The Malik Report

MLive’s Ansar Khan has written an article discussing Dylan Larkin’s recovery from offseason core muscle surgery, as well as his take on his contract negotiations with the Red Wings:

“I think the timing of the surgery was a difficult decision, but it was something we kind of mapped out where I could have a full summer,” Larkin said Thursday after the first day of training camp in Traverse City. “I was back in the gym right away. I was back on the ice eight weeks after. It’s just a great feeling not skating around with pain.”

He will feel even better after he signs a long-term extension. Larkin is entering the final year of a five-year, $30.5 million deal he signed in 2018 ($6.1 million cap hit). He said there is nothing to report on that front.

“I think it’s very important to get it done before next season so I can play hockey,” Larkin said, jokingly. “I don’t see myself playing anywhere else. It’s great to be back on the ice, great to be back in Traverse City with the guys so I can focus on our team.”

Not having an extension in place when the season starts won’t be a distraction for him.

“You get so caught up in the daily grind, the games, practices, recovery and preparation for the next game,” Larkin said. “Something I take very seriously is how I recover, how I prepare. It’s pretty much all I do all season. I plan on sticking to that and playing for the fans and my teammates.”

Continued

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted an article discussing the Red Wings’ attempts to establish a new identity under their new coach and new roster as training camp opened today at Centre ICE Arena:

“You can dissect last year’s season any way you want with the defensive deficiency numbers or the holes here and the holes there,” [coach Derek] Lalonde said. “I think Steve (Yzerman) did a great job addressing those with free agency, but this is a group of guys that we feel can skate. We are going to use that as an advantage and potentially an identity for us.”

Lalonde said he “worked very hard trying to get to know the group” this summer.

“We literally worked off a spreadsheet on when we talked to a certain player, what we talked to him about and why,” Lalonde said. “It just forces you to stay on top of it. I think those relationships are vitally important.”

The first-year NHL head coach added that he prioritized building a relationship with captain Dylan Larkin.

“Dylan and I have talked a ton,” Lalonde said. “Even some little projects, something as simple as our travel schedule and hotels. I’ve put a lot on him and talking to the leadership group and getting his feedback.”

Larkin expressed his hope for a competitive training camp, citing that unfamiliarity between players and coaches could be beneficial.

“I was a little nervous today getting on the ice,” Larkin said. “It’s something new and your first day to make a first impression. I think that’s so important for everyone on our team and for the new guys as well. It evens the playing field and it’s gonna be a very competitive camp, but you get a clean slate and new opportunity to impress a new staff.”

Continued, with an update on Oskar Sundqvist’s status as well…

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan has filed his fine daily notebook, and in it, he discusses David Perron’s desire to help the Red Wings’ cause this upcoming season, the goaltending competition between Alex Nedeljkovic and Ville Husso, and more:

Signed as an unrestricted free agent in July, Perron figures to strengthen the Wings in a variety of ways. Scoring goals, particularly on the power play which has been a Wings’ weakness, defensively, leadership, and just a certain veteran pedigree that is invaluable, especially on a younger team.

“What has been real exciting about David and talking to him through the summer, is he self admitted he evolved within his career,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “His work ethic, his approach, and it’s an unbelievable example of where he is now. He expects practice to be at a high pace and he wants guys to work throughout the entire practice. He’s embracing that role.”

At this stage in his career Perron, 34, is keenly focused on team goals.

“Just help the team move forward,” Perron said. “At this stage of my career, I want to be a difference-maker on the ice, still bring some of the stuff I was doing in St. Louis, and it’s just finding chemistry with guys and finding the right linemates. But team-wise is where I want to make a difference, leadership-wise, kind of being an extension of the coaching staff, kind of preaching the right stuff in the room by talking and my play on the ice, and making sure the staples defensively and throughout our system are there each and every night.”

Continued

Another one!

Dylan Larkin is opening his eighth season with the Red Wings, and says he wants to start every season of his NHL career in the same sweater.

Detroit’s captain wants to remain with the organization, hoping to get a contract extension done. Our one-on-one conversation: pic.twitter.com/hLTgJHxcJO— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) September 22, 2022

A 3:16 interview:

INTERVIEW: Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde talked after his first day running training camp. He feels the passion of Wings fans.

“I would do the media quite often in Tampa, and in the Zooms I’d face three people. We’re no longer in Tampa anymore, with the hockey media,” he said. pic.twitter.com/lwPj7oNdJV— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) September 22, 2022

The Free Press’s Helene St. James explains why they call Derek Lalonde “Newsy”:

Nicknames in hockey tend to revolve around a player’s proper name, but every now and then, a unique one comes along.

Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin (called “Larks” by teammates) laughed Thursday after the first day of training camp when asked if he knew why new head coach Derek Lalonde goes by “Newsy,” admitting to an awkward interaction.

“The first conversation, he called me and said, ‘this is Newsy’ and I was like, who?,” Larkin said. “It’s something that stuck a long time ago and it’s his name now. I still don’t know what the reference is.”

