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!

HSJ in the morning: on Kasper and Husso

The Free Press’s Helene St. James filed two articles this morning, with the first discussing Marco Kasper’s maturation into a player who believes that he can earn a spot on the Red Wings’ roster…

“I want to play with confidence, make my plays that I know I’m capable of and work as hard as I can,” Kasper said Saturday. “I think last year I was not maybe as ready as I am this year. This year I worked really hard in the summer — I did last year as well, but it was just different. It was coming here and not really knowing what was going to happen. This year I feel more comfortable. I know the guys, the coaching staff, the systems.”

Kasper, 20, appeared in one game for the Wings in April 2023, after his season in the Swedish Hockey League had ended. An injury waylaid plans to play him more, and Kasper’s performance at last year’s camp made it clear he needed at least a season in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Kasper posted 35 points in 71 games, and then turned heads with four goals and three assists in nine playoff games.

“He doesn’t even look like the same athlete as last year at this time in camp,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “He built some confidence from his growth in GR last year, and I think that playoff run was very valuable for him. He’s got some attitude into camp this year, which is certainly a positive.”

Kasper spent most of the summer in his native Austria, where his on-ice work included Olympic qualification games. Off the ice, he did what he could to turbocharge his physical development.

“Just trying to become a man, if you want to say it like that,” he said.

And St. James’ second article discusses Ville Husso’s health as the Red Wings’ goaltender attempts to earn one of three goaltending spots on the roster:

“It’s always tough not playing, especially last year — that second injury, you just want to get out there, and then you’re not ready to go,” Husso said Saturday. “At least I got some extra time this summer. I’ve been training and I feel good now and I’m excited to play some preseason games.”

Husso, 29, was limited to 19 games in 2023-24, felled first in mid-December by a lower-body injury and then again when he attempted a comeback in mid-February. Now he’s competing with Alex Lyon, last season’s hero, and Cam Talbot, a newcomer, for minutes.

“The No. 1 thing is to be healthy,” Husso said. “No injuries any more. Then just battle. We have a good competition between all of us and I think it’s a good situation for all of us — competing, pushing each other to be better every day.”

Husso and Lyon are both entering the last years of their contracts; Talbot is starting the first of a two-year deal. Lyon rose from third-stringer to starter last season, but asked about the goaltending depth chart, coach Derek Lalonde called it, “a true clean slate.”

“Over the last two years, all three of those goalies — Ville, Cam and Alex — have had really nice stretches, proved they can win in this league,” Lalonde said. “We’ll look for one to step up.”

Emphasis on exhibition games

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen explains why the Red Wings feel that all 8 preseason games are important in terms of establishing a roster hierarchy:

These preseason games are important to the Red Wings because [coach Derek] Lalonde has significant decisions to make about line combinations, goalie usage and which rookies will make the team. Everything matters when you are trying to land one of 16 playoff spots in a 32-team league.

“So it’s going to be a little bit of all of that,” Lalonde said. “We probably want to see some lines together, especially talking about how fluid it might be. We want to see some special teams together, but at the same time we want to give a really good look and we want to see those young players. So there’s going to be all of that going on. It gets a little complicated…And obviously we want to play our young guys a lot.”

That approach starts at noon today when the Red Wings host the annual Red and White Intrasquad game at noon today. These are important opportunities for players like Marco Kasper or Nate Danielson to make their case to earn a spot on the roster.

Continued; the Red Wings obviously need to determine who’s starting in goal as well.

Prospect round-up: Buchelnikov 1A, Sandin Pellikka 1G, Baker 1G on a busy Saturday for Red Wings prospects

Of Red Wings prospect-related note on Saturday:

In the KHL, Dmitri Buchelnikov had an assist, finishing even with 2 shots in 15:24 played as Vityaz Moscow Region won 4-1 over Barys Astana:

In the SHL, Noah Dower Nilsson finished with a penalty taken and only 4:33 played on the 4th line as Frolunda HC won 5-1 over Leksands IF. Anton Johansson finished even with a shot on goal in 10:54 played for Leksand;

Axel Sandin Pellikka scored a goal on 2 shots, but he also took a costly penalty in 19:29 played as Skelleftea AIK lost 4-1 to the Malmo Redhawks:

In the Swedish J20 league, Charlie Forslund scored a goal on 3 shots, finishing even as Mora IK lost 4-3 in a shootout to Skelleftea AIK;

And in the USHL, Rudy Guimond served as the back-up in the Cedar Rapids Roughriders’ 3-1 win over the Lincoln Stars;

And Austin Baker scored a goal on one shot, finishing at +2 as the Sioux Falls Stampede won 6-3 over the U.S. NTDP:

Getting ready for the Red vs. White Game

The Red Wings will play their annual Red vs. White Game at 12 PM EDT on Sunday (to be streamed on DetroitRedWings.com), and the Traverse City Record-Eagle’s Brendan Quealy asked coach Derek Lalonde about what he expects to see over the course of the game:

“Structure,” Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said when asked what he wants to see out of Sunday’s action. “We’ll probably be fluid with the lines and look pretty similar to last year.”

