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!

Tweet of note: Asking the right questions

The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood reports that Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde is impressed with forward Vladimir Tarasenko’s questions as he adjusts to becoming a Red Wing:

Update: Also:

Alex DeBrincat is thrilled to be teammates with Patrick Kane

Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat spoke with the media today, and he spent quite a bit of time discussing his admiration for his friend and teammate, Patrick Kane, as noted by the Hockey News’s Connor Eargood:

“When he speaks up in our room—and to be honest with you before playing with him last year I didn’t know he was like that—but he will stand up, and he will say things, and when he talks, people listen,” [Red Wings captain Dylan] Larkin explained Thursday. “He’s earned that in this league and especially with our team, so to see that he wanted to come back and know that he had a full summer of training, he’s gonna get a full camp in, I’m very excited for him.”

For DeBrincat, the benefit of Kane isn’t just what he brings on the ice. He also credits Kane as a key mentor for cracking it in the NHL way back when he was a rookie.”He’s taught me so much, on the ice and off the ice” DeBrincat said. “I think off the ice, he treats his body really well. And he eats the right stuff and he does whatever he can to get ready for the next game.” DeBrincat also credited Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith as key mentors in his career, too. “Those guys, really helped me throughout the early parts of my career. Just how to act like a pro, how to treat your body like a pro.”

Considering how he treats his body, it’s no stroke of luck nor accident that Patrick Kane is the last one standing of the Chicago Blackhawks’ core players from its Stanley Cup heyday. Toews is retired in practice if not in definition, meanwhile Seabrook, Keith and Marian Hossa haven’t played in years. Kane’s care for his own body — even his risky hip surgery before joining Detroit — has equipped him to play in the NHL as a soon-to-be 36-year-old, still an impact player if not to the same degree as his former Hart-winning form.

“He’s a huge part of our team,” DeBrincat said. “He can create so much on offense and he has so much leadership. He’s been through a lot throughout his career. That leadership in the locker room, we have a lot of guys who bring that but him in general on the ice, he plays such a different way from everyone. I think it just adds another element of offense. He’s a big part of our team, so it’s great to have him back.”

Continued

ESPN’s Allen suggests that fantasy hockey players ‘wait and watch’ the Red Wings’ goaltenders

ESPN’s fantasy hockey writer, one Sean Allen, suggests that hockey poolies should “wait and watch” as to whether the Red Wings’ goaltenders might turn out to be good picks for your fantasy hockey team:

Detroit Red Wings

2023-24 season

  • Ville Husso: 20.6% crease share, 17.2 fantasy points (29 years, 216 days)
  • James Reimer: 27.5% crease share, 43.4 fantasy points (36 years, 178 days)
  • Alex Lyon: 50.8% crease share, 80.6 fantasy points (31 years, 274 days)
  • Michael Hutchinson: 1.2% crease share, 0.6 fantasy points (34 years, 192 days)

2024-25 roster

Among all the Red Wings goaltenders from last season as well as the ones available this coming season, only Talbot finished with enough fantasy points to be among the relevant goaltenders in 2023-24. And the fact he finished 10th overall comes with a huge asterisk, as his stats fell off a cliff when the calendar flipped to 2024 (27th among goaltenders from Jan. 1 onward).

Surely some kind of tandem will emerge here between Talbot, Husso, Lyon and maybe even Campbell. But perhaps the bigger question is whether the Red Wings take a big enough step forward overall to provide the requisite wins required for the production of fantasy points. There is something positive to be said for all of these suitors: Talbot has finished among the top 12 goaltenders in three of the past four seasons; Husso is eight years younger and two seasons removed from a 15th overall finish (in a season in which his crease share was just 47.7%); Lyon has had some positive stretches in the past two seasons, though hasn’t put it all together; and even Campbell was a top-12 goaltender in both 2020-21 and 2021-22.

I don’t think I’m trying to draft any of them out of the gate, but the Wings will be worth watching in October for signs of life in the crease.

Continued; we’re all going to be waiting and watching as the Red Wings’ goaltending sorts itself out.

Luszczyszyn suggests that the Red Wings are an easy ‘fade’ for bettors

I don’t speak the language of hockey betting, but it comes as no surprise that The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn leads off his “NHL Futures” article by giving the Red Wings a “fade” for this upcoming season:

Detroit Red Wings
UNDER 90.5 points, -120 (Stake: 7.5 percent)
NO playoffs, -162 (7 percent)

The Red Wings are easily my biggest fade this year. A 90.5-point total feels extremely generous for a team that felt fortunate to land at 91 last season. The Red Wings had the seventh worst expected goals percentage last season, but survived off hot shooting. They allowed the second most chances on the penalty kill, but countered that with unsustainably good goaltending. 

