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.
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Thomas Greiss‘ first year for the Detroit Red Wings can best be described as a tale of two halves.
Greiss made six starts before earning his first victory of the 2020-21 season, but his early win-loss record wasn’t indicative of his level of play, and the 12-year NHL veteran goaltender rebounded to finish 6-0-3 in his final nine starts of the year.
After signing with the Red Wings as a free agent in October 2020 and impressing the coaching staff in training camp, Greiss was pressed into more duty than he expected early in the season when former Red Wings goalie Jonathan Bernier was sidelined with injuries.
The 35-year-old started 11 of the club’s first 16 games, and despite a 2.90 goals-against average and .904 save percentage, Greiss only had one win to show for it.
As the season pressed on and Greiss gained more chemistry with his defensive corps, the wins started piling up and the veteran continued instilling confidence in his young teammates and the coaching staff.
Larkin, the Red Wings’ captain, probably isn’t on the market, but Goldman surmises that his age (25) not lining up with the Wings’ window of contention, combined with the fact that he’s coming off a rough season production-wise, make him an appealing player.
Quality of teammates, along with systems and coaching, likely are at the root of his dip in play [last season]. With Larkin, at five-on-five, the Red Wings’ expected goal rate was 6 percent below average; they lacked net-front shots, which may be attributed to the center’s mainstay winger, Tyler Bertuzzi, missing most of the season — but they still created some scoring chances. Without him, though, their offense was a black hole, with their xG generation falling 20 percent below average.
Last season was one of Larkin’s worst shooting seasons, but there’s the potential to change that with a new team — especially if he were to skate alongside an elite playmaker in Artemi Panarin. What may have contributed to one of his worst shooting seasons — both in terms of shot volume and scoring — was a lack of high-danger passes preceding his shots. That would unquestionably change alongside Panarin. In a better position to shoot, the focus shifts to his finishing ability.
He could also match up with Chris Kreider’s speed and net-front play or Alexis Lafrenière’s vision and passing abilities.
Panarin has clicked well with right-handed centers, but his line has essentially only featured righties the past two years. Having another lefty in Larkin would give the offense more variety in handedness. That would be particularly handy on the first power-play unit.
Goldman continues (paywall); I know that anyone can be traded, but even in taking off my “fan” hat and putting on my “blogger/reporter’s” hat, reading Larkin getting talked up as a trade target is weird for me.
If you’re interested, Michigan journalist John U. Bacon had a chat with the NHL Network regarding his book, Let Them Lead: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership From America’s Worst High School Hockey Team:
Here you go, hockey fans! My interview on NHL Network TV with former Red Wing tough guy turned lawyer Stu Crimson and Jamison Coyle. Lot of laughs. https://t.co/3Kt4sqkh7j— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) September 8, 2021
This is pretty cool: the Grind Line–all of Darren McCarty, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Joe Kocur–will be inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame as recipients of the “Michigan Treasure” award, on Friday, October 1st:
Red Wings forward Robby Fabbri spoke with The Word on Woodward’s Daniella Bruce and Arthur J. Regner recently. Here’s the 15-minute video of their conversation:
These posts aren’t my favorite, but it’s necessary, so: I’m still raising funds to head up to Traverse City for 16 days(!) to cover the prospect tournament and training camp.
We’ve raised about $800 so far (out of a $2,000 hotel bill + approximately $500 needed to get me up, back, and keep me fed and wearing proper attire), so progress has been made, but with six days left before I leave on the 14th (yes, the tournament starts on the 16th), I’m hoping to raise another $500 to cover the hotel bill + the cost of getting me up there.
Again, I feel like apologizing for doing this, but it’s just the way things go when you don’t run commercials and you’re not a person of means (as the aunt likes to say, “What do I want? I want the big bag of money!”). Until we find the big bag of money, I’m going to be getting by on reader support, and I’m learning to not be ashamed of being the PBS/NPR of blogs.
I also tend to say that I am incredibly grateful for your readership and time, and that’s no bullshit. I believe that the biggest thing you can give someone is your time, and when you read this blog–and when you contribute to it–you’re literally and figuratively giving me your time. Thank you for doing that.
As Red Wings Prospects on Twitter noted, the Detroit Red Wings prospects’ 2021-2022 campaign kicked off today with a game in the Swedish Under-20 league.
Perhaps Blashill will experiment with familiarity and play the so-called Guelph line of Suter-Fabbri-Bertuzzi. All three were teammates and occasional linemates with the OHL’s Guelph Storm.
Going this way would leave Larkin between the two Czechs, Vrana and Zadina. That could offer the potential to be an intriguing and potentially potent trio.
If Erne scores like he did last season (11 goals in 45 games) he’s a top-nine forward. Should he score like he did in 2019-20 (two goals in 56 games), he could find himself back on the fourth line.
