The Malik Report

MLive’s Ansar Khan took note of Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s comments regarding Simon Edvinsson and Marco Kasper’s chances of making the team out of training camp, as did Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen:

Yzerman wants to keep the door open for younger players. The last thing he wants is to discourage top prospects.

“I’m not gonna tell any of these kids, ‘Hey you’re not on the team next year., ‘” Yzerman said. “‘Go out and play well and perform.’”

Lucas Raymond’s presence on the roster is a reminder that young players can persuade Yzerman to keep them.

“Two years ago we were sure the plan with Lucas was he’s gonna need a year in the American League,” Yzerman said. “Why did we say that? We’re watching him in Sweden and we don’t really know. When he came over, he performed really well. He looks good in the rookie tournament, he looks good in the preseason. Well, we’ll start him off in the NHL. Hopefully he doesn’t go backwards and he had a good year. He wasn’t handed that spot, because our plan was to keep him in the American League for that year. With all these guys, we’ll let their play determine where they go, but we don’t want to put ourselves in a position where we’re hoping they make it, because if they don’t, then what are we gonna do?”

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Our final story about Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s Monday press conference comes from the Free Press’s Helene St. James, who notes the following:

Asked what else he wants to address, Yzerman smiled and replied, “Sleep would be one.”

But here’s what’s keeping him awake: “I think the general consensus is, ‘Hey, the Red Wings need to score more,’ ” Yzerman said. “We need to keep the puck out of our net, we need to be better defensively, we’d like our special teams to be better. I’m counting on collectively, the entire group, that everybody chip in a little bit on offense, which will help us score more. Getting Robby Fabbri back healthy, Lucas Raymond a year older. J.T. Compher coming into the mix, chipping in some goals.

“Collectively, I expect us to improve a little bit. Probably still not where we’d all like to be, so we’ll continue in the offseason here, what, if anything, if it be through some more free agents that are still out there, or even look at potential trades.”

Yzerman has about $10 million left in salary cap space after his shopping spree. He had to replace goal-scoring forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Jakub Vrána, and defenseman Filip Hronek, all of whom were traded, and goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg, who were not re-signed.

Continued; nobody wants to hear this, but we’ll have to wait and see what the rest of the summer holds in terms of free agency and trades.

Perhaps the most interesting comments Steve Yzerman made yesterday involved the futures of the Red Wings’ best prospects in Simon Edvinsson and Marco Kasper. MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an early-morning article which discusses Yzerman’s remarks regarding his top prospects:

“We have high hopes for Simon,” Yzerman said. “I’m not prepared to put him on the team in a top-six role. Certainly, I don’t think it’s beyond a possibility that Simon comes in and has an outstanding training camp, and outstanding preseason and simply forces his way into the lineup. That’s what every one of us – our fans, our organization – would love to see. And if that happens, that’s great and we’ll figure it out.”

The Red Wings are being patient with the development of their top prospects.

“At this stage, to say we’re going to put (Edvinsson) right in the top six, I’m not prepared to say that and I’m not prepared to do that,” Yzerman said. “It’s not fair to him and it’s not the right thing for any of our young players or the team itself.”

…

The Red Wings hope Kasper does what Lucas Raymond did in 2021 – play so well in the preseason that he forced his way onto the roster.

“I’m not going to tell any of these kids, ‘You’re not on the team next year,’ ” Yzerman said. “Go out and play well and perform. … With all these guys, we’ll let their play determine where they go. But we don’t want to put ourselves in a position where we’re hoping they make it because if they don’t then what do we do?”

Continued; I’m fine with the Red Wings’ decision to ask players like Edvinsson, Kasper and Elmer Soderblom to “steal a job.”

I just don’t want there to be roadblocks to players earning spots on the roster in “untouchable” veteran players, as the Red Wings tended to defer to veterans under Ken Holland and Mike Babcock.

This morning, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff offers yet another survey of the comments made by Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman on Monday afternoon:

While the fanbase seems to be divided on the issue, Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman is expressing confidence that his July 1 moves in unrestricted free agency were filling in holes that the team desperately needed to fill.

“We (didn’t) address every need that we had, but addressed a lot of the needs we had,” Yzerman said. “Signed two goaltenders, addressed our blue line, got a right-shot defenseman (Justin Holl), which was a need, a defenseman that plays on the power play (Shane Gostisbehere), which is a real need, a right-shot centerman.

“Daniel Sprong addresses another right winger, right-shot winger, (who) scored some goals. Christian Fischer, (is) a good-solid checker, penalty killer, another right winger, right shot. J.T. Compher can play any of the three forward positions, (will be) very versatile for us.

