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!

Kulfan on Ville Husso’s bounce-back campaign in-the-making

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan focuses on Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso in his training camp notebook. Husso believes that he can learn from his injury-marred, 56-game campaign:

“I had a little injury going and I wanted to play, and tested it out,” Husso said. “I wish we would have won those games. But something for this year, playing 55 games or so is to be the plan, I need every night to give the team a chance to win.”

And the injury?

“I was 100% at the end of last year,” Husso said. “Been healthy the whole summer.”

Husso, 28, had never been counted on to be a No. 1 goaltender in the NHL. With Alex Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg both struggling behind Husso, suddenly the frequency and way Husso was used was totally different.

Husso, and coach Derek Lalonde feel the goaltender is better prepared for the upcoming season, and a likely similar schedule.

“I think highly of Ville,” Lalonde said. “I talked about him being a No. 1 (goaltender), and we’re going to give him a No. 1 workload. In an ideal world, like 56 or 58 starts, but we’ll keep evaluating as the season goes on.”

Continued

Tweets of note: Coffee breaks, equipment pics and more from Bally Sports Detroit

Among Bally Sports Detroit’s Tweets of note this afternoon, well, there’s this “coffee break” from John Keating…

This photo round-up offers a good look at Lucas Raymond and Robby Fabbri’s new equipment…

And they call this kind of Tweet a “teaser Tweet”:

Stockton discusses Wings’ power play, Red vs. White Game structure

Among the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton’s Day 3 of training camp notes is the following about both Saturday’s special teams work and Sunday’s Red and White Game (12 PM EDT):

“You’ll see many different [power play] looks” before camp is up, warned Derek Lalonde.  “It’s a lot more options.  We had four power play units today all with some guys in some comfortable spots.  The added depth five-on-five has also added depth to our power play.”

Lalonde described the state of the man advantage as “a work in progress, but these are really good problems to be working through,” with the team of course preferring to have too many potent options as opposed to too few.

Tomorrow, Detroit will hold its annual Red-White scrimmage (streamed on the team’s social media channels).  Lalonde said the plan is to begin with a period of five-on-five, then play a period of special teams, then close with a period of situational play (e.g. 3-on-3.

When asked what he’d like to see from his group tomorrow, Lalonde said, “Obviously, we’d love to see some of our D-zone [coverage] perform well tomorrow.  Neutral zone is always a work-in-progress.  Kind of just all of our structure, introducing it and teaching it.  We would like that to be ahead of schedule, but…it’s our first step with some extra game action.”

Continued

Khan on Lucas Raymond’s physical evolution

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a notebook article about Lucas Raymond, who’s added twelve pounds of muscle to his frame. Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin says that Raymond is faster going into his third year as an NHL’er, too:

Coach Derek Lalonde said: “I don’t know if we need him bulking up and putting on a ton of weight, but it’s good weight, which I think is naturally going to come. Sometimes you forget that these guys are so young and their body is still developing.”

Dylan Larkin commented after the first day of camp how much quicker Raymond looks. The added muscle isn’t compromising his skating.

“First three steps, it’s really wowed from what he was at the end of last season to how quick he looks now,” Larkin said. “He’s got the explosive power to go with it.”

Raymond is determined to bounce back after what he called a different season.

“I felt like I grew in some areas and there were other areas I wanted to improve,” he said. “I think it was a good season, a great learning season. I’ll take away things from my second season to my third as well. Keep adjusting and trying to become the best player possible.”

Continued

Tweets of note: Kostin, Edvinsson and Rasmussen in action

The Red Wings posted some action footage of Klim Kostin…

Simon Edvinsson…

And Michael Rasmussen:

Prospect round-up: Sandin Pellikka scores, plays 23:13; Kilpinen 6G in 6 games

Of Red Wings prospect-related note:

In the SHL, Axel Sandin Pellikka scored another goal on 2 shots, finishing even in a superb 23:13 played as Skelleftea AIK lost 3-1 to Orebro Hockey. IceHockeyGifs posted a clip of his goal:

Anton Johansson finished even in only 4:38 played as Leksands IF won 3-0 over Linkopings HC;

Theodor Niederbach finished at -3 in 14:36 as Modo Hockey lost 4-2 to Timra IK;

In the Swedish J20 league, Noah Dower Nilsson’s Frolunda HC won 4-3 over Vasteras IK;

And Maximilian Kilpinen scored his 6th goal in 6 games, finishing at +1 with 6 shots as Modo Hockey won 5-2 over AIK.

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