Category: Uncategorized

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen suggests that, should the 2019 NHL Draft be re-done, Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider would have been the 1st overall pick:

We start with the fact that Seider recently won the Rod Langway award as the league’s top defensive defenseman in 2025-26. He has also developed into a quality offensive defenseman. Last season, only 10 NHL defensemen put up more points than the 60 Seider showed on his resume.

In his five NHL seasons, Seider averages 181 hits and 185 blocks per season. He has been a full-service NHL defenseman.

This puts Seider over the top: He has played 100 percent of his team’s games since entering the NHL. His durability has been extraordinary. And there’s also his leadership. Detroit Hockey Now believes when Larkin is traded, Seider will be Detroit’s next captain.

2. Along the same lines, Sports Illustrated’s Jayd Serdy posted a list of 5 Red Wings who can win individual NHL award trophies this upcoming season, and his only realistic pick is #53:

Continue reading Three things: two Moritz Seider quips, and the Roast of Chris Osgood live auction is, well, live…

The Red Wings’ weekly newsletter included a picture of the team’s October 4th giveaway to fans attending the Red Wings-Winnipeg Jets game, in the form of a Sergei Fedorov bobblehead;

It looks pretty slick, white skates included.

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn posted an article containing NHL fans’ rankings of the 32 NHL teams’ front offices this morning. I can’t share everything from his report on the Red Wings, but the fan-led rankings of categories of roster management are all “C’s” and “D’s” as the Wings have dropped from 23rd to 30th in the NHL, earning a “D-” as the fans’ overall grade for the team’s front office:

A vacant GM chair makes the Red Wings difficult to rate at the moment, so consider this a final grade for the Yzerplan. And folks, it is rough.

There were many moments throughout the years where hope was high in Detroit thanks to Steve Yzerman, so let the Yzerplan serve as another lesson that tearing it down is the easy part. Actually building something is much more difficult. The public caught on to the struggles of Detroit’s front office quicker than the fan base did and it’s why it’s important to gauge how front offices are perceived from both inside and outside the base. But even within Detroit, the tide against Yzerman had already started turning last year.

There are obviously positives from the last decade, namely Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond. But everything else on the pro and amateur side was far from ideal. The biggest issue, though, was trying to take the cake out of the oven before it was done rising. What’s left is an underbaked mess for the next guy to clean up. The Red Wings aren’t unsalvageable, but they are in a very unenviable spot post-Yzerplan.

Continued; I would not argue that fan discontent is that significant an arbiter of the need for front office changes, but there’s some validity to Luszczyszyn’s argument…

And the Red Wings do have roster issues for the next GM or president of hockey hockey operations to address through better pro and amateur scouting. Everybody knows that by now, and it doesn’t take a genius to see that–or to begin addressing that when the next GM and/or president of hockey operations is hired

Tonight, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses the Red Wings’ depth chart on defense, following up on his examination of the Wings’ goaltending situation.

The normal accolades follow the Wings’ top pairing…

▶ [Moritz] Seider: With Dylan Larkin’s request of a trade, and his status for training camp cloudy, there’s a possibility the Wings could strip him of the captaincy and give it to Seider. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Seider become a finalist for the Norris Trophy this season if he’s healthy.

▶ [Simon] Edvinsson: The Wings don’t have a GM currently, so it’s understandable there hasn’t been a contract reached with Edvinsson, who is likely to earn himself a significant raise given the salary jump around the league. The 23-year-old set career highs for goals (nine), plus-minus rating (plus-12), ice time (22:21) and shots (88), among others. With Edvinsson and Seider, the Wings have an imposing pairing for the next decade, at least.

But things get a little more intriguing when Kulfan assesses the Wings’ 3rd-pair stalwart, Albert Johansson…

Continue reading Examining the Red Wings’ depth on ‘D’

Expert scout Will Scouch discusses the Red Wings’ top prospects today, in “pyramid” form:

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff appeared on the NHL Network today to discuss the Dylan Larkin situation and Detroit’s front office machinations:

Sports Illustrated’s Nathan Smith offers a list of 5 priorities for the Red Wings’ next GM or president of hockey operations, and I’m raising an eyebrow regarding topic #5:

5. Trade Dylan Larkin

This may be controversial to some Red Wings fans, as many have accepted that Larkin is likely coming back ahead of the 2026/27 season despite his insistence on a trade, but it’s because he’s been so demanding of a trade that bringing him back just doesn’t make sense.

Unfortunately for Detroit, to get a deal done, they would likely need to lower their asking price to get it done, as some reports have revealed they are seeking a genuine 1C as a return piece for Larkin.

