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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This morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James notes that the GM made the following statement regarding his young players‘ chances of making the team out of training camp:
“For our younger players, if they come to training camp and do well, earn a spot, that’s great,” Yzerman said. “What I’m not necessarily doing is leaving spots open just to hand it to one of the younger players or hand it to them by default. We’re still looking at a few things. Not so much on the back end or in goal, but up front, looking at a few things to potentially add one more player, possibly two. For our young guys that have a chance to crack the lineup, we would rather they simply are better than the players that we have.
“I am kind of talking out of both sides of my mouth. If a young guy can play, great. I don’t want to leave a spot on the roster open to just hand it to anyone, but I’m also not going to sign a free agent, feeling oh, we have a hole, let’s just plug it. I want a guy who can serve a purpose.”
Continued; I have no problem with the concept of not affording roster spots to young players as “placeholders.” Yzerman and coach Jeff Blashill have duly noted that the NHL is not a developmental league.
While Ken Holland’s old concept that you don’t bring players up until they’re “over-ripe” no longer applies, you want any young player who’s brought up from Grand Rapids to be put in a position to flourish on the roster. You don’t want them to struggle to stay out of the press box–when they’re struggling, it’s better to have them in GR.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman spoke with the media earlier this evening, addressing Detroit’s draft class, the team’s free agency moves, the offseason as a whole (Yzerman says that the team may still add a forward or two on the free agent market), and the respective statuses of Tyler Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin as they recover from injuries:
Afterward, the Red Wings’ beat writers examined Yzerman’s 27-minute media availability, and focused upon several topics covered by the Wings’ GM.
“I hope we’re better,” Yzerman said Thursday during a Zoom call. “It’s the day after the first day of free agency. For the most part, every team sits back and you look at your board and you think you’re a better hockey team. We’ll have some younger players playing bigger roles and sometimes that can be a challenge. Our back end is a little stronger. It’s a little more mobile and maybe we’ll get a little more offense out of it.”
The Wings acquired defenseman Nick Leddy and goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic in trades (dealing forward Richard Panik, the rights to free agent goalie Jonathan Bernier and draft picks). They lost defenseman Dennis Cholowski to Seattle in the expansion draft, then picked eight prospects in the entry draft, including two first-rounders (defenseman Simon Edvinsson and goaltender Sebastian Cossa) with huge potential.
And in the first two days of free agency, the Wings re-signed forward Sam Gagner, signed defenseman Jordan Oesterle (Dearborn Heights/Dearborn Divine Child) and locked up forward Pius Suter.
Signing Suter, 25, late Wednesday to a two-year contract worth $6.5 million ($3.25 million cap hit, per season) solidified the Wings at the center position. It potentially makes this a better offensive team.
“Having Suter there with a (healthy) Tyler Bertuzzi, and we get a little more offensive output from everyone, I hope that translates to wins,” Yzerman said.
The Red Wings lost a real hockey warrior in defenseman Joe Hicketts, whose 5’9″ stature didn’t hold the defenseman back in terms of becoming a fan favorite thanks to his hard-hitting style with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
“Looking at the Minnesota depth chart, I thought there was lot of opportunity,” Hicketts told NL Sports. “It was something that I was willing and was looking forward to moving forward with with. As things moved along, it seemed more clear to me that that might have been the right fit.”
In 22 NHL games, Hicketts put up five points, all assists. That’s compared to 286 AHL games where he scored 16 goals along with 102 assists for 118 points.
During the 2020-21 season, Hicketts led all Griffins defensemen in scoring with 18 points (1 goal, 17 assists) in 32 games. He also was second on the team in assists, tied for second amongst all AHL defensemen in assists, and tied tenth in overall points.
“No one strives to be a career minor leaguer, you want to make it to the NHL. I think I’ve proven myself more than enough in the American league, now its time to make that step to the NHL,” Hicketts said, noting he wants to make most of his new opportunity.
“I think they’ve only got four NHL defensemen signed right now [in Minnesota], though I’m sure they are going to be more signed. I think there’s opportunity and its about me grabbing that opportunity and running with it now.”
Continued; here’s hoping that Hicketts does indeed earn an NHL spot with the Wild. He’s a great person and a fine athlete.
ESPN’s Victoria Mataiash examines the fantasy hockey impact made by the past week’s worth of trades and free agency moves, and she suggests that fantasy hockey poolies avoid the Red Wings’ goaltenders at all costs:
Alex Nedeljkovic, G, Detroit Red Wings: This is a tough one. Small sample size, sure, but Nedeljkovic still presents as a gifted and skilled NHL goaltender capable of shouldering a heavy workload. No 20-plus gamer bettered his league-leading 1.90 GAA and .932 SV% for Carolina in 2020-21. But the rebuilding Red Wings remain a ways from winning more games than they lose. Thomas Greiss ain’t no slouch either and he only won eight of 34 appearances this past season. Anyone starting in Detroit’s crease should be avoided in fantasy leagues where victories carry significant weight. For now.
Smart player here, and you need guys with NHL experience around as you try to turn the metaphorical container ship around in the canal. No harm done on a one-year agreement.
This is a good bet on potential upside for a rebuilding team on the cheap. You need a few things to break your way to get back to great, and it’s not impossible Suter becomes a real contributor.
