The Malik Report

The Score’s John Matisz weighs in regarding the first couple days’ worth of free agency moves, suggesting that the Red Wings’ free agency moves do not indicate a deviation from the “Yzerplan”:

For years now, smart NHL GMs have left room between the lower and upper limits of the salary cap to bail out cap-strapped teams in exchange for draft picks and prospects or to keep their own books tidy for future business.

In the early days of the 2022 offseason, the Carolina Hurricanes, Detroit Red Wings, and Ottawa Senators have all weaponized cap space in some way.

…

Steve Yzerman sure thinks that way. The Red Wings GM sat tight during the previous three offseasons, refusing to burden the organization with unnecessary contracts. Finally ready to insulate his young core with veteran NHLers, Yzerman has added goalie Ville Husso, forwards Andrew Copp, Dominik Kubalik, and David Perron, and defensemen Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta, and Mark Pysyk since the draft. His restraint in the past allowed him to pounce this year and beat out rival GMs handcuffed by cap issues.

Continued

The Hockey News’s Jason Chen examines the trades made at the 2022 NHL Draft and leading up to free agency, assessing their fantasy hockey impacts. He suggests that the Red Wings’ addition of one Ville Husso may not be great for poolies:

Ville Husso, Detroit Red Wings: Husso will push Alex Nedeljkovic for playing time with a chance to take the starting job, considering how many times Nedeljkovic – and Thomas Greiss, now in St. Louis in what was essentially a goalie swap – had to get pulled, sometimes in the same game. Husso took a backseat in the playoffs after Jordan Binnington regained his form, but it’s clear Husso has the chops to be a starter for small stretches. Look for an even split while the Wings continue to find their footing, but on a young roster with lots of new pieces, they won’t be nearly as consistent as the Blues, especially with their defensive structure. Value: Slightly down until the Wings prove to be a competitive team.

Continued; here’s hoping that the Wings become a “competitive team” in short order.

The Athletic asked its 32 beat writers to weigh in on their respective markets teams’ respective free agent signings, assigning a grade to each team’s performance. Max Bultman has this to say about the Red Wings’ signings:

Detroit Red Wings: A-

Steve Yzerman upgraded at every position over the past week, starting by trading for (and extending) Ville Husso at the draft, and then following it up by bringing in a haul of free agents this week. Andrew Copp is the long-needed answer at No. 2 center, David Perron and Dominik Kubalik should help the power play significantly, and Ben Chiarot and Olli Määttä will go a long way toward improving one of the league’s worst defenses. It was a real upgrade — and a long-awaited one, at that. The minus comes from the added risk in some of the term, mainly with 31-year-old Chiarot, but Detroit still has plenty of room to maneuver, now and in the near future. — Max Bultman

Continued (paywall)

Former Red Wings coach and current Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Jeff Blashill spoke with The Huge Show’s Bill Simonson on Friday, engaging in a frank discussion over the course of a 15-minute interview:

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe has teased a Q and A with Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde, who was once the Toledo Walleye’s coach:

Spoke with @DetroitRedWings
coach Derek Lalonde for a Q & A. On realizing a dream:
“I haven’t really thought of it like that because it never really was an ultimate goal. It’s never felt like work or a grind. I’ve always lived in the moment. Obviously it truly is the top now. ” pic.twitter.com/LXt99XtEok— Mark Monroe (@MonroeBlade) July 15, 2022

Sportsnet’s Justin Bourne offers “two sentences” regarding every “notable” free agent signing, and here’s what he has to say about the Red Wings’ signings:

David Perron, RW, Detroit
Contract: Two years, $4.75 million AAV

I love when rebuilding teams start trying to win hockey games, a thing that David Perron is particularly adept at helping teams do. Even if he’s gone before they truly turn the corner, he’s the type of all-in player you’d like to see your young talent learn from.

…

Dominik Kubalik, LW, Detroit
Contract: Two years, $2.5 million AAV

Another good pick-up for Detroit, who seems to have recognized that with the middle-class squeeze going on around the league you can improve through UFA for no asset cost but cap space. Kubalik gives them more depth, which they sorely lacked.

…

Ben Chiarot, D, Detroit
Contract: Four years, $4.75 million AAV

The analytics do not love Ben Chiarot, and going four years on a physical D-man getting into his 30s isn’t always prudent. But for the Wings, a team trying to get consistently competitive, I appreciate going a bit above market to get good players, so the ones you need to take a step can be in more games that matter.

….

Andrew Copp, RW, Detroit
Contract: Five years, $5.625 million AAV

Copp is a versatile forward who can contribute offensively and play up and down your lineup. As the Red Wings transition to “trying to win,” he’s a great fit for a guy to help them as their ability to hang with the better teams increases.

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings signed a player who may serve as a good example for some of their prospects who are struggling to develop, because one Andrew Copp, who just signed a 5-year contract at $5.625 million per season, is a late-bloomer.

At 28 years of age, the “naturally-talented athlete” was a tremendous football player in high school, a tremendous college hockey player at the University of Michigan…And then he was a checking forward for the vast majority of his 7 seasons with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, not really posting point-every-other-game stats until the 2020-2021 season.