The reference is to Édouard Cyrille “Newsy” Lalonde, a former forward for the Montreal Canadiens who also enraptured his native Canada as a lacrosse player.

The Red Wings coach, 50, said the nickname began, “sometime in college.” The original “Newsy” pronounced his last name with the ‘d,’ while Lalonde is pronounced La-lone, but other than that, “it just kind of went from there. I still think there’s people to this day in Tampa that don’t even know who Derek is. They only know me as Newsy. I’m comfortable with it.”

Continued

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan’s first article of the day (there are usually two, an article and then a notebook) discusses Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s first day on the job:

Lalonde guided his first practice Thursday as an NHL head coach, after several months of planning and strategizing about it endlessly. Sure, it was a special day for Lalonde, 50, but he didn’t let himself soak in the moment.

“Not really,” Lalonde said. “You’re really busy trying to get everything checked, check off all the boxes in being prepped. I was more nervous today about everything going smoothly. You want to make a good first impression with everyone, we want to be sharp with what we’re doing as a staff which will reflect in our practice and play. Maybe early in the season, through the first game, first win (I’ll let the moment sink in). But maybe I’m getting really cold in my old age.”

The first practice, like a first game, is unique in that a coach has an entire summer to prepare for it. In that sense, Lalonde was pleased to get through what was a spirited and effective first practice.

“You put so much time into your summer and preparing for Day 1,” Lalonde said. “We’ve got our entire camp pretty much skeletoned out. We were fortunate enough to hire (assistant) Bob Boughner because he’s supposed to be my experience and he was pacing today, so I guess it’s still jitters no matter how long you’ve been at this. We were just excited to get this thing going and we talked this to death and preparing. We just wanted for it to translate on the ice.”

Continued (paywall); the Detroit News also posted a massive, 66-image gallery of photographer David Guralnick’s work.

Photo gallery: First day of training camp is in the books. https://t.co/JvduUQMLex #redwings #traversecity @nhl @DetroitRedWings pic.twitter.com/e6FldsUPOt— David Guralnick (@DavidGuralnick) September 22, 2022

Here’s a 1:58 Twitter video from WXYZ’s Brad Galli, who came up to Traverse City to report on the opening of Red Wings training camp:

The first day of fall brought the first day of hockey.

The Red Wings opened training camp on Thursday. Hear from Dylan Larkin, Moritz Seider, and Derek Lalonde in our @WXYZDetroit report from Traverse City: pic.twitter.com/M4JXwRIeM3— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) September 22, 2022

As MLive’s Ansar Khan notes, Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde, who asks his players to call him “Newsy” (after the Montreal Canadiens legend), was too busy doing his job with his new team to focus on the fact that he’s finally become an NHL head coach on Thursday morning:

“You’re so busy in trying to get everything prepped,” Lalonde said. “More nervous about today just going smoothly. You want to make a first impression with everyone, we want to be sharp with what we’re doing as a staff, which will reflect in our practice and our play. Maybe after our first win we can reflect back on that.”

Jeff Blashill was the only NHL coach Dylan Larkin ever played for, so he admittedly was a little nervous getting on the ice amid some uncertainty.

“Your first day to make a first impression,” Larkin said. “I think that’s so important for everyone on our team. It’s going to be a very competitive camp, but you get a clean slate and a new opportunity to impress a new staff. You got to capitalize on it.”

Lalonde was tagged “Newsy” when he was a goaltender for SUNY-Cortland in New York, after Hockey Hall of Famer Edward “Newsy” Lalonde, who played for the Montreal Canadiens more than a hundred years ago.

“I think there’s some people today in Tampa that don’t even know who Derek is — they only know me as Newsy,” Lalonde said. “I’m comfortable with it. I don’t mind ‘Coach,’ but ‘Coach’ feels very old. It feels a little more personal when guys call me Newsy.”

Continued, with one hell of a compliment for Larkin…

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin spoke with the media today regarding his contract negotiations with the Red Wings, and he was blunt, to the point, and a wee bit evasive regarding his status as an unrestricted free agent-to-be who has yet to re-sign with his team.

As Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff noted, Larkin plain old got to the point…

“I don’t have any updates for you guys,” Larkin pointed out. At the same time, he wasn’t seeking to create any cause for alarm. “I don’t see myself playing anywhere else,” Larkin quickly added.

Larkin’s contract with the Red Wings will be expiring at the conclusion of the current season. If he doesn’t sign an extension with Detroit, he would become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2023.

In May, Larkin’s decision to switch agents as he was entering this negotiating window ended up causing a ripple of concern that he and the Red Wings were far apart in what they were seeking the shape of his new pact to be. Dropping KO Sports, Inc. the agency headed by Kurt Overhardt. Larkin ended up moving to Pat Brisson and the Creative Arts Agency.

Larkin did seek to be adding a note of levity when the discussion was turning to his need for a new contract.

“I think it’s very important to get it done before next season,” Larkin said, “so I can play hockey.”

Duff continues; I’m not worried about Larkin re-signing. Tyler Bertuzzi…We shall see.