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!

Video: Patrick Kane speaks with ESPN Chicago’s ‘Carmen and Jurko’

This was hanging out on my “For You” page on YouTube, but the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker beat me to the punch, so he gets credit.

Patrick Kane spoke with ESPN Chicago’s “Carmen and Jurko” today, and it’s a light-hearted, Chicago-oriented 26-minute conversation ahead of what is supposedly “Patrick Kane Day” in Chicago on August 8th (8/8).

Kane mostly talks about his Stanley Cup-winning goal in 2010, his love for Chicago, where he’s likely to retire, his hopes to continue playing at a high level for 1,500 games (he’s at 1302 games now), his desire to return to playoff hockey, his return to Chicago as a Red Wing, the Hawks’ Stanley Cup celebrations, and there are hints about “Patrick Kane Day” before he Jonathan Toews’ comeback, he discusses Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks’ future, his son’s status as a hockey nut, his golf game, and he apparently wanted to re-sign with Detroit for a year, saying that it’s a great spot to be despite the rivalry with Chicago, and that the fans have embraced him.

When it’s important to make an educated Russian guess

It’s hard to get hockey information out of Russia these days. Red Wings Prospects on Twitter is a beacon of knowledge as it applies to 21-year-old Wings prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov, who’s going to play this upcoming season for CSKA Moscow…

But Americans and Canadians can’t get in and out of Russia easily–or without scandal (see: the Canadiens going to St. Petersburg to woo Ivan Demidov).

So, when the Red Wings made the decision to draft defenseman Nikita Tyurin with the 140th overall pick in this past June’s NHL Draft, the Red Wings’ director of amateur scouting admitted that he leaned very, very heavily on the Wings’ Russian scout in order to determine whether MHK Spartak Moscow defenseman was worth drafting. Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen took note of Kris Draper’s remarks regarding Tyurin (via a subscriber-only article):

“All I’ve seen is on video,” said Kris Draper, Detroit’s assistant GM and director of amateur scouting. ” (But) Nikolai Vacherov, our Russian scout, was (in Detroit). As we were discussing players, his name came up. The one thing that Nikolai kept talking about was what a great playoff that he had.”

Tyurin is a 6-foot, 170-pound puck-moving blue liner with steady, effective defensive work. He had four goals and 20 points, and was plus-20, for Spartak in Russia’s top junior team. In the postseason, he posted five assists and was plus-6 in 19 games to help Spartak win the MHL championship.

“Good skater, good hockey sense, good with the puck, good first pass defenseman,” Draper said.

According to Draper, Vacherov “pounded the table” (so to speak) for the Red Wings to utilize their 5th round pick on Tyurin:

“When you’re in the later rounds and you have one of the area scouts that is excited about a player, that’s what I want to hear,” Draper said. “And Nikolai, when we talked about it, said he’d really like to draft him and bring him into the Detroit Red Wings prospect pool. And in the end, that’s why we ended up making that decision.”

Continued (paywall);

I know that fans are absolutely desperate to see Buchelnikov come over to North America, and, given his offensive ability as contrasted against his 5’10,” 170-pound frame, I’m certain that the Red Wings’ training staff want to get their hands on Buchelnikov to bulk him up, too.

Regrettably, Buchelnikov won’t be a free agent until after he plays this upcoming season for CSKA, and the Wings will monitor Tyurin’s development as closely as they can, contract situation included, in order to try and bring him over to North America when he’s ready to make the jump to AHL hockey.

A Dougie Hamilton rumor for future reference

I always believe in taking trade rumors with salt, especially at this time of year, but RG.com’s Jimmy Murphy suggests that the Red Wings are among the teams kicking the tires on 32-year-old New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton (who Murphy states is not on the trade block as of yet), and…Well, the rumor makes some sense:

With his full no-movement clause becoming a ten-team modified no-trade clause on July 1, New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton has become the topic du jour in NHL trade rumors.

“Teams are calling on [Hamilton] now,” an NHL executive source told RG media recently. “I heard the Leafs looked into him. They’re looking into multiple options for their blue line, and a lot of them have offensive flair. That’s their strength, so there’s a common thread with their trade targets right now, and Hamilton fits the bill.”

As for other potential Hamilton trade suitors, the source had this to say:

“The Stars, Red Wings, and Mammoth have also been pushing hard to acquire a right-shot defenseman that can bolster their offense and improve their power play, so they make a ton of sense.”

However, while teams may be inquiring about Hamilton on the NHL trade market, another NHL executive source cautioned not to expect the 32-year-old, 6-foot-6, 229-pound, slick-moving defenseman to be traded anytime soon.

“First is how many of those teams are willing to and can take on his $9 million cap hit? The second thing is that the Devils aren’t out there shopping him right now, and by no means are they in a hurry to trade him. Don’t forget, Jonathan Kovacevic is coming off of knee surgery, and as far as I know, he’s probably not coming back until late November/early December. 

Hamilton’s still big and mobile, but he has a $9 million salary cap hit, though the Devils had to pay him a whopping $10.55 million signing bonus on July 1st of this year. Per PuckPedia, Hamilton’s due $1 million in salary and a $7.4 million signing bonus in 2026-2027, and $5.25 million in salary in 2027-2028.

Long story long, this isn’t a trade suggestion bubbling to a boil on the hot stove or something, but given the fact that the Devils would have to eat some of Hamilton’s salary cap hit to move him, it’s something to keep under our hats for future reference.

Perhaps the Devils might feel a greater need to add to their $6.9 million in cap space after the team re-signs defenseman Luke Hughes, who’s due a big raise from his $925,000 entry-level contract this summer.

Like I said, far from a bubbling, boiling rumor, but something to keep in mind for later this summer, if not into the 2025-2026 regular season.

Press release: NHL, NHLPA ratify 4-year CBA starting in 2026-2027

Per the NHL and NHLPA:

NHL, NHLPA Ratify Four-Year Collective Bargaining Agreement

NEW YORK/TORONTO (July 8, 2025) – The National Hockey League Players’ Association’s full membership and the National Hockey League’s Board of Governors have ratified a four-year Collective Bargaining Agreement, more than a year before the expiration of the current contract. The new agreement runs through the 2029-30 season.

“The partnership between the Players’ Association and the League is stronger than it ever has been and working together under this agreement presents a fantastic opportunity to continue to grow the game,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “We are grateful to the Board of Governors for its support of this agreement that strengthens our game and ensures we are collectively delivering a great fan experience in the years to come.”

“This CBA shows what can be accomplished when the NHL and the Union work together – an agreement that will allow for the continued worldwide growth of the game. That is a win for everyone,” said Marty Walsh, NHLPA Executive Director. “We could not have achieved this outcome without the involvement and support of our players. Special thanks to our Executive Board and Negotiating Committee.”

The Memorandum of Understanding will be made available on NHL.com and NHLPA.com at a later date.

Roughly translated: Goaltender Michal Pradel is at the beginning of his professional hockey journey

Red Wings prospect Michal Pradel spoke with SVRT.sk regarding being drafted by Detroit 75th overall during this past June’s NHL Draft in Los Angeles. Here’s a very rough translation of the article:

Young goaltender realizes he’s got strong competition in Detroit: It motivates me to work even harder

He was the highest-drafted Slovak in this year’s NHL Draft.

The highest-drafted Slovak hockey player in the recent NHL Draft, goaltender Michal Pradel is already back in Slovakia after taking part in Detroit’s development camp. At the draft in Los Angeles, he was chosen 75th overall by a famous team from the Original Six, the Detroit Red Wings’ overseas team.

“It really was an unbelievable feeling. Seeing it live and being there during the first round, even with others being drafted, was an incredible experience. There weren’t all the players there, now it was a little different, but it was a great experience anyway,” the 18-year-old shared.

It won’t be easy

Although the Detroit Red Wings have had their biggest success during the time when Michal wasn’t yet born, he claims that the team was among his favorites from a young age. “It’s a team with an incredible history, even though I haven’t seen that before, and it’s only about now. When I was a kid, I also had a hat with a Detroit logo,” he says.

Our young representative won’t have it easy in the Motor City. With the Red Wings, the team’s top goaltending talents are Trey Augustine and Sebastian Cossa. “They have incredible prospects, which is just more motivation for me to work harder to catch up and overtake them,” he said.

He knows very well what he needs to work on to break through to the elite in his career: “They told me I have to get stronger.”

“For Michael, the goaltender, he’s pretty strong. I’d rather say that he has to work on his mobility and explosiveness. Of course, in time with training sessions I may see other flaws,” said conditioning coach Simon Klimcik.

The goaltender’s journey to the NHL is always long and not easy. He plans to stay in America. “Now it’s being dealt with in this way because I’ve been drafted by Regina in the CHL. I’ll call them this week to see whether I’m staying in Tri-City of the USHL, or going to the CHL,” he outlined his plans.

In addition, he’s finishing high school, and, after graduation, he wants to go to an American university, which should be one of the key steps to fulfilling his big dream to play in the NHL.

