The Malik Report

I just posted my impressions from the Red Wings’ 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at the 2022 Prospect Tournament, and The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted a set of his own takes on Riley Piercey’s four-goal game, Simon Edvinsson’s North American debut, Sebastian Cossa’s game and the performances of Cross Hanas and Kirill Tyutyayev.

I’ll concur with his take on Edvinsson, who I critiqued based upon expectations as well:

Edvinsson might be the best all-around prospect at this tournament, so expectations are high. And on the whole, it was a pretty good first showing.

You might have ideally liked to see the defenseman take charge a bit more with the puck, especially early, but Edvinsson looked characteristically smooth, poised and effective on the back end for Detroit. He finished as a plus-2, killed penalties and, perhaps most importantly, looked quite good running the Red Wings’ top power-play unit. That’s not a role Edvinsson had much last season in the SHL or with Sweden at world juniors, but he made good decisions while doing so Friday.

Because Edvinsson has a legit shot at the Red Wings’ opening-night roster, he will probably be graded on a harsher curve at this event — whether that’s fair or not. And from that standpoint, he didn’t necessarily kick the door down in Game 1. But keep it in perspective: He played well in a decisive victory, and he continues to look like one heck of a prospect for the Red Wings.

“He’s very confident with the puck, he’s confident in who he is and how he wants to play,” said Griffins coach Ben Simon, who is running the Detroit bench at the tournament. “I thought he made some really nice stretch passes today, but again he moves pretty well — he moves very well for a bigger guy. He kind of floats on the ice.”

Continued (paywall)

The Red Wings’ prospects won a 5-2 decision over the Columbus Blue Jackets’ prospects on Friday afternoon/evening, and DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills wrote a superb recap with quips and quotes from Riley Piercey, Elmer Soderblom and coach Ben Simon:

Forward Riley Piercey, who made the Detroit Red Wings’ 2022 NHL Prospect Tournament roster as a free-agent invitee, made quite the first impression.

Piercey scored four goals for the Red Wings, who opened their three-game NHL Prospect Tournament schedule with a 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday afternoon in front of a packed Centre Ice Arena crowd.

“It was just one of those nights,” Piercey said. “The puck bounces were there, and I capitalized on my opportunities when I had them.”

Piercey, who earned 27 goals and 31 assists in 59 games last season for the OHL’s Flint Firebirds, said he wants to “make a good name” for himself in Traverse City.

“It’s the start that everyone hopes for and dreams for,” Piercey said. “To get that start was good, but we got the big win.”‘

Continued

The Red Wings’ prospects won a 5-2 decision over the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Red Wings’ 2022 Prospect Tournament on Friday afternoon/evening. Riley Piercey, a try-out from Flint of the OHL, scored four goals; Drew Worrad had a goal and two assists; Pasquale Zito, Cross Hanas and Jeremie Biakabutuka all had 2 assists; and Sebastian Cossa (17 stops on 18 shots) and Andrew Oke (7 stops on 8 shots) split the win.

The Red Wings will try to flush this one as best they can and prepare for Saturday night’s tilt against the Dallas Stars (6 PM EDT at Centre ICE Arena, on the Red Wings’ social media channels), and I fully believe that Detroit has another gear to shift into come Saturday night.

Detroit’s effort against Columbus, while very solid in on the scoreboard, was somewhat inconsistent at times; players who had exactly one practice and no Friday morning skate under their belts looked about as familiar with each other as you might expect, and there were hiccups and a lot of over-playing the puck as a result.

I felt that, at times, the Wings got a little lucky here and there, especially when the Blue Jackets’ line of Kirill Marchenko, Kent Johnson and Mikael Pyythia all but ran ramp-shod in the Wings’ zone, but Detroit held fast and got better as the game went along…

And Riley Piercey had the game of his life, in front of a packed “owners’ box” of Wings executives and a mezzanine overflowing with scouts from 32 NHL teams and organizations across North America and Europe. He’s going to have to back it up on Saturday vs. Dallas and on Monday, when the Wings close out the tournament vs. Toronto at 11 AM.

If you missed it, the Wings have archived their live stream of the game…

Continue reading Impressions from the Red Wings’ 5-2 win vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets at the 2022 prospect tournament

Sportsnet’s Justin Bourne posted a list of “pressing questions” for the Eastern Conference’s teams, and he offers the following regarding the Red Wings:

Did the Red Wings add enough to exit the group of tanking teams?

They sure added a lot of bodies, including *deep breath* David Perron and Andrew Copp and Ville Husso and Ben Chiarot and Olli Maatta and Mark Pysyk and Dominik Kubalik. And they were already excited about Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider. So, I think it’s safe to say their goal isn’t a high draft pick this next summer. Will this be the team to catch one of the groups above?

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Very cool: the Red Wings posted a set of “sights and sounds” from the Red Wings prospects’ 5-2 win over Columbus on Friday afternoon/evening:

After the Red Wings’ prospects won 5-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday afternoon/evening, Riley Piercey, Elmer Soderblom and coach Ben Simon spoke with the media. Here are the videos thereof, per the Red Wings:

DetroitRedWings.com’s Carley Johnston spoke with one-goal-scorer Riley Piercey during the first intermission of the Red Wings’ 5-2 win over Columbus here at the prospect tournament, and he would go on to score three more times:

First ⭐️ of the game IMO, Riley Piercey. This was in the first intermission, after he scored his first goal. He then went on to score 3 more goals… lol gotta love it #DRWPT #LGRW @DetroitRedWings pic.twitter.com/Z63WcbDxjc— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) September 16, 2022

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin spoke with Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek’s 32 Thoughts podcast, as noted by Sportnset’s Luke Fox, from the NHL player media tour in Vegas:

Dylan Larkin and the Detroit Red Wings have opened contract talks, the captain confirmed Friday during a recording of the 32 Thoughts podcast.

“We’re having conversations. A lot of negotiating, going back and forth. Ultimately, in my heart, it’s where I want to be,” Larkin told Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek just outside of Las Vegas. I don’t really see myself playing for another team. It’s moving along. I can’t really tell you when or how [the deal gets resolved], but that’s where I want to be.”

Larkin, a Michigan native, was drafted by Detroit in the first round of 2014 and erupted for 23 goals in his rookie campaign. He was named captain of the storied franchise in January 2021 and has served as the face of the franchise through its lengthy rebuild.

The 26-year-old is entering the final season of his current deal, a team-friendly contract that carries a $6.1 million AAV.

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects won a 5-2 game against the Columbus Blue Jackets this Friday afternoon/evening at Centre ICE Arena. Riley Piercey had FOUR GOALS and Drew Worrad had the other one, with Sebastian Cossa (17 of 18 stops) and Andrew Oke (7 of 8) splitting the win.

Pasquale Zito had 2 assists, Drew Worrad had that goal and 2 assists, Cross Hanas had 2 assists…It was a good night.

The Red Wings will be back in action Saturday at 6 PM EDT vs. the Dallas Stars’ prospects.

Update: The live stream has been archived:

Of prospect-related note:

In the Finnish Liiga, Antti Tuomisto had a goal and an assist, finishing at +1 with 1 shot in 18:09 played as TPS Turku blew Assat Pori out of the water, winning 7-2. Thee will be highlights at this link;

And in the KHL, Dmitri Buchelnikov finished even with no shots, playing 6:32 in SKA St. Petersburg’s 3-2 win over Dynamo Moscow.