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!

Prospect round-up: Veleno scores in Sweden; Viro’s Finns to battle USA tonight at WJC

Of Red Wings prospect-related note this afternoon:

In the SHL, Joe Veleno scored a goal on 3 shots, finishing at +2 in 16:41 played on the wing as the Malmo Redhawks earned a much-needed 3-1 win over Linkoping:

Albin Grewe finished even with 1 shot in 11:25 played as Djurgardens IF lost 2-1 to Vaxjo;

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Malte Setkov scored a goal on 2 shots, playing 22:32 in AIK Stockholm’s 6-3 win over Kristianstads:

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Veleno scores in Sweden; Viro’s Finns to battle USA tonight at WJC

Vladislav Namestnikov’s ‘living the dream’

WXYZ’s Mike Foss took note of Red Wings forward and free agent signing Vladislav Namestnikov’s feelings regarding playing for his “childhood team“:

Detroit Red Wings forward Vladislav Namestnikov called it a “dream come true” to play for the same team that his uncle, Slava Kozlov, helped win two Stanley Cup championships.

“I grew up watching the Red Wings’ games, so it’s extremely special for me,” Namestnikov told reporters Monday during the team’s training camp at Little Caesars Arena. “Every time I show up to the rink, it’s like ‘oh my God, dream come true.'”

Beyond the legend of the “Russian Five,” who helped Detroit capture the 1997 and 1998 Stanley Cup titles, Namestnikov has an everyday reminder of his uncle: Kozlov’s photo on the wall of the Red Wings dressing room.

“I sit directly across from it, so when I look up, I see him,” said Namestnikov. “So it’s very exciting for me, for my family that I’m playing for the Red Wings.”

Kulfan: Wings will play first of three scrimmages on Tuesday

The Detroit Red Wings will hold three intrasquad scrimmages today, with Tuesday’s scrimmage scheduled to start at 10:20 AM (streamed on DetroitRedWings.com), and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan spoke with several members of the team and its coach regarding the intensity and pace that one might expect to see starting tomorrow:

“The intensity will be high,” Blashill said in a Zoom call Monday with reporters. “Guys understand we have to use these scrimmages as springboards to get ready for the season and get ready for games and to figure out who will be in what spots. We don’t have exhibition games. The intensity will be higher than one of the red and white scrimmages in Traverse City where you have eight more exhibition games three more weeks (before the regular season begins). We’ll treat it as much more serious and get a lot out of it. We’ll use the scrimmage as a good evaluation.”

As NHL camps opened Monday for the 24 teams that took part in the summer’s Return To Play, the Wings — and the six other teams that didn’t qualify — already were on their fourth consecutive day of on-ice practice. The seven teams that didn’t qualify were allowed three extra on-ice days.

The pace and intensity has pleased Blashill, who even feels the Wings are a little further ahead than normal in terms of establishing how they want to play.

With no exhibition games, no traveling around, and the coaching staff setting a schedule of scrimmages and practices, the first week has been effective.

“One thing for sure, generally you get into exhibition season and the exhibition games are god but you don’t get enough practice time as a group,” Blashill said. “From a preparation standpoint, if we could normally have this, when you’re not traveling and keeping the group together, it’s easier to implement your systems quicker. I do think we’re further ahead. We get to choose when to play the exhibitions (scrimmages) and what makes the most sense, and allows us to implement all of our systems on ice or video, prior to playing the scrimmage.”

Continued

Update: Here’s more on the scrimmages from MLive’s Ansar Khan:

Continue reading Kulfan: Wings will play first of three scrimmages on Tuesday

Khan: Michael Rasmussen possesses revised potential

MLive’s Ansar Khan is the first beat writer out of the chute with a Monday article regarding the comments made during today’s Zoom calls, and Khan notes that Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill views forward Michael Rasmussen a little differently than the team did when they first drafted him:

The Detroit Red Wings drafted Michael Rasmussen ninth overall in 2017 because of the offensive ability he displayed as a junior.

Now they have other ideas.

“Ultimately, I think he can become a real big, lockdown-type center that can play against other teams’ best players,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “That could really put him in a position to be an extremely valuable five-on-five player. Then he’s always got the real good net-front ability on the power play.

