The Malik Report

This morning, The Athletic’s Max Bultman gives the Red Wings a passing-grade’s “C” for the team’s slightly puzzling trade deadline move(s)…

Detroit Red Wings: C

Craig Smith is a veteran who brings some scoring and needed hard elements to the Red Wings’ bottom six, likely on the fourth line. At 35, he’s not likely a long-term piece, but for 2025 he’s a nice addition and someone who should help Detroit, which hasn’t gotten enough offense down the lineup this season. Petr Mrázek is the more confusing piece of this deal. The Red Wings’ goaltending has struggled of late, to be sure, but Mrázek is having one of the worst statistical seasons of his career, with an .890 save percentage and minus-9.52 goals saved above expected through 33 games. His environment is key context, as he’s been playing behind the lottery-bound Blackhawks, but Mrázek’s trajectory hasn’t been inspiring: his save percentage has been below .900 in three of the last four seasons. Maybe he turns that around in Detroit, where he previously played from 2013-2018, but with another year at $4.25 million on his contract, it’s a risky bet on him turning things around. Detroit gets credit for bringing in Smith, who is the kind of deadline addition playoff teams typically seek, but the Mrázek portion is a giant question mark. A goaltending boost would certainly help the Red Wings, but counting on that from Mrázek is an iffy bet. — Max Bultman

And the Free Press’ Carlos Monarrez also issued a grade–a “D”–for the Red Wings’ GM. Monarrez suggests that Steve Yzerman “did nothing” to help the Wings make the playoffs, and, as his questions during yesterday’s press conference indicated, Monarrez is testy this morning:

Continue reading Trade deadline grades and/or a lament about the Red Wings GM’s timeline

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that Red Wings prospect and Moncton Wildcats goaltender Rudy Guimond was named the Canadian Hockey League’s Goaltender of the Month for February:

During February, Guimond went 7-0 with a 1.26 goals-against average, .956 save percentage and two shutouts. His GAA and save percentage were both tops among CHL puckstoppers for the month.

Over his seven starts, the 19-year-old from Montreal, Que., allowed one goal or fewer on five occasions. Guimond stop all 29 shots he faced against the Cape Breton Eagles on February 1. He later registered a 20-save shutout against those same Cape Breton Eagles on February 21. The 6-foot-4, 175-pound netminder also made a career-high 42 saves in a big 4-1 victory over the Drummondville Voltigeurs on the last day of the month. In total, Guimond registered four performances with 25-plus saves in February.

Continued

The Free Press’s Helene St. James checks in with her usual morning column the day after the Detroit Red Wings dropped a 5-2 decision to the Washington Capitals:

Desperately searching for victory and wellness, the Detroit Red Wings turn their hopes to a couple trade deadline acquisitions.

Pinning a turnaround from what has become a five-game losing streak on a 33-year-old goaltender who had dropped down the depth chart on his former team and a 35-year-old forward is only part of it, though. For the Wings (30-27-6) to give themselves a chance at getting back inside the playoff picture after being stuck on 66 points for more than 10 days now, it’ll take accepting just how much effort that takes.

“It’s hard at this time of year,” coach Todd McLellan said after Friday’s 5-2 loss at the Washington Capitals. “Our guys are learning that. I’m not sure everybody quite understands that. But clearly we have a lot to work on and a lot to learn.”

Continue reading HSJ in the morning: the Red Wings are behind their learning curve

The Detroit Red Wings lost their 5th straight game in the form of a 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday night, collapsing despite taking a 2-0 lead to start the 1st period.

This is a difficult time of year–between the underwhelming trade deadline to the Red Wings’ post-Four Nations Face-Off struggles–and the Red Wings have 19 games left as they prepare to battle the hated Ottawa Senators on Monday.

So this was a weird one. Detroit took the lead only 45 seconds in, when Dylan Larkin clanked a puck off Logan Thompson’s helmet, and just under seven minutes later, Moritz Seider’s power play slapper yielded a 2-0 lead…

But things fell apart in the 3rd period, with Detroit both leading 2-1 and on the power play, as the Wings gave up the first of two short-handed goals against, as Aliaksei Protas deked his way around the aforementioned Seider and chipped a puck over Cam Talbot’s glove, tying the game at 2…

And it got worse from there.

