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!

Tweets of note from ‘Red Wings Prospects’

Red Wings Prospects on Twitter offers two pieces of prospect-related news today:

  1. First, Red Wings prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov will be attending the KHL’s All-Star Game…

2. And it appears that Red Wings prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygard will be playing at the World Junior Championship, though not at the level that you might think, per Norran’s Robin Lindgren:

Battling the weight of not-so-great expectations

Sigh. It’s time for some power rankings and pre-trade-deadline discussions ([sarcasm] because, of course, it only takes 20 or so games to determine who’s selling come March [/sarcasm]).

This morning, Athletic is enjoying its long tradition of critiquing the middling Red Wings over the course of Dom Luszczyszyn and Sean Gentille’s power rankings, though the gents do give the Wings’ top defensive pair some due praise for the first time…ever?

20. Detroit Red Wings, 10-10-2

Last week: 21
Sean’s ranking: 20
Dom’s ranking: 19

At long last, Moritz Seider has a competent partner and the Red Wings have a terrific top pair. Simon Edvinsson has lived up to the hype so far and has been better than advertised for Detroit. The team’s top pair is getting buried in difficult minutes as usual, but Edvinsson’s presence has allowed Seider’s pair to not just survive those minutes, but dominate them. In 279 minutes together the pair has earned 58 percent of the expected goals while outscoring teams 10-5. Defensively, they’ve felt impenetrable. Edvinsson is the missing piece and, lucky for the Red Wings, is on an entry-level deal for this season and the next one. What he’s delivering at that price is exceptional.

Now about the rest of the defense…

And the affable Max Bultman’s been asked to already task the Red Wings with “selling” at the trade deadline…

Continue reading Battling the weight of not-so-great expectations

Red Wings getting ‘er going

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a short article discussing the Red Wings’ attempts to turn the ship around over the past 5 games:

“I think we’re getting back to our game, the way we’re supposed to play,” Raymond said after scoring in overtime Wednesday. “Goaltending has been a huge part of that. I just think we found our game – we play with more pace, play on the same page and are getting results off of that.”

The Wings beat the Flames, 2-1, when Raymond converted on a power play with 1:25 left in the extra period. It was a deserved pair of points: Alex DeBrincat had converted on a power play in the first period, and the Wings were minutes from a shutout when a fourth trip to the penalty box proved too much. But all in all, it was a performance upon which to build.

“We were on top of our game,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “It was a good game.”

Since that trip to California earlier this month, when the Wings gave up 15 goals in three losses, they’ve surrendered only six goals the last four games. They’ve scored nine goals in that span, with Raymond responsible for four of them; the guy the Wings desperately need to start finding the net is Vladimir Tarasenko, whose eight-goal pace is a paltry return on his $4.75 million salary. But, considering how badly things went in California, the goals-against is something to value.

“The stretch of late, three of four, we’ve taken points in four of five, it’s been about keeping it out of our net,” Lalonde said. “We’ve given up six goals and it just gives us an opportunity. Good buy-in from our guys. It’s a really good win. We’ll have a nice day on Thanksgiving and try to keep it going on Friday.”

Continued (paywall)

Raymond’s finding the back of the net again

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses Lucas Raymond’s resurgent scoring of late, noting that Raymond’s been able to score 4 goals over the course of the last 4 games, making up for a difficult start to the 2024-2025 regular season:

Raymond suddenly has six goals for the season, after scoring just once in the first 15 games.

“I felt like it was a matter of time because of the caliber of player, how he’s elevated his game into last year and even this year,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “So, good sign and not surprised.”

When Raymond wasn’t scoring, he was facilitating. He had 13 assists in the first 15 games. He leads the team with 22 points in 22 games.

“Obviously, it’s always fun to score,” Raymond said. “Everyone wants to score. I’m no different. But at the same time, it’s just about doing the right things and good things happen. And I think that’s kind of my mentality. Goals go up and down, whatever, but I think if you stick to doing the right things and playing your game the right way, I think good things happen.”

In his past 40 games, including the final 18 last season, Raymond has 20 goals and 23 assists.

Continued (paywall)

Three Red Wings-Devils previews

The Detroit Red Wings battle the 15-8-and-2 New Jersey Devils this afternoon (3 PM EDT start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/MSGN/97.1 FM).

The 10-10-and-1 Red Wings are in for quite the challenge in battling New Jersey, whose 3-0 loss to St. Louis on Wednesday snapped a 3-game winning streak. The Devils have won 5 of 7 and 8 of their past 11 games.