“So, he’s got two things that he can really separate himself from other guys. Now he’s just got to prove it every day. I think the mental toughness it takes to fight through the number of injuries and frustration is going to be critical for him.”

Continued

Hakan Andersson speaks with Hockeysverige.se about Moritz Seider’s progress

Red Wings director of European scouting Hakan Andersson makes a second appearance today, having spoken with Hockeysverige.se’s Uffe Bodin regarding the play of one Moritz Seider, who’s skating for Rogle BK of the SHL this season. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

Praises Rogle for the development of the promising defenseman: “Abbot knows what is required”

Only 19 years old, Moritz Seider has stepped into the SHL and has become a key player for Rogle. Now Detroit Red Wings scout Hakan Andersson tells Hockeysverige.se how the promising defenseman ended up in Sweden–and how satisfied the NHL team is with his progress in Angelholm.

“There has been a lot of talk that Frolunda has the best environment for players in Sweden, but I do not know if Rogle is much worse off,” says Andersson.

Continue reading Hakan Andersson speaks with Hockeysverige.se about Moritz Seider’s progress

A pair of prospect-related Tweets of note (and a gratuitous Veleno goal)

Of prospect-related note this afternoon:

EliteProspects posted this regarding Red Wings prospect Elmer Soderblom (and a tip of the hat to Winging It in Motown for the note):

Elmer Söderblom (@DetroitRedWings) didn’t *just* score two of the prettiest goals of the tournament.

According to our friends over @InStatHockey, Sweden controlled over 60% of the shot attempts at evens when Söderblom was on the ice, too.#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/ENCTfyzejX— Eliteprospects (@eliteprospects) January 4, 2021

It appears that when and if the QMJHL resumes play, per CZProspects, Wings draft pick Jan Bednar will attempt to play for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan instead of going back to the Czech Republic…

Following his time at the #WorldJuniors, goaltender @2Bedynka has arrived in Bathurst!

Après son passage au #MondialJunior, le gardien de but Jan Bednar est arrivé à Bathurst!#GoTitanGo⚔️ pic.twitter.com/XuqEXoSgGj— Acadie-Bathurst Titan (@ABTitan) January 4, 2021

And this goal from Joe Veleno today is just lovely:

Joe Veleno scores his 8th goal of the season. pic.twitter.com/Jjq5hX2RL9— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) January 4, 2021

ESPN’s Peters ranks Red Wings’ prospect pipeline as NHL’s 5th-best

ESPN’s Chris Peters recently wrote an article for ESPN+ in which he discussed the prospect pools of each and every one of the NHL’s 31 teams, and he ranked the Red Wings’ prospect pool as the NHL’s 5th-best:

5. Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings’ system strength leans heavily on the quality of their past two top picks. Lucas Raymond is a foundational winger who could become a game-changing prospect for the rebuilding Red Wings, and Moritz Seider is a cornerstone defenseman who looks every bit ready to become a No. 1 in the very near future. Those are the only two A-rated prospects in the system, but they’re such key pieces for the future that they can easily carry this system into the top five.

On top of them, however, there are a lot of second-tier prospects who looked poise to develop into important pieces for the franchise. In recent years, the Red Wings have added a number of quality pieces through the draft outside of the first round. Jonatan Berggren, Jared McIsaac, William Wallinder and Albert Johansson all have notable upside. Joe Veleno is a late first-rounder who continues to develop nicely and probably could become a staple of Detroit’s middle six.

Detroit has pretty nice balance in the system, though it still lacks a true No. 1 goaltending prospect. That’s not to say that some of the goaltenders in the system can’t develop into one, as there are a number of players with solid upside, including Filip Larsson and Jan Bednar. But they’re going to require patience.

Breakout candidate for 2020-21: Albert Johansson
Potential NHL impact in 2020-21: Yevgeni Svechnikov

Continued (paywall); here’s Peters’ list of the Wings’ top 10 prospects:

Continue reading ESPN’s Peters ranks Red Wings’ prospect pipeline as NHL’s 5th-best