When Copp spoke with the media on Wednesday afternoon, he told MLive’s Ansar Khan that he’s improved over the years…

Copp is coming off his best season with career highs in goals (21) and points (53). He stepped up following a trade-deadline deal from Winnipeg to the Rangers. His offensive game blossomed in New York, where he collected eight goals and 18 points in 16 regular season games and six goals and 14 points in 20 playoff games during the team’s run that ended in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals against Tampa Bay.

“I think I’ve gotten a lot better over the years,” Copp said. “Felt like (offense) was always kind of in there, just wasn’t something I was asked to do too much. Whether it was playing in a checking role or concentrating on the defensive side, the PK, I worked on my game a lot. With some production comes confidence and it just kind of snowballs.”

And that he believes his new team will continue to improve, too…

The Red Wings have missed the playoffs six consecutive seasons but are deeper and should improve in all areas following the free-agent acquisitions of Copp, wingers David Perron and Dominik Kubalik and defensemen Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta and Mark Pysyk, as well as last week’s trade for goaltender Ville Husso.

“I like the opportunity to continue to grow, have a leadership role and have a good opportunity paired with the influx of talent and the trajectory this organization is on,” Copp said. “It might take all five years; it might be past that, but I think this organization is headed for really good things and the sky’s the limit. I’m looking forward to spending all five years and hopefully more with the organization and trying to get to that ultimate goal.”

And the Wings’ GM said this about Copp’s game:

“He’s 28, he’s a very good athlete, he’s very versatile, he’s playing center, he’s playing wing, he can play on the power play, he plays on the penalty kill, he’s a good face-off man,” Yzerman said. “At 28, I’m comfortable offering a player a five-year contract because he’s a good athlete. We know he takes care of himself, he’s very professional.”

Continued

The Chicago Blackhawks, who are methodically tearing down what was a promising franchise that happened to stumble last season, didn’t qualify two under-performing restricted free agents, Red Wings forward Dominik Kubalik or Washington Capitals forward Dylan Strome.

Now both players have moved on, and Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson offered the following “this is why we didn’t sign ’em” rationale to the Chicago Tribune’s Phil Thompson:

Strome and Dominik Kubalík were restricted free agents with arbitration rights, and neither were tendered qualifying offers.

Kubalík signed a two-year deal ($2.5 million cap hit) with the Detroit Red Wings and Strome inked a one-year deal with the Washington Capitals for $3.5 million.

“It was more the uncertainty around cost,” Davidson said. “Both had arb rights, and so the arbitration process just brings a little bit more uncertainty and it drags out a little further into the summer.”

Davidson wants to stay flexible with his budget.

“Again, it’s not easy walking away from good players and good people as Dylan and Dominik are,” he said, “but we just felt this was something that gave us more certainty in our budgeting.”

Kubalik, 26 had a $3.7 million cap hit last year, but a $4 million salary, so he would have had to be qualified at that number, and Strome, 27, had a $3 million cap hit, but a $3.6 million salary, etc. etc.

There’s some logic to Davidson’s remarks, especially given Kubalik’s drop-off, but I’m still shocked that the Hawks didn’t make any attempt to retain their rights.

I guess it’s one team’s loss, another team’s gain.

The sports talk radio circuit has been buzzing in the Metro Detroit area with chatter suggesting that the Detroit Red Wings majorly screwed up their free agency moves by not focusing on bringing a superstar player in one now-Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau to Detroit. As 97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield notes this afternoon, Wings GM Steve Yzerman shot that idea right down:

Gaudreau was the biggest fish in the pond, a 28-year-old winger who just put up 115 points for the Flames and finished fourth for MVP. He hit the open market after turning down an offer from Calgary reportedly worth more than $10 million per year, intent on being closer to home. A New Jersey native, he’ll make about $9.75 million per year for the next seven seasons in Columbus.

Asked if the Red Wings explored bringing Gaudreau to Detrout, Yzerman told the Stoney & Jansen Show Friday, “No, not really.”

“Obviously we’re following what’s happening around the league and who might become free or not, but if you look at our lineup and our roster, we have a lot of wingers, a lot of left-hand-shot wingers. An excellent hockey player obviously, but it wasn’t a priority for us in tying up that much money and term,” Yzerman said. “We have a lot of left-shot wingers, different than him obviously, but just wasn’t really a priority for us at this time.”

Instead, the Red Wings did more with less money, securing a No. 2 center in Andrew Copp (five years, $28.2 million), two left-shot defensemen in Ben Chirarot (four years, $19 million) and Olli Maatta (one year, $2.25 million) and two scoring wingers in David Perron (two years, $9 million) and Dominik Kubalik (two years, $5 million).

Kubalik is one of five left-shot wingers who’s penciled in Detroit’s Opening Night roster, along with Tyler Bertuzzi, Jakub Vrana, Filip Zadina and Adam Erne. The Red Wings also have a pair of highly-regarded left-shot wingers in the pipeline in Jonatan Berggren and Elmer Söderblom, both of whom are nearing Detroit.

Yzerman intends to find stars via the draft, and fill in the gaps in free agency — not the other way around. One of those stars is Dylan Larkin, who is likely to sign a long-term extension with the Red Wings this summer. Yzerman, per usual, wouldn’t divulge any details Friday about contract talks, but said that he would like to keep Larkin in Detroit for the duration of his career.

Continued, and here’s the interview Yzerman gave this morning:

Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman appeared on 97.1 the Ticket’s Stoney and Jansen with Heather show this morning, discussing the state of the team after two days’ worth of free agent signings: