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!

A ramble about Buchelnikov’s uphill battle

According to Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff, Red Wings prospect Dmitri Buchelnkov is on a tear as CSKA Moscow winds down a month’s worth of KHL preseason hockey:

Detroit Red Wings prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov is continuing his strong play for CSKA Moscow in the KHL preseason. The 21-year-old left-winger drew an assist on the second goal in CSKA’s 2-0 shutout of Spartak in the Moscow Mayor’s Cup tournament.

The player Detroit chose with the 52nd overall pick of the 2022 NHL entry draft has points in all three of CSKA Moscow’s preseason games. Buchelnikov scored three goals over the first two games.

CSKA acquired Buchelnikov from Vityaz in a summer trade. He has one season left on his KHL contract, so he could be heading to North America when his Russian commitment comes to a conclusion in the spring.

I’m surprised that CSKA’s only played in 3 games given that the Russian preseason usually lasts for a month, but that must not include some of the “friendly” games played in early August…

And as far as the 5’10,” 170-pound Buchelnikov is concerned, he turns 22 on September 6th, and hype or no hype, the Red Wings do want to bring him over to the U.S. so that they can monitor both his on-ice development…

And, perhaps more importantly, his physical maturation. There’s no doubt that Buchelnikov has dazzling skills with the puck, but if he doesn’t get his butt into the weight room when his KHL contract ends on the 1st of May, 2026…

We were all dazzled by Kirill Tyutyayev’s ridiculous puck-handling, too, but the 25-year-old who still stands at 5’10” and 176 pounds is entering his second season with the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets because his skating and strength don’t keep up with his hands.

Continue reading A ramble about Buchelnikov’s uphill battle

Allen on the Red Wings’ need for an impact defenseman

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses the Red Wings’ need to add an impact defenseman via the trade route over the course of a subscriber-only article this evening.

Allen suggests that we should see a significant amount of turnover on the Wings’ blueline as prospects graduate from the Griffins and European hockey within the next 12-14 months, but Allen also believes that Detroit needs to add a veteran blueliner to what he feels is a thin blueline over the course of the upcoming 2025-2026 season, if not next summer:

The Red Wings will have to re-sign [Simon] Edvinsson to a bridge deal or a long-term contract. But even if the Red Wings elect to go long-term with Edvinsson, they could be looking at having $66 million committed to 14 players. With the salary cap ceiling anticipated at $104 million next season, the Red Wings would have roughly $38 million to complete their roster.

If they keep eight defensemen in 2026-27, the Red Wings will need to add four defensemen. [Jacob] Maybe Bernard-Docker or [Ben] Chiarot stays, but the Red Wings have left-shot William Wallinder, 23, Shai Buium, 22, and Anton Johansson, 21, waiting in line. And maybe Antti Tuomisto, [24], if his skating improves. At least two of those players should land in Detroit full-time by next season, and you may not want any more than two.

The Red Wings probably wouldn’t want to add a third young defensemen. Experience matters greatly on the blue line. The best use for some of that cap space would be to acquire a proven veteran to play in the top four.

Next summer’s free agent pool is weak on defense. Some desirable players are at forward. Undoubtedly, Detroit would be interested in Michigan native Kyle Connor if he is available. Forwards Adrian Kempe and Martin Necas are intriguing. Goalie Erik Gustafsson will also be available.

The Red Wings will have to pull off a significant trade to add a proven defensemen that fits into their defensive corps. But they will have assets (draft picks, prospects and cap space) to make such a move.

Continued (paywall) with suggestions as to which defensemen the Wings could consider acquiring…

Gratuitous Henrik Zetterberg appreciation Tweet

Henrik Zetterberg may not make the Hockey Hall of Fame, but he’s got a Stanley Cup ring and a Conn Smythe Trophy to his credit, and that and maybe a jersey retirement–or an induction to a “Red Wings hall of fame”–should count enough for “Captain Hank”:

Prospect round-up: Michal Svrcek registers an assist as Champions Hockey League play begins; Anton Johansson takes a 5-minute major in exhibition game

The Champions Hockey League is kind of weird. Technically speaking, the league’s games count and count for a whole hell of a lot as they determine playoff seeding for a set of playoff games which award a big, honking trophy and money…

But as far as “league play” is concerned, they’re essentially exhibition games between some of Europe’s best teams.

Today, two Red Wings prospects’ Champions Hockey League play got underway, and Noah Dower Nilsson finished at +1 with 2 shots in 13:59 played as Frolunda HC won 4-0 over HC Bolzano…

And Michal Svrcek had an assist in 11:36 played, registering his assist on the 3-1 goal, as Brynas IF won 4-1 over Kometa Brno.

I’ll post the highlights when they’re uploaded to YouTube, but for now, you can watch Svrcek’s assist here.

Update: Full game highlights:

Elsewhere, in preseason SHL hockey, both Hockeysverige.se’s Simon Eld and Hockeynews.se report that Red Wings prospect and Leksands IF defenseman Anton Johansson took a 5-minute major for hitting 18-year-old Loke Krantz into the Linkopings HC bench early on in Linkoping’s 3-0 win over Leksand.

