The Malik Report

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects engaged in a fascinating set of drills under Swedish skills coach Daniel Broberg this morning, with a lot of hops and skips and jumping involved as the defensemen worked with Broberg and some Power Edge Pro trainers.

The media corps spoke with Team Howe’s afternoon-scheduled skaters, starting with defenseman Albert Johansson. The son of former Calgary defenseman Robert Johansson spoke about attempting to add size and strength to his 6,’ 168-pound frame, his excitement at being drafted by the Red Wings (60th overall), and his strong junior season with Farjestad BK:

Kasper Kotkansalo gave a refreshing interview. The Boston University junior defenseman readily admitted that his sophomore campaign was not up to par, neither individually or team-wise, and Kotkansalo feels that improving his skating will go a long way toward securing a spot as a stay-at-home defenseman in the NHL. The 6’2,” 196-pound defenseman also spoke about training, the work he’s putting in on his communications degree and more:

Finally, 201 5th round draft pick Cooper Moore spoke with the media, discussing his drafting by the Wings, his big 5-goal game in Connecticut High School hockey, his sense that the Wings were going to draft him based upon draft combine discussion, his hopes of getting bigger and stronger as he heads West to play for the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs before heading to NCAA hockey, and he discussed how the off-ice aspects of this week’s development camp will assist him in adding size and strength:

FYI:

Continue reading Audio from the second day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp ’19: Albert Johansson, Kasper Kotkansalo and Cooper Moore

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. The Free Press’s Jamie Samuelssen weighs in on the Red Wings’ decision to draft Moritz Seider 6th overall in this past weekend’s NHL Draft:

What’s your reaction to Steve Yzerman’s first draft as Detroit Red Wings general manager?

I really believe the world would be a better place without mock drafts. I know the world would be a better place without draft grades. Sadly, the toothpaste is out of that tube and the downfall of western civilization will continue unabated.

When Steve Yzerman walked to the stage at the NHL draft and selected defenseman Moritz Seider with the sixth pick in the draft, it was a head-scratcher for most Red Wings fans. Not because they thought Seider was going to be a bust or because they covet some player instead. No, they were angry because Seider was selected higher than he “should have been” and as a result, it constituted a “reach” by Yzerman.

Was it a reach? We’re all certainly entitled to our opinions. I, speaking as someone who has never seen Seider wear a pair of skates, much less compete at high levels of hockey, will refrain from judgement. Yzerman has scouted Seider plenty and viewed him as the sixth best player in the draft and the available player that best fit the Red Wings’ needs.

Samuelssen continues…

2. DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner posted an article discussing Assat Pori forward Otto Kivenmaki’s 2018-2019 campaign, and Regner takes note of an intriguing comment made regarding the 5’8,” 154-pound forward:

Continue reading Morning news: Samuelssen on Seider; Horcoff on Kivenmaki and Veleno preparing to battle for a roster spot

The Detroit Red Wings opened their 2019 summer development camp with a split set of morning and afternoon drills for Teams Howe and Lindsay, respectively.

While prep players warmed up and worked with the Wings’ goaltenders–with goalie coaches Jeff Salajko, Brian Mahoney-Wilson and Matej Swoch overseeing the proceedings–the skaters engaged in a pair of fitness-testing benchmarks.

Approximately half the skaters got their “skating test” baselines, skating through a set of break-the-light-beam gates at 0, 5, 10 and 25 meters (not feet), and the players hustled their tails off with varying degrees of smoothness through each of the gates;

The other half of players worked a “touch test” in which the skaters skated in a “T” formation while touching sensors spread out along the “T,” helping judge both player quickness through about 15 feet worth of space and helping test the players’ reflexes.

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

The Free Press’s Jeff Seidel reports that Dylan Larkin stole the show at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, for all the right reasons:

Red Wings center Dylan Larkin was walking down the same fairway toward his ball during the AREA 313 Celebrity Challenge, part of lead-up to the Rocket Mortgage Classic, the first PGA Tour event in Detroit. And up ahead, Kid Rock was in the middle of the fairway, smoking a cigar, wearing some white “Made in Detroit” shorts.

It was a cluster of celebrities, all heading toward the same green, and one voice stood out.

“D-Boss!” Michael Banaszewski screamed at Larkin. “D-Boss!”

