The Malik Report

Bleacher Report’s Sara Civian posted “The People’s Guide to the 2023-2024 NHL Season” this morning, and she called a spade a spade regarding Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s managerial style:

Detroit Red Wings

If you’re a fan of history, dynasties and “slow and steady wins the race,” the Red Wings are the bubble team for you. Detroit had one of the most prolific runs in NHL history, and now their former star, Steve Yzerman, is GM and has been carefully constructing what is referred to as the “Yzerplan.”

This is a plan that has required patience and a little bit of tanking, but they looked almost ready this season, the cap space has opened up, and young stars they acquired during the rebuild phase like Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond are gearing up to take their next steps. They’re starting to trade away the excess and are taking steps to actually improve like dealing for two-time 40-plus goal scorer DeBrincat.

Continued; Steve Yzerman is a deliberate general manager, and he’s not concerned about outside opinions regarding his managerial style. Yes, the Red Wings needed to tear down before they began their rebuild in earnest, and this season, it’s about depth, depth, depth and challenging for a playoff spot.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff spoke with Olli Maatta, David Perron and coach Derek Lalonde regarding the Red Wings’ desire to play better and challenge for a playoff spot this upcoming season:

Based upon the fact that the team was 12 points in arrears of the final Eastern Conference postseason berth, simple math suggests the Red Wings will need to win at least six more games this season in order to be in the playoff discussion. That’s going to be easier said than done.

“There’s really nowhere to go in the division,” Lalonde said of the rugged Atlantic, where most prognostications are placing the Red Wings finishing seventh overall.

Why will this season be any different? The players point to the new faces as cause for believing the outcome can be positive.

“I think we’re going to defend better,” Maatta said. “We have lots of skill. I think playing with the puck, playing in the offensive zone. I think we can take control of games better.”

Will it be enough to get over the hump and into the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2016? There’s the rub. While there’s no doubt that the Red Wings are a better, deeper squad, the rough rapids they must navigate could pull them under yet again.

“Of course (the playoffs) it’s a goal,” Lalonde said. “It’s been a goal of hockey for the last 100 years. But playing the right way, and establishing an identity, creating a little bit of a process will give us a chance to talk about that. Exactly where we were last year through three-quarters of the season. We were right there because we were playing the right way. Now we have to get there again.”

Continued; 99% of the media folks are picking the Wings to fail and the “Yzerplan” to fail as well. Detroit has to prove them wrong, one way or another.

Thankfully, starting tonight, the talk will cease and the action begins.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted her morning article today, discussing the Red Wings’ probable lines vs. New Jersey on Thursday, Jonatan Berggren’s assignment in Grand Rapids, and coach Derek Lalonde’s assessment of Nate Danielson’s preseason play.

We’ll focus on coach Lalonde’s prescription for Berggren this morning:

Berggren, who had 28 points in 67 games last season, was sent to the minors Sunday, with a message: “Just keep doing things to make you an every-day type NHL guy,” Lalonde said. “I think for him, unfortunately, right, wrong or indifferent, he’s still raw in his development, and it makes no sense for him to be sitting here as 13th, not playing. It’s valuable for him to play meaningful minutes in Grand Rapids, rather than sit here with us.

“He just needs to play. He’s barely been in this league. His first year was last year. He’s still growing. He needs a more complete game, play away from the puck, him managing his game and puck play, eliminating costly turnovers.”

It didn’t help Berggren, 23, that Fischer came in and looked like such a good addition to the fourth line; they play different types of game, but it’s where Berggren would have fit otherwise.

Continued; Berggren isn’t “young” by NHL standards any more at 23, but player development just isn’t always linear.

He is going to be an NHL player–hopefully with the Red Wings–and at least for the beginning of this season, I’m comfortable with the Wings’ decision regarding Berggren playing at the AHL level (Simon Edvinsson, too) instead of sitting at the NHL level.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed his 2023-2024 NHL Preview article, as a subscriber-only article, on the night before the new NHL season begins. Kulfan offers previews for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams, and here’s what he has to say about the home team:

Detroit Red Wings 

►Coach: Derek Lalonde 

►2022-23 record: 35-37-10 (80 points, 7th, Atlantic) 

►2022-23 leaders: G — Dylan Larkin, 32; A — Larkin, 47; W —Ville Husso, 26. 

►Pressure is on: RW Alex DeBrincat — The Farmington Hills native returns home, and he’s counted on to be the elite goal scorer this lineup has needed.  

►Rising star: D Simon Edvinsson — Edvinsson showed in a brief glimpse last season he possesses the size, skill and mobility that could make him elite.

