The Malik Report

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted a set of last-day-of-the-prospect-tournament observations this evening. Among them:

Regardless of where [Simon] Edvinsson plays, though, the Griffins are going to have a really interesting young defense corps. Brian Lashoff and Steven Kampfer will be the veterans, but in addition to them, Donovan Sebrango (2020 third-rounder), Jared McIsaac (2018 second-rounder) and Seth Barton (2018 third-rounder) should all be back from last year, as well as new arrivals Eemil Viro (2020 third-rounder) and Albert Johansson (2019 second-rounder). That’s before the possibility of Edvinsson, and 24-year-old Wyatt Newpower is in that mix as well.

Competition for ice time — and roles — is going to be fierce down there.

At this tournament, though, I thought the young group looked pretty good for the majority of the tournament. Johansson and Viro will be adjusting to the North American game, sure, and both are a little undersized, but they’ve also been playing pro hockey for multiple years now which should help their adjustment. Sebrango and Barton wore letters over the weekend, and Sebrango’s jam and physicality stood out to me on Monday.

It’s going to be a fun group to follow this season, no matter what the exact combination ends up being.

Continued (paywall)

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan touched upon some old topics and some new ones in an afternoon notebook article, discussing big Elmer Soderblom’s adjustment to North American hockey, Cross Hanas’ performance at the Red Wings’ prospect tournament, and the ways in which Eemil Viro has impressed the man who will probably be his coach, Griffins bench boss Ben Simon:

Interestingly, there’s also defenseman Eemil Viro, who is listed at 6-feet, 176 pounds and could get lost standing behind Soderblom. But Viro, who had a goal and was plus-3 in Monday’s 4-1 victory over Toronto in Traverse City, has caught Simon’s attention in several ways.

“You notice he’s a great skater and I like his competitive nature,” Simon said. “He has a good motor to him and a high battle level.”

Viro, a 2020 third-round pick, will also be making the transition to North American pro hockey for the first time. Viro has seen some subtle differences from the European game already.

“The game is faster,” Viro said. “Sometimes you have to chip it (the puck) out and if you don’t have a play, just respect the game. There’s a lot of battles, more battles, and you have to be awake all the time.”

Viro is another young player likely ticketed to Grand Rapids. Viro gained knowledge from the prospect tournament and feels better heading into the Wings’ training camp.

“I’m getting more confidence in the game and reading the game better,” Viro said. “It’s been a real important week for me.”

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The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects wrapped up their 2022 Prospect Tournament round robin play with a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Red Wings surrendered the first goal only 4:56 in to a Maple Leafs team which had scratched a gaggle of “regulars,” including Nick Abruzzese, Nick Robertson and former Wings prospect Keith Petruzzelli, and things looked somewhat grim at times during the first period, but Mitchell Martin assuaged for a not-so-smart hooking penalty by blazing out of the penalty box and scoring the 1-1 goal at 8:52:

Out of the box. Back of the net.

Mitchell Martin! 🚨

Tune in » https://t.co/DhGaSSSuXq pic.twitter.com/Udpg89DBeP— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 19, 2022

The game remained tied until late in the period, punctuated by something of a trick shot from Eemil Viro, who scored a seeing-eye goal from the point with only 18 seconds remaining:

#RedWings are up 2-1 as we head to the 2nd!

Eemil Viro! 🚨

Tune in » https://t.co/DhGaSSSuXq pic.twitter.com/8hh0rwc14A— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 19, 2022

The Wings kind of “held on” to their 2-1 lead for most of the second period, swapping out Jan Bednar (who stopped 6 of 7 shots) for Sebastian Cossa (just before Martin fought Noah Van Vliet), and late in the 2nd period, a set of sensational passes by Simon Edvinsson and Elmer Soderblom set up a gorgeous goal by Cross Hanas at 18:35:

.@hanner71 with a beautiful finish! #DRWPT #LGRW

3-1, #RedWings

Tune in » https://t.co/DhGaSSSuXq pic.twitter.com/9UnFgX3F1j— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 19, 2022

The Wings played perhaps their most dynamic period in the 3rd, but the Leafs held Detroit off the scoresheet until they pulled their goaltender, and Riley Piercey scored his 5th goal in 3 games, an empty-netter on a pass from Kirill Tyutyayev. That sealed the victory for Detroit, and Sebastian Cossa stopped all 16 shots he faced over the game’s final 30:13.

That’s a W! #DRWPT #LGRW pic.twitter.com/1QrSIq1JJm— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 19, 2022

The Red Wings finished 2-and-1 at the prospect tournament (Toronto finished 1-2-and-1), and Detroit’s prospects will take a couple of days off before main training camp begins on Thursday at Centre ICE Arena.

If you missed Daniella Bruce and Ken Kal’s live stream commentary, you can re-watch the game here:

Continue reading Impressions from the Red Wings prospects’ 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects won 4-1 over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, wrapping up the 2022 Prospect Tournament with a 2-and-1 record.

After the game, Eemil Viro, Sebastian Cossa and coach Ben Simon spoke with the assembled media:

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects won a 4-1 decision over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2022 Prospect Tournament. Mitchell Martin, Eemil Viro, Cross Hanas and Riley Piercey (empty net) scored for Detroit; Jan Bednar stopped 6 of 7 shots, and Sebastian Cossa pitched a 16-save shutout.

Detroit wrapped up its tournament with a 2-and-1 record; Toronto dropped to 1-and-3.

Here’s the archived game stream from YouTube:

The Hockey News’s Tony Ferrari posted an article this morning which discusses the Red Wings’ decision to continue to “bet on” Filip Zadina’s development:

It feels as if Filip Zadina has been in the NHL for so, so long. 

Deemed a bust by so many in hockey, Zadina will turn just 23 in the upcoming season. While he hasn’t burst onto the scene as we have become accustomed to in recent years, Zadina has provided value away from the scoresheet that isn’t as easily identified.

Recently signed to a three-year contract worth $1.825 million per season, Zadina is very evidently talented when watching his game in isolation. That presents many questions about his game – starting with who is Zadina now that he’s locked in as a piece of the Red Wings’ rebuilding squad?

Zadina is a good skater who effectively uses his agility and puck skills in transition. Aside from captain Dylan Larkin, Zadina entered the offensive zone with control more than any other Red Wing last season. His zone transition numbers across the board are among the best on Detroit’s roster which indicates that the skill and pace of his game that he was drafted for aren’t quite as absent as many assume based on his counting stats.

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The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects face tough sledding against the Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospects today, and the game will air at 11 AM on the Red Wings’ YouTube channel.

There was a hint as to two of today’s scratches based upon who was on the ice when I got to the rink at 9:15 AM: goaltender Andrew Oke and defenseman Albert Johansson were working with the Grand Rapids Griffins’ coaches on the ice, for a significant period of time, by themselves:

Andrew Oke and Albert Johansson out here early, working with skill development coaches. pic.twitter.com/IVtEqD9kg3— George Malik (@georgemalik) September 19, 2022

Here are the rosters and line combinations for today’s game:

And, if you missed it, here’s the YouTube link for today’s live stream:

Here’s the link for the Detroit Red Wings’ coverage of their prospect tournament game vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospects, which is scheduled to start at 11 AM EDT. Daniella Bruce and Ken Kal will provide play-by-play commentary:

If you can’t access the link above, click here to be sent to the YouTube page.

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects will attempt to finish the round robin portion of the 2022 Prospect Tournament with a winning record as they face the Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospects today (11 AM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com; link goes to PointStreak’s schedule for today, where you’ll be able to access the box score and statistics).

Monday morning hockey!#DRWPT x #LGRW pic.twitter.com/dm0y0mXjCx— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 19, 2022

This game is going to be a bit of a bugger: the Maple Leafs, who chose to play in 4 prospect tournament games, sit at 1-and-2, and they’ve lost two straight, including a 3-2 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets yesterday afternoon.

On Sunday, Toronto gave up the game-tying goal with 1:13 remaining in regulation, and Columbus’ Kirill Marchenko scored the game-winner 3:23 into overtime.

The Red Wings have split their first two prospect tournament games, winning 5-2 over Columbus on Friday and losing 5-4 to Dallas on Saturday.

Detroit did choose to practice on Sunday instead of taking the entire day off, so they’ll be about as familiar with each other as players can be over the course of a short tournament, and now they’re being afforded one last chance to impress the Red Wings’ management, as well as scouts from every other NHL team, and many AHL, ECHL, Major Junior and European teams.

I’ll post the rosters when I receive them.

DobberHockey’s Tom Collins posted a top 10 list of “Fantasy Hockey Sleepers,” and he’s picking Jakub Vrana as a potential 60-point scorer:

9. Jakub Vrana: The 26-year-old Red Wing was limited to 26 games last season, which means he could be off the radar for many fantasy GMs. A classic case of out-of-sight, out-of-mind. However, he was excellent in those 26 games, finishing with 13 goals and 19 points. It was his third straight season of around a 60-point pace, but with injuries and Covid-shortened seasons, he’s only cracked the 50-point plateau once. Vrana should be a shoo-in for a top-six role, and if he can stay healthy, he should finally be able to reach at least the 60-point mark.

Continued