“Overall, we targeted specific needs and we were able to address those. Very comfortable with the term of the all the contracts.”

Continued

Of all the press reactions to Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s 33-minute press conference with the media today, it’s DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills who reminds us how very different the 2023-2024 Red Wings already are from last year’s team–for better, worse, or indifferent:

Before free agency began Saturday afternoon, the Red Wings signed center Klim Kostin and re-inked defenseman Gustav Lindstrom and right wing Matt Luff. Since free agency opened, Detroit has signed 10 new players: centers J.T. Compher and Nolan Stevens, left wing Tim Gettinger, right wings Daniel Sprong and Christian Fischer, defensemen Justin Holl, Brogan Rafferty and Shayne Gostisbehere and goalies Alex Lyon and James Reimer.

“Good teams have depth,” Yzerman said. “I think we have some depth. We would all love a couple of big-time scorers. Hopefully we’ll get that. Again, we’ll continue to work to get that.”

The NHL’s flat salary cap in 2023-24 influenced this year’s signing period, as most clubs opted to offer many short-term deals to free agents.

“Not every team, but a lot of teams, are squeezed,” Yzerman said. “So trying to get guys on shorter-term deals. For a lot of the players, they’re looking at this, potentially, what happens to the cap a year from now? If they couldn’t get a deal that they like – one with term that was a good fit – ‘Hey, I’ll do a shorter-term deal, the cap is gonna go up and I’m gonna go back at it.'”

…

While Monday marked just the third day of free agency, Yzerman acknowledged that trade opportunities could still arise this summer, so he will keep an open mind regarding how to further improve Detroit’s roster.

“Generally after July 1 and 2, things start to settle down and teams reevaluate where they are and what they need to do,” Yzerman said. “For various reasons, [teams] might have to make a move. We’ve all kind of settled in after July 1 and 2, kind of knowing now where we go from here. We’ll explore some other opportunities potentially.”

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The second skill-development session of the Red Wings’ 2023 Summer Development Camp was held on Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena.

Preceded by a little bit of skating by Robby Fabbri, Ben Chiarot and a player who was probably Mark Pysyk…

The Red Wings’ prospects and try-outs took to the ice to work with skating coaches Brodie and Tracy Tutton, and then engage in skill drills with skill development coach Dwayne Blais.

The sessions were much shorter than Sunday‘s two-hour-and-twenty-minute sessions, with the players only working for an hour and twenty minutes.

That afforded the prospects both the opportunity to speak with the Red Wings’ beat writers, as well as what’s likely some sort of out-of-the-rink activity involving attending a Detroit Tigers game today (assuming that the Tigers are playing?).

That being said, the Red Wings’ prospects were skating into their third day on the ice, Saturday’s fitness testing included, so the action-packed skating sessions and skill drills seemed to leave the players a bit tuckered out at times. They’ll get back to those 2:20 sessions tomorrow, so here’s hoping that they use their time off wisely.

Continue reading Impressions from the second (skill development) day of the Red Wings’ summer development camp

We’ll wrap up our Monday night survey of Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s press conference at the 2023 Summer Development Camp with this assessment of the Red Wings’ non-J.T. Compher free agent signings, via the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

Signing [Christian] Fischer and acquiring forward Klim Kostin in a trade could potentially shore up the size and grit the Wings were looking for, while also help the team in other areas.

“They’re young guys and have upside,” Yzerman said. “They can still grow. Fischer, a right winger, a bigger guy and a good penalty killer. Klim is an evolving player, a highly touted junior who was an offensive guy, and he’s evolving into a big, strong guy who can shoot the puck into the net. His role is growing.

“They make us a bigger team and add a dimension of shooting the puck into the net. Each player has room to grow as hockey players and they make us a little bigger for sure.”

The arrival of [Justin] Holl and [Shayne] Gostisbehere, and re-signing restricted free agent Gustav Lindstrom, likely ensures prospect Simon Edvinsson begins next season in Grand Rapids.

“We have high hopes for Simon, but I’m not prepared to put him on the team in a top-six role,” Yzerman said. “Certainly I don’t think it’s beyond a possibility that Simon comes in and has an outstanding training camp, and outstanding pre-season and simply forces his way into the lineup, and if that happens, that’s great, we’ll figure it out.

“But at this stage, to say we’re going to put him in the top-six, I’m not prepared to say that and I don’t want to do that. It’s not fair to him and it’s not fair for any of our young players, or the team itself. He’s an excellent young prospect and we saw a lot of good things in the nine games he played at the end of last season (with the Wings). If he’s ready to play and he earns a spot on the team, we’ll figure it out.”

