The Malik Report

New Red Wings forward Keegan Kolesar introduced himself to the Wings’ media corps on Thursday, discussing his desire to bring a physical element to his new team’s “bottom six.”

This morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James offers more from Kolesar’s introductory press conference, noting that Kolesar’s having a somewhat difficult time dealing with the first trade of his NHL career:

Kolesar sounded both wistful and wishful the day after he was traded from the only NHL team he has known to the Detroit Red Wings. One the one hand: He’s used to winning, and to being in the playoffs. On the other hand: It’s nice to be wanted.

“It’s tough when you hear news like that because your whole life changes,” Kolesar said on Thursday, July 2. “But I also look at it as like I’m in the NHL, on an Original Six team. Life’s good.”

As St. James also notes, Kolesar brings the toughness to the back half of the Wings’ forward lineup that Detroit’s lacked over the past half-dozen seasons:

Continue reading Keegan Kolesar offers physicality, leadership for the Red Wings

Of Red Wings-related note this evening:

1. Sportsnet’s Justin Bourne offers “two sentences” regarding every notable free agent signing, and, as the Red Wings made two notable free agent signings in Viktor Arvidsson and Daniil Tarasov (Keegan Kolesar was brought in via trade)…

Bourne offers this regarding the 33-year-old Arvidsson, who posted 25 goals and 54 points in 69 games last season…

Arvidsson is one of those guys who, when he’s healthy, is easy to love. Small but lays it all on the line, goes to the net, but his availability will be a question mark.

And this regarding Tarasov, a 27-year-old who stands at a massive 6’5″ and 196 pounds:

Big, young, and actually had better numbers than Bobrovsky in Florida last year. The goalie market is a crapshoot, though, so who knows.

2. This is just plain old neat. Hetrik.sk, a Slovakian sports website, reports that the goaltending coach for the legendary Slovak team Dukla Trencin took part in the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp (and what follows is roughly translated):

Continue reading Four things: ‘Two sentences’ about Viktor Arvidsson and Daniil Tarasov, a Slovakian Summer Development Camp cameo, and a bit about Keegan Kolesar

I’m not certain why this is/was the case, but the coverage of the Red Wings’ annual Summer Development Camp was hit-and-miss this past week.

The Wings themselves at least posted daily press conference videos and some cute/insightful behind-the-scenes stuff, but the scrimmage-less camp didn’t include the usual broadcast from the rink or commentary from Kris Draper regarding the Wings’ newest prospects.

The beat writers seemed preoccupied with Dylan Larkin’s situation, Patrick Kane’s situation, and Detroit’s free agency performance (or the lack thereof), too–understandably so–but they’ve already moved on to post-free agency and offseason coverage for the most part.

As such, the local news media didn’t really head down to LCA for video hits, and while the Detroit News’s David Guralnick posted his annual 65 image photo gallery from the BELFOR Training Center on Monday, and I’m sure that Max (Bultman) will offer some observations from the SDC at some point soon…

I was surprised when I spotted a 1:50 video from WNEM 5’s Cole Martens, who gave us a full-fledged sports report, comments from Red Wings director of player development Dan Cleary and prospect forward JP Hurlbert included:

Continue reading Video: Putting a bow on the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp

Three authors from the Hockey News have written disparate articles which mention and/or critique the Detroit Red Wings this evening, and some of their takes are better than others.

First, THN’s Mike Fink isn’t impressed with the way Detroit attempted to develop goaltender Sebastian Cossa, who was traded this past weekend to Utah in return for the 23rd overall draft pick (which became JP Hurlbert).

As such, Fink wrote a very well-crafted critique about goaltender development in the AHL:

There’s this belief that some GMs have that a great organization can never have enough prospects. The talent pool and the pipeline bringing young players to the NHL can never be too deep. It turns out that’s not the case, and some teams, to put it bluntly, are hoarding prospects.

The Red Wings entered the 2026 trade deadline on the verge of snapping one of the longest playoff droughts in the NHL. They have prospects on top of prospects, plenty in the system to make a blockbuster move, and they didn’t.

On top of that, they have three goaltenders in their system to move. Cossa was the primary starter with the Griffins while Michal Postava was the backup who ultimately took over the starting job during the Calder Cup Playoffs. Throw in Trey Augustine, who spent most of last season in college but joined the Griffins late, and Yzerman had goaltenders to move and chose to move none of them. 

