The Malik Report

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan penned an article profiling Gustav Lindstrom, a strong-skating offensive defenseman who’s going to try to break into the SHL this season with the Frolunda Indians:

“Frolunda is a fantastic program, and it lost a lot of its defensemen,” said Shawn Horcoff, the Wings’ director of player development. “He’ll get a good chance, a lot of opportunities that we will monitor closely, and spend a lot of time on.”

Lindstrom was a somewhat of a surprise selection by the Wings, as many scouts considered he’d be picked a round or two lower.

But the Wings saw a 6-foot-2, 190-pound right-shot defenseman who, if not thoroughly outstanding in one area, was more than adequate while checking off a lot of other boxes.

With Almtuna IS in the Swedish junior league, Lindstrom had 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 39 games last season, with a plus-2 rating.

“He’s a guy that really came on the second half last season,” Horcoff said. “He’s physical, he skates well and has a good first pass.”

Kulfan continues…

On Sunday’s SportsWorks on Fox 2, WJR’s Sean Baligian spoke with Woody Woodriffe regarding the Red Wings‘ free agent signings as they apply to the youth movement, as well as the team’s goaltending situation. Baligian speaks from the 7-minute mark to the 9:18 mark of the following clip:

 

Earlier this morning, MLive’s Ansar Khan addressed Andreas Athanasiou’s trade value as part of a Monday mailbag feature. This afternoon, the Free Press’s Helene St. James addresses the same topic:

It would not be surprising to see the Wings trade Athanasiou. If they get a good offer – at least a second-round pick or a good prospect, preferably a defenseman – he could be flipped to help the rebuild.

As talented as Athanasiou is, he shouldn’t be as quiet as he is at times – last season he went for stretches of 10 and 15 games without a goal. That came even as he averaged 15:19 minutes per game, up from 13:28 in 2016-17. His average power play time increased to 1:44 from 1:13, yet he contributed only four points during man advantages.

Once restricted free agents Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha are re-signed, the Wings will have 12 forwards towards the 2018-19 roster: Athanasiou, Henrik Zetterberg, Frans Nielsen, Gustav Nyquist, Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm, Thomas Vanek, Luke Glendening, Tyler Bertuzzi and Martin Frk. Michael Rasmussen, the team’s first-round pick from 2017, is expected to grab a job, and June’s draft added the possibility there’ll be another fresh face in Filip Zadina. Other forward prospects expected to challenge for minutes include 2015 first-round pick Evgeny Svechnikov, and David Pope, a shooter dating to the 2013 draft.

That makes for a crowded field, though injuries crop up during training camp/exhibition season. Svechnikov and Pope may end up starting the season in Grand Rapids, but if they perform well, they should be called up.

Continued

From the Detroit Red Wings:

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a mailbag feature this morning, and Khan discusses Andreas Athanasiou’s status as the Red Wings’ best “trading chip”:

Continued

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examines Andreas Athanasiou’s 2017-18 “numbers” this morning:

33 — The 33 points Athanasiou had in 71 games this past season represented a new career best, topping the 29 points he had during the 2016-17 season.

16 — Athanasiou had 16 goals, which tied him with Dylan Larkin and Frans Nielsen for third most on the team. Anthony Mantha was first with 24 and Gustav Nyquist was second with 21. He had 18 goals last season.

17 — Athanasiou registered 17 assists this season, a new career best, surpassing the 11 assists he had in 64 games last year.

Continued

 

WOOD TV’s Larry Figurski spoke with Red Wings prospects Filip Zadina and Givani Smith during the Wings’ summer development camp, and his interview appeared on Sunday night’s Sports OT:

 

The Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa penned a column that ostensibly focuses on the long odds that Filip Zadina faces in making an overcrowded Red Wings roster, but the column becomes something of a lament regarding the state of the Wings in general:

Judged by actions, Ken Holland, Jeff Blashill and their staffs continue to make plain they believe too many prospects cannot play at the NHL level to consider a wholesale shift to the apprentices.

So, last week, the Red Wings gave Mike Green another two seasons and brought back Thomas Vanek.

They provided no-trade clauses that Holland said were required to extend Green, who turns 33 the first week of the season, and return Vanek, who is 34, now.

And, they replaced their one-time goalie of the future, Petr Mrazek, with a journeyman, Jonathan Bernier.

At an average of about 30.8 years, several years into a self-described rebuild-on-the-fly, and two years after Holland said he really began to emphasize the transition, the Red Wings will be one of the top two or three oldest teams among the 31 NHL franchises.

And that is only one reason Filip Zadina intrigues.

Krupa continues, and at this point, I don’t know a Wings fan who isn’t frustrated by the fact that the Wings’ free agent signings make Michael Rasmussen, Zadina, Dominic Turgeon, Evgeny Svechnikov, Dennis Cholowski, Filip Hronek, Joe Hicketts and all the Wings prospects’ road to the NHL so much tougher.

The Free Press’s Shawn Windsor offers a column in which he discusses the Red Wings’ free agent signings in the context of “speeding up or slowing down the rebuild,” and I believe that Windsor speaks for more than a few of us here:

Then the free agency period rolled around and all that hope fell like a mercury-filled balloon. You could hear the groaning from Ann Arbor to New Baltimore, from Clarkston down to the Michigan-Ohio state line.

Really? The fanbase bemoaned. More veterans? More inexplicable use of cap space? More of the Wings getting in their own way?

It may not be much in the scheme of things, in both dollars and length of contract, but when the Wings announced the signings of Thomas Vanek and Mike Green — goalie Jonathan Bernier made more sense — it was hard to find a corner of the Wings’ faithful that wasn’t confused.

Or suffering from a kind of Red Wings PTSD.

That’s post-traumatic stress disorder, if you prefer your acronyms spelled out. Which is a fancy way of saying:

Why?

Or, better yet, what the hell?

Windsor continues, and I can only say that the Red Wings’ GM has signed so many veterans over the past 10 years that he’s browbeaten me into shrugging and sighing when he inevitably places roadblocks in the way of the Wings’ next generation.

Thankfully, the Wings’ young players are persistent, and they eventually break through, but it’s sure damn frustrating to watch the team place obstacles in their way every July 1st.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James updated her story about the Red Wings’ signing of Filip Zadina with some quotes from Wings GM Ken Holland regarding the star prospect’s readiness for the NHL:

“We do have plans that one or two or three young players will make our team,” general manager Ken Holland told the Free Press Saturday. “Zadina is going to be given an opportunity to make our team. But in terms of player development, he has to be ready.”

Zadina has the skill set the Wings need: He’s a force with the puck, able to score in tight areas and make plays. He’s the type of player who wins games. He’s a marketable gem, too, possessing swagger and charm.

If Zadina does not make the Wings’ opening night roster, they believe he can be sent to the AHL because they are under the impression he was loaned by his Czech team to his junior team, which puts him under European-player rules. Zadina also told the Free Press he was on loan. The Wings have been told Halifax Mooseheads general manager Cam Russell wants Zadina back if he does not make the Detroit roster, but the Wings do not consider it an obligation.

“We’ve sent all the information to the NHL and the league believes what we believe,” Holland said. “The understanding is that if Zadina does not make Detroit, Grand Rapids is an option.”