The Malik Report

Red Wings prospect Eemil Viro offered a refreshing comment regarding what matters the most in terms of what the Red Wings’ summer development camp participants will take home from this week’s on and off-ice sessions, as noted by Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff:

“I think the friends on the team,” Viro said. “Getting to know the new guys, it’s gonna help me for next season. I’m really looking forward to that.”

The gathering of top prospects by an NHL team creates a very intriguing dynamic. These are the elite among the future of the game, from junior, college and European hockey. For most, it’s the first time they’ve met. That can prove awkward for longtime foes who suddenly find themselves fighting for the same side.

For anyone familiar with hockey culture, it won’t be the least bit surprising to discover that bad blood between opponents flows away easily like water under a bridge when they become teammates.

“It’s definitely a bit (odd at first),” Detroit goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa admitted. “When you don’t know a guy off the ice, on the ice you obviously make assumptions of the guy.

“But everyone here’s been great. At the end of the day, everyone’s competing on the ice. I think off the ice, everyone’s personality is a bit different. You might be chirping on the ice but off the ice, you can definitely become friends.”

Continued with more notes…

Sault This Week’s Randy Russon writes a weekly column regarding all things related to Major Junior hockey, and Russon has this to say about the Red Wings’ decision to snag Amadeus Lombardi in last weekend’s NHL Draft:

An example of perseverance and overcoming the odds occurred in the fourth round when the Detroit Red Wings took 5-foot-10, 165-pound centre Amadeus Lombardi from the Flint Firebirds. Lombardi, who scored 18 goals, 41 assists, 59 points in 67 regular season games for Flint in 2021-2022 before adding seven goals, eight assists, 15 points in 19 playoff matches, was a distant 13th round pick by the Firebirds at the 2019 OHL priority selections draft. The shrewd selection of Lombardi by Detroit from Flint looms as a potential off the charts steal of a deal by Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman.

Continued; Lombardi isn’t big by any stretch of the imagination, but his work ethic, hustle and skating have been impressive over the course of the first two days of development camp.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James’ usual morning column just hit the wires today, and in said column, she discusses Sebastian Cossa’s desire to turn pro with the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids this upcoming season (which is not assured):

If Sebastian Cossa has a say, he’s playing in the Detroit Red Wings‘ organization next season.

The 6-foot-6, 215-pound goaltender delivered impressive numbers in 2021-22: A 2.28 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in 46 regular-season games for the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings, plus a 1.93 GAA and .919 save percentage in 19 playoff games that included a trip to the Memorial Cup.

From Cossa’s viewpoint, he’s ready to turn pro.

“Going into the season, I want to play at the highest level of hockey I can,” he said Monday. “I think my game is going to do the speaking for me and management obviously has the say in where I’m going to be playing. But I put a lot of work into my game and I’m very confident in myself and my game. I think for myself, I’ve already proven it to myself.”

General manager Steve Yzerman just added Ville Husso to the Wings’ roster to fill out the tandem with Alex Nedeljkovic. Jussi Olkinuora was added to the depth chart in June, giving the Wings a 31-year-old with extensive experience in Europe to play with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Victor Brattström, a draft pick from 2018, is also under contract, and he played 32 games last season for the Griffins. 

Continued (paywall)

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted this a couple of hours ago, and it feels like information is changing all the time, but here we go:

Max has posted a superb list of 10 unrestricted free agents-to-be who might interest the Red Wings, and Max really went in-depth to discuss his targets’ pluses and minuses. Here’s my pick of the litter:

Andrew Copp, C: The local product is coming off an excellent run with the Rangers, scoring over a point per game in New York’s final 16 regular-season games, then adding 14 in 20 in the playoffs.

That’s a great way to go into free agency, and also the main reason for caution before getting too excited here: That performance might have given the 28-year-old enough ammo to command a long-term deal, which could eliminate his hometown team from contention. Detroit hasn’t given out any contracts longer than four years under Yzerman.

Still, Copp is a big-bodied center who just put up 20 goals, proved he can score in the playoffs, and has historically strong defensive impacts. That checks a ton of boxes for Detroit, and the local tie is a good reason to believe he’d entertain a return home.

Copp would be well within his rights to fully capitalize on his career year and secure his financial future this summer. But if he’s willing to sign on a medium-term deal to return home, he’s an obvious fit. Evolving Hockey projects a four-year deal at about $5.8 million, which feels manageable for the Red Wings.

