The Malik Report

Of Mike Green-related note from MLive’s Ansar Khan…

The Detroit Red Wings are close to signing defenseman Mike Green to a two-year deal before the start of free agency Sunday at noon.

The contract is expected to carry a salary cap hit of slightly more than $5 million. Green, who turns 33 on Oct. 12, earned $6 million last season.

…

The Red Wings are expected to sign goaltender Jonathan Bernier to a three-year contract, likely for around $3 million per season, on Sunday. They also had been talking with free-agent forwards Thomas Vanek and Valtteri Filppula.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie…

Green’s AAV in DET is $5.375M. https://t.co/4fNOniDRum

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 30, 2018

And The Athletic’s Craig Custance:

The​ Red Wings, if​ they were​ going to get​ in​ on​ unrestricted free​ agents, had very specific​​ needs and targets. First, they needed a backup goalie and aggressively pursued Carter Hutton and Jonathan Bernier. Robin Lehner visited Detroit.

NHL free agency officially begins at noon ET on Sunday, so deals for Red Wings free agents, aside from their own players, can’t be done until then. Any framework for a new contract is just that, technically.

But when the opening bell rings, expect the Red Wings to check some boxes right away. According to multiple sources, Detroit is expected to sign Bernier to a three-year contract worth around $3 million per season. Their other target, Hutton, is expected to sign with the Buffalo Sabres, in part because he’ll have more of an opportunity to start and be the No. 1 guy.

Custance continues, confirming the Green deal and the Wings’ interest in Vanek, but he doesn’t state that the Wings are interested in Filppula.

The Athletic’s Jordin Horrobin offers a profile of Red Wings draft pick Jared McIsaac this morning, speaking with both McIsaac and the young man’s father regarding the defenseman’s roots in refereeing:

What separates McIsaac, though, is that his hockey bloodline comes from what his father, Jamie, calls the “third team” on the ice — the referees. Both Jamie, a longtime ref in the Maritimes, and Jared’s uncle John, a full-time NHL ref since 2016, gave McIsaac opportunities from infancy to watch the game up close.

“He would just sit there, and he would just follow the play,” Jamie said in a phone interview, as he recalled a 9-month-old McIsaac watching the 2001 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. “He never squabbled. He never cried. He just took it all in.”

McIsaac, a defenseman selected in the second round by the Red Wings at last weekend’s draft, grew up in Truro, Nova Scotia, where he idolized fellow Nova Scotians Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon.

“Hopefully, one day (I’ll be) able to play against them,” McIsaac told The Athletic on Wednesday between sessions at Detroit’s development camp. “That’s a dream as much as it is to play in the NHL.”

Continued (paywall)…

MLive’s Ansar Khan penned a profile of Red Wings prospect Joe Veleno, who has impressed the Red Wings’ brass with his maturity and poise:

Shawn Horcoff, Red Wings director of player development, called Veleno a great skater and a good kid during development camp this week at Little Caesars Arena.

“He asked a ton of questions, which is always good to see,” Horcoff said. “He has a good work ethic, seems very focused, his off-ice habits are good already, just meeting him at the draft and speaking about what he’s currently doing to get ready for next year. You can tell right away he’s an effortless skater. Skating goes a long way in today’s game.”

…

Veleno said his best attributes are his speed and work ethic.

“If I don’t have those I don’t think I’m as noticeable on the ice,” Veleno said. “Just my compete and my work ethic to go after pucks and battle in front of the net, battle in the corners. Of course, use my speed. Now it’s mostly about speed. If you don’t have that I think it’s pretty hard to play.”

Continued

From TSN’s Darren Dreger:

It’s believed Thomas Vanek is considering a return to Detroit. Mike Green is staying put and the Wings likely to add Bernier Sunday as well.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 30, 2018

Update:

Expect 3-years around $3 million AAV on Bernier; 2-years in the $5.25-5.5 million AAV range on Green; Vanek talks continue. https://t.co/vvTSXRl6iF

— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) June 30, 2018

 

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects engaged in one final day of skating and then skate-testing at the BELFOR Training Center on Friday, building upon Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday’s sessions with a little “hockey calculus” in terms of drills and a lot of hustle as the players engaged in the dreaded “skate test,” a 3-lap, 3-repetition drill held at the end of a 45-minute practice which absolutely gasses the players via intervals of skating up and down the ice after 3, 2, and then 1 minute’s worth of rest.

The “hockey calculus” came at the hands of coach Ben Simon, who’s worked very hard to take the lead over the past four days, and it’s been encouraging to watch the Grand Rapids Griffins coach find his lungs, erm, I mean “coaching legs,” despite the lack of AHL assistants at his disposal.