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97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield took note of the comments made by Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman today, and Burchfield took note of Yzerman’s belief that signing J.T. Compher to a 5-year contract was worth the price of admission:

As for the decisions the Wings have already made in free agency, Yzerman said that “on each player, very comfortable with the term of all the contracts we did.” Asked specifically about Compher, who hadn’t topped 33 points in six seasons with the Avalanche prior to last season and nevertheless reeled in a big-money deal from Detroit, Yzerman said the 28-year-old is a “very good athlete and a good skater” who can handle the NHL grind. He also brings flexibility up front, on top of his Stanley Cup-winning pedigree.

“Anything can happen injury wise, but at this stage, a five-year term is reasonable,” Yzerman said. “What I do like is his versatility as a hockey player. He’s a natural right-shot centermen, which we don’t have at this time, who has played all three forward positions, has played on the power play, does kill penalties. I think he’s a very versatile player for us. And again, that ability to move around, to me, makes him very valuable.”

Compher’s offensive breakthrough last season did come with a bigger role, and a similar one likely awaits him in Detroit. On an Avalanche team riddled by injuries, he finished third among forwards in ice time, behind only Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Compher’s 20:32 per night was more than three minutes higher than his previous career high. He put it to good use.

“Very familiar with his career,” said Yzerman. “I’ve watched him all along, and in particular last year where he’s in a free agent year and knowing (Colorado’s) cap situation, we kept a close eye on him. He played a bigger role there this year, we got to see some of his versatility, and he thrived in that role.”

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The Athletic’s Max Bultman filed a notebook from today’s press conference by Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman, with Bultman focusing on the team’s decision to waive Filip Zadina at the player’s request:

“A couple weeks prior to the draft, through his agent, he had asked if he could potentially go somewhere else looking for more opportunity, a fresh start,” Yzerman said. “So, I’ve tried to do that. I’ve tried to find a place for him to play, somebody who’s interested in Filip, would maybe give him that opportunity. I haven’t been able to do that. So in putting him on waivers today, I’m trying to give him an opportunity to go somewhere to an organization if he wants to play more. We’ll see if that happens.”

That Zadina might want a fresh start is not, in itself, surprising. The idea of trading him elsewhere has been bandied about for a couple of seasons now, always with the logic that a change of scenery might help him capture his potential.

But Monday’s move should not be read as the Red Wings simply giving up on the chance it might happen in Detroit. In fact, Yzerman is still hopeful it will happen in Detroit — and said he saw progress in that direction at times last season, even in an injury-plagued campaign.

“I don’t write his career off by any means,” Yzerman said. “I thought he made significant steps. It’s been a challenge for him, he’s had some injuries playing in Detroit, I think he’s got upside. I think he still can become a valuable player in the NHL. Last year was cut short, or held back, due to injury. There’s nothing he or I or anybody can do about it. It happens. Generally guys persevere, I look at Eeli Tolvanen last year … (the) guy was having a tough time in Nashville for whatever reason and gets claimed by Seattle and really took off. Does that happen for Filip if he goes somewhere? Maybe. It could happen here. I would like it to happen here. I still think there’s something there as a player.”

Continued (paywall)

Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman discussed the team’s underwhelming free agency performance and much more over the course of a 33-minute press conference today, and MLive’s Ansar Khan took note of Yzerman’s remarks regarding the Wings’ attempts to score more goals this upcoming season:

He didn’t add a big-time goal-scorer to a roster that finished 24th in the league in scoring. That continues to be the team’s most pressing need, one that was going to be difficult to fill in a thin free-agent market.

He hopes that collectively there is enough offense in several of those acquisitions to boost his team’s production.

“We’d like to score more,” Yzerman said. “I think that’s the general consensus — the Red Wings need to score more. We need to keep the puck out of our net. We need to be better defensively. I’d like our special teams to be better.”

…

Unless Yzerman swings a trade for a significant goal-scorer, these newcomers must join with the existing crew to improve the offense.

“I’m counting on the collective group, the roster we have now, everybody to chip in a little bit on the offense, which will help us score more,” Yzerman said. “Getting Robby Fabbri back healthy, Lucas Raymond a year older, J.T. Compher coming into the mix, scoring some goals. Collectively, I expect us to improve a little bit, probably still not where we’d all like it to be. We’ll continue in the offseason to see what if anything, some more free agents still out there or even look at potential trades. Generally, after July 1-2, things start to settle down and teams re-evaluate where they are, what they need to do, and for various reasons might have to make a move.”

Continued