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!

Fair-to-middling

The Athletic offers free agency grades for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams, and, as you might expect, the Red Wings earn a middling mark:

Detroit Red Wings: B-

The Red Wings got deeper, addressed their needs and were able to do so in most cases without extending significant term, so that’s all well and good. But it’s impossible to ignore the fact that they still haven’t picked up a big-time scorer. Maybe it’s not fair to dock their free agency grade for that, as any such scorer would likely be acquired via trade — the free agent options weren’t all that exciting — but it’s just hard to get especially excited about their moves. The B- reflects a clear effort to improve, and they’ve had some success in doing so, but they’re still lacking that important missing piece. — Max Bultman

Continued (paywall);

The same is true for the Wings’ goaltending moves, per Harman Dayal and Jesse Granger:

Continue reading Fair-to-middling

Khan speaks with Red Wings development camp try-out Dean Loukus

The Red Wings brought in Saginaw Spirit winger Dean Loukus, a native of Calumet, MI, as a free agent invite for this past week’s summer development camp. MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Loukus about his experience:

It’s a lot of work, it’s a job for sure, but it’s been fun,” Loukus said. “I’ve had a blast. There’s a lot that comes in. You try to be a sponge and soak it in. They do a whole deep dive into what you should eat, how you should sleep and different things like that. Try to implement that into your normal day and normal training. It’s pretty cool stuff. Growing up watching the Red Wings, it’s just a far-off dream for a kid from a small town.”

Loukus, 20, hails from Calumet, a town of 700 in the upper reaches of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He capped an outstanding four-year career at Calumet High School in 2021 by winning the state’s Mr. Hockey Award, leading the Copper Kings to the Division 3 championship game, where they lost to Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood.

Loukus watched the Red Wings play in the 2019 Kraft Hockeyville exhibition at the Calumet Colosseum, the oldest continuous-use indoor ice arena in the world (since 1913). The only other time he saw them in person was some 10 years ago during a game at Joe Louis Arena. This past week was his first trip to LCA.

“It’s pretty special,” Loukus said. “Every room is pretty high tech. Some of the weight room stuff is pretty cool, the technology. Thee dining room is nice, has a restaurant-type vibe.”

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Kulfan on Sebastian Cossa and Dan Watson, seeking a parallel promotion

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took note of the fact that Red Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa hopes to make the jump from the ECHL to the AHL as coach Dan Watson completes his transition from ECHL to AHL coaching as well:

“Pretty cool,” Cossa said of his reaction to Watson going to Grand Rapids. “I liked him a lot as a coach, and person as well. I’m excited for him. He’s definitely earned it. I’m looking forward to hopefully being there with him next year.

“He’s definitely a players’ coach. Really personable. Everyone there is willing to run a through wall for him. The guys like him a lot. Halfway through the season and the playoffs, we had one of the best penalty kills and power plays in the league.”

Cossa, in his first pro season, had an impressive second half and playoffs for Toledo, as the Walleye reached the conference finals.

It’s expected Cossa will be promoted to Grand Rapids next season.

“Hopefully, yes,” Cossa said of joining the Griffins. “If I put the work in and show what I can do, hopefully I’m there.”

HSJ on Filip Zadina and other first-round ‘flops’

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a column which reflects upon the fickle fate of first-round draft picks, like one Filip Zadina:

His performance certainly isn’t what was anticipated when former general manager Ken Holland drafted Zadina at No. 6 in 2018. The team’s director of amateur scouting, Tyler Wright, was in disbelief the Wings got a player projected to go as high as third overall.

“Zadina at sixth for us was a little bit of a shock,” Wright said at the time. “We need to score goals. We need offensive players. He’s a guy that has the ability to win hockey games because he’s got that offensive ability. He finds a way to score in different ways. His No. 1 attribute that we think that he can bring is high-end skill.”

But as the seasons passed, it became clear Zadina couldn’t translate the skills that made him a star in the Quebec junior league (82 points in 57 games with Halifax in his draft year). He didn’t capitalize when given chances in the top six and power play, and wasn’t physical enough to play in the bottom six.

In recent years, the Wings have cut ties with 2015 first-round pick Evgeny Svechnikov (No. 19), who also ended up on waivers and was not re-signed, and 2016 first-round pick Dennis Cholowski, who was exposed in the Seattle Kraken draft. Neither has become a regular in the NHL with another team.

The Zadina flop looks worse because the guy who went No. 7, Quinn Hughes, has emerged as a star defenseman. But as good as the Vancouver Canucks looked making that pick, in 2016 they took a defenseman named Olli Juolevi at No. 5. He might ring a small bell for Wings fans who remember he played eight games with Detroit in 2021-22, but Juolevi has spent most of his North American pro career in the AHL. If the Wings regret not picking Hughes, imagine how the Canucks feel passing on the guy who went right after Juolevi: Matthew Tkachuk, one of the best young players in the league.

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Tweet of note: Griffins coach Dan Watson’s introduction receives ‘BTS’ treatment

The Grand Rapids Griffins posted a 2-minute “Behind the Scenes” video of coach Dan Watson’s introduction as the Griffins’ new bench boss:

Tweet of note: The Fourth Period’s Pagnotta talks DeBrincat

The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta spoke with the NHL Network regarding the Red Wings and “at least one other team’s” statuses are regarding one Alex DeBrincat:

DetroitRedWings.com’s Mills on Kris Draper’s comments regarding his promotion to AGM

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills wrote an article which focuses on Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper’s promotion to the team’s second assistant GM (alongside Shawn Horcoff):

“In talking with Steve about it, I want the opportunity to sit in on meetings like last week with free agency, the negotiations of contracts and entry-level deals,” Draper said. “I’d love to sit in and learn how to do those.”

Draper is entering his 12th season in the Red Wings’ front office. He was named the organization’s director of amateur scouting before the 2019-20 campaign after working the previous eight seasons as assistant to former GM Ken Holland.

“It was a great opportunity for me to be around Ken and learn everything in all areas of the game,” Draper said. “It was obviously special. I appreciate being able to walk out of the Detroit Red Wings’ dressing room into the front office. Ken gave me that opportunity and that’s a big reason why I’m sitting here.”

Draper is fortunate to be part of Detroit’s front office, which includes his “friends for life” and former Red Wings teammates in Yzerman, (Vice President of Hockey Operations) Nicklas Lidstrom, (Pro Scout) Kirk Maltby, (Associate Director of Player Personnel) Jiri Fischer, (European Player Development) Niklas Kronwall and (Assistant Director of Player Development) Dan Cleary.

“We’re all in this for the same thing,” said Draper, who played 17 of his 20 NHL seasons and won four Stanley Cups with Detroit. “We want to be good again and we want to be great. We all take a lot of pride in what the Detroit Red Wings organization meant to all of us. We played arguably in the greatest era of the Detroit Red Wings organization, and we want to bring that back. We all understand how hard it’s going to be but we’re all in this together.”

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Red Wings officially place Filip Zadina on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract

It happened: