The Malik Report

From the NHLPA: Red Wings defenseman Jake Walman has chosen to file for salary arbitration:

24 PLAYERS ELECT SALARY ARBITRATION

TORONTO (July 17, 2022) – The National Hockey League Players’ Association announced that 24 players have elected Salary Arbitration:

Mason Appleton (Winnipeg Jets)

Ethan Bear (Carolina Hurricanes)

Jesper Bratt (New Jersey Devils)

Lawson Crouse (Arizona Coyotes)

Morgan Geekie (Seattle Kraken)

Mathieu Joseph (Ottawa Senators)

Kaapo Kahkonen (San Jose Sharks)

Kasperi Kapanen (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Keegan Kolesar (Vegas Golden Knights)

Oliver Kylington (Calgary Flames)

Maxime Lajoie (Carolina Hurricanes)

Steven Lorentz (San Jose Sharks)

Isac Lundestrom (Anaheim Ducks)

Zack MacEwen (Philadelphia Flyers)

Niko Mikkola (St. Louis Blues)*

Andrew Mangiapane (Calgary Flames)

Matthew Phillips (Calgary Flames)

Jesse Puljujarvi (Edmonton Oilers)

Tyce Thompson (New Jersey Devils)

Yakov Trenin (Nashville Predators)

Vitek Vanecek (New Jersey Devils)

Jake Walman (Detroit Red Wings)

Kailer Yamamoto (Edmonton Oilers)

Pavel Zacha (Boston Bruins)

USA Today’s Mary Clarke posted a light-hearted article which attempts to rank the 30 “mascots” which are associated with NHL teams, and while nobody wears a big, purple suit to walk around Little Caesars Arena, I’d certainly like to see more of this guy, soon:

10. Al the Octopus: Detroit Red Wings

Though not a mascot by the standard definition anymore, Al the Octopus rocks. Al is yet another NHL mascot tied into its team’s traditions but the Red Wings pull it off wonderfully with a giant octopus that descends from the rafters. Here’s hoping we get to see Al the Octopus at a Red Wings game again in the near future.

Continued (with Gritty as #1); I wish that the Red Wings would employ Al the Octopus on a much more regular basis, not saving him for playoff time almost exclusively.

Kids love that big, purple thing, adults love that big, purple thing, and while I don’t want to see a mascot walking around the rink, “Al” would make a great secondary logo on an alternate jersey, for example.

The Hockey News’s Jason Chen admittedly issues “hot takes” on the biggest signings from the first four days of unrestricted free agency this summer, and the three scoring forwards the Red Wings added make his list:

Andrew Copp, Detroit Red Wings, 5 years, $28.125 million
David Perron, Detroit Red Wings, 2 years, $9.5 million
Dominik Kubalik, Detroit Red Wings, 2 years, $5 million

Copp will slot in as [Detroit’s] No. 2 center behind Dylan Larkin, and along with Perron and Kubalik, the Wings basically bought themselves another scoring line. Their additions capped off a big day for Steve Yzerman’s club, and along with a bolstered defense and goaltending should fare much better this coming season. Copp and Perron are already proven contributors, but note that Perron has historically had his best seasons with the Blues. Kubalik has a bit more to prove, having fallen off a bit after a 30-goal rookie season, but he’s leaving behind a train wreck in Chicago. Value: Copp and Perron, even; Kubalik, up.

Continued; at this point, I think it’s more likely that Copp plays alongside Jakub Vrana and Perron, but that’s just a guess in mid-July.

The Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons offers Moritz Seider quite the compliment during Simmons’ Sunday notebook:

An NHL man who has watched Victor Hedman’s entire career insists the Red Wings rookie of the year, Moritz Seider, is ahead of where Hedman happened to be at a similar age.

There is a remarkable number of game-changing NHL defenceman under the age of 25: Seider, Norris Trophy winners Cale Makar and Adam Fox, Miro Heiskanen, Quinn Hughes and still waiting for Rasmus Dahlin and Bo Byram to totally hit their marks.

Continued; Seider’s got some serious competition in terms of the plethora of capable offensively-minded young defensemen in the NHL right now. Here’s hoping that he and Makar become rivals in short order.

In his daily notebook, Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen notes that two of the Red Wings’ former first-round draft picks are still unrestricted free agents four days into free agency:

Two Detroit Red Wings’ first-round picks, Evgeny Svechnikov (drafted 19th in 2015) and Dennis Cholowski (drafted 20th in 2016), are among those still looking for jobs in the NHL free agent marketplace.

Some fans thought Svechnikov never had a fair opportunity in Detroit because of multiple injuries. There was a thought that he might find a home with the Winnipeg Jets. It didn’t happen. He received his opportunity, played 72 points, and registered seven goals and 19 points. He even spent some time on the team’s top line. The Winnipeg Jets didn’t make a qualifying offer, making him a free agent.

Meanwhile, Cholowski, claimed by Seattle in the expansion draft, was waived, claimed by Washington, waived by the Capitals and claimed again by Seattle. He played a total of 11 games with Washington and Seattle. He didn’t receive a qualifying offer, putting him in the free agent market.

Svechnikov is 25 and Cholowski is 24. Maybe an NHL team will give them a look. But isn’t it time to close the book on their long-term potential?