Larkin stopped and looked at Michael, a 14-year-old from Grosse Pointe, who has Down syndrome and is fighting cancer.

Larkin left the celebrities and walked toward the edge of the fairway. Larkin waved for Michael to duck under the rope and walk onto the course, and it turned into a moment that could have melted an entire sheet of ice.

They talked and posed for pictures. There were high-fives and hugs, and Jimmy Howard came over and he gave Michael a signed ball. Michael loves the Red Wings. He decorated his room at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital with Wings memorabilia, and his face lit up talking to Larkin.

If ever there was a moment that captured what sports means in Detroit, what these sports heroes mean to this city and the impact they can have, not to mention what it means to bring the PGA Tour to Detroit, it happened on that fairway. The moment Michael met Larkin.

Continued

A big hug from our biggest Red Wing fan! Thank you @RocketClassic for an amazing day and allowing myself and fans like Michael to make life long memories! https://t.co/soqaALcLiy— Dylan Larkin (@Dylanlarkin39) June 26, 2019

The Red Wings did not issue qualifying offers to Martin Frk, Dylan Sadowy, Axel Holmstrom or Libor Sulak on Tuesday, allowing the quartet to qualify for unrestricted free agency.

For players like Frk and Sadowy, success and consistency were hard to find at the NHL level, but Frk was a prolific AHL scorer, and Sadowy found a home with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye.

Fresh off a run to the ECHL’s championship round (Toledo lost to the Newfoundland Growlers), the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe and Walleye coach Dan Watson wished Sadowy well:

Sadowy, a 23-year-old from Woodbridge, Ont., played in parts of the last three seasons for the Walleye.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound forward averaged more than a point per game for Toledo this season with 46 points (23 goals and 23 assists) in 43 games. He then played in 24 playoff games and was part of the deepest postseason run in the team’s 10-year history. Sadowy had 17 points with seven goals and 10 assists as the Walleye reached the Kelly Cup finals for the first time.

Sadowy appeared in 88 regular-season games in Toledo and tallied 79 points (36 G, 43 A). He also played in 33 playoff games and had 21 points (10 G, 11 A).

Sadowy (pronounced SAD-oh-way) was selected in the third round of the 2014 NHL draft by San Jose. The Red Wings then traded for Sadowy in May, 2016, in exchange for a future third-round draft pick.

Walleye coach Dan Watson said Sadowy’s goal should be to earn a contract with an American Hockey League team.

“Hopefully he’s ready to make the next step. I hope another organization sees it and he runs with it,” Watson said. “The offense will be there. It’s just other details in his game. He has gotten much better. With his production at this level, I would love to see him become a full-time AHL player.”

Monroe continues, and while it’s disappointing that Sadowy didn’t make the NHL during his time with the Red Wings, there is no shame in becoming a successful minor league player, and I always wish the prospects who don’t make the Red Wings well in their future endeavors. They’re still people worth rooting for.

On Tuesday night, Dylan Larkin and Jimmy Howard took part in the Pro-Am which kicked off the Rocket Mortgage golf Classic at the Detroit Country Club.

Here’s what Howard had to say about the Wings’ drafting and front office changes while speaking with MLive’s Jared Purcell:

Larkin was at the Detroit Country Club on Tuesday afternoon for the AREA 313 Celebrity Challenge with teammates Jimmy Howard and Justin Abdelkader. Howard was at his lake house in Maine during the draft and said he hasn’t evaluated any of the picks the Red Wings have made yet. Still, he has confidence in the organization’s abilities despite the shock that the Seider pick created.

“Those guys, they do their homework so well,” Howard said. “They know every player in and out. Maybe for them, the family and the kid, it was of a surprise. But going into it, they obviously had him penciled pretty high and I welcome him to the organization. It’s going to be great to see.”

Howard is also excited that Steve Yzerman has returned to the organization.

“I was able to play a couple of games with Stevie my rookie year,” Howard said. “Now, to have him back here and being the boss, it’s neat and it’s great for the city. I think it’s great for our organization as a whole.”

Purcell continues, and he posted clips of various celebrity Pro-Am participants taking swings. FORE your consideration:

Continue reading Larkin, Howard literally ‘tee off,’ talk hockey at the Rocket Mortgage Classic Pro-Am

The Detroit News posted a staff/wire report in which former Red Wings Vaclav Nedomansky and Jim Rutherford reflected upon their naming to the Hockey Hall of Fame’s 2019 induction class:

Nedomansky helped Czechoslovakia earn the 1968 Olympic silver medal and the 1972 world championship. 

He was the first player to defect from the other side of the Iron Curtain, started in the World Hockey Association and went on to record 278 points in 421 NHL games with the Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Rangers.

“When I made the decision in ‘74 to finish my dream, I jumped right into it and I’m so happy I did that,” Nedomansky said.

Rutherford, a longtime general manager of Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins, built teams that won the Cup in 2006, 2016 and 2017 and will be inducted in the builders’ category.

He is one of two GMs in NHL history to win the Cup with two different teams. Rutherford, who played 10 years in Detroit with a 97-165-43 record and a 3.69 GAA in 314 games, recalled going to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Toronto as a kid and how surreal it is to become a part of it.

“It was day where I thought, ‘Man, this is really special,’” Rutherford said. “Now here I am.”

Continued

After all the radio silence over the past couple of months, I still feel guilty when I’m out of touch for a while. It took over an hour to get home from Little Caesars Arena as South Lyon is a bit of a haul, and if you are interested, there’s more Wings news available this evening:

1. Among the Red Wings YouTube channel’s offerings is this clip of director of player development Shawn Horcoff addressing first-day topics:

2. Also in the multimedia department, the Detroit News’s hard-working sports photographer, David Guralnick, posted a 78(!)-image gallery from the first day of development camp [edit: and Michigan Hockey’s Michael Caples posted a photo gallery, too /end edit];

3. The Detroit New’s Ted Kulfan took note of comments made by both Joe Veleno and Horcoff regarding the challenges Veleno faces as he “turns pro”:

Continue reading Evening news: ‘Horc’s’ comments; on Joe Veleno turning pro, Moritz Seider’s first day and Jonatan Berggren’s back

The Hockey News’s Ken Campbell reports that Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman, bade farewell to long-time scout Glenn Merkosky in a puzzling manner.

In one of his first acts as Detroit Red Wings GM, Steve Yzerman fired longtime pro scout Glenn Merkosky, who was with the Wings for two Stanley Cups, and replaced him with Chris Yzerman, Steve’s brother who had been scouting for him with the Lightning. Discuss amongst yourselves.— Ken Campbell (@THNKenCampbell) June 25, 2019

I don’t think that the move was completely self-serving, but it is certainly curious.

Expect the Red Wings to make more front office moves (the team has already added Pat Verbeek as an assistant GM) as executives and scouts’ contracts expire on July 1st. Yzerman is not going to make wholesale changes for the sake of change, but there will be front office moves.

FYI: For what it’s worth, Chris Yzerman has always stayed in the Ottawa area, so he’s probably going to serve as the Ottawa/Quebec area scout…

And I have some skin in the game as Merkosky follows me on Twitter, and is a very nice man. I have to believe that given all that he’s done for the team over his years as an amateur scout, he was not let loose out of spite.

The Oakland Press’s Pat Caputo feels that center Joe Veleno may be something of a “forgotten man” among the Red Wings’ prospect corps. Caputo suggests that Veleno is in fact integral to the Red Wings imminent future:

Defense is an obvious need for the Red Wings, but so is center. Dylan Larkin is a No.1 center. That’s obvious. But who is the No.2 in the future?

And most legitimate Stanley Cup contenders essentially feature a 1 and 1-A at center. Strength down the middle is every bit as vital as defense.

The classic examples: The Red Wings most recent Stanley Cup title teams with Yzerman and Sergei Federov, followed by Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.

The Red Wings opened their annual developmental camp Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena. Going through a litany of drills with other prospects, it’s clear Veleno is far more advanced most of the others.

He was supposed to be selected the middle of the first round in 2018, but dropped to 30th where the Red Wings grabbed him with a selection they acquired by trading Tomas Tatar to Las Vegas.

The choice did not have the hype of flashy winger Filip Zadina dropping to the Red Wings at sixth overall in the same draft. Veleno hasn’t seen extensive time in the NHL like recent other recent Red Wings’ first-rounders Zadina, Michael Rasmussen and Dennis Cholowski.

But he is just as important to the Red Wings’ future given the lack of potential high-end centers in their prospect pipe line.

Caputo continues…