The Malik Report

Enjoy:

Ahead of Thursday’s arbitration hearing….

Arbitration filings for Jake Walman (DET): Team is at $775K/$225 (two-way)…player ask is a one-way at $1.7M— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 9, 2022

Thanks to the Detroit News’s Nolan Bianchi for the Tweet.

The Detroit Red Wings’ 9 prospects participating in the World Championship will begin play in Edmonton today, and here’s the TV schedule for today’s games:

Czechia (Jan Bednar) vs. Slovakia, 2 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network;

Finland (Eemil Viro) vs. Latvia, 6 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network;

USA (Carter Mazur, Red Savage) vs. Germany, 10 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network.

#WorldJuniors GAME DAY:

Czechia 🇨🇿 🆚 Slovakia 🇸🇰: 2pm et on TSN 1/4

Latvia 🇱🇻 🆚 Finland 🇫🇮: 6pm et on TSN1

USA 🇺🇸 🆚 Germany 🇩🇪: 10pm et on TSN 1/4

Also LIVE on https://t.co/BQGeAnElqf and the TSN App: https://t.co/3PTSwVFR94#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/ijQ2XLtL0L— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) August 9, 2022

The #WorldJuniors are BACK on NHL Network! Today’s triple header gets underway at 2pm ET with Slovakia vs. Czechia.

6pm ET – Finland vs. Latvia
10pm ET – Germany vs. @usahockey pic.twitter.com/fCyPM7T6Bj— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) August 9, 2022

Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala filed an article discussing several players to watch at the World Junior Championship, and his only Red Wings player included is Acadie-Bathurst Titan goaltender Jan Bednar:

Jan Bednar

Goalie | Catches left | Six-foot-four | 201 pounds | Detroit Red Wings (fourth round, 107th overall in 2020)

Team Czechia has a history of using more than one goalie at this event so it’s not a given that Bednar gets the net and keeps it. Having said that, the team will need big saves throughout the tournament and Bednar appears to have the most capable pedigree to give them a chance. This tournament could provide Bednar an opportunity to impress the Red Wings brass. He’s unsigned to date so he will want to prove he’s ready for a contract.

Continued; Bednar makes the big saves, but it’s his concentration and consistency that need work.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff asked HockeyProspecting.com‘s Byron Bader about the Red Wings’ prospect pool and 2022 draft picks, and Duff received mixed answers regarding the former and the latter:

“Their big strength is just the depth of the system,” said NHL Draft consultant Bader, founder of HockeyProspecting.com. “They have a ton of players in the system that have sort of NHLer potential, you could call it. And some star potential as well.”

Bader isn’t as certain about the depth of prospects who were Detroit’s selections in the 2022 NHL entry draft.

“In terms of their picks, their first three picks were okay, pretty decent value,” Bader assesses. “Then after that, it seemed like they got just a lot of low probability guys.

“Even a guy like (Marco) Kasper, who they took eighth overall. There were a lot of players at that point that show a lot better in my analytical models. When they take Kasper, there was so many players still there. There was (Matthew) Savoie, (Denton) Mateychuk, (Danila) Yurov, all these guys with super high NHLer probability and also star potential that were sitting there.”

Continued

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

NHL PROSPECT TOURNAMENT AND RED WINGS TRAINING CAMP RETURN TO TRAVERSE CITY IN SEPTEMBER

  … Annual Training Camp Events Return to Centre ICE Arena from Sept. 15-26 …

DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman today announced that the Red Wings will return to Centre ICE Arena in Traverse City, Mich., to host the NHL Prospect Tournament and Training Camp, as well as the 2022 Training Camp Golf Classic at the Traverse City Country Club.

Continue reading Red Wings announce dates for prospect tournament, training camp

Two more Red Wings-related World Junior Championship notes this morning:

1. Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a summary of the Red Wings’ prospects participating in the WJC this morning, and he notes this regarding one Simon Edvinsson:

Six-foot-six defenseman  Edvinsson should play for the Red Wings this season. Wallinder is another blue chip defensive prospect and Niederbach is one of the top forwards in the Detroit pipeline.

“When I was a little kid I always wanted to play in the World Junior Championship,” Edvinsson said. “I just played two games. That hunger goes a little bit more. It’s in the summer, I think that’s a good run-up to training camp to be prepared for the training camp. I always wanted to play in the World Juniors, always wanted to win one, too.”

Canada is the favorite, but the Swedes have an exceptional team. They launch their tournament Wednesday against Switzerland (2 p.m., NHL Network)

“After the World Juniors I think I’m going to go home and say goodbye to my family and everyone there and go straight up here (to Detroit) to fight for a spot,” Edvinsson said.

