The Malik Report

The Red Wings made three defensemen available for interview on Thursday morning, and Gustav Lindstrom led the trio.

Lindstrom discussed his decision to come to North America, his fondness for the “smaller rink,” his goals for the upcoming season and the lessons he learned while playing for the Frolunda Indians, who won the SHL championship:

Defenseman Alec Regula, who played for the London Knights this past season, is trying to nurse a sore knee back to health without surgery. Regula both worked on the powerhouse London Knights’ blueline and skated for the Grand Rapids Griffins as a black ace, but he admitted that being unable to do more than work out right now has been the most frustrating part of his career thus far:

Seth Barton also spoke with the media corps today, and the 6’3,” 174-pound UMass-Lowell defenseman discussed his attempts to get bigger and stronger as he reflected upon the lessons he’s learning at development camp:

The Detroit Red Wings are streaming Art Regner and Ken Kal’s broadcast from the third day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp:

Red Wings draft pick Ethan Phillips stands at 5’9″ and 146 pounds, but the Red Wings thought highly enough of the diminutive forward to pick him with the 97th overall pick in this year’s draft.

This morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses the winding developmental path that Phillips has taken thus far, as well as some of his future goals as he prepares to play for Boston College this fall:

Phillips produced 31 goals and 33 assists in 45 games in 2017-18 with the U16 Selects team. He entered the program in 2016.

“The whole development program they had there seemed to be the best spot for me,” Phillips said. “Playing against my own age group at the time made sense because I was very undersized. Having the skills coaches there, and the ice and gym is always there for you, was really big.

“I left because I went up to Sioux Falls in October and things went really well, I played four games and started talking with the coaches at Selects Academy and Sioux Falls to see if maybe it was the right move for me to jump to the USHL, especially with it being my draft year.  I got a lot of support from the coaches at Selects – they want to move guys on, so they are happy to see that, that I have the opportunity.”

Phillips’ next move is to Boston University (also home to Wings prospects Kasper Kotkansalo and newcomer Robert Mastrosimone), where he’ll work on balancing hockey and an education. It’s an ideal path for a guy who at 5-foot-9 weighs just 145 pounds.

“It’s definitely not as much of a demanding schedule as some of the junior leagues where you’re playing 70, 80 games a year,” Phillips said. “You’re playing 40, 45 games a year in college and you’re not playing throughout the week. You get to take advantage of that time in the rink, in the gym; your body gets to recover more. That’s a big thing for me.”

Continued

Former Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman appeared on 97.1 the Ticket’s Jamie and Stoney Show this morning, giving a 12-minute interview:

Bowman now works as a senior advisor to the Chicago Blackhawks, and Bowman addressed several Red Wings-related topics.

Bowman is based in Sarasota, Florida, so he’s taken in a lot of Tampa Bay Lightning games during Steve Yzerman’s reign as GM, and Bowman had this to say about the Wings’ decision to draft Moritz Seider 6th overall:

“Steve, he doesn’t care,” Scotty Bowman told the Jamie and Stoney Show on 97.1 The Ticket. “What you have to do running a team is, sometimes you have to try to hit some home runs. And I think this guy could be a home run. I really do. I know from the talk about him that he was good the last part of last year.” 

As an 18-year-old playing in Germany’s top pro league last season, Seider showed the maturity of his game. He’s a terrific skater who’s calm under pressure. He moves the puck quickly and cleanly. He thinks the game a couple plays ahead. 

When Seider put a stamp on his strong season at the World Championships last month, his draft stock really began to rise. The Red Wings were far from the only team in on him. Bowman, a senior advisor for the Blackhawks (his son Stan is the team’s GM), said Seider was a trending name across the NHL. 

And the league could get to know him quickly. 

“I don’t know if he’s ready to come in right away, but he’s very close because he played against men. And I know that the Blackhawks had him rated really high. Everyone had him rated high. He was either going to be the second or third defenseman drafted,” said Bowman. 

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings’ summer development camps aren’t reserved for the Red Wings’ draft picks and signed prospects alone.

The Red Wings welcome both free agents who may never sign with the Wings and some AHL-contracted players who may never play in Detroit or even Grand Rapids to their summer development camps and fall prospect tournaments, and the invites and AHL contracts receive just as much attention and investment in terms of time, energy and money spent on equipment, on and off-ice training, education and nutrition that the Wings’ top prospects receive.

As a result, both Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon and Toledo Walleye coach Dan Watson, who both participate in the summer development camps and fall prospect tournaments, are watching and evaluating potential employees.

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe spoke with coach Watson regarding his status as watching possible Walleye players in action:

“If the Red Wings feel like these players need more playing time, a lot of times they will send them to us to continue their development,” Watson said.

Rookie forward Zach Gallant, who was drafted in the third round of the 2017 draft, got his first taste of pro hockey with the Walleye this past season. Gallant played in four games for Toledo at the end of the regular season and had four points with one goal and three assists. Gallant, a 20-year-old native of London, Ont., then had 12 points (6 G, 6 A) during the Walleye’s playoff run.

Forward David Pope, who was picked in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, also played for the Walleye this season.

The team also had several other players that are under contract with the Red Wings who contributed last season. Goaltenders Pat Nagle and Fulcher, along with forwards Jordan Topping, Dylan Sadowy, Bryan Moore, and defensemen Marcus Crawford and Trevor Hamilton, all were assigned to Toledo from Grand Rapids.

Walleye general manager Neil Neukam has called the relationship between Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Toledo “one of the strongest in professional hockey.”

“We look forward to its continued growth,” Neukam said.

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects spent Tuesday generating data and working on shooting drills; Wednesday yielded a massive change-up as split squads of defensemen and then forwards worked with one of two skill development experts.

