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!

Roughly translated: Jonatan Berggren speaks with SHL.se about making the Swedish national team

Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren spoke with SHL.se’s Johannes Hagglund yesterday, and here’s a rough translation of their conversation:

Jonatan Berggren: “Proud and ruggedly happy”

Finally injury free, now Jonatan Berggren has exploded. The 20-year-old is third in SHL in points and he received a reward from the national team management in the form of a spot on Tre Kronor’s Karjala squad—even though it took time before Berggren answered when Markus Akerblom, assistant national team manager, heard from him. “He disturbed me when I played Fortnite, so he had to call three, or four times,” says the Skelleftea forward, who laughs.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Jonatan Berggren speaks with SHL.se about making the Swedish national team

Interview: Red Wings prospect ‘Mo’ Seider speaks with Rogle BK’s website regarding the SHL pause

Red Wings prospect Moritz Seider spoke with Rogle BK’s website for just under 3 minutes today, discussing his experiences during the SHL’s Euro Hockey Tour pause as he acclimates to his surroundings, his acclimation to Swedish ice hockey, and he explains the reasons why he’s not playing for Germany’s World Championship evaluation team due to coronavirus restrictions.

Seider feels that he needs to be “tighter” and “have a better gap” against his opponents, defensively speaking, but he speaks glowingly of the SHL’s talent level, and he discusses the SHL’s condensed schedule (every other day) post-Euro Hockey Tour pause as well.

Three international hockey things: Berggren on Sweden’s 3rd line; Hronek OK to practice after ‘inconclusive’ coronavirus test; Zadina heralds Czech Extraliga’s return

Per HockeyNews.se’s Mattias Ek, it looks like Jonatan Berggren is playing on Sweden’s 3rd line ahead of tomorrow’s Karjala Cup game vs. the Czechs:

Filip Hronek was also allowed to practice yesterday after having to spend a day in the hotel in Helsinki due to an “inconclusive” coronavirus test:

And, as Filip Zadina noted on Twitter, the Czech Extraliga is going to be coming back within the next week to ten days, so…

Update: Ocelari Trinec’s website reports that Zadina and company will return to action on Monday vs. Vitkovice.

HSJ discusses Mantha’s contract in fiscal context

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a subscriber-only article this morning which discusses the re-signing of Anthony Mantha to a 4-year, $22.8 million contract in context of the “fiscal restraint” that Steve Yzerman has exercised over the course of his tenure as the Red Wings’ GM:

The $5.7 million annual average value, or salary cap hit, recognizes that Mantha is a key rebuilding block, but keeps the hit below Dylan Larkin’s $6.1 million AAV. Four years says Yzerman believes in Mantha, but there’s room to grow. Tyler Bertuzzi, who, like Mantha, was a restricted free agent, probably could have had similar term, but that was a gamble Bertuzzi took, and lost, when he filed for arbitration. Bertuzzi wound up with one year at $3.5 million. 

Bertuzzi and Mantha were Yzerman’s biggest RFAs this offseason, and their combined AAV adds up to $9.2 million. 

Larkin, who was signed by former GM Ken Holland for five years, $30.5 million in 2018, and Mantha are locked up through 2022-23 for a combined $11.8 million cap hit. Considering the uncertainty wrought by the novel coronavirus pandemic regarding the future growth of the salary cap, that’s a nice number that won’t get the Wings into cap trouble.

Four years is a good deal for Mantha, too. He could have gone for a one-year deal under the guise of trying to boost his value, but the risk in doing so increased as the start of the 2021 season kept shrinking the length of the season. Now he has job security — and a chance at one more big, long-term deal when he’s 30.

Continued (paywall)

Via A2Y: The Hockey News’s Kennedy gives Yzerman a thumbs-up for his Mantha re-signing

Via Paul Kukla of Abel to Yzerman comes this article from the Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy, who gives Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman a thumbs-up for his decision to sign Anthony Mantha to a 4-year contract today:

With cost certainty in Detroit, Yzerman may have the opportunity to exploit the market, much in the same way it is expected Seattle will do since the Kraken will enter the league with a completely clean slate, cap-wise. Other than Justin Abdelkader’s buyout money, Detroit will be junk-free very soon.

As for Mantha himself, there’s a great opportunity for the powerful winger in this new contract. Most importantly, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent when it ends, taking him to the open market for a potentially big score. In the interim, he’s making a nice chunk of change with the chance to prove he deserves more at the end. Mantha is coming off one of his best offensive seasons so far in the NHL, albeit one marred by a punctured lung and truncated by the pandemic. Nonetheless, his 0.88 points per game represented the highest rate in his NHL career and his growth as a more rounded player continues. Mantha was Detroit’s best possession player this past season and he has often been at or near the top in recent years.

The next step is the full-on breakout. Mantha certainly has the talent to put up 30 goals or more in a season; he just hasn’t done it yet. If the NHL plays a shortened campaign in 2020-21 he may have to settle for pro-rated numbers again, but it will be important for him to keep growing his output. Eventually, the Red Wings will have more talent surrounding him and that can only make the situation better.

Detroit is still going to be in a world of hurt next season, but the planning and execution shown by Yzerman and his staff truly points to a positive future. The Mantha contract is the latest sign.

Continued

Wings’ beat writers weigh in on Anthony Mantha’s contract, presser (in English and en Francais)

Updated at 7:33 PM: The Red Wings re-signed Anthony Mantha to a 4-year contract at an average of $5.7 million per season today, and, around 5 PM EST, Mantha spoke with the media for approximately 20 minutes, discussing his contract and the expectations for both himself as a player and his team going forward:

The Red Wings’ beat writers have also weighed in regarding Mantha’s contract, and his comments regarding his deal and the team, starting with The Athletic’s Max Bultman…

Continue reading Wings’ beat writers weigh in on Anthony Mantha’s contract, presser (in English and en Francais)

Via the Wings on Twitter: Stu Grimson weighs in on Anthony Mantha’s contract

Via the Detroit Red Wings on Twitter, The NHL Network’s Stu Grimson weighed in on Anthony Mantha’s contractual status this evening:

.@asgrimson weighs in on the @DetroitRedWings signing of Anthony Mantha and how that impacts their future. #NHLTonight pic.twitter.com/6mXg0Ny8TD— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) November 3, 2020

I’ll leave this bomb from Pass It to Bulis right here, and skate away quickly…

Have fun with this one, from Pass It to Bulis’ Daniel Wagner:

Times are tense in the United States of America. 

It’s election day and Americans are lining up at polling stations to cast their vote for who they want to be President for the next four years. A Presidential election is always an uneasy time, but the current election has been particularly divisive.

That’s why, when former-Canuck Todd Bertuzzi made his regular appearance on Sportsnet 650’s morning show, the Starting Lineup, hosts James Cybulski and Perry Solkowski asked Bertuzzi about his experience of the current situation as a Canadian living in the U.S.

“I tell you, it’s interesting times, especially for a Canadian living here,” said Bertuzzi. “I’ve been here for, I don’t know, about 15 years, 20 years total, and I’ve never seen anything like this. At some points in time, it’s a little bit terrifying — boarding up stores and all this kind of stuff… The U.S. is in a difficult time right now and hopefully, people get out there and vote and we put the right person in place.”

Continued; everyone who lives here (Bertuzzi is a resident alien with a Green Card) is entitled to their opinion, but if they say that they want to pull up stakes and leave if the “other guy” wins an election…That’s their right, too.

I hope Bertuzzi stays around here regardless of who wins the presidency, and I hope that you’ve gone out and voted if you’re registered to vote here in the U.S.