The Malik Report

DobberHockey’s Michael Clifford discusses a set of “training camp battles” to watch for this upcoming training camp and preseason, and he suggests that the Red Wings’ power play may require some competition for the “fourth forward’s” spot on the top unit:

Detroit Fourth PP Forward

In Detroit, we are assuming that all of Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, David Perron, and Moritz Seider are on the top power play. With all the offseason acquisitions and injury returns, the team has a lot of options for that fourth forward. They have Jakub Vrana, who is second in the entire league in goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 over the last four years, coming off a year where he missed over 50 games with a shoulder injury. They also have Lucas Raymond, who is coming off a 23-goal, 57-point rookie season where he was a fixture of the top power play. Andrew Copp has limited power play experience but is an option if they want two centres up there. Finally, there’s Robby Fabbri, who had an ACL surgery last March and whose status for training camp is uncertain but has seen top PP time for the Wings. (If anyone has seen an update, let us know in the comments, but I haven’t seen anything yet.) Derek Lalonde is the new coach, and he doesn’t have the same history with the players, so it’s not a guarantee that Raymond is the fourth forward. My lean is that he gets the spot as the incumbent, but there is no certainty. Exhibition games will help clarify things in this regard.  

Continued; Fabbri will be out to start the season, and yes, Raymond and Vrana will battle for that last forward’s spot on the top unit.

MLive’s Ansar Khan, The Athletic’s Max Bultman and Detroit Hockey Now’s Nate Brown all weigh in regarding prospect tournament “standouts” this morning, with each author discussing prospects in a slightly different manner.

1. Khan offers capsule assessments of six prospects, via coach Ben Simon’s takes on said prospects…

Sebastian Cossa, goaltender: “He played extremely well here. … You can see that he’s ready, he’s hungry, and let’s see what happens in camp. … I always defer to the goalie gurus we have, but I thought he played the puck pretty well (Monday), not that that was a perceived deficiency, but it was noticeable that he was competent coming out and playing the puck.”

Simon Edvinsson, defenseman: “I think you can see the poise he has with the puck, his play recognition for the most part is elite. He’s going to be a really good player for a really long time. He’s still very young, though, that’s important to understand. Some of these kids that come in here, there’s all this hype and expectation, sometimes it just doesn’t happen overnight. He will make rookie mistakes. Veterans have made rookie mistakes. But he does a lot of little things well for a younger player and has the confidence that bodes well for his future.”

Continued;

2. Bultman’s set of observations are tournament-wide, so he went with one player who stood out from across the rosters of four of the five participating teams, with Sebastian Cossa earning the nod as Detroit’s representative:

Continue reading A trio of prospect observations from Khan, Bultman and Brown

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an early-morning article discussing Eemil Viro’s performance at the Red Wings’ prospect tournament, and his acclimation to North American hockey as he “turns pro” with Swedish defenders Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson:

“You can tell those guys have played at a high level,” Griffins coach Ben Simon said. “It’s fun to see those guys because of how they apply what we’re trying to teach them and learn and get better. They were very receptive to that and were able to apply that. For me as a coach that’s very important, that they were very receptive. 

“It can be chaotic at times because you don’t have a lot of preparation and play three games in four days. You’re looking for guys that are consistent. Coaches love guys that are consistent, dependable, accountable and do learn from their mistakes. You are inevitably going to make mistakes, but when you see the growth and learning and not repetitive mistakes, that’s what you like to see.”

What stands out about Viro is his skating and his competitiveness.

“He’s got a high battle level,” Simon said. “He’s not afraid to get his nose dirty in the corner, so that’s a pretty good set of attributes to have and to work with and see how he’s going to continue to develop.”

Continued

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.”

Continued

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.

Continued

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: