’t get their penalty kill sorted. On Sunday, the Vancouver Canucks scored twice during overlapping power plays en route to a 5-4 victory in overtime. Now the Wings head to Boston for Tuesday’s game against the Bruins bruised by two losses that both can be blamed on the penalty kill. It gave up two less than a minute apart in the second period, both to Jake DeBrusk; the first during a 5-on-3 Vancouver power play and the second during a regular one.

“Five-on-three, they get a good tip on it,” Lalonde said. “Then the second one, it’s just a missed clear. Those are the frustrating ones. Because a lot of it has not been structure of late. We miss an easy clear and then we get outmuscled at the net. Here we are, giving up two. 

“That wasn’t structure today. It was a missed clear, and I mean, Lucas Raymond is going to be an All-Star-type player, and he misses a clear. We’ll give him the message, but that’s just execution. It’s the frustration of where the penalty kill is at. It’s finding a way to sting us.”

The Wings gave up three goals during penalty kills in Friday’s 5-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils, and needed overtime to salvage a 2-1 game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday after giving one up late during a penalty kill.

“It’s just the details,” Dylan Larkin said after Sunday’s mishaps. “You give a power play like that a 5-on-3, it’s not good. They have special players over there. I think we just keep battling, and we have to stick together on it. I thought we did a good job limiting their chances, but it’s the details again. We have to dig ourselves out of that hole on the penalty kill and it’s from the guys in the room.”

Continued (paywall)

NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale posted a column in which he discusses the Atlantic Division’s best rookies, and he names Marco Kasper the Wings’ best first-year player:

Marco Kasper, F, Detroit Red Wings: Kasper has been getting fourth-line duty of late, centering left wing Joe Veleno and Jonatan Berggren. The 20-year-old (6-1, 183), chosen No. 8 by the Red Wings in the 2022 draft, has sevem points (two goals, five assists), two power-play goals and averages 14:44 of ice time in 20 games. He also ranks tied for fourth on the Red Wings in takeaways (seven), is sixth in hits (32), and has blocked 12 shots.

“He’s got a good toolset,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. “He’s a good skater. The thing I like the most is how competitive [he is]. He uses his body really well. He’s a worker and it’s impressive to see.”

Continued; Kasper may not be posting a ton of points, but he drives play, which is essential, he has a tremendous work ethic, and he makes those around him better.

Of Red Wings prospect-related note:

In the QMJHL, Rudy Guimond spent his first game in the Moncton Wildcats’ lineup, but he backed up Jacob Steinman on Sunday as Moncton won a 3-2 decision over the Cape Breton Eagles;

And in NCAA Hockey, Trey Augustine was the back-up in the Michigan State University Spartans’ 2-0 win over Lindenwood on Sunday. Captain Red Savage finished even with 1 shot and a 1-for-2 faceoff record for Michigan State.