Likewise, if Namestnikov rediscovers the touch that made him a 22-goal scorer in 2017-18, or even a 17-goal scorer in 2019-20, he’d be jumping up into a top-nine role.
DETROIT – The National Hockey League today announced updated start times for two Detroit Red Wings home games originally announced with the release of the 2021-22 regular-season schedule.
The Dec. 18 home game versus the New Jersey Devils will now begin at 8 p.m. ET.
The Jan. 31 home game versus the Anaheim Ducks will now begin at 7:30 p.m. ET.
RED WINGS RELEASE 2021 NHL PROSPECT TOURNAMENT ROSTER AND SCHEDULE … First-Round Trio of Veleno, Raymond and Cossa Headline 23-Man Roster for Five-Team Tournament …
DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today released their 2021 NHL Prospect Tournament roster and a complete tournament schedule for the event, held from Thursday, Sept. 16 to Monday, Sept. 20 at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich. The team consists of 23 recent draft picks, free agent signees and tryouts who will battle against prospect teams from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Red Wings roster is highlighted by three recent first-round picks: center Joe Veleno (30th overall, 2018), who made his NHL debut with the Red Wings in 2020-21 and scored his first NHL goal on May 7 at Columbus after spending a majority of the season with the Swedish Hockey League’s Malmo Redhawks, where he tallied 20 points (11-9-20) in 46 games; right wing Lucas Raymond (4th overall, 2020), who is beginning his first professional season in North America in 2021-22 after finishing second in the SHL among players aged 19-or-younger with 18 points (6-12-18) in 34 games with Frolunda, while tying for the team lead at the IIHF World Junior Championship with five points (2-3-5) in five games for Sweden; and goaltender Sebastian Cossa (15th overall, 2021), who authored one of the most dominant seasons in Western Hockey League history with the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2020-21, posting a 17-1-1 record, 1.57 goals-against average, 0.941 save percentage and four shutouts in 19 games.
Other roster notables include left wing Jonatan Berggren (33rd overall, 2018), who tied for sixth in SHL scoring and became the 13th player in league history to rack up 40-or-more points in a season at age 20-or-younger and a trio of defensemen looking to begin their first full professional seasons after all getting abbreviated stints in the American Hockey League in 2020-21: Jared McIsaac (36th overall, 2018), Donovan Sebrango (63rd overall, 2020) and recent Red Wings free agent addition Wyatt Newpower, who skated in 24 games with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.
Fifteen of the 23 players on the roster are former Red Wings draft picks, with the three first-round picks in addition to three second-round picks, two third-round selections, one fourth-round pick, three fifth-round choices, two six-round picks and a seventh-round pick. The drafted prospects range in age from two 18-year olds chosen at the most recent 2021 NHL Entry Draft (Cossa and sixth-rounder Pasquale Zito) to 24-year-old Chase Pearson, a 2015 fifth-round pick who returns to the tournament after finishing third on the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins with 22 points (8-14-22) in 28 games last season.
Over the tournament’s history, 697 players have moved on to play in at least one NHL game, including 18 who played for the Red Wings in 2020-21: Tyler Bertuzzi, Alex Biega (Buffalo), Dennis Cholowski, Robby Fabbri (St. Louis), Valtteri Filppula, Darren Helm, Taro Hirose, Filip Hronek, Dylan Larkin, Gustav Lindstrom, Anthony Mantha, Patrik Nemeth (Dallas), Michael Rasmussen, Givani Smith, Marc Staal (NY Rangers), Evgeny Svechnikov, Joe Veleno and Filip Zadina.
Participating teams will play either three or four games, with the Red Wings taking on the Stars on Thursday, Sept. 16 at 7:00 p.m., the Blues on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 7:00 p.m. and the Blue Jackets on Sunday, Sept. 19 at 6:00 p.m. Due to the unbalanced schedule for 2021, the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup will not be awarded this season. The tournament’s championship trophy was renamed in 2015 in honor of Wuest, known for his work on the website CapGeek.com as well as his exclusive coverage and statistical archiving of the NHL Prospect Tournament on RedWingsCentral.com, spanning back to the inaugural tournament in 1998 before succumbing to a two-year battle with cancer in 2015.
TICKETS: Tickets for all NHL Prospect Tournament games are available now online at www.centreice.com/drwtickets and will also be sold first-come, first-served at the arena entrance on the day of each event. Please visit www.centreice.org for the latest details, or to purchase tickets for the Red Wings main training camp (Sept. 23-28).
STREAMING: All games of the 2021 NHL Prospect Tournament will be carried live on DetroitRedWings.com. Additional channel streaming updates will be provided on Red Wings social media platforms. Every Red Wings game will feature game coverage commentary provided by Ken Kal, Art Regner, Daniella Bruce and Carley Johnston.