Instead of just a regular three periods of scrimmage hockey, the Red Wings will use the Red & White Game to implement strategies and work on the nuts and bolts of what their approach will be this coming season.

“We’ll play some 5-on-5 hockey. It’ll be a lot of our concepts and structure,” Lalonde said. “We’ll get a period of special teams, and then we’ll also address our 4-on-4 and our 3-on-3, which is important. It helps us along in our process to introduce everything.”

Despite the recent changes to the Red & White Game, Lalonde said the goal of training camp remains the same.

“It’s just implementing your process and trying to get everything in properly while getting them to understand it,” he said. “I really have liked the three days of camp so far, from our structure to our special teams.”

Coming back after a successful 2023-24 campaign that showed great growth and ended with a high-stakes race for a spot in the playoffs, Lalonde feels the Red Wings are in a better spot now than last year’s training camp.

“Just a little continuity with the same coaching staff and a lot of the core coming back. It maybe looks a little cleaner and certainly feels like a lot less teaching so far, which is always a positive,” he said. “We’re trying to take some steps from where we were last year. Guys understanding their roles, understanding their identity is successful to any team trying to win a hockey game. It’ll be a work in progress in the preseason, but we’re all excited to see it.”

Continued with comments from Tyler Motte about joining his hometown team…

NHL.com: Stadium series hype is already beginning

From NHL.com’s Craig Merz:

The NHL will go all-in on the bitter rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan when the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series is held at Ohio Stadium on March 1.

Dean Matsuzaki, executive vice president for NHL events, learned quickly how the matchup of the Columbus Blue Jackets, in their first outdoor game, and the Detroit Red Wings, in their fifth, will evoke emotions usually associated between the two neighboring schools.

He and his staff arrived two days prior to the football game between Ohio State and Marshall on Saturday to go over planning and coordination at the 102-year-old stadium.

“We’ve learned the passion here, and we’ve learned how much people want to beat a team from up in Michigan as well. There’s been a lot of that there,” Matsuzaki said. “We’ve heard about the crossing out the M’s on campus and things like that and somebody mentioned to me about crossing out D’s for our game. So that was pretty interesting.”

It’s a tradition the week before the annual Michigan football game to cross out all the M’s on campus signs and buildings. And, if you’re a true Buckeye, you never say “Michigan.” It’s always “That Team Up North.”

Matsuzaki can envision that type of environment for the Blue Jackets and Red Wings game considering it’s about a three-hour drive from Detroit.

The capacity has not been set, he said, but the fact that Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor had 105,491 for the Winter Classic between the Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 1, 2014, will be a motivation to fill Ohio Stadium.

Continued;

Update: The Columbus Dispatch’s Brian Hedger and Bill Rabinowitz also spoke with the NHL:

After sending league representatives for site visits during the Buckeyes’ football season last year and again in the spring, not long after officially announcing the game against the Detroit Red Wings, the NHL was back in Columbus this week. Dean Matsuzaki, the league’s executive vice president of events, arrived Thursday for another visit that culminated with Ohio State’s game Saturday against Marshall.

Matsuzaki helped plot things such as rink placement and where the NHL’s “ice plant” will be set up nearly two weeks prior to the game, and he walked through the stadium with representatives from ESPN ― the primary U.S. television rightsholder for the game ― to assess camera angles and seating areas that may need to be blocked off for broadcast purposes.

He also soaked up the full atmosphere of a game day at OSU, from the band’s skull session to the dotting of the ‘i’ in script Ohio to other in-game traditions the NHL may mix into the Blue Jackets’ matchup against the Red Wings. 

“It’s our third day here now, so we’ve had a lot of planning and operational things the past couple days,” Matsuzaki said prior to the Buckeyes’ game. “Today is now all about game day, front of house, operations in-stadium, traffic, parking and then all the pomp and circumstance, the game presentation … all of that. We’re going to try to lean into all of what Ohio State does and then use it for our game as well and create the ties.”

