The Malik Report

The Detroit Red Wings made a trade to do exactly what GM Steve Yzerman said he might do on July 1st–shore up their depth on the wing–on Wednesday, and I certainly scratched my head when I heard the name “Adam Erne.”

The Wings acquired the 24-year-old Erne for a 4th round draft pick, and the 6’1,” 185-pound forward was very quietly signed to what the Tampa Bay Times’ Diana C. Nearhos reported is a 1-year, $1.05 million contract extension.

Nearhos describes Erne’s assets as follows…

Erne, 24, had something of a breakout season in 2018-19, his first spent entirely in the NHL. He had 20 points (seven goals) and 40 penalty minutes (10 minors) in 65 games.

The 6-foot-1, 214-pound wing added physicality to the fourth line without drawing many penalties, earning a consistent spot in the lineup.

Erne was arbitration eligible this year but did not file. He was on a one-year, $800,000 contract last year, and his expected raise was to $1 million.

Nearhos also explains why the Lightning traded Erne:

Continue reading Red Wings trade for Adam Erne…Who?

Several Red Wings players have been taking part in Power Edge Pro’s hockey camp at USA Hockey Arena this past week, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan headed to Plymouth to speak with Dylan Larkin. The prospective captain of the Red Wings spoke particularly enthusiastically regarding his team’s potential:

“We can be very competitive every night and go on hot stretches,” said Larkin, adding there’s one important ingredient: “Get off to a good start.”

He added: “We’re going to have to come out to a good start, and that’s something we didn’t do last year (1-7-2). It’s all-in the start and getting some steam and getting buzz around town, and young guys contributing and gaining confidence.”

Part of the excitement surrounding the Wings is the arrival of general manager Steve Yzerman.

The Red Wings legend and Hall of Famer replaced long-time GM Ken Holland (who went to Edmonton) in April, and Yzerman’s arrival – after a successful run as the Tampa Bay Lightning GM – has injected excitement among Wings’ fans.

Larkin has only spoken sparingly with Yzerman this offseason but can see and feel Yzerman’s impact.

“His history and legacy speak for itself,” Larkin said. “He’s a pretty impressive guy. Just how dialed into the game he is, and what he’s done with Tampa, he knows what it takes to get to the level they’re at. I’m just real excited for it.”

Continued

Red Wings forward Evgeny Svechnikov seems to have been around forever, but the 22-year-old is firmly pressing the “reset” button on his career after suffering an ACL injury that wiped out his 2018-2019 season.

Svechnikov spoke with The Athletic’s Max Bultman while attending the Power Edge Pro camp in Plymouth, and the one-time top prospect discussed his desire to reclaim his potential on a crowded Wings forward corps:

“It’s still healing, it’s still a process,” Svechnikov said. “So, I’m still in the process, and I’m doing pretty good skating. … It maybe looks good, but it doesn’t feel (as good) as it looks. But I feel comfortable. Just gets tired and sore at the end. But it’s coming along.”

He still has about four weeks to help it along even further, valuable time in his pursuit of a roster spot come opening night. Some of that is beyond his control, but this is all the time he has left to improve his chances.

Svechnikov said he has met new general manager Steve Yzerman only briefly, and that he mainly just wanted to know about the knee. But he’s not concerning himself much with what exactly the team’s brass is expecting or looking for from him when Traverse City arrives. His goals are singular.

“I have no idea,” he said. “I don’t really care what they’re looking at (with) me, you can put it that way. Because I just want to go out there and take my spot. That’s really it. Doesn’t matter last year if I was hurt or (not). And I don’t really expect, from them, anything. Obviously they want to expect from me, they want to see what it’s like, but at the same time they know I was injured. To me, it doesn’t matter. I just want to go out there and take my spot and make the team.”

Continued (paywall); my best guess is that Svechnikov will have to head to Grand Rapids this fall and earn his way back into the Red Wings’ lineup. He’s young enough and talented enough to at least provide some jam as a forechecking bottom-six forward; whether he is able to press his ceiling higher is up to Svech.

The Toledo Walleye signed defenseman Brandon Anselmini today, as noted by the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe:

Anselmini, a 26-year-old from Guelph, Ont., played last season for Kalamazoo in the ECHL. In 45 games with the Wings, he posted three goals with 21 assists and 74 penalty minutes. He also appeared in 10 games for Utica in the American Hockey League and had two points (1 G, 1 A) and 11 penalty minutes.

Anselmini (pronounced AN-sell-mean-ee) has played in 124 games in the ECHL and 24 games in the higher-level AHL.

The 5-foot-10, 183-pound defenseman played in 28 games for the Indy Fuel in 2017-18, producing 17 points (2 G, 15 A) with 56 penalty minutes.

Continued

The Red Wings posted a Tweet today which revealed the numbers that several players will be donning for the 2019-2020 season.

I’m a little surprised that Valtteri Filppula will continue to wear #51 as Frans Nielsen is changing to #81 to accommodate Filppula; Taro Hirose debuted his #67 at the Red Wings’ summer development camp; Adam Erne will be the first Wing to wear #73, and Patrik Nemeth will go with #22.

New season.
New numbers. pic.twitter.com/GRWeGS1FpH— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 15, 2019

From the Michigan State University Spartans‘ athletic site:

Spartan Hockey Pro Camp Begins Monday

EAST LANSING — Michigan State hockey’s annual Pro Camp will take place next week at Munn Ice Arena. The camp will run Monday, Aug. 19 – Friday, Aug. 23 with players skating from 10 a.m. – noon. The camp is open and free to spectators. Due to the construction on the south end of Munn, spectators will need to enter the building on either the east or west ends.

