The Malik Report

The Detroit News posted an article in which an unknown author discusses two top Swedish prospects who the Red Wings are watching at the World Junior Summer Showcase:

 A Swedish duo of high-scoring forwards at the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth are on a historic path that could lead them to be selected by a lottery-bound team like the Red Wings in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Alexander Holtz and Lucas Raymond are among the top high-end prospects behind consensus No. 1 pick Alexis Lafreniere of the Rimouski Oceanic.

Holtz, 17, is a 6-1, 183-pound winger who was the youngest player to lead Sweden’s SuperElit League in goal scoring with 30 goals in 38 games with Djurgardens last year.

Raymond, 17, is a 5-10, 178-pound winger who finished fourth overall in scoring with Frolunda in the Elit and Allsveskan leagues with 63 points in 33 games.

They are trying to become the first pair of Swedes to be taken in the first three picks since Daniel Sedin (second overall) and Henrik Sedin (third overall) were selected by the Vancouver Canucks in 1999.

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From DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji on Twitter: Nicklas Lidstrom gave the Tre Kronor, a.k.a. the Swedish national team, a tour of Little Caesars Arena:

Idag fick Juniorkronorna en egen guidad tur i Little Caesars Arena. Tack till Nicklas Lidström som ordnade det till grabbarna ?? #juniorkronorna pic.twitter.com/R6MLgNtZcE— Tre Kronor (@Trekronorse) July 29, 2019

The Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy penned a profile of Red Wings prospect Joe Veleno, discussing the young center’s status as an “exceptional” 15-year-old playing in the QMJHL and his mentorship of top prospect Alexis Lafreniere:

Because Veleno was granted exceptional status to join the Quebec League as a 15-year-old, he is eligible to play in the American League this season despite being only 19. That’s great for the Grand Rapids Griffins, but also for Team Canada, which will get a rare player with experience against men on its roster. So far, it’s been an interesting journey for Veleno, thanks to that exceptional status designation.

“It was a roller coaster,” he said. “It’s not easy coming into that league as a 15-year-old playing against 19- and 20-year-olds. Once I got some years under my belt, I became the older guy and things came natural. Getting that experience helped my confidence.”

Veleno went first overall to the Saint John Sea Dogs in 2015 and had a decent rookie season as an underager while playing with future NHLers such as Thomas Chabot and Mathieu Joseph. His second year was truncated by injury, but he still put up nearly a point per game. In his draft year, he was named captain of the Sea Dogs but was eventually traded to Drummondville as Saint John began a rebuild. Scouts thought he put too much pressure on himself in that last stint with Saint John and that Veleno looked more comfortable with the Voltigeurs, but he still slid to the end of the first round of the NHL draft in the summer of 2018, going 30th overall to the Red Wings, who had already taken Filip Zadina sixth overall.

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DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner examines Red Wings prospect Antti Tuomisto’s 2018-2019 season “By the Numbers” this afternoon, and Regner’s article includes commentary by Red Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff:

“At camp, obviously he’s a kid, he’s got good size. It’s weird. He was one of those kids that looked better in the scrimmage than he did in practice. That can be attributed to a lot of things. That’s why I don’t like to make that many comments on the young players because it’s his first pro camp. It’s a really busy time of year for them and it’s hard for them to come in and feel comfortable. So we tell them all this and the fact that it’s not really as much about evaluation as it is the learning process at development camp. It’s not fair for these kids. First off, it’s the end of June, a lot of them are coming right from the draft, they’re getting thrown everywhere. It’s early in the season in terms of training, they’re not in the conditioning that they will be come September.

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Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren spoke with HockeyNews.se’s Henrik Sjoberg from the World Junior Summer Showcase, where Berggren is still shaking off some rust after suffering a back injury this past season.

What follows is roughly translated from Swedish, and the Swedish mostly comes from an interview that HockeyNews.se posted on its YouTube page:

Berggren is physically ready: ‘I’ve been useful to be injured’

Plymouth. A stress fracture in his back put a stop to games in the fall last season.

There were only 16 games for Jonatan Berggren [last season]–but the 19-year-old doesn’t only see disadvantages of having suffered a long-term injury.

“I’ve been given time to really build up myself in the gym, so it’s been useful to be injured,” says the Skelleftea AIK forward to HockeyNews.se.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Jonatan Berggren discusses his injury-shortened 2018-19 campaign

MLive’s Ansar Khan suggests that Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman will likely wait out the 2019-2020 season before making significant managerial moves. Khan indicates that we should not be surprised if Yzerman emulates the man who “showed him the ropes”:

The team has stockpiled young forwards, some of whom are proven NHL players (Dylan Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou, Bertuzzi) and others still in the early stages of development (Evgeny Svechnikov, Michael Rasmussen, Filip Zadina, Joe Veleno, Taro Hirose). Yzerman might look to package one or two with other assets for a young defenseman.