Continued (obviously)

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects engaged in skill development and skating drills on Tuesday morning inside the BELFOR Training Center at Little Caesars Arena. By the time I got to the rink around 8:30, Team Howe was already on the ice (half an hour early).

While we have yet to see a bunch of battle drills or in-game simulations, over the first two days of Dan Cleary’s camp, skill development coach Dwayne Blais, the Red Wings’ skating coach and the goaltending coaches have begun building a foundation for a productive week’s worth of on and off-ice education.

While Monday’s session involved fitness testing and introductory observations, Tuesday’s sessions for Team Howe and Team Lindsay were a little more subtle.

Continue reading Impressions from the second day of the Red Wings’ 2022 summer development camp

Per CapFriendly on Twitter, via DetroitHockey.net’s Clark Rasmussen:

The following #LGRW players did not receive qualifying offers:

Mitchell Stephens
Olli Juolevi
Kaden Fulcher
Filip Larsson https://t.co/SZmunkIxeK— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 12, 2022

This means that the Wings have qualified Filip Zadina, Jake Walman and Chase Pearson, per CapFriendly’s Wings page.

Red Wings prospect and 2021 draft pick Carter Mazur had a tremendous freshman season with the University of Denver, posting near point-per-game totals while helping guide Denver to an NCAA Division 1 championship.

Mazur discussed his superb season and summer skating with his hometown team with the Wings’ media corps on Tuesday, as noted by DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills:

The Jackson, Mich., native finished his freshman season at the University of Denver with 14 goals and 24 assists in 41 games, helping the Pioneers win the 2022 NCAA Championship in April.

“Winning the national championship was pretty special, especially freshman year – you don’t expect coming in and making such a big difference on a team” Mazur said. “I felt that it went well and was excited about how our team finished.”

Mazur, the 2021-22 NCHC Rookie of the Year, said he made strides in his game last season.

“I felt I came into the year not expecting a lot of myself, went in and expected a lot out of myself actually,” Mazur said. “That changed a lot and I felt I grew a lot physically.”

After camp, Mazur plans to apply lessons learned in his sophomore campaign.

“We’ve been doing a lot of meetings like nutrition meetings, learning how to cook and boxing,” Mazur said. “Just all those things are gonna be good to know.”

Continued

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tom Timmerman offers the following take on the Red Wings’ acquisition of Ville Husso from the St. Louis Blues:

When Ville Husso signed with the Detroit Red Wings after the Blues had traded the impending free agent’s rights to them, the first person the goalie heard from was ex-teammate Robby Fabbri. Another ex-Blue, defenseman Jake Walman soon followed, as well as forward Oskar Sundqvist.

“It was nice to chat with them for a little bit,” Husso said on a conference call with Detroit writers.

Even though Husso won’t be the clear-cut No. 1 goalie in Detroit — he’ll be in a job share with Alex Nedeljkovic — he got some stability that he was unlikely to get in St. Louis.

“I wanted to sign for three years, settle things down,” he said. “I knew that I would not stay with St. Louis. The signing happened quick.”

The money won’t be bad either. Husso’s deal has an average annual value of $4.75 million, a big jump up from the $750,000 he made in 2021-22 with the Blues and also far more than the Blues, who are already paying Jordan Binnington an average of $6 million over the next five seasons, would have realistically been able to offer him.

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was able to take advantage of a complicated market for goalies by allowing the Red Wings to negotiate with Husso before free agency began, thereby getting an asset, the 73rd pick in the NHL draft, which became Finnish defenseman Aleksanteri Kaskimaki. (Kaskimaki won’t be on the ice during this week’s prospects camp because of an injury.)

“It’s always nice to have a goalie partner with you,” Husso said. “Me and Binnington were pushing each other every day. I think that’s one thing I learned from him. With Alex, I want do the same thing and push each other every day, get better every day.”

Continued with Blues notes…

Former Red Wings enforcer and grind liner Darren McCarty spoke about the Wings’ 2022 NHL Draft picks on the Woodward Sports Network’s “Big D Energy” show, and here’s what McCarty thinks about Marco Kasper and the rest of the Wings’ picks:

WXYZ’s Brad Galli spoke with Red Wings 2022 draft pick Marco Kasper today, and Galli posted his 1-on-1 interview with Kasper on his YouTube channel:

If you want to watch the interview in Twitter form, here you go:

INTERVIEW: Red Wings first round pick Marco Kasper is in Detroit for development camp.

He got a text from former Swedish League teammate Moritz Seider on draft night, and told me he grew up admiring Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. pic.twitter.com/7qoAg8UH8i— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) July 11, 2022