The Malik Report

The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe discusses the long-forgotten “Supplemental Draft” this morning. The NHL once doled out the rights of NCAA-playing players aged 21 or older via this draft, and McIndoe blames the Red Wings for its abuse and misuse…Sort of…

As with most things in life, the problem starts with the Detroit Red Wings.

Specifically, the Red Wings were upsetting everyone in the mid-80s by actually trying to win — and worse, by spending money to do it. They’d just been purchased by pizza magnate Mike Ilitch, and he got the crazy idea in his head that he could build a better team by spending money. This did two things: Annoyed his fellow owners, who were all cheapskates, and led to every article about the situation making a joke about the pizza guy and his dough. (As one example, enjoy this archived Sports Illustrated piece from 1985 that repeatedly refers to the new guy as “Mike Hitch”.)

Spending money on standard-issue UFAs like Warren Young and Harold Snepsts was bad enough. But Ilitch went a step further in 1985, handing GM Jimmy Devellano a blank check to sign a group of college free agents. All five players were too old to be eligible for the entry draft but had caught the attention of scouts late in their college careers. The Wings signed all of them to multiyear deals paying them six figures, unheard-of sums for unproven prospects.

Continued (paywall) with a bit about the Wings’ misses and one hit (Adam Oates) in the Supplemental Draft…

And no, you could never call Mike Ilitch a hockey cheapskate.

The Athletic’s Ian Mendes discusses the best “under-the-radar” signings of this past summer, and Mendes likes the Wings’ signing of Shayne Gostisbehere:

Shayne Gostisbehere — Detroit Red Wings

Fresh off finishing a six-year contract that came with a $4.5 million cap hit, Gostisbehere took only a small pay cut in signing his $4.125 million deal with Detroit. However, this one doesn’t come with any long-term security since it’s just a one-year contract. Gostisbehere hasn’t come close to replicating the 52-assist, 65-point season he recorded in the first season of his long-term deal with the Flyers back in 2017-18. In Detroit, Gostisbehere joins an eclectic group of veteran defensemen that includes Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry, Justin Holl and Olli Maatta. Moritz Seider will be the undisputed No. 1 defenseman for the Red Wings, but Gostisbehere should have a chance to see time on the second-unit power play.

Continued (paywall); calling the Wings’ defense eclectic is very polite and kind of Mendes.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that the Red Wings’ duo of Swedish prospects earned praise in an Aftonbladet article in which three SHL players picked their “dream teams”:

Mathias Brome of Örebro is no stranger to Detroit hockey fans. The Swedish forward spent the 2020-21 season with the Red Wings and the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins. He would account for 1-1-2 totals in 26 games for Detroit.

Brome was one of those picking teams for Aftonbladet. Among the selections he was opting to go with was Detroit draftee Theodor Niederbach.

“I have tried to find the younger ones who blossom, like Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Theodor Niederbach,” Brome was explaining to Aftonbladet.

Certainly, this is the year that Niederbach will need to be blossoming in order to garner a contract with the Red Wings. The 51st overall selection of the 2020 NHL entry draft, the 21-year-old right-winger must sign a contract with Detroit next season, or the club will be relinquishing his NHL rights. Niederbach is back in the SHL with MoDo Hockey. It’s his fourth season of SHL action. He’s never collected more than nine goals or 16 points.

Continued, with an explanation as to how Sandin Pellikka’s teammate, Jonathan Pudas, picked his teammate…And yes, Niederbach has to get his butt in gear this season. He’s got the skills, but his inconsistency and skinny frame are issues which need to get resolved this year.

Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond spoke with Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman as part of the NHL’s European Media tour, granting a ten-minute interview…

And the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton took note of some of the more interesting parts of the interview:

When Marek asked him what goes through a player’s mind when his team brings in the likes of Alex DeBrincat, J.T. Compher, and Jeff Petry over the summer, Raymond said, “You’re excited. I feel like we’re building something really good. If you look at my first year, which is only two years ago, compared to now coming into this season, I feel like it’s a huge difference. I think every player and also the city is very excited for the season.”