Yzerman, like Holland before him, will at least move veterans on expiring contracts for draft picks at the trade deadline, assuming the team is out of playoff contention. The list includes Howard, Mike Green, Jonathan Ericsson and Trevor Daley.

Yzerman apprenticed under Holland for four years, and while he appears more willing to take chances, there are some philosophies both share. One of them seems to be player development and entitlement. Holland believed in “over-ripening” prospects in the AHL, not handing them jobs based on draft position.

Yzerman appears to feel the same, which explains in part the signings of Filppula and Nemeth. Some would argue Zadina, Svechnikov and Dennis Cholowski should be on the team regardless of performance and develop in the NHL while taking their lumps. Yzerman isn’t apt to do that.

Khan continues

Red Wings prospect Joe Veleno registered a goal and an assist in Team Canada’s 4-1 win over Team USA at the World Junior Summer Showcase on Tuesday. After the game, Veleno told DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji that he’s aiming high while holding out hope that he’ll take part in this year’s World Junior Championship:

Since Red Wings development camp ended at the end of June, Veleno said he has remained in the Detroit area, working out and skating with a few other players.

On Saturday, before Team Canada officially arrived, Veleno was in one of the USA Hockey Arena suites and got a chance to talk to general manager Steve Yzerman.

“It’s obviously an honor to be around him, he’s one of the best to ever play the game,” Veleno said. “He knows his hockey. You know when you exchange words with him, you’re kind of a sponge a little bit, take everything he says and that’s what I’m trying to do, from the whole staff, management, from top to bottom, just kind of listen to what they say and try to apply it on the ice.”

While this tournament is considered a proving ground of sorts to help Team USA, Team Canada, Team Sweden and Team Finland select players for their World Junior Championship teams, Veleno would of course prefer to be playing for the Red Wings come December.

“For sure, that’s the main goal,” Veleno said. “I think it’s a good opportunity though as well to kind of show where I am with my own age level. If I’m ready to take that next step in Detroit, obviously they’re all little steps to get there but I think it starts here at this tournament, showing what I can do with all the other prospects. I thought today went relatively well and going to continue getting better here.”

Wakiji continues…

Red Wings prospect Joe Veleno registered a goal and an assist as Team Canada defeated Team USA 4-1 at the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, MI today.

The Detroit News took note of Veleno’s performance…

Veleno scored a power-play goal in the first period at the 12:11 mark with assists to Kirby Dach (Blackhawks) and Nolan Foote (Lightning).

In the second period, Veleno assisted on the first of two goals by Dach at 10:16. Veleno’s linemate, Alexis Lafreniere (projected 2020 No. 1 overall pick), had an assist on Dach’s other goal.

Foote also scored for Canada and goalies Oliver Rodrigue (Oilers) and Hunter Jones (Wild) combined to stop 30-of-31 shots.

Cole Caufield (Canadiens) scored the only goal for the U.S. and goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 18-of-22 shots.

The teams resume play on Wednesday with Canada facing Finland at 1 p.m., and the U.S. playing Sweden at 4 p.m.

USA Hockey posted a quick highlight clip from the game…

Continue reading Wings prospect Joe Veleno posts a goal and an assist in Canada’s win over Team USA at the WJSS

Michigan Hockey’s Michael Caples reports that the “Play With Purpose” hockey game will return to USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth on Tuesday, August 16th:

For the third straight offseason, the Play With Purpose Charity Game will be taking place in Metro Detroit for a good cause.

On Aug. 16, some big hockey names will gather at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth for the annual event, put on by Gallagher-Kaiser and presented by Hockey Has Heart.

This year, the event will once again raise money to support distracted driving awareness initiatives with the PEERS Foundation, #HandsFreeMichigan and B.R.A.K.E.S.

“We are excited to once again be part of such a meaningful event,” said Bob Kaiser, owner and CEO of Gallagher-Kaiser. “As a company with a strong commitment to safety, we have continuously supported organizations dedicated to keeping our communities safe, with a primary focus on eliminating distracted driving. The Play With Purpose game provides an opportunity to have a great time with family and friends, while simultaneously raising awareness for a meaningful cause.”

Players already committed to attending include Zach Werenski, Danny DeKeyser, Steve Oleksy and Austin Czarnik, as well as NHL alums Kris Draper, Mickey Redmond, Joey Kocur, David Legwand, Darren McCarty and Tie Domi.

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Per the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe, Shane Berschbach is returning to the Toledo Walleye for the 2019-20 season:

After five seasons with the Toledo Walleye, Shane Berschbach has played an integral role in turning the team into annual ECHL contenders.

Berschbach will be back for another season as the Walleye all-time leader in points, assists, and games played agreed to terms with Toledo for the 2019-20 season.

“I’m ready for another season and I’m excited that it is going to be in Toledo,” Berschbach said. “I played my whole pro career here and I couldn’t ask for a better spot and I’m looking forward to getting back at it.”

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