►The skinny: GM Steve Yzerman overhauled the roster and it looks deeper and more talented. But is it enough to move up in the division standings?   

Continued (paywall)

The Score posted its “Top 100 NHL Players” rankings over the last couple of days, leading up to their top 10. The Red Wings have two representatives on The Score’s list, and two of them are forwards.

One ranks 90th…

90. Alex DeBrincat: The last time DeBrincat’s shooting percentage dipped below 15%, he followed it up by scoring at a 50-goal pace. Things didn’t work as well as hoped in Ottawa, but a move back home to Michigan with the Red Wings should rejuvenate the two-time 40-goal scorer.

And one ranks at the very rear of the Top 50:

50. Dylan Larkin: Larkin’s quietly put together back-to-back 30-goal, near-point-per-game campaigns. Now locked in at an $8.7-million cap hit for the next eight years, the 27-year-old remains the face of the Red Wings for the foreseeable future as the team looks to get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

I don’t know where Moritz Seider is on their list, and I would not think that there are 100 players better than #53, but I am not objective here, and never have been.

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe spoke with Toledo Walleye coach Pat Mikesch and several Walleye players as the Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate opened training camp with an open-to-the-public practice on Monday night at the Huntington Center:

Toledo opened training camp with 13 forwards, eight defensemen, and three goalies. The uptempo session lasted about an hour and a half.

“The whole purpose of it just was to get guys comfortable getting up on the ice and up to speed today,” Mikesch said. “[Speed] will be a major identity to our team. We wanted the fans to be able to kind of see the kind of energy we will have. Today was good for pace.”

Mikesch said the team’s quickness among his defensemen particularly stood out on day one.

“Even with good size, I like how well they move,” he said. “To be on the ice with them and to see how well our back end is gonna skate it was great to see.”

Among 13 players returning players from last season are forwards Brandon Hawkins and Conlan Keenan.

“It’s good to get back to see all the guys from last year and then meet all the new guys as well,” said Keenan, who had 30 points in 60 games last season. “Practice was fast-paced. We’re going to have a quick team. We’re going to be a very skilled offensive team.”

Continued

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a late-evening notebook which discusses the Red Wings’ experienced roster, the progression that still needs to be made by Jonatan Berggren and Simon Edvinsson, and coach Derek Lalonde’s advice to Red Wings prospect and Brandon Wheat Kings captain Nate Danielson as the Wings’ 9th overall draft pick in this past summer’s NHL Draft heads back to the WHL:

Lalonde said Danielson did not look out of place during his first NHL training camp and preseason.

“Really good conversation with him (Sunday),” Lalonde said. “He probably expected (to go back to juniors), but I also think he built some confidence through camp. He’s probably looking around, ‘I can fit in here. I’m very comfortable with the level of play here.’ My message was (to) want to get back here as quick as you can, judge yourself on yourself, get the most out of your experience,

“I expect him to play a big part of (Canada’s) World Junior team, which is always a good experience. He had a confidence about him, which I really liked. He almost asked what more could he have done. I love the fact that even as young as he is (turned 19 on Sept. 27), he came in with a ‘I want to make the team’ mentality, which is exciting for me.”

Continued, with the aforementioned topics. Lalonde’s remarks about Simon Edvinsson are telling.

ESPN’s Sean Allen and Victoria Matiash posted a set of fantasy hockey previews for the NHL’s 32 teams, and while their fantasy preview for the Red Wings is a little spare, I thought I’d share it with you:

Detroit Red Wings: Adding a weapon like Alex DeBrincat could unlock the next level for Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider, two already valuable fantasy commodities. DeBrincat brings some serious goal scoring to the power play. He was 18th overall for fantasy in the 2020-21 season.

Could that also help drive Lucas Raymond to the next level and a proper breakout for the third-year winger? If not, David Perron could be in for another sneaky, veteran fantasy season.

With an upgraded defense, Ville Husso is a candidate to rebound from a disappointing debut after the Red Wings invested in him last offseason.

Continued; the best part of the start of the new NHL season is hope. Everybody has a chance to win and everyone has a new start, with 82 games ahead of them as a blank slate. Here’s hoping the Wings fill out their season with wins.

Red Wings prospect and Michigan State University goaltender Trey Augustine won both of the games he started last weekend, and he spoke with WLNS’s Ian Kress about his 2023 NHL draft experience and more over the course of a 4-and-a-half minute interview:

Update: If that video doesn’t work for you, here’s the YouTube version:

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde addressed several important topics after Monday’s late-afternoon practice at the BELFOR Training Center under Little Caesars Arena,

The Free Press’s Helene St. James also posted a 4:52 clip of Lalonde’s remarks: