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!

On JP Hurlbert’s Michigan ties

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills filed an article about Red Wings first round pick JP Hurlbert, who spoke with the media last night from Buffalo.

Hurlbert was born in Texas, and played this past season with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, but he’s headed to U of M this fall:

The next phase of Hurlbert’s development will take place in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he’s committed to the University of Michigan for the upcoming season – a fitting destination given the Allen, Texas native’s strong family connection to both the Wolverines and the Motor City.

“A lot of time in Texas for sure in the summers,” Hurlbert said. “But I’ve always, every summer, gone up [to Michigan] for at least two weeks. Spent it with my grandparents. They have a lake house up there, so I know the city really well. I know the area. It’s somewhere where I feel like I’m at home and it’s really easy to go back to.”

Those ties also influenced Hurlbert’s hockey fandom growing up, with his parents helping fuel his passion for the sport and supporting his journey every step of the way.

“Kind of starting off watching Red Wings games, running around the house, yelling ‘hockey, hockey, hockey’ with my dad, so that’s what got me into it,” Hurlbert said. “They’ve carried me the whole way here. So much travelling as a kid, taking me to events and practices, so I wouldn’t be sitting here without them.”

Detroit initially didn’t own a first-round pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, but Draper explained that the Red Wings’ expansive scouting staff was prepared for anything going into the weekend.

“You never know what was going to happen,” Draper said. “Obviously, at the Trade Deadline, we ended up trading our first-round pick and brought in Justin Faulk. So, for us it was just basically continue doing the job, watching the players, knowing the players and if something were to come up and Steve was able to add a first-round pick, make sure that we were ready to go. That’s exactly what we did, and the opportunity came being able to make a trade with Utah and gave us the opportunity to select J.P.”

Continued

Red Wings select Luka Arkko 175th overall

With the 175th pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the Red Wings selected winger Luka Arkko from the Lahti Pelicans’ J20 team.

Per EliteProspects’ Draft Guide:

Continue reading Red Wings select Luka Arkko 175th overall

Red Wings select Beckham Edwards 143rd overall

Updated 2x at 3:34 PM: With the 143rd overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the Red Wings selected incoming Notre Dame freshman center Beckham Edwards.

Per EliteProspects…

Continue reading Red Wings select Beckham Edwards 143rd overall

Red Wings draft Adam Levac 108th overall

Updated 2x at 2:22 PM: With the 108th pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the Red Wings selected Peterborough Petes center Adam Levac.

The NHL Network reported that today is Levac’s 18th birthday.

From EliteProspects:

Continue reading Red Wings draft Adam Levac 108th overall

Red Wings draft Michal Orsulak 79th overall

Updated 3x at 2:11 PM: With the 79th pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the Red Wings selected goaltender(!) Michal Orsulak of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders.

Per EliteProspects…

Continue reading Red Wings draft Michal Orsulak 79th overall

Red Wings select Victor Plante 47th overall

With the 47th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the Red Wings selected NTDP center and incoming Minnesota-Duluth freshman Victor (Brother of Max) Plante:

Updated 10x at 1:18 PM: Per EliteProspects, Plante is only 5’10” and 163 pounds. Here’s their scouting report:

Continue reading Red Wings select Victor Plante 47th overall

Shapiro on Cossa’s flaws

From Sean Shapiro’s must-read Substack comes this about Sebastian Cossa, the Red Wings prospect who was traded to the Utah Mammoth for the 23rd overall pick (JP Hurlbert) in the 2026 NHL Draft:

The Cossa saga is interesting, he always had the physical tools, but seemed to lack the mental makeup and demeanor that Detroit was looking for. The Red Wings essentially tried to tear him down and build him back up, and even after doing that they didn’t like the end product, especially compared to Trey Augustine.

Nothing new to report on the Dylan Larkin front, although it will be interesting today when Steve Yzerman addressed the media after Day 2 of the NHL Draft, which will be his first public comments since the trade reports surfaced two weeks ago.

Tweets of note: JP Hurlbert draft highlights

From the Detroit Red Wings on “X” come the following Tweets regarding the team’s 23rd overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, Kamloops Blazers alumnus and incoming University of Michigan freshman JP Hurlbert:

And, if you missed it, here’s Hurlbert’s first press conference as a Red Wing:

Continue reading Tweets of note: JP Hurlbert draft highlights

The Minnesota Wild still want Dylan Larkin. It may take a ‘flip’ to make the trade happen.

The Athletic’s Minnesota Wild beat writers, Michael Russo and Joe Smith, discuss the Wild’s pursuit of disgruntled Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin this morning. Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman probably won’t appreciate the forthright nature of this one:

The Wild are still very much in the Larkin sweepstakes, with [Minnesota GM Bill] Guerin, Detroit GM Steve Yzerman and Larkin’s agent, Pat Brisson, in constant communication. Larkin, who requested a trade earlier this offseason and has a full no-trade clause, was not moved on Friday’s busy first day of the draft, and it’s up in the air when — or if — Yzerman would move his disgruntled six-time 30-goal scorer.

Yzerman isn’t just going to trade him to trade him, especially with five years left on Larkin’s contract and scores of teams in need of a top centerman. That puts the Wild in a tough spot because of all the picks and prospects they have traded over the past few years, especially in the Hughes trade.

There’s no doubt Guerin would trade multiple first-round picks and prospects like Danila Yurov and Charlie Stramel for Larkin, who had Minnesota on his initial list of three teams he was willing to go to. But those young forwards aren’t considered blue-chip prospects and, as of now, they clearly haven’t moved the needle for the Red Wings.

“Nothing is ever off the table,” Guerin said while talking generally. “There’s a lot of time.”

Russo and Smith believe that the Red Wings and Wild may have to include a third team in a prospective Larkin trade, yielding a “flip” of future assets in order to afford the Red Wings the “right now” help which they’re requesting:

Continue reading The Minnesota Wild still want Dylan Larkin. It may take a ‘flip’ to make the trade happen.

Morning news round-up: Draper on Hurlbert, 2nd draft day priorities, and Larkin’s shadow

The Free Press’s Helene St. James, MLive’s Ansar Khan and The Athletic’s Max Bultman all offer new Red Wings-related articles this morning.

First, St. James discusses Sebastian Cossa’s “failure to launch“ as a highly-heralded Detroit prospect…

“Coss was a great prospect for us,” assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper said Friday. “We really invested a lot of time and felt that Sebastian continued to grow and he did get better. He was a pro.”

Just how far Cossa had dropped on the Wings’ goaltending chart was made clear entering the last week of the season. Eliminated from the NHL playoff race with two games remaining, Wings coach Todd McLellan was asked about calling up Cossa to play in those games. The Grand Rapids Griffins had long since clinched a spot in the AHL playoffs, and had both Michal Postava and Trey Augustine available to play. Postava had, in fact, taken over as the No. 1 netminder with the Griffins. But Cossa wasn’t even a consideration for the Wings.

“There was no thought or anything,” McLellan said.

Draper remained circumspect about the fact that Cossa didn’t click in Detroit:

Continue reading Morning news round-up: Draper on Hurlbert, 2nd draft day priorities, and Larkin’s shadow