At this point, Friedman jumped in, rewinding to Steve Yzerman’s end-of-season press conference.  Friedman recalled Yzerman’s admiration for the way Raymond handled the arrival of David Perron, a player whose profile and arrival represented a direct challenge to Raymond’s role and ice time.

“You can look at it from a lot of different perspectives,” said Raymond, with a maturity well beyond that which you might expect of a 21-year-old. “For me, I feel like we took a step last year in a lot of areas, and I want to develop as a player, but mostly I want our team to move in a direction that is fun. 

“It created a lot of competition in our team in a lot of different spots, which was good for us. It made everyone want to take a further step, want to play better and develop, and I think that benefits everyone. I think competition is good; I think it drives you forward. That was kind of my mindset.”

Continued

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted an article which looks back at the comments made by Red Wings goaltender James Reimer when he signed with the team in July:

Reimer was the No. 1 starter in San Jose the past two seasons. But he’s ready to go into this season doing whatever the Wings need, and he’s comfortable being a veteran backup.

“Your mindset is the same, no matter what the scenario is for the most part,” Reimer said. “How I’m built and probably most guys in the league are, is you’re a competitor and you want to be at the top of your game, no matter if you’re playing 10 games a year or 82. It doesn’t matter if it’s practice or morning skate, you’re bringing your best and you want to show your best.”

Reimer expects to be part of a productive tandem with Husso.

“When there’s a good relationship, that’s when you have the most success,” Reimer said. “Part of it is understanding that you’re both competitors, you both want to play, and it doesn’t matter if there’s an outright No. 1 and an outright No. 2. It’s also important to understand the main focus is the team and how to give the team the best chance to win every night.

“It’s the same thing for me coming in with Huss. We’re going to compete against each other and we’re going to enjoy life and enjoy competing against each other. As much as we’re competing for the net and we both want it, you’re coming in to play as much as I can, but it’s to help him play as best as he can, too, and to push him and enable him to play his best. The goal is for both guys to be playing their best. We’re going to compete and have fun and push each other and drive each other to be our best.”

Continued

Per the Hockey News’s Michael Derosa:

The Edmonton Oilers have signed winger Adam Erne to a professional tryout (PTO) contract. He is the third player the Oilers have signed to a PTO, as Sam Gagner and Brandon Sutter are also competing for contracts. 

Erne, 28, appeared in 61 games last season with the Detroit Red Wings, posting eight goals and 18 points. He left a bigger impact when it came to his physicality, however, recording 160 hits. 

Erne will be competing with wingers like Mattias Janmark and Dylan Holloway for a spot in the Oilers’ bottom six. Yet, when noting that the Oilers need center depth more, Erne has an uphill battle ahead of him. However, if he impresses at camp, a two-way deal is possible.

Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman spoke with a private audience recently in the Ilitch Sports + Entertainment colleague gathering on Monday afternoon. DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills took note of some of Yzerman’s noteworthy remarks:

Injuries certainly hampered the Red Wings in 2022-23, so Detroit often relied on organizational depth to fill voids. And beginning Thursday, that depth will be on full display when the Red Wings’ brightest young prospects take the ice for the 2023 NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City.

Yzerman said he views the annual tournament as an opportunity to learn more about the highly touted prospects within and outside the organization.

“We’ve got kids anywhere from 18 to 24 (years old),” Yzerman said. “It’s a huge difference. The 24-year-olds are physically developed. A majority of the 18-year-olds are young and not as strong. So we just watch to see where they’re at. We get a chance to see three other organizations’ prospects as well, so we do a little bit of scouting.”

Describing the Red Wings’ upcoming schedule in Traverse City brought back special memories for Yzerman, who spent his entire 22-year NHL career with Detroit.  

“That area is awesome,” Yzerman said about Traverse City. “Players love going up. The first time we went up was the summer of ’97, after we won the Stanley Cup. You’re done at noon or 1 o’clock, then the guys go golf, fishing or whatever they want to do. They have a lot of fun.”

Continued

From the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS, BALLY SPORTS DETROIT AND AUDACY ANNOUNCE BROADCAST SCHEDULE FOR 2023-24 SEASON

  … Bally Sports Detroit to Air 69 Regular-Season Games; 97.1 FM Continues as Radio Home of Red Wings …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings, in conjunction with Bally Sports Detroit and Audacy, today announced the Red Wings local television and radio schedules for the 2023-24 season. 

Bally Sports Detroit (BSD) continues its award-winning production and carriage of Red Wings games by airing a total of 69 regular-season contests with 58 games slated for BSD, 10 on Bally Sports Detroit Extra (BSD EXTRA) and one (Monday, April 1 at Tampa Bay) to be determined.

The popular announcer team of Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond return to call the action, while Bally Sports Detroit’s comprehensive coverage also includes pregame and postgame editions of RED WINGS LIVE. In addition to live reports from Little Caesars Arena, studio portions of RED WINGS LIVE will originate from Bally Sports Detroit’s studios at its Southfield headquarters.

A total of 13 Red Wings regular-season games will be nationally exclusive broadcasts on TNT, ABC, ESPN and ESPN+/Hulu.

Additionally, 97.1 FM continues as the radio flagship home of the Red Wings, voiced by the longtime team of Ken Kal and Paul Woods. This season, Kal and Woods will be joined by reporter Daniella Bruce throughout broadcasts, including in pre- and post-game segments along with in-game updates about the team. Games with programming conflicts will air on 950 AM.

You can find the full schedule here.

The Score’s John Matisz is ranking all 32 NHL teams by tiers, and today, he suggests that the Red Wings belong in “Standings Purgatory” (tier 5 of 8), a tier in which a team has playoff chances, but only when presuming that “the stars align” in a team’s favor:

Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings went on a spending spree in the offseason, acquiring Alex DeBrincat and Jeff Petry via trade, and signing free agents J.T. Compher, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Justin Holl, among others. General manager Steve Yzerman was similarly busy in the summer of 2022.

All of this activity raised Detroit’s floor. They are no longer the club trying to move on from the glory years of a 25-year playoff run.

The Red Wings still need at least two more offensive drivers, as the drop-off from catalysts Dylan Larkin and DeBrincat to Lucas Raymond, Compher, Andrew Copp, and David Perron is, frankly, too steep. Meanwhile, the efficacy of the blue line is still to be determined. Moritz Seider and Jake Walman should be terrific again, but none of the others – Gostisbehere, Petry, Holl, Ben Chiarot, and Olli Maatta – instill a ton of confidence. As for the tandem behind them, well, Ville Husso with James Reimer is fine but nothing special.

Detroit will continue to climb the standings but it likely won’t be enough for the playoffs.

Continued; I won’t disagree that the Red Wings need more “drivers of play,” but I wonder whether those players might exist within the organization as prospects.

We shall find out soon.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills looks back at Moritz Seider’s sophomore NHL campaign this morning:

After winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 2021-22, Seider led all defensemen 22 years old or younger in games played (82), assists (37), points (42), hits (207) and blocks (190) last season. Additionally, Seider’s 207 hits tied the Red Wings franchise record originally set by Justin Abdelkader in 2015-16, while his 190 blocks were the most by any Detroit skater in a single campaign.

“Overall I think I’m in a really good place,” Seider said in his end-of-season media session. “I found my stride during the season. I got shots better on net, so I was happy with that. I’m a better defender now than I was (in 2021-22). I’m doing a good job of trying to shut down the best lines on a daily basis. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

But Seider’s statistics do not tell the whole story, according to fellow defenseman Jake Walman. He said that Seider can impact a game even without the puck.

“He’s a beast out there,” Walman said about Seider in April. “He can do it all. He can do everything by himself.”

Seider said he felt an increased comfort level with the Red Wings in 2022-23, helping the former sixth overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft gain more confidence in his own game.

“I think I’m not caught out of position that often anymore,” Seider said. “I matured on the PK to just block more shots. Another full 82-game season helped me to mature as well.”

Continued; the Wings hope that Seider will grow into a Norris Trophy-caliber defenseman, and I don’t think that’s unrealistic over the course of the next couple of seasons.