Continue reading Impressions from the fourth day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp ’18

Of Red Wings-related note this evening:

1. From Fox Sports Detroit, “The 313” offers puns over punditry regarding Alex Regula’s status as the son of a former Red Wings team dentist:

Fox Sports Detroit also aired a clip in which Filip Zadina, Michael Rasmussen and Joe Veleno talked about the high level of talent at the Wings’ summer development camp:

2. Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff penned an article about Filip Zadina as viewed through the eyes of a pair of QMJHL-playing teammates and director of player development Shawn Horcoff:

Continue reading Evening news: FSD videos, Zadina’s peers on Zadina, on Pope, O’Reilly and a trio of ‘red and white’

Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

1. WXYZ’s Brad Galli spoke with Wings prospect Givani Smith regarding Smith’s belief that he’ll make the Red Wings’ roster…

2. And HometownLife.com’s Marty Budner penned an article about Metro Detroit native Alec Regula’s hopes that will don his hometown team’s jersey in a couple of seasons:

Continue reading Two things: on Givani Smith and Alec Regula

The Athletic’s goaltending expert, Cat Silverman, has “gone through the film” that involves examining the Red Wings’ pair of Swedish goaltending draft picks, Jesper Eliasson of Troja-Ljungby (drafted 84th overall) and Victor Brattstrom of Timra IK (drafted 160th overall).

Silverman sees the Wings’ 2018 draft picks as risky but potentially useful from an organizational depth perspective:

After the draft was over, I spoke with a few scouts to see what they thought about the Red Wings’ decision to take the goaltenders they did. After all, quite a few teams went off the board and took guys who, in theory, would have been available as free agents in just a few weeks’ time.

One scout said that even though free agency may be a way to avoid using draft picks on an imprecise position, it’s always better to control the situation.

In Brattström’s case, the Red Wings may have already been aware that the goaltender was set to split the crease next season for Timra IK’s pro team with the Wild’s 2017-18 AHL goaltender, Niklas Svedberg. So Brattström will be learning alongside a fellow Swede who has NHL experience and recent exposure to the North American game. If Brattström has a breakout season, it’s easy to see that he could have become the subject of a bidding war by NHL teams in the summer of 2019.

Another thing to consider is the ease with which players can make their way overseas.

Continued (paywall), and this is an intriguing read…

The Red Wings’ prospects wrapped up their practices and fitness testing at LCA’s BELFOR Training Center just after 1 PM today, and the media headed downstairs to speak with players who participated in Team Lindsay’s activities.

We first spoke to David Pope, who discussed his split off-season focus between continuing to improve his skating and goal-scoring while rounding out his game somewhat as Pope prepares for a fall in which the 24-year-old turning-pro forward believes he’s still got a solid chance of making the Wings’ roster:

As it turns out, Jack Adams’ current collegiate employer, Union College, employs a full-year, trimester curriculum, so the 6’5″ goal-scorer spoke about his desire to get back to school and work with his coaches as the massive right-shooting winger hopes to continue building both his physique and intellect:

Finally, goaltender Joren van Pottelberghe spoke with the media about his hopes of earning the uncontested starter’s job with HC Davos of the Swiss League, a league he says is becoming more competitive every day. JvP discussed his adjustments to smaller-rink size and the benefits of platooning his goaltending with co-starter Gilles Senn over the past two seasons. This year, JvP hopes to earn starting jobs with both Davos and the Swiss national team:

The Free Press’s Helene St. James penned a list of five players with whom the Red Wings have spoken during the NHL’s free agency wining-and-dining window, and among them are the following:

G Carter Hutton

Why: The Wings need a proven NHL-caliber goaltender. Hutton is their top target, having gone 17-7-3 in 2017-18 with a 2.09 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 32 appearances with St. Louis. Hutton, 32, has played around 30 games each of the past two seasons. That’s a good workload and would alleviate Howard, who played 60 games last season because the Wings lacked a reliable No. 2.

G Jonathan Bernier

Why: Bernier spent 2017-18 with Colorado, where he went 19-13-0 with a 2.85 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in 37 appearances. A former starter in Toronto, he turns 30 in August. He is coming off a season that saw him miss time with injuries ranging from upper-body to two head injuries and an infection.

F Valtteri Filppula

Why: The Wings would have re-signed center him five years ago had he been willing to keep playing under then-coach Mike Babcock. Now he’s 34, and looking for work. Filppula is a good, two-way center, a good faceoff guy who can be trusted in his own zone and a guy who’ll put up in the 30-point range. He makes sense if the Wings are worried about Henrik Zetterberg, who turns 38 in October, though he has played three straight 82-game seasons.

Continued