The Malik Report

Red Wings forward Thomas Vanek and goaltender Jonathan Bernier had late media availabilities on Friday, and both players discussed their reasons for (re)joining the Red Wings, their memories of playing with and against Henrik Zetterberg, and their respective outlooks for the 2018-19 season:

Here are my audio clips from the first day of training camp. Niklas Kronwall and Dylan Larkin almost entirely addressed Henrik Zetterberg’s announcement; Michael Rasmussen and Joe Hicketts discussed their first days of camp, and coach Blashill blended talk about Zetterberg with discussion about the first day of training camp:

Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg has chosen to step away from hockey as he has a degenerative back condition that would only worsen with play. Ken Holland and then Zetterberg spoke with the media this morning, and Zetterberg was very emotional in discussing the end of his playing career.

Here are audio clips of Holland and Zetterberg’s pressers. I’ll cover as much as I can when I get back to the hotel as the wifi is…something else…here at the rink.

Updated at 8:21 AM: Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. MLive’s Ansar Khan noted Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill and GM Ken Holland’s comments regarding the competition for jobs on the team’s NHL roster at training camp:

“I think after two years of not being good enough, it’s as wide open a camp as we’ve had here in a long, long time,” Blashill said. “I hope that a bunch of guys we’ve had on our team got better this summer. Then I hope a bunch of young guys are in position to really challenge and try to take other guys’ jobs.”

The Red Wings anticipate the most competitive camp and preseason they’ve had in some time. After drafting high the past two years, the team has assembled a group of talented prospects, some who are expected to be NHL-ready this season.

When camp starts Friday at Centre I.C.E., forwards Michael Rasmussen, Filip Zadina and Evgeny Svechnikov and defensemen Filip Hronek, Joe Hicketts, Libor Sulak and Dennis Rasmussen will be among the group of young players vying for jobs. At least two spots at forward and one on defense are open.

“We’re hoping young people not only are pushing for jobs on the team but pushing for bigger roles on the team,” general manager Ken Holland said. “Part of that is these younger players got to come in and either take a job or take a bigger role on the team. As we go forward, either this year or next year, the plan is to work more and more young people into our team and then hopefully they’re going to have a bigger role on our team and they’ll eventually take the team over.

“It takes a period of time, it doesn’t happen over a month or a few games. You earn that right. That’s what the last generation of Red Wings did. They came in and took it – (Pavel) Datsyuk, (Henrik) Zetterberg, (Niklas) Kronwall, (Johan) Franzen and all those players, they came in and earned the ice time. That’s why we were able to, from 2005 to 2015, have a great decade. I don’t believe in entitlement. Those younger players got to come in and earn the ice time.”

Khan continues…

2. And on yesterday’s “Shep, Shower and Shave” show on WDFN, Matt Sheppard spoke with Red Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff…

Continue reading Two Things: Blashill and Holland on the Wings’ competition for jobs at camp, and ‘Shep, Shower and Shave’ clips

The Grand Rapids Griffins’ website posted a Q and A with coach Ben Simon conducted just prior to the Red Wings’ prospect tournament:

Are there parallels between how a person played and how they coach?
Just because you’re a phenomenal player doesn’t mean you’re going to be a phenomenal coach. And I don’t think because you’re a terrible player you’re going to be a terrible coach. It’s good to draw on your experiences both good and bad and to use those experiences to help convey to these players that, hey, we’re not that far removed from the game, and to learn from our mistakes and to use our experiences that were positive to help these guys along.

The roster is not close to being set, but can you comment on just the pool of players that will be eligible for Grand Rapids this season?
Detroit has always done a phenomenal job of, I won’t say stocking, but putting good veteran players down here to help the younger players develop. Now that being said, there’s a lot of opportunity that’s available in Detroit right now, so I don’t want to say ‘he’s going to be here, he’s going to be here’ because you never know. Up top, they’ve got an open mind.

The old philosophy in Detroit was the tie goes to the veteran, the older guy. Now I think if it gets to a close fight between a younger guy and a vet, they’re going to try to find a way to help that young guy in a rebuild to make Detroit. There’s a lot of opportunity in Detroit, but in terms of guys who could be here, we’re looking at some guys that have great offensive capabilities. We’re going to be a little bit young defensively and we’ll have to learn quickly.

How excited are you for the start of training camp?
There’s always that rejuvenation. It’s a new season, it’s fresh, everyone’s got a clean slate. It’s the excitement of the new year and a new beginning for everyone. It’s another season but it’s another adventure with a different group of guys; that’s always exciting. The adventure, that’s what you remember the most. It’s not the wins and losses, it’s the people and the players along the way, and the learning mistakes and the learning accomplishments.

Continued

I had my annual pre-training camp anxiety attack, so I was down and out for a couple of hours this afternoon. As a result, here are this evening’s crop of Red Wings-related stories:

1. The Red Wings posted a clip of Jeff Blashill’s Thurdsay presser with the media. The Free Press, MLive and the Detroit News also posted shorter clips of the full 12-minute media availability:

Continue reading Thursday night round-up: Blashill’s remarks regarding the Rasmussen-Veleno-Zadina line, Larkin’s responsibilities, getting better; numbers games and more

Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff doesn’t believe that Steve Yzerman would fit the bill as the Red Wings’ GM:

Wings fans must ask themselves one question? Would this be the way they would want to remember Yzerman?

The GM can’t pick up the puck in a tie game and score a memorable goal. He can’t be the hero. Only the goat.

Perhaps Wings owners Mike and Marian Ilitch family best expressed the feelings of the Wings faithful as Yzerman left to be GM of the Lightning.

“It’s hard to imagine Steve Yzerman in anything other than the red-and-white Winged Wheel,” the Ilitches said in a statement at the time. “He has been synonymous with the Red Wings and Hockeytown for as long as most of us can remember.”

To run the Wings, Yzerman would risk more than the difference between winning and losing. He’d risk his reputation.

Duff continues

The Athletic’s Max Bultman estimates the Red Wings’ lines as training camp begins:

After​ months of waiting,​ training camp​ is almost here​ for​ the​ Detroit Red​ Wings. Following a golf outing​​ in Traverse City on Thursday, players will hit the ice for the first time Friday morning to kick off what could be a competitive training camp for the franchise’s top young players.

There will be intrigue over three recent first-round picks, Filip Zadina, Michael Rasmussen and Dennis Cholowski, all looking to make the roster for the first time. There’ll be a glimpse at the progress of players like Evgeny Svechnikov, coming into an important camp for his trajectory in Detroit. And of course, curiosity over Henrik Zetterberg’s future with the team, which looks bleak given the condition of his back heading into the season.

All of those factors will go into solving the puzzle that is an NHL depth chart. The few baseline assumptions are these: Dylan Larkin is in for a big promotion as a first-line center and the player other teams will focus on. It stands to reason he’ll be flanked by the team’s top goal scorer, Anthony Mantha, creating a solid foundation but one that could still struggle to match up against some of the elite top lines in the Eastern Conference. Andreas Athanasiou should start the season at center; Rasmussen feels like a good bet to make the team at this point, and Zadina is likely to have that opportunity as well with a good preseason.

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

Getting fit for 2018. #DRWTC pic.twitter.com/ZYEn7FsAMU

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 13, 2018

#DRWTC begins with fitness testing. pic.twitter.com/j0fZ05nQ7f

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 13, 2018

#RedWings Blashill said defenseman Jared McIsaac not likely to be available during training camp due to the shoulder injury.

— Dana Wakiji (@Dwakiji) September 13, 2018

Blashill says Zetterberg update tomorrow…says there will be 3 teams split evenly in this camp; kid line of Zadina-Veleno-Rasmussen will stay intact #RedWings

— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) September 13, 2018

Will have full training camp roster breakdown shortly, but Jeff Blashill said he’s keeping Joe Veleno, Michael Rasmussen & Filip Zadina together after the chemistry they had in prospects tournament. Offers opportunity to see how they scrimmage against NHL defenders. #RedWings

— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) September 13, 2018

From the Detroit Red Wings:

Red Wings release 2018 Training Camp teams and daily schedule

Seventy-two players hit the ice from Sept. 14-18 in Traverse City

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today released their training camp roster and schedule, comprised of 72 players who will hit the ice on Friday, Sept. 14 at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich., for five days of camp before returning to Detroit to begin preseason play on Wednesday, Sept. 19.