Team Lindsay, which includes players like Taro Hirose (for part of the day, at least), Gustav Lindstrom and Jesper Eliasson, worked with Swedish skill development coach Daniel Broberg, a tattooed, bearded Swede who had skaters of all varieties jumping, hopping and otherwise leaping their way through stickhandling drills that first challenged their hands and then required leaps of faith.

Team Lindsay starts the day off with some skill drills. #DRWDC pic.twitter.com/mfc25SH4ot— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 26, 2019

The skaters played some tag, too:

Continue reading Impressions from the second day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp ’19

The OHL’s Owen Sound Attack drafted Moritz Seider during last year’s import draft, hoping that Seider, who ended up playing for Adler Mannheim in Germany, would skate in the Canadian Hockey League this past season. According to the Owen Sound Sun-Times’ Greg Cowan, the Attack have not given up hope that Seider may yet join their ranks:

Seider has a number of options available to him for a 2019-20 landing spot including returning to Germany where he plays in the top-tier professional league (DEL) with the reigning champions, Alder Mannheim. If signed by Detroit to an entry-level contract Seider could immediately begin his North American career with the Red Wings, or their American Hockey League affiliate in Grand Rapids. The Red Wings organization may decide, in conjunction with Seider, that he is best served to spend a season in the CHL, in which case he would be assigned to the Owen Sound Attack. That would force the Attack to make an additional roster move.

“We’ll worry about that when we worry about that, which would be an absolutely fantastic problem to have,” DeGray said.

The Attack boss contacted the Red Wings following their selection of Seider, reaching out to assistant general manager Kris Draper.

“It’s so fresh. They don’t know even who the player is they selected as far as a Detroit Red Wing goes. They know him as a young kid in the German DEL men’s league, but how does that translate?” DeGray said. “I would say they know enough about Owen Sound, me, the program, that they will be comfortable sending him here if that’s the way they choose to go . . . where do we fit in the food chain? It’s probably somewhere right near the bottom.”

Continued, and as far as I know, the Wings and Seider will make their decision as to Seider’s 2019-2020 team after he participates in the prospect tournament and main training camp.

As noted by The Athletic’s Max Bultman on Twitter…

There’s a Nyquist-Detroit nugget in this one ? https://t.co/F0rdcOCzgn— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) June 26, 2019

The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun posted a notebook article regarding free agents-to-be, including one Gustav Nyquist:

Gustav Nyquist was a nice fit with the Sharks as a trade deadline pick up and San Jose, despite its cap issues, hasn’t closed the door bringing him back. Of course, other teams are calling this week on the four-time 20-plus goal scorer, including the likes of Edmonton and Detroit, according to sources.

LeBrun continues (paywall)…

Updated at 6:01 PM: The Red Wings’ beat writers filed their afternoon notebooks today, and most of them focused on acerbic forward Albin Grewe.

1. MLive’s Ansar Khan discussed the bite with which the 66th overall draft pick this past weekend in Vancouver plays:

Grewe, 18, has a particular trait that could make him a fan favorite and an irritant to the rest of the league if and when he reaches the NHL.

“I like to go under my opponents’ skin, too,” Grewe said. “I like to hit my opponents. Stuff like that. It’s enjoyable. I like it.”

The Red Wings selected the 6-foot, 187-pound left-shooting right wing in the third round (66th overall), with their fifth pick, from the Djurgardens junior team. He and nine other 2019 picks are among more than 40 prospects and free agents getting instructed and educate while taking part in on-ice drills and off-ice workouts this week at Red Wings development camp at Little Caesars Arena.

It’s somehow fitting Grewe was given No. 18, the jersey worn by long-time Red Wings forward Kirk Maltby, a thorn in the side of opponents for 16 NHL seasons.

Like many Swedes, Grewe grew up idolizing Peter Forsberg. Unlike many Swedes, or anyone else outside of Boston, he is now a big Brad Marchand fan.

Djurgardens coach Robert Ohlsson referred to Grewe as “T-Rex.”

“He said it once in an interview, but now it’s a nickname for me, so it’s funny,” Grewe said.

Khan continues, and he posted a video from Grewe’s scrum interview with the press:

2. The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article which focuses on Grewe, too…

Continue reading Afternoon news: All about Albin Grewe, a bit about Moritz Seider and photo galleries

According to MLive’s Patrick Nothaft, Western Michigan University will earn his college diploma during this Saturday’s summer commencement ceremony:

It would have been easy for a person in DeKeyser’s shoes to scoff at the thought of obtaining an undergraduate degree after signing a two-year, $4.375-million deal with the Wings in 2014, but once he adjusted to life as a pro hockey player, he found enough down time to explore taking classes through WMU’s Extended University Programs, which integrates prior coursework from almost any major into a bachelor’s degree in university studies.

“I think it was one of those things where I had been in the league for a few years and had established myself a little bit as an NHLer, and I didn’t have any kids at the time or anything like that, and all I was doing was focusing on training for hockey and skating in the summers and stuff, and so I thought it would be a good time to start it back up,” he said. “On the road when we travel, we have a little bit of down time in the hotel or on the plane rides and stuff like that, so it actually gave me something to do and kept me busy while I was away from home.”

While most students have the ability to meet with their classmates or professors for study groups or help with assignments, the people surrounding DeKeyser weren’t as well-versed in college coursework, and that challenged him, particularly in a math class that occupied his time on a nightly basis during the spring semester.

“There were a few times where it was tough, and it was getting in late, 3 a.m. on the road or something like that, and then the next day we’d have a practice, and then I’d have to do some homework,” he said. “It was definitely different than what I was used to when I started in the NHL.

“I didn’t have anything else going on, I could just focus on hockey, but I had to keep tabs on my schooling, so it was definitely different, but overall I liked it. I enjoyed learning and stuff like that.”

Continued