Simply put, none of the teams he wants to be dealt to are going to give up their best center to land a player that has been openly disgruntled with his current team, but the new GM will now just have to bite the bullet and move Larkin to avoid all of the speculation and potential locker room frustration.

This process would be made much, much easier if Larkin expanded his trade list, but as of right now, that doesn’t appear likely, so if the team needs to take a futures-based package from Minnesota to get it done, that’s the way it should be.

The team in the short and long term is better without a disgruntled captain leading the way when he clearly doesn’t want to be there.

Continued; I’d be fine with the Red Wings flipping some “futures” to a third team for a player or players that can help the team address its center depth, but simply giving up and going for Danila Yurov, Charlie Stramel and a 1st round pick, the Wild’s rumored return…

I dunno about that.

Yesterday, The Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranked the Red Wings’ prospect pipeline as the 15th-best in the NHL, and this morning, his mentions of Red Wings prospects on his list of the NHL’s best under-23 “skater” prospects reflects Pronman’s argument that there aren’t any star players on Detroit’s depth chart:

#65 Nate Danielson

Danielson was good in the AHL last season but struggled in the NHL. He’s a talented center who checks a lot of boxes. He has very good hands, he skates well and his ability to create chances in transition will make him dangerous. He competes well and contributes at both ends of the ice. He has skill, but he’s not a natural scorer and struggles to finish. He projects as a third-line center.

#79 J.P. Hurlbert

Hurlbert is a very skilled scoring winger. He’s very creative and dynamic as a puck handler and passer while also having a good shot. With the puck, he looks like an NHL player, but his effort level and speed are average, and he can be pushed to the outside too easily. If you see his best games, he looks like a clear middle-six winger who will produce points and help a power play, but the holes in his game are a concern and could frustrate coaches.

Continue reading Pronman ranks the Red Wings’ under-23 skater prospects as a middling group

Times are tough around the Malik household here in South Lyon. Aunt Annie is pretty much bed-bound because she hasn’t walked in four weeks thanks to two week-long hospital stays for UTI’s that she’s been battling, on and off, for the last six months.

We have some PT lined up this week to begin to help AA regain her mobility, but her lack thereof means that when she needs something, I’m on call for anything and everything, including bodily functions.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s 4 in the morning or there’s a big blog story breaking, if I need to get upstairs, I go upstairs, and I try to stay with her and provide for her needs.

That’s led to some very long days (like today), and very long nights. I’m doing everything from dispensing antibiotics every 6 hours (the stuff she’s on is hard-core heavy, to finally kill off recurrent UTI’s) to cooking, cleaning up after her and simply providing comfort via companionship. It’s intense, and it’s being in close quarters for long periods of time, and sometimes it’s messy, but that’s what the caregiving job entails.

As such, we’ve had to purchase a fair amount of medical supplies, and that’s eaten into what I’ve already described as a tenuous financial situation.

Continue reading Working in a coal mine, going down, down, down

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan begins a series of articles examining the Red Wings’ depth chart with an examination of the team’s goaltenders. Kulfan argues that Detroit might very well trade John Gibson to a more playoff-ready team at the trade deadline because the team has significant depth at the position:

▶ [John] Gibson: If the Wings surprise this season and contend for a playoff spot, and Gibson duplicates his play of last season, there’s definitely a scenario the Wings would attempt to extend Gibson’s contract. Gibson largely showed he’s still an elite goaltender and was durable (57 games), after several seasons cut short by injuries. But if the Wings struggle, you have to believe Gibson becomes a valuable trade chip.

▶ [Daniil] Tarasov: Signed to a one-year deal worth $2 million, Tarasov replaces Talbot. Tarasov, 27, was 13-15-3, 3.05 GAA, .895 SVS in Florida last season. Tarasov has been a backup in Columbus and Florida with a sub .500 career record (32-49-9) and below-.900 save percentage (.897). The Wings are banking this fresh start will prove successful for Tarasov.

▶ [Michal] Postava: With only four preseason games now, is there enough time for Postava, 24, to push Tarasov for the backup job? Postava’s standing in the organization grew dramatically as last season unfolded. He was 17-6-1 in Grand Rapids with four shutouts and a 1.71 GAA and .937 SVS. Postava’s competitiveness in net brought back memories of fellow Czech goaltender Dominik Hasek.

▶ [Trey] Augustine: There really wasn’t much left to prove at MSU, so the decision to turn pro was an easy one for Augustine, 21, who instantly became one of the NHL’s best goaltending prospects. The South Lyon native has excelled in world tournaments for Team USA and plays his best in pressure situations. Augustine will push Postava for playing time.

There’s more, including a profile of Carter Gylander (paywall)…