All that would be fine if the team was relatively young (they’re not), made meaningful improvements in the offseason (they didn’t), or could count on declines from teams around them (not likely). Unless Simon Edvinsson is the missing a piece and a day-one god, it’s difficult to envision a playoff path for the Red Wings this season — or matching last year’s 91 point total.

Continued; whether it’s betting futures or season previews, the Red Wings are going to be “bagged on” often this month and next month. The team’s not going to get any real respect from the media, and that’s just the way it is. Detroit’s got to prove that it is a playoff team by going out on the ice and winning.

One resilient Johnny Burgers

Updated at 2:43 PM: DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills tells us a little about Jonatan Berggren’s belief that this year, he’s going to make a positive impact with the Red Wings:

“I felt when I got the chance [in the NHL last season], I did pretty good,” Berggren said. “I was an offensive threat. Like always, I know I can be an offensive player here so just take care of the defense and the rest will probably come later.”

Splitting time between the AHL and NHL last season was challenging for Berggren, but he believes he’s a better player because of it.

“Me and my girlfriend basically lived in my car,” Berggren said. “But looking back at it, I grew a lot. Mentally strong and stuff, so of course it’s been tough. I think it’ll help me in the long run.”

Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde expects Berggren to take a leap in his development this season.

“You talk about actions, the first action is he had a great summer,” Lalonde said about Berggren. “He looks leaner. He looks like he’s got a little bit more pop. He’s done his work. Now, it’s just being a little more responsible in that two-way game.”

It stands to reason that the former second-round pick (No. 33 overall) in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft can do exactly that.

“I feel like I have a chance to take a spot and help provide goals for the team,” Berggren said. “That’s my main goal, but like I said, I need to take care of the defense first. The offense will come.”

Continued;

Update: Here’s more from MLive’s Ansar Khan:

Continue reading One resilient Johnny Burgers

Regarding Albert Johansson’s big chance to make the Wings’ roster

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen wrote a subscriber-only story about the Red Wings’ hopes for one defenseman Albert Johansson:

“We feel he’s ready to help us,” [Red Wings coach Derek] Lalonde said on the first day of training camp in Traverse City. “…We want to see it in camp, but I just want a simple game, being able to transport the puck for us, being able to defend. And he did that at a pretty consistent level in Grand Rapids. ”

Not only do the Red Wings want Johansson to make the roster, he almost has to make the roster if the Red Wings want to keep him. Johansson is 23 with two seasons (128 games) of AHL experience. That means he is no longer waiver exempt. Yzerman has said, more than once, he believes Johansson would be claimed on waivers by another NHL team if he tried to send him to the minors.

Even before coming to North America, Johansson logged 141 games in the Swedish Hockey League.

The Red Wings openness about Johansson’s potential comes from the fact that it’s not a secret that it is decision time about his future.

Continued (paywall)

Videos: Simon Edvinsson and Alex DeBrincat speak with the media

Per the Detroit Red Wings’ YouTube channel:

Tweet of note: Seider will be in Detroit for Monday’s practice, reports HSJ

Good news here for both Seider’s preseason preparedness and for his work visa:

Shapiro on the ‘off-hand winger’

EP Rinkside’s Sean Shapiro digs deeply into the “off-hand winger’s” position in his “Shap Shots” Substack today, speaking with Patrick Kane about being a left-shooting winger on the right-hand side of the ice:

While Russians playing on their off-wing is more common, Kane is one of the more pre-dominant North Americans to play that way, carving a Hall of Fame career by slaloming up the right side and cutting to the middle for better scoring chances.

Kane grew up playing as a center, but started his journey as an off-hand winger while playing with the National Team Development Program. Kane was on a line with Rhett Rakhshani at the NTDP and Rakhshani was a right-handed shot that liked to play on his left.

“It just kind of grew, just being on your offside, having the puck to the middle, guys being able to cut to the middle, especially if you are playing with a guy that can one-time the puck,” Kane said. “It seems to work pretty well and you can make those cross-ice passes.”

Thinking about all of this, I decided to pull some video from Tarasenko last season to try and illustrate what Kane is talking about.

Continued (paywall)