The Malik Report

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Continue reading Press release: Red Wings release training camp roster and schedule

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton offers three storylines to watch during training camp, and here’s one of his points of emphasis:

Upward Mobility Amongst Young Returning Forwards: In his pre-training camp press availability, Steve Yzerman spoke about his excitement for some of Detroit’s young players to push for greater roles in the coming season.

“Some of our younger players—we mentioned Joe Veleno, Michael Rasmussen—they want a bigger role, they want more ice time, they want to play on some of these special teams, they want to take face-offs in the last minute of a game. So there’s competition there,” Yzerman said. 

For the purposes of this conversation, I’d like to focus on the Red Wing forwards who are both young and returners to the NHL roster.  Youngsters trying to claim full-time roles for the first time (e.g. Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur) and players arriving to Detroit from elsewhere (e.g. Daniel Sprong and Klim Kostin) have their own unique challenges.

However, a step forward for Detroit in the standings will almost certainly have to coincide with growth from the Red Wings class of young but established forwards.  Here, I’m thinking of the two Yzerman cited (Veleno and Rasmussen) as well as Lucas Raymond and Jonatan Berggren.

Yzerman was explicit in his expectation for Veleno and Rasmussen’s growth—pushing for more minutes in higher leverage positions.  

Meanwhile, Raymond has already claimed a top six, top power play role, but his challenge will rest in bouncing back from a disappointing season.  Berggren has dabbled in those top-of-the-lineup spots, but he hasn’t solidified his place there.  In 2023-24, the young Swede will seek to leverage his mature and diverse offensive toolkit into becoming a fixture atop Detroit’s line-up.

Continued; the balance of young players with added veterans is something I’m certainly going to watch this upcoming season, starting tomorrow.

Sean Shapiro examines game footage to get a handle on Red Wings prospect Marco Kasper via Shapiro’s Substack this morning:

He had an OK tournament, there were some frustrating moments, especially as Detroit lost all three games, but he rebounded offensively with a pair of assists in the final game against the Toronto Maple Leafs prospects.

Despite not scoring a goal, he was tied for the team lead in shots over three games with Elmer Soderblom and Cross Hanas.

Remember that Kasper played one NHL game last season, but got hurt, and missed out on the opportunity to play more. Based off the Red Wings moves in free agency, he’s likely going to start this season in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins, but I do expect him to play some NHL games this season.

Anyways, let’s actually look at some film and what the Wings might have in store with the Austrian center who had 23 points in 52 SHL games last season with Rogle.

Continued (paywall)

Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen offers “one thing to remember” for every NHL team headed into training camp:

Detroit Red Wings: They’re the ultimate ‘I forgot that guy went there’ team

There was one, big-name addition to the Wings’ roster over the summer as they swept in to trade for Alex DeBrincat out of Ottawa. They’ll be looking for front-line minutes and a return to 40-goal status for him to move the needle for this team. Look beyond DeBrincat and you’ll see several other additions — some of whom you’ve probably forgotten about.

As Steve Yzerman takes an almost expansion team-like approach to building this roster, this time he’s added the likes of Klim Kostin (was a great fit in Edmonton), Daniel Sprong (under-the-radar 21-goal man for Seattle), Justin Holl (Leafs fans love him or hate him) and J.T. Compher (former middle-six centre in Colorado).

Continued; sometimes you have to tear down before you rebuild

ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton ask questions which “linger” for every one of the NHL’s 32 teams today, and Shilton believes that the Red Wings need to answer questions as to whether their power play has improved:

Detroit Red Wings

Big question: Has Detroit done enough to address its power-play problems?

There’s been a recurring theme for the Red Wings in recent season, and that’s a mediocre power play. Granted, Detroit improved with the extra man in 2022-23, when the team jumped from 16.3% to 21.1%. Still, that ranked just 17th in the league and wasn’t ultimately good enough to be a true factor in helping the Red Wings reach their full potential.

GM Steve Yzerman seemingly targeted players this offseason who could be difference-makers on special teams, including defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (a possible top-unit quarterback), sniper Alex DeBrincat and a potential second-unit stalwart in Daniel Sprong. Given the league’s increasing parity, it is the success (or failure) of a power play that can make or break a team’s playoff chances. Has Detroit finally found the right mix to elevate its man advantage?

Continued; the Wings will have to have great special teams play to remain playoff-relevant throughout the course of the 2023-2024 season.

There are a bunch of stories of Red Wings-related note on The Athletic this morning. I can’t share everything from the paywalled articles, but we’ll try to dig in nonetheless.

1. The Athletic’s Max Bultman offered questions for every Red Wings forward yesterday, and this morning, he asks questions of every Red Wings defenseman and goaltender:

Moritz Seider: Will he hold onto the top power play spot?

Sure, there’s probably a bigger-picture question here about whether he can take the next step and become not just Detroit’s No. 1 defenseman, but join the league’s upper echelon. But based on Seider’s trajectory, that feels more like a matter of time. And whether that time is this season could be dictated in part by whether he’s able to fend off Shayne Gostisbehere for top power-play responsibilities.

Gostisbehere might be the more natural option, as a true specialist power-play quarterback, but Seider’s continued development in that spot is probably the most important thing for the team’s big-picture. It’ll be fascinating to see which direction the Red Wings take.

…

Ville Husso: Can he shoulder the load?

You all knew this one was coming. It’s been one of the biggest storylines since late last season. Husso had a ton of strong showings last season for the Red Wings — enough that his .896 season-ending save percentage required a double take. But it was the reality, and it seemed to be mainly driven by fatigue (and, relatedly, playing through injury down the stretch). Now, all eyes will be on whether he’s ready to hold up for the whole season this time around.

Continued;

2. The Athletic’s Murat Ates is predicting the Red Wings to improve this upcoming season–but not hit .500:

Continue reading A quartet of Red Wings-related stories from The Athletic

Bleacher Report’s Sara Civian offers a single word “vibe” for every NHL team going into the 2023-2024 season, as well as a short explanation as to what she means by that word. Here’s what she has to say about the Red Wings:

Detroit Red Wings: Momentous

The Red Wings took the next step in the Yzerplan with a big (or perhaps, medium?) swing on scrappy hometown goal-scorer Alex DeBrincat. What an excellent deal for a 40-goal scorer looking to prove himself on a team ready to do the same. God, I love it. I won’t be as mad at the Red Wings as I will be at the Sabres if they don’t make the playoffs this season, but I need to see better out of Moritz Seider and a playoff-fringe performance to keep trusting in the Yzerplan.

Continued; belief is an interesting thing. Sometimes it requires proof of belief.

The Free Press’s Carlos Monarrez isn’t necessarily a fan of the Yzerplan’s cautious approach toward making playoff hockey happen in Detroit again, though he understands the merits thereof:

I appreciate Yzerman’s philosophy of building this team responsibly, because he’s right in many ways. He wants to return the franchise to its recent former glory, perhaps with the aspiration of embarking on another 25-season playoff streak.

“I’m trying to build the nucleus of a team that can make the playoffs on an annual basis,” he said. “You squeak in one year and you don’t have the foundation to sustain it, we’re going to be sitting here a year from now or two years from now and you’re gonna be wondering again.”

There are two problems with Yzerman’s vision. The first is that no one else can see it but him. What exactly does he see and how does he see the Wings getting there? Is it a dynasty to end all dynasties? And when does it all begin? Or rather, when does the rebuild officially end?

“I don’t know when to, I guess, like literally announce what stage of the rebuild we’re at,” he said.

This isn’t the answer a fan wants from their general manager, or their general contractor.

When’s the kitchen remodel going to be done? Hey, who knows? But keep those checks coming!

Continued; I happen to believe that the Red Wings are in the middle of their rebuilding process. Not the beginning, not the end, but the middle. A place where there are playoff aspirations and players (like Dylan Larkin) who are getting understandably impatient with “the process,” and who plain old want to push this team back into the postseason.

But the Red Wings clearly have more prospects to acquire, more high-end talent to acquire, and maybe a couple of years or more until making the playoffs is no longer a dream, but instead, a sustainable reality for a Red Wings ecosystem where Yzerman–who, as Monarrez wisely says, is a plain old conservative general manager–is willing to move a few assets in order to gain a real foothold in the playoff push.

It sucks for people like the affable Larkin and company to be on the team in the middle of a rebuild, but one hopes that, when this team gets some breaks with injuries and player productivity, and when the roster really gels and comes together, it will have been worth the long wait.

DobberHockey’s Alexander MacLean was tasked with determining a “breakout candidate” for all of the NHL’s 32 teams, and he offers a surprising candidate for the Red Wings:

Red Wings – Jonatan Berggren (RW): Berggren played only five percent of his time last year with Lucas Raymond, but put up 15% of his total production in that time. Otherwise, his linemates were almost solely bottom-six players: Joe Veleno, Austin Czarnik, Matt Luff, Pius Suter… etc. If he can move up in the lineup, his scoring rate is going to skyrocket.

Continued; I don’t know whether “Johnny Burgers” will ascend the Wings’ depth chart, but I wouldn’t bet against his point totals increasing, regardless of who he plays with.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a behind-the-paywall article questioning whether the Red Wings can earn a playoff spot in the stacked Atlantic Division this upcoming season:

Is [Detroit’s] legitimate hope that the team can buck those odds, take the standings and if not turn them upside down, at least shake them up enough to shake out a playoff spot? Even GM Steve Yzerman is wondering how that development might come about.

Are the Red Wings ready to make a playoff run during the 2023-24 campaign?

“I’m not sure honestly,” Yzerman frankly admitted. “To sit here and for me to say we’re definitely gonna make the playoffs or whatnot, I’m not sure.”

Looking at the clubs above Detroit in the Atlantic, his concern appears warranted. Tick those teams off one at a time and you tell us which are the ones about to take a Humpty Dumpty-like fall to clear a playoff path for Detroit.

Continued (paywall); honestly, even this early on, my hope is that the Red Wings can snag a wild card spot. The Maple Leafs, Panthers and Lightning are going exactly nowhere other than the playoffs, and one underestimates the Patrice-Bergeron-and-David-Krejci-less Boston Bruins at their peril.