The Malik Report

FYI, from the Detroit Red Wings…

What’s better than having home opener tickets???

Having Red Wings AND @tigers home opener tickets!
???

?️: https://t.co/6kHbvnJHpD pic.twitter.com/2BdvMhj7dj— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 7, 2021

The Grand Rapids Griffins would also like to remind you that their home opener takes place on October 16th:

Hockey is back in 8 days!

Are you ready???

Get your tickets >> https://t.co/YjJxKkLgjI#GoGRG pic.twitter.com/ShEnvR8ZVf— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) October 7, 2021

The Detroit Red Wings host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena athis evening (7:30 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit/NHL Network/97.1 FM).

MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that Tyler Bertuzzi may make his 2021-2022 preaseason debut against the Penguins’ B Team:

#RedWings lineup for tonight’s preseason game vs. Penguins at LCA (7:30, Bally Sports Detroit). Bertuzzi slated to make preseason debut. pic.twitter.com/tzOOLQX0ra

— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 7, 2021

The Free Press’s Helene St. James confirms…

Tyler Bertuzzi on tonight’s Red Wings roster, hasn’t played since January 30, underwent back surgery in April. pic.twitter.com/n7Kdja8h7M— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) October 7, 2021

As does the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

Bertuzzi on the #RedWings roster for tonight vs. Pittsburgh. Would be his first game since January because of back surgery….Also, home fans get a chance to see Jonatan Berggren— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) October 7, 2021

Update:

Continue reading Red Wings-Penguins morning skate Tweets: Bertuzzi to play(?)

The Athletic asked its NHL writers to name one player from each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams who are expected to be traded before the end of the 2021-2022 campaign, and Max Bultman picked Nick Leddy as the Red Wings’ resident “trade bait” candidate:

Detroit Red Wings: Nick Leddy

Leddy will serve a valuable role as a mentor to Detroit’s young defensemen and likely QB the top power play, but come the trade deadline, I expect Detroit will look to recoup some of the draft capital it gave up to acquire him this past summer. -Max Bultman

Continued (paywall); I think that any of the Red Wings’ UFA’s-to-be might serve as trade bait come the deadline, so Robby Fabbri, Vladislav Namestnikov, Sam Gagner, Danny DeKeyser, Marc Staal, Troy Stecher and Thomas Greiss are all potential trade candidates at some point…

I just don’t know whether we’ll find out that Leddy is more valuable to the Wings as a mentor for Seider than he is as a chess piece.

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed an article discussing Filip Zadina’s preseason play for the Red Wings, noting that Zadina has acquitted himself well skating on Dylan Larkin’s wing:

Blashill’s plan was to start the season with Larkin centering Tyler Bertuzzi and Zadina. That remains to be seen. Raymond has been one of their best players in preseason and is making a strong push for a roster spot. Bertuzzi, coming off back surgery, is practicing but hasn’t played in an exhibition game, either due to the back or another undisclosed injury.

Regardless of which line he is on, the Red Wings need more from Zadina than what he produced last season (six goals, 19 points in 49 games).

“From the minute Filip has come to us, I’ve talked to him about being dangerous offensively,” Blashill said. “Certainly, everyone’s got to be complete, but I don’t think Z’s been all that incomplete. There were times late last year he struggled a little bit in his D-zone. I think it’s just continuing to find those ways to create offense, and a lot of it has to come with his brain.

“It just comes with physical maturity, being a little stronger on pucks, being able to get a little more breakaway speed and then his brain. He’s not huge and he’s not super-fast, so he has to use his brain, and I think he’s done a good job of that so far in the preseason.”

Continued

Of prospect-related note in North America on Wednesday:

Sebastian Cossa stopped 23 of 24 shots, earning first-star status in the Edmonton Oil Kings’ 2-1 victory over Alex Cotton’s Lethbridge Hurricanes. Cotton had an assist on Lethbrige’s goal and took 4 shots, finishing even.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff filed an article discussing 5 takeaways from Wednesday night’s 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Duff noted the following regarding the Red Wings’ currently bloated roster of NHL, AHL and ECHL players:

While most NHL teams have been cutting and reassigning players to the minor leagues throughout training camp, the Wings have kept almost all their players together in Detroit. Wednesday, they reassigned defenseman Alex Cotton to the WHL Lethbridge Hurricanes and released forward T-Bone Codd and defenseman Mason Ward from amateur tryouts.

Still, they’ve made no moves with any of their pro players, meaning a massive cut will be coming in the next few days. Blashill’s indication was that considering the team’s NHL preseason slate was compact, he thought it best to keep the roster numbers up for as long as possible.

“The schedule is really condensed for us, and we need to keep more bodies longer, to both get looks from an exhibition game standpoint and make sure we have the bodies,”Blashill said. “We’ll see after the next couple of games where everything stands and ultimately, we’ll release guys when the time is appropriate for us. We’re not going to worry about what other people do. It’s whatever is appropriate for us.”

Continued

The Athletic’s Max Bultman spoke with Red Wings pro try-out forward Bobby Ryan regarding Ryan’s attempts to earn an NHL contract with the Wings, as Ryan battles with Lucas Raymond (to some extent) for a top-six spot:

“It’s been stressful, but it’s been good,” Ryan said. “At least I’m in a place where I have a comfort level, and I know the guys well and I have all the positive things around me. So stressful, but good at the same time I guess.”

Ryan also later added a bit of perspective: Even in the worst-case scenario where the Red Wings do call him in and end the tryout, “I’m back with my family in 24 hours.”

“So I’m in a pretty fortunate position,” he said. “But I’m going to try to stick around.”

It is possible, as Ryan alluded, that whether he does stick around in Detroit comes down to a competition with Raymond for a job in the Red Wings’ top six. The two are both smart, highly skilled, right-shot wingers, and while they are at opposite ends of their careers, either could make sense in the offensive role once ticketed for Jakub Vrana (who has been sidelined by shoulder surgery).

Entering the preseason, Ryan might have been the favorite to do so — despite the tryout status — given the need for the Red Wings to properly handle Raymond’s development. As the preseason has gone on, though, Raymond has looked like a player ready to make an impact in the NHL. He’s made a strong case to be on the team.

Continued (paywall)

The Detroit Red Wings both collectively and individually engaged in a “learning experience” over the course of their 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday, no more than star-in-the-making Moritz Seider, who was one of four Red Wings that Patrik Laline walked around en route to scoring this staggering goal:

With their collective pride wounded, Detroit will head home to face the Pittsburgh Penguins’ B Team on Thursday night (7:30 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit/97.1 the Ticket) boasting a 3-and-3 preseason record.

The Wings will clearly look toward Thursday’s game, and Saturday’s preseason finale against Buffalo (3 PM EDT start on MSG B), as de-facto dress rehearsals for the regular season, and that’s logical; that being said, we should expect more “learning experiences” for the Red Wings’ youngsters, Moritz Seider included, and the more mistakes that they make during the preseason, the fewer mistakes they will make when the games count.

NHL.com posted a brief recap of the game…

Continue reading Preseason wrap-up: Red Wings drop 4-2 decision to Blue Jackets (and that damn Laine goal you’ll be hearing about for weeks)

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Seth Rorabaugh, the Pittsburgh Penguins are bringing a relatively inexperienced lineup to Detroit for tomorrow’s preseason game (7:30 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit/97.1 FM):

Forwards — Anthony Angello, Brian Boyle, Kasper Bjorkqvist, Jonathan Gruden, Filip Hallander, Sam Lafferty, Nathan Legare, Drew O’Connor, Sam Poulin, Valtteri Puustinen, Dominik Simon, Radim Zohorna,

Defensemen — Niclas Almari, Taylor Fedun, Mark Friedman, P.O Joseph, Mike Matheson, Chad Ruhwedel, Juuso Riikola

Goaltenders — Casey DeSmith, Louis Domingue

On Wednesday afternoon, the team recalled Almari, Fedun, Gruden and Puustinen from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings tangled with the pesky Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday evening, with the game streamed by the Columbus Blue Jackets (hey, it’s better than nothing).

The Red Wings managed to rally in the 3rd period from a 2-0 deficit, thanks to goals from Riley Barber and Dan Renouf, but Detroit was mostly manhandled by an NHL-ready Columbus Blue Jackets roster on Wednesday night, and while Alex Nedeljkovic was excellent in the Wings’ crease, stopping 33 of 37 shots and 69 Blue Jackets attempts…

Columbus was easily able to regain their lead only 35 seconds after Renouf’s goal, thanks to a lucky bounce-and-chip-in by Jakub Voracek, and Patrik Laine schooled Moritz Seider, teammates Joe Veleno, Dan Renouf and Mitchell Stephens on what was a gorgeous-to-watch goal to push the final score to 4-2.

Regrettably, the Wings’ players got caught watching far too often on Wednesday night, Givani Smith was undisciplined at best, and the Wings’ “B Team” roster needs to salvage some pride for the 4-and-4 Wings as they host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday evening (7:30 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/97.1 FM)

Continue reading Preseason recap: Red Wings get schooled by Columbus, rally but drop a 4-2 decision