Continued; Svechnikov is a good depth forward in a grinding role, and Cholowski has developed into a third-pair defenseman. That’s where they’re at developmentally speaking.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James wonders aloud whether the Red Wings might make the playoffs this upcoming season. St. James believes that the Red Wings playing .500 hockey is a more realistic goal:

As improved as the Wings look, they’ll be hard-pressed to deliver on playoffs at LCA next spring. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers aren’t likely to miss the postseason; that’s two spots in the Atlantic Division. The Toronto Maple Leafs have a new goaltending duo in Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov, and while that looks like a gamble, the Leafs have so much scoring power they project to make the playoffs, too.

The Boston Bruins, the fourth Atlantic team to make the playoffs in 2022, look like they’re on a downward trend, but the Ottawa Senators look to be on an upward trend after trading for Alex DeBrincat and signing Claude Giroux, who join a top six that also features Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson, Tim Stützle and Josh Norris. The Montreal Canadiens drafted Juraj Slafkovsky at No. 1, and acquired Kirby Dach.

In the Metropolitan Division, the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins all project to return to the playoffs, though one of them could be pushed into a wild card spot now that the Columbus Blue Jackets added Johnny Gaudreau. The New York Islanders had a catastrophic start last season, but in the second half they played like the team that was projected to make the playoffs.

What it adds up to is this: As challenging as it will be to finish in the top three in the division or as a wild card, this is the best the roster (on paper) since Yzerman took control. The Wings possess speed, skill and size, youth and experience, and at the very least look poised to compete.

Continued

I’m going to weave a pair of disparate articles together by positing a particularly humbly-held opinion:

Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman isn’t as mysterious a person as we might think. He chooses to share his thoughts with the media on his terms, which is to say infrequently. When Yzerman does speak, he lays out the Yzerplan quite bluntly and directly, usually only after the fact. In retrospect, the courses of action which surprise fans and confuse pundits become linear and deliberate. If not, to quote one of the authors of the articles I quote in this rambling missive, “obvious.”

A good example is the Red Wings’ decision to draft Marco Kasper as the 8th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal. In retrospect, the Red Wings only really had a couple of choices from which to pluck their future second line center.

Continue reading A late-night ramble: Two examples of an Yzerplan that’s more straightforward than we think it may be

While I’ve been gone, Detroit Hockey Now has been conducting something of an audit of the Red Wings’ developmental system, and today, Kevin Allen discusses the team’s “forgotten prospect,” 22-year-old defenseman Jared McIsaac.

The restricted free agent defenseman has recovered from shoulder surgeries on both shoulders, and the 6’1,” 192-pound defender projects as a solid #4 defenseman with a bit of a physical flair:

After playing just 39 games over two seasons, McIsaac played 70 games this season. Call it a “catch-up” season.”

“Being healthy is a huge step,”  McIsaac said earlier this season. “Continuing with the consistency in my game. It’s not going to be smooth sailing the whole way. That’s something I’ve realized over the past couple years…especially with everything that’s happened. I think just trying to stay focused, not getting too high or too low. Just being consistent in all aspects of my game.”

He projects to be a dependable two-way defenseman, the kind of player coaches always appreciate. McIsaac takes pride in being a full service D man.

“It’s just a part of my game,” McIsaac ” If it’s not the power play, it’s penalty kills. If it’s not penalty kills, then it’s power plays. So, it’s pretty nice to be able to play both ends of the rink and they put a big emphasis on my defensive game. They let me build that game up before a little bit of the special teams. I think my defensive game has come a long way this year. There’s still a little bit of ways to go before that’s all tidied up and whatnot. But I think it’s come a long way as far as that goes. Learning the pro game, too–what works and what doesn’t.”

Continued; McIsaac has gotten lost in the shuffle of what is a very deep group of Detroit defensive prospects, but he and Donovan Sebrango could very well form the Wings’ third pair on defense in a couple of seasons.

Daily Faceoff’s correspondents were asked which team is “winning the offseason” some four days into free agency (i.e. very early in the “offseason”), and while none of their correspondents suggested that the Red Wings’ moves made them the biggest winner of this four-day-old process, former goaltender Mike McKenna suggests that the Wings meaningfully addressed their needs:

In terms of which team instantly got better, I think the Detroit Red Wings are the best example. Trading for Ville Husso to compete with Alex Nedeljkovic was a shrewd move by GM Steve Yzerman – even though I’m wary of the $4.75 million cap hit Husso will carry over the next three seasons. Then Yzerman went out and landed Andrew Copp, David Perron, Dominik Kubalik, Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta and Mark Pysyk via free agency. What a haul.

Continued; I’m still not thrilled with the Chiarot deal, but overall, I think that Steve Yzerman did a very good job of addressing the team’s need for strong supporting players while not abandoning the draft-and-develop philosophy.

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe caught up with Red Wings coach and former Toledo Walleye coach Derek Lalonde, engaging in a wide-ranging conversation:

Question: How thrilled are you to be the head coach of an Original Six franchise with a storied tradition?

Answer: “It’s a huge honor. It’s also a huge challenge in that, too. I feel a lot of responsibility with it. I’m really excited about it. It was never about getting to the next job. That is kind of the way I’ve approached by entire career and it has suited me well. The fact that I’m coaching in the NHL is exciting. The fact that it is Detroit, it’s very surreal. I’m getting to work and starting to organize things with some structure. I’m putting some things in place. It’s definitely has sunk in.”

Q: When did becoming an NHL coach become a realistic possibility in your mind?

A: “Honestly it wasn’t until the success we were having during our second Cup run [in Tampa Bay]. That was where it became a possibility to me. I had checked off a lot of boxes that general managers were looking for — experience at all levels, head coaching experience at different levels, and also experience at the NHL level. And the success and the remarkable consistency we had probably made it an easier decision for Steve, and he ultimately offered me the job.”

Continued