More worryingly, both Dylan Larkin (who was able to return from his injury) and Simon Edvinsson (who left halfway through the 3rd period) got “banged up” by Capitals hits, and Detroit’s going to have 5 games in 9 nights after their two-day weekend, so the Wings will hope that Larkin and Edvinsson are okay to go for Monday’s it’s-all-but-a-must-win game against Ottawa.

Our friends from Washington, who the Red Wings will visit again on April 18th, and, who are in 2nd place in the NHL standings, were able to laugh off their slow start, as they told the Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson:

Continue reading Red Wings-Capitals wrap-up: after a long and wearying day (and loss to Washington), Detroit needs to regroup

The Detroit Red Wings made one trade today, sending Joe Veleno to Chicago for Petr Mrazek and Craig Smith. Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman addressed the media in a 40-minute press conference ahead of Detroit’s 5th straight loss, a 5-2 decision dropped to the Washington Capitals on Friday night.

MLive’s Ansar Khan summarized today’s trade thusly…

It’s also a puzzling move because Mrazek, 33, has one year remaining on his contract at $4.25 million and doesn’t appear to be an upgrade over Cam Talbot or Alex Lyon.

Mrazek, in his third season with the Blackhawks, is 10-19-2 with a 3.46 goals-against average and .890 save percentage. A Red Wings’ fifth-round draft pick in 2010 (141st overall), he spent parts of six seasons in Detroit from 2012-2018 before being traded to Philadelphia for a third-round pick.

Talbot is under contract for another season at $2.5 million. Lyon will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. Top goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa is waiver-exempt for one more season, so he could spend another year with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Smith, 35, is a bottom-six forward who will upgrade their fourth-line center spot with his size (6-1, 203) and forechecking ability. The longtime Nashville Predator and 14-year veteran has nine goals and seven assists in 40 games. He is in the final year of his contract ($1 million) and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

And Khan took note of Yzerman’s comments regarding not getting into the rental market as he chose to take a conservative route when it comes to trades…

“The type of deal that was available is the pending unrestricted free agents and we didn’t even get into that,” Yzerman said. “Where we’re at … to get into that rental thing, giving up our first-round picks and our top prospects, that’s not the thing to do right now.

“I want to make the playoffs, and I want to win a Stanley cup as much as anybody, and I take full responsibility for where we’re at today. I’m going to make the best decisions that I can for us, short-term and long-term.”

The Red Wings have missed the playoffs eight years in a row and Yzerman said he understands fans are frustrated and impatient.

“We did what we thought we could to help give us a better chance at the playoffs,” Yzerman said. “Is it earth-shattering? No. But the only way we could do something earth-shattering is to give up first-round picks and our best young players and prospects. And I think everybody would agree that just to try and hope for us to get in (the playoffs) isn’t the time to do that. We’re prepared to use our picks and prospects, but it’s got to be for players that we really like that are going to be a part of this thing for future years and beyond.”

While 97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield noted Yzerman’s remarks regarding fan frustration as the rebuild percolates slowly…

Continue reading Trade deadline wrap-up: Wings’ lone deadline move is a risk-reward proposition

Per the Free Press’s Helene St. James:

Todd McLellan on Red Wings F Carter Mazur (upper-body injury): "He went on IR. He has an injury that's a lite more serious, and he's probably going to be out for some time." Said "let's hope so" that Mazur returns this season.

— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) March 8, 2025

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to snap a 4-game losing streak while battling the Washington Capitals while playing their 2nd game in 2 nights and their 3rd in 4 evenings against the tied-for-the-league-lead Caps.

As you might imagine, the Red Wings actually started well, building a 2-0 lead on goals by Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider, but the Capitals rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the 3rd period, scoring 2 shorthanded goals and 4 goals in 8:48, taking a 5-1 decision from the beleaguered Red Wings.

Detroit will get Saturday off and practice on Sunday before heading to Ottawa for what’s sure to be a mean and nasty affair on Monday, and then the Wings host the Sabres on Wednesday, and head to Carolina next Friday.

Continue reading Red Wings-Capitals quick take: collapsible team

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took note of Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s remarks regarding his decision to not make a blockbuster move at the trade deadline…

“Players that have short term on their contracts, and are younger and going to be part of this group for more than one or two years, I’d be open to doing that type of deal,” said Yzerman, of trading away draft picks or prospects. “That type of deal wasn’t available. Pending UFAs that teams were selling off, we didn’t even get into those discussions.

“Where we’re at, and we’d love to make the playoffs, but to get into that rental thing and giving up our first-round draft picks and all and what we consider our top prospects, we’d all agree whether we like it or not being in that situation, that’s not the thing to do right now.

“I understand the frustration or impatience. This is a hockey market and people know the game and want the team to do well. I would say we did what we thought we could to give us a better chance to make the playoffs.”

And there’s this:

Yzerman is pleased with the turnaround of the team since replacing Derek Lalonde with Todd McLellan as head coach on Dec. 26.

“Pleased for the most part with how the team has responded,” Yzerman said. “Coming out of the (4 Nations) break here, a little bit we’ve lost some steam. But I’m very pleased. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t make the change just to give us a little bump. Todd is a very good coach and he’s going to take this team … he’ll do a good job moving forward with us.”

The Free Press’s Helene St. James took note of several of the comments made by Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman during his post-trade deadline press conference, including this regarding Red Wings fans’ frustration with the progress, or lack thereof, from the rebuild…

“First of all, I understand the frustration or the impatience,” Yzerman said. “It’s a hockey market, it’s a hockey city. People know the game, they want the team to do well. And I guess what would I say is, we did what we thought we could to help give us a better chance here at the playoffs. Is it earth-shattering? No it’s not. But the only way we could do something earth-shattering is to give up first-round picks and our best young players and prospects, and I think everybody would agree that just to try to hope for us to get in — this isn’t the time to do that.”

And St. James noted the reasons why the GM chose to reunite with Petr Mrazek, who’s now a 33-year-old goaltender…

Mrázek hasn’t posted great numbers his last four seasons (with the Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs), failing to finish with a goals-against average below 3.00 since 2020-21. But the Wings drafted him for his competitiveness, and they like that he’s signed through next season with a $4.25 million salary cap hit. He’ll share the net the rest of the season with Cam Talbot (also signed through 2025-26) and Alex Lyon.

“We’re hoping Petr can come in and give us a boost in net,” Yzerman said. “One thing that was attractive to us is he’s signed for another season, and the goalie market right now looking into the summer, what goalies are signing for, the term and the dollar amount — for what our options were today and our options might be in the offseason, we thought it was good insurance for us.  We think his competitiveness and experience will give us some quality starts.”

As well as bringing in 35-year-old forward Craig Smith:

Smith is a pending unrestricted free agent. He’s recorded 220 goals and 230 assists in 968 career NHL games. He has nine goals and 16 points in 40 games this season, and posted 11 goals in 75 games last season while with the Dallas Stars.

“Craig maybe provides a little bit of offense throughout the lineup,” Yzerman said. “Historically, Craig’s a guy who’s been able to shoot the puck in the net a little bit and we could use that.”

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen wonders aloud whether the Ottawa Senators’ trade for Buffalo Sabres center Dylan Cozens will “come back to haunt” the Red Wings, but Allen also notes that the Red Wings weren’t willing to pay the Sabres’ asking price for Cozens:

The Ottawa Senators, one of Detroit’s chief rivals for an Eastern Conference wildcard spot, traded for the player that the Red Wings wanted.

The Senators acquired center-wing Dylan Cozens, a second-round pick and defenseman Dennis Gilbert for center Josh Norris and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker.

This is considered a “hockey trade”, a deal that is mostly about how it impacts the two teams today. That’s important because hockey insider Elliotte Friedman reported that the Red Wings had also pursued a deal for Cozens. The Red Wings liked him as a No. 2 center

Sources told Detroit Hockey Now that Detroit’s offer involved a first-round pick and prospects. Sabres’ general manager Kevin Adams informed the Red Wings that if he traded Cozens it would only be in a “hockey deal.”The Sabres have one of the league’s better collections of prospects. What they wanted was more proven skill.

To get Norris, who already has 20 goals this season, the Sabres sweetened the deal with a second-round pick. Norris, 25, previously scored 35 goals in a season.

The Red Wings simply didn’t have a player like Norris to offer. Norris is in his prime and he has a track record of success.

Detroit fans were hoping Detroit could package someone like J.T. Compher, Joe Veleno and perhaps a first-round pick to get Cozens. But that was never going to happen. Cozens is 24 and has a 31-goal season on his resume.