It’s part of Yzerman’s difficult relationship with the position, one that’s troubled him since he became the Wings GM. He’s never found a true number one starter despite making all the moves, including a John Gibson trade, to find one. It’s why Yzerman kept three in the system, hoping one of them would work out. 

The problem is that he eventually had to make a move with one of them. By the time he did, it was too late, and now, the Red Wings enter the offseason with pieces to sell instead of players to add, especially after top-line center Dylan Larkin demanded a trade. The surprise is that the Red Wings landed a first-round pick in the Cossa trade, which says a lot about the value of a potential NHL starter. 

As far as Fink is concerned, the Red Wings should have both given Cossa more of an NHL shot, and that they should have traded him sooner instead of “hoarding” goalies:

Continue reading Three THN Things: On managing goaltenders, a ‘radioactive’ Detroit, and more Larkin reconciliation talk

The Canadian Hockey League’s Import Draft is a strange bit of business. Teams “take a flyer” on European players, making educated guesses as to whether the players might end up joining teams in the QMJHL, OHL and WHL.

Sometimes things work out. Most of the time, things don’t work out. But there’s no shame in making a wild stab in the direction of a good prospect.

Here’s an example thereof: Last year at this time, the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires drafted the rights to Michal Svrcek, a Red Wings prospect and 2025 draft pick who chose to remain with Brynas IF of the SHL. Svrcek, a 5’11,” 199-pound Slovakian playmaker, was expecting to earn the opportunity to play regularly with Brynas’ men’s team at the SHL level.

As it turns out, Svrcek ended up getting bounced around between the SHL, Brynas’ Under-20 team, and Vasteras IK of the HockeyAllsvenskan, the Swedish second division.

As such, Svrcek made the decision this spring to come over to Windsor after all, where he’ll both earn more playing time and he’ll be skating across the river from Little Caesars Arena. In this case, the Spitfires made an educated guess that Svrcek would want to play close to the Red Wings’ amateur scouts and management if things went south with Brynas, and they did, so he’s going to be a Spitfire.

This week, the Erie Otters made a similarly educated guess regarding Red Wings 2026 draft pick Luka Arkko, a Finnish-born 6’3,” 212-pound winger who’s grown up playing in the Pelicans Lahti’s system.

We have selected forward Luka Arkko with the 65th overall selection in the CHL Import Draft!

Please join us in welcoming Luka to Erie! 🦦 #ErieOtters #Otters30 pic.twitter.com/BdwnAhuNYY

— Erie Otters 🦦 (@ErieOtters) June 30, 2026

According to Detroit Hockey Now’s Max Smith, it’s entirely possible, if not probable, that Arkko will end up skating in North America this upcoming season. Dan Cleary, the Red Wings’ director of player development, happened to suggest as much during this morning’s end-of-Summer-Development-Camp press conference:

Continue reading For Red Wings prospect Luka Arkko, taking the ‘North American Route’ may prove the most direct route to the NHL

New Red Wings forward Viktor Arvidsson discussed several topics over the course of his introductory press conference, and the Wings’ media corps took note thereof.

This evening, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes that Arvidsson told the media that he’s not focusing on the parts of joining the Wings’ roster that he cannot control, i.e. the Dylan Larkin situation…

“No, I haven’t really put any thought into that or read too much about it,” Arvidsson said. “So, I was focused on myself and what I’m going to bring to the team, and that’s about it.”

In a sense, that’s got to be a bit of relief for Red Wings fans. Entering the July 1 UFA period, there was certainly concern about how the uncertainty of the future of the team might impact players determining where they were going to play next.

As far as Arvidsson was concerned, he was viewing Detroit as a desired destination. The veteran Swedish forward agreed to terms on a two-year deal with an AAV of $5 million.

“It was kind of an easy decision, and I’m happy to be a Red Wing,” Arvidsson said. “It’s going to be fun.”