2. And MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an article about Eemil Viro, who will man Finland’s blueline before coming to Detroit to compete for a roster spot, though he’s likely to start the season in Grand Rapids:

“(The Red Wings) said to get ready in battles, to get ready to come and play here,” Viro said. “The rink is smaller and there’s going to be more competition in the corners. I needed to be better at that. Of course, the game is going to be a lot faster, hit harder in the battles. I’m really looking forward to that.”

Before [training camp], Viro, 20, will represent Finland at the World Junior Championship, which starts today in Edmonton.

The Red Wings’ sixth selection in 2020 (70th overall in the third round) will participate in his first NHL training camp next month and possibly play in some preseason games before being assigned to the Griffins. He’ll join a blueline that includes fellow prospects Jared McIsaac, Donovan Sebrango, Albert Johansson, Seth Barton and possibly 2021 top pick Simon Edvinsson.

Playing in Finland’s top men’s league for 2½ seasons with TPS Turku, including two long playoff runs, helped him prepare.

“I think defensively I got a lot better,” Viro said. “I think the season was also good. The team was playing well and got better in the end and got to the finals, but we lost.”

I don’t know how to frame this one. The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe, a.k.a. Down Goes Brown, declares whether the NHL is “rigged” for or against each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams, and he offers this bluster about the Red Wings:

Detroit Red Wings: The NHL never forgave the dynasty-era Red Wings for drafting so well in the later rounds and has been making sure they get screwed in every draft lottery of the modern era. But smash a Red Wing’s face into the glass or into the boards and the league is pretty much fine with it.

Verdict: League rigged against you

Continued; the salary cap is certainly “rigged” against the Red Wings’ financial clout, and yes, I get pissed off about the Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Kronwall, etc. incidents…

But the league is not “rigged” against any team. The Department of Player Safety has been terrible of late to every team in the NHL.

Of Red Wings-related World Junior Championship note this morning:

1. The Sporting News’s Bryan Murphy posted a list of 10 prospects to watch at the World Junior Championship, which begins in Edmonton today, and #1 on his list is one Simon Edvinsson…

1. Simon Edvinsson, D, Sweden: If there’s one player outside of the North American teams that is a must-watch, it’s Edvinsson. The towering defenseman for Sweden was taken by the Red Wings with the No. 6 pick in the 2021 draft.

Edvinsson excels in all three zones of the ice. Not only can he play physically, but his long stride allows him to be a strong puck carrier. He ended his 2021-22 campaign with 19 points in 44 games for Frölunda HC of the SHL. The Swede should be in the running for best defenseman at the World Juniors.

2. And Edvinsson is named in Future Considerations’ Austin Broad’s “Prospects to Watch” as well:

Simon Edvinsson, D, Detroit Red Wings: Sweden always has a strong defense group and this roster is no different, and the headliner has to be Simon Edvinsson. He’s a smooth-skating, two-way defender who can drive play from the backend. Edvinsson has all the skills and physical traits to be top tier NHL defender and after he was a force in Sweden’s two games during the December tournament. Detroit Red Wings fans can expect him to take another big step this time around.

The hockey world has been on a low buzz regarding the concept that the New York Islanders somehow have to clear cap space to sign Nazem Kadri as an unrestricted free agent, and the Hockey News’s Lyle “Spector” Richardson notes that there’s been a particular trade pitched repeatedly, in several forms:

Rumors have linked the New York Islanders to Nazem Kadri for several weeks now. Given their need to free up salary-cap space if they’re to sign the 31-year-old center, it’s been suggested they move Mathew Barzal in a cost-cutting trade.

Boston Hockey Now’s Jimmy Murphy recently took to Twitter pitching a hypothetical deal that sends the 25-year-old Barzal to the Detroit Red Wings. He felt it would help the Isles win now by clearing space for Kadri while addressing their future with a return of promising youth from the Wings.

Barzal is slated to become a restricted free agent next summer with arbitration rights. He’ll also be a year away from unrestricted free agent eligibility. Murphy’s colleague Stefan Rosner reported there’s been no word of contract extension talks between the young center and Isles management.

Barzal indicated he’d love to sign a long-term deal during his end-of-season media session. Nevertheless, Rosner believes it’s important for the Isles to determine if he remains part of their long-term future. They don’t want to see him depart as a free agent like John Tavares did four years ago.

The Red Wings, meanwhile, have to deal with Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi as both forwards are slated to become UFAs next summer. If one or both appear headed to market, perhaps Wings management would be interested in trading for Barzal.

That’s a hard pass from me. It’s frickin’ August, and the Red Wings have until next July to sign Larkin, a Michigander who happens to be the captain, and Bertuzzi, who’s very explicitly said he wants to stay. Why would they move either one, even given how dynamic Barzal is as a player?