Linkoping didn’t score during the 5-minute major penalty. And, as we might expect, Red Wings Prospects on Twitter has a clip of the rough hit:

At 6’4″ and 196 pounds, Johansson is a moose out there on the ice, but he does have a tendency to take bad penalties when his physicality gets the best of him. I’m assuming that Anton will either be suspended for the start of the SHL season or fined for this hit. Leksand opens its regular season on Saturday, September 13th vs. Eddie Genborg and Timra IK.

Talking about pro try-out forwards

MLive’s Ansar Khan wonders aloud whether the Red Wings might sign a forward to a pro try-out for the course of training camp and the exhibition season:

Andreas Athanasiou, 31: He’s a fast-skating skilled forward who never reached his potential after scoring 30 goals for the Red Wings in 2018-19. Lack of competitiveness and consistency have hounded him. He spent most of last season with AHL Rockford (11 goals, 27 points in 30 games). He played for Red Wings coach Todd McLellan for two seasons in Los Angeles.

Robby Fabbri, 29: He equaled his career high with 18 goals and had 32 points in 68 games with the Red Wings in 2023-24, his fifth season in Detroit, before being dealt to Anaheim, where he tallied only eight goals and 16 points in 44 games. A former Blues first-round pick who can provide secondary scoring but whose career has been marred by multiple ACL surgeries.

Luke Glendening, 36: Checker, penalty killer and strong face-off man who spent eight seasons with the Red Wings, he was a regular with Dallas and Tampa Bay the past four seasons, appearing in 77 games with the Lightning in 2024-25.

Luke Kunin, 27: The 15th overall pick in 2016 (Minnesota) appeared in 75 games last season between San Jose (11 goals, 18 points) and Columbus (no points in 12 games). He’s physical and kills penalties.

Max Pacioretty, 36: He’s played for four different teams in the past four seasons and has been linked to Detroit and Edmonton for a possible PTO. Pacioretty earned a contract from Toronto following a PTO last season and had five goals and 13 points in 37 games and eight points in 11 playoff games.

Jack Roslovic, 28: It’s surprising he remains unsigned after collecting 22 goals and 39 points in 81 games for Carolina. Chances are, he’ll sign a contract rather than a PTO. He’s been linked to Toronto.

Continued; that’s pretty much the crop of players who are available for PTO’s up front, and I’m iffy on everybody but Pacioretty and Roslovic.

Tweet of note: MSU vs. Penn State outdoors on January 31st, 2026

Per NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman, Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine will be taking part in an outdoor game vs. Penn State on January 31st, 2026:

Tweet of note via RWP: Kiiskinen rips one in preseason action

This one slipped under the radar, and Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen caught this highlight from Red Wings Prospects on Twitter.

It’s not the greatest angle, but HPK Hameenlinna forward and Red Wings prospect Jesse Kiiskinen swiped the puck from an opponent at the offensive blueline, walked in and wristed a nasty shot into the net in preseason Liiga hockey:

Tweets of note: Nikita Tyurin already knows how to ‘walk the line’

Red Wings prospect Nikita Tyurin recently spoke with the MHL’s website, and while the junior hockey-playing defenseman just turned 18, these clips from Red Wings Prospects on Twitter illustrate Tyurin’s very mature abilities in terms of knowing how to “walk the blueline” laterally in order to open up opposing defenses and find teammates to tip pucks.

He skates very well with his blades outside of the blueline to stretch the area with which to move the puck, and he’s got a very good shot, too.

It is incredibly early in Tyurin’s career, and he’s very likely to play for MHK Spartak of the MHL (the KHL’s version of junior hockey) this upcoming season, so he’s far from making the jump to North America to say the very least…

But it’s good to see some maturity in his game already, given that his draft year was played as a 17-year-old youngster.

Gerard Gallant weighs in on Sergei Fedorov’s jersey retirement

RG.com’s Daria Tuboltseva profiled former Red Wings player and long-time NHL coach Gerard Gallant, who’s coaching the KHL’s Shanghai Dragons this season. As Gallant prepares to helm an expansion team playing far away from Shanghai in St. Petersburg, he shares his opinions on numerous topics with Tuboltseva, including this:

Gallant’s ties to Russian hockey go back even further, to his playing days with the Detroit Red Wings, when he shared the ice with Sergei Fedorov.

“When Sergei came over, I was a couple of years older than him. He was a tremendous player for us at a young age. We knew he was good, but we did not know how good he was. He was just a tremendous, tremendous talent. He is a really good guy. We really liked Sergei. Obviously, his career in the NHL, he deserves to be up in the rafters in Detroit with Steve Yzerman and Gordie Howe and all those guys. He is a phenomenal player. I do not know if he is the best Russian player ever, but he has to be up there. When they talk about the best Russian players, his name has to be mentioned. I really like Sergei. I have not seen him for quite a long time, but I am very happy for him that his number is being retired in Detroit. Well deserved.”
Source: RG.org

Continued; Gallant may very well see Sergei this season as Fedorov is an advisor to CSKA Moscow.