And instead, Arvidsson talked up himself and his attributes, including his work ethic and “stick-to-it-ive-ness,” as 97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield noted:

Continue reading Viktor Arvidsson’s focused on himself, not the Dylan Larkin situation

Updated at 7:30 PM: Newly-acquired Red Wings foward Keegan Kolesar spoke with the Detroit media corps today from his offseason home, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan noted that Kolesar discussed having to leave the Vegas Golden Knights after having been traded to Detroit yesterday:

“I don’t know if I was expecting it, but it’s always in the back of your mind because it’s hockey, it’s how the game works, and people can be in and out,” Kolesar said. “I didn’t expect it, but you’re always prepared for it. It’s the business of it.”

The hard-hitting, hard-charging Kolesar was credited with 270 hits, ranking seventh in the NHL. He brings a physical element, a toughness, the Wings have been missing from their lineup for many years. Kolesar is eager to fill that void.

“You can call me an old-school type of player,” Kolesar said. “Forecheck, backcheck, paycheck. I just want to help the team win. I’ve always felt the team comes first in every scenario. If there is any way I can help the team win, that’s what I’ll do.”

Kolesar believes that the Red Wings are far from mincemeat…

Continue reading Keegan Kolesar’s still shocked about being traded to Detroit, but he’s ready for the next challenge in playing for the Red Wings

Red Wings director of player development Dan Cleary spoke with the media at the conclusion of Detroit’s annual Summer Development Camp this morning, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took note of some of Cleary’s remarks regarding the purpose of the 4-day event:

The Wings’ concluded their four-day development camp Thursday for recent draft picks and invited undrafted, unsigned free agents.

Daniel Cleary, the Wings’ director of player development, viewed the event as successful, and most of all, educational.

The Wings stress to the players they are not evaluated. But Cleary feels it can difficult to get that point across.

“(General manager) Steve (Yzerman) comes out of the gate and says this is not an evaluation and we try to stress that, but we know what these kids are like,” Cleary said. “They’re stressing about what their numbers (various timed tasks) are, they want to show well. That’s the nature of being an athlete and you want to produce and perform.

“But it is what it is. At the end of the day, it really is an educational camp that we try to give them everything we can. Hopefully they absorb as much as they can because we have great people here.”

Continued (paywall)

The Associated Press’s Stephen Whyno and John Wawrow issued a list of free agency “winners” and “losers” today, and the pair don’t believe that the Red Wings have been able to cobble together anything but a failing grade:

DETROIT RED WINGS: Detroit has not made the playoffs since 2016, now the NHL’s longest drought. And there is lingering uncertainty with captain Dylan Larkin wanting out. The Red Wings’ muddled path forward was evident Wednesday with the signing of Viktor Arvidsson and trade pickup of Keegan Kolesar representing their most notable additions. GM Steve Yzerman has the leverage of time in waiting for the best offer for Larkin. And yet the situation has the potential of becoming a bigger distraction and handcuffing Yzerman from building the roster further.

Continued; an “incomplete” is not an automatic “F” in my book, and Patrick Kane’s situation remains unresolved as well.

Updated at 4:48 PM: New Red Wings forward Viktor Arvidsson met with the Red Wings’ media corps today, and he spoke with the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan about joining a historically Swedish-tinged team…

“For me it’s really exciting,” Arvidsson said Thursday on a Zoom call with Detroit media. “Growing up and watching the Red Wings and Avalanche go at it, and all those players that I grew up watching like (Peter) Forsberg, (Henrik) Zetterberg and (Pavel) Datsyuk, and (Steve) Yzerman, and Kris Draper, all those guys. Then talking to Drapes last night, I was almost like ‘I played as you on video games’. It’s pretty surreal if you think about it.”

Arvidsson, 33, signed a two-year contract worth $10 million ($5 million annual average value) Wednesday, filling a Wings need for offense. Arvidsson had somewhat of a comeback last season in Boston, scoring 25 goals (with 29 assists), and playing a relentless brand of hockey he’s known for.

Facing the Wings in divisional games last season, Arvidsson felt the Wings were close to a playoff team.

“I think so,” Arvidsson said. “This year the division and wild card were so tight, but it’s a great team, a great defense core and a lot of speed and skill up front. You need to mesh that together and be more consistent. That’s what this league is all about, consistency, and if you can do that night in and night out, and don’t drop too much.”

Arvidsson discussed his relationship with Wings coach Todd McLellan, for whom Arvidsson played in LA…

Continue reading Detroit’s media corps highlights comments made by new Red Wings forward Viktor Arvidsson