The longtime camp run by former Spartan assistant Tom Newton helps the players prepare for their upcoming training camps with their respective professional teams. A total of 11 former Spartan hockey players played in the NHL last season, while several others skated in the American Hockey League, East Coast Hockey League and various European leagues. As in past years, several pros that did not play collegiately at MSU will also attend the camp.

Three Spartans that made their NHL debuts last season –Taro Hirose (Detroit), Mackenzie MacEachern (St. Louis) and Mason Appleton (Winnipeg) – are all scheduled to attend this year’s Spartan Pro Camp.

The NHLPA released a list of participants in this year’s Rookie Showcase yesterday, and Taro Hirose will represent the Red Wings at the Upper Deck photo shoot:

MEDIA ADVISORY: 2019 NHLPA ROOKIE SHOWCASE TO TAKE PLACE AUGUST 25 IN WASHINGTON

TORONTO (Aug. 14, 2019) –The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) will host its 11^th annual NHLPA Rookie Showcase Sunday, Aug. 25 at MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Va., with 28 NHL® prospects and rookies scheduled to attend. This unique event provides Upper Deck – the official trading card partner of the NHLPA and the NHL – with an opportunity to capture photographs and videos of many of the game’s top young prospects and rookies in their official NHL team uniforms. The content collected will be used for upcoming Upper Deck trading cards, memorabilia products and digital video posts.

2019 NHLPA Rookie Showcase Scheduled Attendees:

The following 28 NHL prospects and rookies are scheduled to be in attendance for the 2019 NHLPA Rookie Showcase:

Alexander Alexeyev (Capitals), Mikey Anderson (Kings), Kasper Bjorkqvist (Penguins), Adam Boqvist (Blackhawks), Jesper Boqvist (Devils), Shane Bowers (Avalanche), Bowen Byram (Avalanche), Kale Clague (Kings), Dylan Cozens (Sabres) Kirby Dach (Blackhawks), Noah Dobson (Islanders), Dante Fabbro (Predators), Joel Farabee (Flyers), Adam Fox (Rangers), Barrett Hayton (Coyotes), Taro Hirose (Red Wings), Jack Hughes (Devils), Quinn Hughes (Canucks), Pierre-Olivier Joseph (Penguins), Vitali Kravtsov (Rangers), Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Sabres), Jake Oettinger (Stars), Ryan Poehling (Canadiens), Jason Robertson (Stars), Igor Shesterkin (Rangers), Ty Smith (Devils), Nico Sturm (Wild) and Oliver Wahlstrom (Islanders).

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard’s 2019-2020 season outlook this morning:

If Howard stays healthy, he can expect another heavy workload. But if the Red Wings are out of the playoff picture midway through the season, Howard could be dealt for a draft pick. The market for goalies likely will be better earlier in the season than at the Feb. 24 trade deadline, when more teams are out of the playoff picture.

The Red Wings might also opt to sign Howard to another one-year extension, since Jonathan Bernier might not be capable of handling the starting job in 2020-21 and top prospect Filip Larsson probably won’t be NHL-ready by then.

But they could also move Howard during the season and re-sign him on July 1.

Continued

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses the Red Wings’ forward corps today, wrapping up a 3-part series on the Wings’ goaltending, defense and forward depth.

Kulfan calls Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi and Anthony Mantha the Wings’ “core four” up front:

They are the hope, the beacon of light as the Red Wings dwell in this current rebuild.

Young forwards Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha are the foundation the Wings are building around.

All four had career-best offensive seasons, and gradually began taking over leadership of the team. If the Wings are headed anywhere this season, or in the near future, this is the core that will likely take them there.

“Can they carry a hockey team to wins? That’s a big question they’ll answer on a nightly basis next year,” coach Jeff Blashill said late last season. “It’s a heck of a responsibility. I don’t think there’s very many young players in the league that are able to carry their team. We’re going to ask that group of four up front to be a huge piece to carrying this team.”

Continued

From the Detroit Red Wings:

Red Wings acquire forward Adam Erne from Tampa Bay

Former Second-Round pick posted career-bests in Goals (7), Assists (13), Points (20) and Games Played (65) During the 2018-19 Season

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today acquired forward Adam Erne from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Detroit’s fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Erne, 24, posted career numbers during the 2018-19 season with the Lightning, recording personal bests in games played (65), goals (7) and assists (13) en route to reaching the 20-point plateau. He also finished third on the Lightning last season with 159 hits.

Drafted in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Lightning, Erne has totaled 27 points (13-14-27) in 114 games over the last three seasons with Tampa Bay, in addition to suiting up in three playoff games for the Lightning last season. The 6-foot-1, 214-pound forward has spent parts of four seasons (2013-18) with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League, skating in 150 games and recording 41 goals and 47 assists. Erne also posted 10 points (3-7-10) for the Crunch during their postseason run in 2016-17 before being defeated by the Grand Rapids Griffins in the Calder Cup Finals.  

Prior to turning pro, Erne suited up for the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for four seasons, totaling 118 goals, 157 assists and 275 points in 240 games. During his final campaign in Quebec (2014-15), Erne posted a career-best 86 points (41-45-86) in 60 games and led the Remparts to a President Cup victory, tallying 21 goals and nine assists during the team’s playoff run and claiming the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the postseason most valuable player. Before joining the Remparts, Erne skated with the Indiana Ice of the USHL for one season (2010-11), recording 18 points (10-8-18) in 45 games. A native of New Haven, Conn., Erne represented Team USA at the 2012 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia and the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship in Malmo, Sweden.