Tweets of note: Copp’s birthday and a schedule-guessing contest

Of Red Wings Twitter-related note:

First, Red Wings forward Andrew Copp turns 31 today…

And, as the NHL release its 2025-2026 season schedule around the middle of this month, the Red Wings are holding a contest in which they ask fans to guess the opponents in the Red Wings’ “biggest games of the 2025-2026 schedule”:

Red Wings goaltending coach Michael Leighton’s ready for his new role

Yesterday, the Red Wings hired former NHL goaltender Michael Leighton as their goaltending coach. Today, the Windsor Star’s Jim Parker spoke with Leighton, who lives in the Windsor suburb of LaSalle, Ontario.

Leighton told Parker that he wished to stay “close to home” after a career spent bouncing around the NHL, AHL and European leagues, and, after a stint as the Windsor Spitfires’ goalie coach in the OHL, he asked around as to whether the Red Wings had an opening…

“I just heard they were looking for somebody and I reached out to somebody that I knew in the organization and he said send me a resume,” Leighton said.

It will now be Leighton’s job to get enough out of recently acquired John Gibson, who is a three-time NHL all-star, and Talbot, who is a two-time NHL all-star, to help Detroit end its nine-year playoff drought.

“Gibson’s a great goalie and shown he can be a top goalie and I’m excited to work with him and Talbot’s had some great years,” Leighton said.

It’s a much different assignment than his time with the Spitfires, which was a part-time role. The Detroit post is a full-time position and Leighton will hit the road with the club as well as be around on a daily basis.

“With the Spits, it was a part-time thing and I was not there all the time,” Leighton said. “I took as much as I can from that experience. I’ve had a lot of goalie coaches over years in NHL and AHL and watched how they’ve done things. I’ve taken that and seen how to be a good goalie coach. That’s having good communication with the coaches and building relationships with goalies to build trust. They have to trust I know what I’m talking about.”

While junior hockey was more about molding a developing players, at the NHL level Leighton isn’t looking to do more refining of players that have already been established with the 31-year-old Gibson and the 38-year-old Talbot each boasting 12 years of NHL experience.

“They’ve been around, they know the game and they’ve had their share of goalie coaches,” Leighton said. “But I’ll watch and tell them what I like and don’t like and build that relationships. You just try to bring out the best in both and goaltending’s my speciality and what I’ve done all my life.”

Bultman discusses the Wings’ ‘depth chart’

The Athletic’s Max Bultman issues a 3-roster set of educated guesses as to what the Red Wings’ opening-night lineup might look this October. We’ll start at the beginning of Bultman’s article, in which he explains why he offers three versions of the 2025-2026 roster:

The Detroit Red Wings’ offseason might or might not be done.

When general manager Steve Yzerman met with the media last week, he still alluded to the possibility of trade opportunities that could arise in the wake of free agency. He even mentioned there were “a couple teams looking to do some things that we do have some interest in and are possibilities.”

In the days (and possibly weeks) to come, we’ll find out whether any of those will materialize into anything more than tire kicking. If not, perhaps a 13th forward or third goaltender will come into the mix instead.

For what it’s worth, I think that it’s highly probable that the Red Wings will add a Max Pacioretty up front, a Matt Grzelcyk on defense, and/or a third goalie to push the Wings’ incumbents in John Gibson and Cam Talbot (and to support Sebastian Cossa and Michal Postava as necessary) than it is that the Wings manage to cobble together a roster-changing trade or two.

In my opinion, the Wings may have to wait until the regular season, if not next year’s trade deadline, to truly address their roster issues.

But as of now, as the dust begins to settle, Yzerman and the Red Wings have a roster in place. And that means the rest of us have a chance to start imagining how the pieces could fit together.

Granted, coach Todd McLellan doesn’t have to pick just one arrangement. Throughout the long NHL season, there are all kinds of combinations he can experiment with — more than we can realistically project here. And the new lineup players the Red Wings added — wingers James van Riemsdyk and Mason Appleton, defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker — give McLellan plenty of flexibility.

So today, even acknowledging the possibility of one more move, it’s worth examining what kind of options Detroit is looking at with its new depth chart.

Continued (paywall); it’s also important to remember that Bultman’s three rosters suggest that the Wings will be fully healthy after an 8-games-in-12-nights exhibition season.

While he offers a roster with a “surprising rookie” making the roster in Nate Danielson, it’s entirely probable that the Wings will have to recall a Grand Rapids Griffin or two to fill in for a player or players that suffer preseason injuries.

The Wings’ roster probably won’t truly establish itself until the team is fully healthy, which it hopefully will be at some point early in the upcoming season.

Anyway, in the absence of Bultman’s rosters, I’d be very interested if you would share your roster estimations in the comment section. Let’s have some fun with this one!