Summarizing the articles filed by the Red Wings’ beat writers on Day 3 of training camp

Of Red Wings-related note in the news department on Saturday:

  1. DetroitRedWings.com: DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills wrote an article which discusses Simon Edvinsson’s maturation…

Simon Edvinsson gained confidence from his experience down the stretch with the Detroit Red Wings last season. Now, as the 21-year-old defenseman navigates Training Camp, he has more motivation than ever to grow his game this season.

“It’s a Training Camp where we come from a season where we didn’t reach the playoffs by one point,” Edvinsson said on Saturday. “My main focus has been to be as good and ready as possible for the start of the season.”

Edvinsson split last season between the Red Wings and American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins, recording two points (one goal, one assist) in 16 games with Detroit as well as 30 points (eight goals, 22 assists) in 54 regular-season games with Grand Rapids. He also had two assists in six Calder Cup Playoff contests.

“A lot happened for me during the last two months there,” Edvinsson said about last season. “It was a great experience. I know how hard it is to grab a playoff spot and what it is needed from the whole team, and me personally, to really grab those extra points at the end.”

Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said he envisions Edvinsson taking more responsibility this season.

“With his overall play from Grand Rapids last year to what he gave us down the stretch, where he slotted with our push at the end last year, we foresee him in a similar role,” Lalonde said about Edvinsson. “I foresee him in a top-four [role] and we’ll kind of let it play out from there. Hopefully he can even eat minutes if he’s got it going one night, might be a little fluid with our top-four even. If he earns more minutes, he’ll get more minutes.”

Update: Mills also wrote an article about the Red Wings’ desire to author a different finish to their regular season:

“The group as a whole basically fell a point short last year from getting in [to the Stanley Cup Playoffs],” Tyler Motte said. “Played a little bit of playoff-style hockey down the stretch to make it interesting and be in the conversation. [The Red Wings coaching staff] just wants a little bit more from us. They continue to push the pace in practice, a lot of the details.”

Motte is amidst his first Training Camp with Detroit after signing a one-year free-agent contract with the club last month. Lalonde said Motte’s hard-working style of play is exactly what he’s asking of from his players.

“Energy and momentum to it,” Lalonde said. “You need that. These are some of those habits I alluded to with him earlier. He plays direct hockey, finishes checks and gets back above plays. A lot of those habits are what we’re constantly trying to preach with our group.”

Putting that standard into practice is well underway in Traverse City, with players like goalie Ville Husso praising the competitiveness and tempo of the on-ice sessions.

“The speed has been very high on the ice,” Husso said. “Guys are battling hard. You can just tell everybody wants to score, so that makes the day hard for us goalies. For us, it’s to get to that next step as a team and as individuals. It starts in practice by competing and trying to get better every day.”

Also from the Red Wings, on Twitter:

2. MLive: MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that Ville Husso is healthy and ready to compete for a spot in the Red Wings’ goal crease…

Continue reading Summarizing the articles filed by the Red Wings’ beat writers on Day 3 of training camp

Sportsnet’s Fox praises the Moritz Seider contract

From Sportsnet’s Luke Fox’s “Quick Shifts“:

With only the Sabres (13 seasons) owning a longer post-season drought than the Red Wings (eight), the growing discontent with Detroit’s rebuild under icon Steve Yzerman comes honestly.

No playoff games for you, spectacular Little Caesars Arena. 

But Stevie Y earned an emphatic boardroom W this week, locking up star forward Lucas Raymond (eight years times $8.075 million) and stud defenceman Moritz Seider (seven years times $8.55 million) for the prime of their careers.

Yzerman, remember, came from Tampa Bay, and his Lightning crafted a hard internal cap that would yield deep rosters and, soon after he moved on, championships. Now he’s doing the same thing in Michigan. 

Yzerman drew a hard line. No player was to rake a higher AAV than captain Dylan Larkin ($8.7 million). That meant not giving Seider an eighth season of term, but it keeps the team’s pay scale in place and sets the tone for the next negotiation.

Seider, in particular, is a steal. 

A big, edgy righty with offensive flair and an ironman streak that traces back to his NHL debut and Calder Trophy campaign?

With the cap on the rise, Seider is going to be one of the sport’s greatest bargains before too long. I seem to remember another German RFA turning into a steal of a deal, too…

Continued