Several game previews popped up on Thursday afternoon and Thursday evening, including this from Field Level Media…

New Jersey, one of the top offensive teams in the league, continued its odd habit of getting shut out in its losses. The Devils were blanked at home 3-0 on Wednesday by the St. Louis Blues.

New Jersey has scored an average of 4.6 goals per game in its 10 victories since late Oct. 27. In their four losses during that stretch, the Devils have been shutout each time.

The Devils surrendered all three Blues goals Wednesday in the first period.

“It’s tough against any team when you spot them a lead like that,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “They’re parking the bus, clogging it up, making it hard to get to their net. They’re not taking any chances on offense. You have to find your way through that. Clearly, it was a struggle for us.”

New Jersey squeezed off 31 shots on goal against St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington and wound up frustrated.

“Lots of looks, lots of chances, posts, one of those nights it didn’t go in for us,” Devils forward Stefan Noesen said.

The AP posted a just-the-facts preview…

Continue reading Three Red Wings-Devils previews

Prospect round-up: Johansson posts assist on busy European Thursday

Of Red Wings prospect-related note on Thursday:

In the KHL, Dmitri Buchelnikov finished even with a shot on goal and 2 blocks in 17:22 played as Vityaz Moscow Region lost 4-0 to Salavat Yulaev;

In the Finnish Liiga, Jesse Kiiskinen finished even with 4 shots in 16:33 played as HPK Hameenlinna lost 3-2 in overtime to SaiPa;

And in the SHL, Noah Dower Nilsson got back into Frolunda’s lineup with a shot and a -1 rating in only 4:02 played as Frolunda HC lost 3-2 to Orebro Hockey;

And Anton Johansson had an assist, finishing even with a minor penalty taken in 18:50 played as Leksands IF lost 4-1 to Brynas IF.

Regarding the Red Wings’ rejuvenated defensive play

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article in which he discusses the Red Wings’ new-found defensively stingy style of play:

Wednesday’s 2-1 overtime victory over Calgary was the Wings’ third win in the last four games. The Wings have allowed six goals total in those four games, a dramatic improvement to their team defense, along with a nod to elite goaltending which has been the case for nearly the entire season.

What looked like a dire situation as the Wings were returning from California, now looks much different.

“The last four games we’ve given up six goals,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “It just gives us an opportunity. It’s the reality of winning in the league, not necessarily just us. Good buy-in from our guys, again, just a really good win.”

Goaltender Cam Talbot made 24 saves to earn the victory against Calgary, a game in which the Wings allowed few scoring chances to a deep Flames lineup. The Wings also killed three Calgary power plays until finally allowing a Flames’ power-play goal on their fourth opportunity late in the third period.

“Our D-zone has been unbelievable as of late,” Talbot said. “The guys are doing a good job clogging up the middle and making the other team give up the puck coming into our zone. Once we clean up the penalty kill a little bit here, you’ll see that number (goals against) come down even more.”

Continued (paywall)

Thankful for goaltending

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a subscriber-only article which discusses several reasons for Red Wings fans to “be thankful” at American Thanksgiving, and we’ll start at the top:

Goaltending Depth

At 37, Cam Talbot isn’t a long-term solution. But the Red Wings are happy to have him locked in at a bargain $2.5 million cap hit for another season after this one. Talbot is a consistent performer who understands his profession and what it means to be a good teammate.

His presence will allow the Red Wings to decide next fall whether Sebastian Cossa is ready to play in the NHL or whether he should start the season in Grand Rapids with the idea of that he will join the team at some point next season. It could mean Alex Lyon is still in the picture as well. Make mistake: Cossa is one of the league’s top goalie prospects.

More importantly, the Red Wings have other younger goalie in the pipeline, including Michigan State’s Trey Augustine. He hasn’t hinted of his plans, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if Augustine turns pro after this season. Also, the Red Wings like Carter Gylander who is 1-0 in Grand Rapids and 5-1-2 with the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL. His Toledo numbers: 2.35 GAA and .913 save percentage.

Continued (paywall)

Tweets of note: Gobble Gobble

The Red Wings aren’t the only people who’ve been riding a roller coaster this season. My health has been as unpredictable as usual, and I’m finally coming back from a month-long hiatus thanks to a flu-like illness that only antibiotics were able to knock down the bug.

So I want to thank you with all my heart for sticking around, for lurking or just stumbling back onto the site as we get ‘er back up and running. I am incredibly grateful for each and every one of you.

Enjoy “American Thanksgiving,” have a great day, have great food (not too much!) and don’t kill your crazy uncle.