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!

NHL.com’s Cotsonika previews the Red Wings’ keys to success

NHL.com’s doing a second round’s worth of season previews this month, and today, Nicholas J. Cotsonika previews the Red Wings ahead of the 2024-2025 season. Here are his “3 keys” to Red Wings success:

3 KEYS

1. Goaltending: The Red Wings are opening training camp with three goalies: Cam Talbot, Ville Husso and Alex Lyon. It remains to be seen whether they will keep three, who will emerge as the starter and whether the goaltending can help Detroit reduce its goals against, 24th in the NHL last season (3.33 per game). Talbot, who signed a two-year, $5 million contract July 1, went 27-20-6 with a 2.50 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and three shutouts in 54 games (52 starts) for the Los Angeles Kings last season. Can the 37-year-old play at a high level for the Red Wings? Can Husso, who was limited to 19 games (18 starts) by injuries last season, stay healthy? Can Lyon, who was hot in January and February before cooling off down the stretch, seize the net and sustain it?

2. Team defense: The biggest problem for the Red Wings last season was team defense. They added Talbot in goal and forward Tyler Motte, who signed a one-year, $800,000 contract July 2. But they will need rookie defensemen Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson to perform, and the coaches and players as a group to figure out how to possess the puck more and keep it out of the net better. Forward Patrick Kane said everyone needs to play better defensively, not just the players who are in defensive roles.

3. Replacing offense: The Red Wings ranked ninth in offense (3.35 goals per game) and the power play (23.1 percent) last season, but lost forwards David Perron and Daniel Sprong and defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere and Jake Walman in the offseason. Those four players combined for 57 goals and 167 points last season, including 13 goals and 62 points on the power play. Detroit will need contributions from forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who signed a two-year, $9.5 million contract July 3, and defenseman Erik Gustafsson, who signed a two-year, $4 million contract July 1. They’re counting on Kane to keep producing, forward Lucas Raymond to keep developing and forward Alex DeBrincat to cash in on more of his opportunities.

Continued

Two things: on first-day jitters and Larkin’s next level

Of Red Wings-related note this evening:

  1. DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills wrote a mid-evening column which summarizes the Red Wings’ first day of training camp…

Detroit’s Training Camp roster this year features 68 players, including 37 forwards, 22 defensemen and nine goalies. With several key pieces returning, along with a mix of faces young and new, captain Dylan Larkin said everyone’s excited to get back to work.

“It’s like the first day of school,” Larkin said. “There are some jitters, but it was good to get on the ice up here. Some guys are feeling it out, but I was very impressed with the intensity and thought the older guys – Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry, myself, Lucas [Raymond], Alex [DeBrincat] – trying to push the battle and intensity a little higher than what we’ve had in the past.”

Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said it was important the veterans set the tone with a competitive practice to kick offTraining Camp.

“Our core is growing together,” Lalonde said. “I felt I’ve grown with this core a little bit too. This was their opportunity to set the tone. We keep talking about putting some of these words into action. It’s the first opportunity for action and was a good step on Day 1, but that’s all it was. I’d like to keep pushing this going forward, but it’s going to have to come from that leadership group.”

That leadership group is headlined by Larkin, who said missing out on the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season was a tough pill to swallow.

“It was extremely hard to get over that,” Larkin said. “We found out what we had in our room with our guys. We battled hard, but we came up short by one point. You learn how valuable every point is. Sometimes when you’re not feeling your best on the road, a long trip or whatever it is, we showed through adversity what winning hockey looks like for us.”

Mills continues…

2. And MLive’s Ansar Khan took note of captain Larkin’s remarks about himself, in which Larkin suggested that there’s room for improvement:

Continue reading Two things: on first-day jitters and Larkin’s next level

Coach Lalonde on the Red Wings’ desire to deliver post-season results

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde told the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan that he understands why the Red Wings are expected to make the playoffs (by their fans, anyway):

“That’s more reality than anything,” Lalonde said Thursday, meeting the media for the first time. “It’s a natural progression. We keep going like this (upward trend) with our points, keep going like this (upward) in the standings, an 11-point improvement last year, and you literally are in a virtual tie for the last playoff spot. Of course, the expectations will keep moving forward. But it’s a little different.”

Meaning, there’s more pressure to achieve those expectations and even surpass them, to claim a playoff spot. And for a large segment of this Wings’ roster, those type of expectations are different from years before.

Lalonde talked often last year about how many national analysts picked the Wings far out of the playoff picture before the season began.

That’s not the case, as much, anymore. Many people consider the Wings capable of making the playoffs.

“It was pretty clear that we were not expected to be a playoff team going into the season, and when you get to that point and start flirting with that type of season, you start getting those points in the high 80s or low 90s, where we were last year, everyone wants a natural progression,” Lalonde said. “That’s the way we see it and what we want.”

…

“It’s pressure, but it’s the reality of our league,” Lalonde said. “It’s so competitive. The parity in our league is at an all-time high and you want to keep this going, pushing it forward. We’ve done that the last two years, and you have to keep pushing it forward. You can call that expectation or pressure, but the simple reality of it is a team going in the right direction.”

Continued (paywall)

Evening Tweets of note: On preseason ESPN+ games, ‘the best #19,’ Seider and Tarasenko

Of Red Wings-related Twitter note this evening:

  1. EP Rinkside’s Sean Shapiro posted a list of the preseason games that will be aired on ESPN+:

Here’s ESPN’s official Tweet:

It looks like Thursday October 2nd vs. Toronto, Friday October 3 vs. Ottawa, and Saturday October 4 at Toronto will be streamed on ESPN+.

2. Discuss:

3. And, from the Red Wings comes this infographic about Moritz Seider…

As well as a mini-highlight clip of Vladimir Tarasenko:

Kane, Larkin, Lalonde weigh in on Raymond, Seider re-signings

Patrick Kane and the rest of the Red Wings who spoke to the media on Thursday had some interesting things to say about the re-signings of Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, as noted by MLive’s Ansar Khan…

“Some great news the past few days with (Lucas Raymond signing and then Mo signing, so I think everyone’s kind of relieved that that’s done and over with,” Patrick Kane said. “Both of them are so deserving of their new contracts. Both of them work so hard. They want to be Red Wings. They want to do well for the city and for the organization. So happy for both those guys and for the team as well.”

Kane added, “Mo’s such a good defender, great defenseman. He’s so important playing against top lines every night. Obviously, he’s got a lot of offensive weapons as well, can be dynamic on the power play, can produce offensively from the back end, which is huge.”

And the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took note of Kane, Dylan Larkin and coach Derek Lalonde’s remarks regarding Raymond and Seider:

“You see younger players are coming in and having more of an impact and becoming some of your best players,” Kane said. “Those two guys (Seider, Raymond) are no different. Mo is just such a good defender, a great defenseman. You see him playing against top guys every night. He has the offense as well and he can be dynamic on the power play and produce offense from the back end, which is huge.”

Coach Derek Lalonde met with the media before Seider’s contract was announced. But Lalonde said Seider’s absence Thursday wasn’t a major issue.

“We’re ready to embrace Mo whenever he does arrive,” Lalonde said. “Guys (teammates) have been around enough where they understand the RFA (restricted free agent) situation. It was business as usual.”

Likewise captain Dylan Larkin talked before Seider’s signing became official. Larkin said it was “strange” not seeing Seider in camp, but was optimistic the situation would resolve itself quickly — which it did.

“That’s his situation, but I know he wants to be here,” Larkin said. “But it’s between him and his agent and Steve and the guys understand that. He’s a huge part of our team and we need him.”