The Malik Report

NBC Sports EDGE’s Ryan Dadoun posted a surprisingly in-depth preview of the Detroit Red Wings’ 2022-2023 regular season, as the team stands as of July 29th.

In doing so, Dadoun reviews the “mixed bag” that was the Wings’ 2021-2022 season, he examines the team’s offseason acquisitions, and he issues the following prediction for 22-23:

So was it all enough to put the Red Wings in a playoff spot? I doubt it. I look at the Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Tampa Bay Lightning and they all seem clearly better on paper than the Detroit Red Wings, so unless there’s a surprise or something otherwise changes, the Red Wings’ best bet seems to be a Wild Card spot. Even then though, are they better than the Boston Bruins? What about the Ottawa Senators, who had a summer of major gains too? The Bruins are a bit more of a question mark, but I’m not convinced that the Red Wings are a favorable matchup against either of them.

That’s just looking at the Atlantic Division too. It’s entirely possible that the Metropolitan Division will be capable of securing one of the two playoff spots, as they did last season, which further weakens Detroit’s chances.

The 82-game campaign is a long one. Injuries happen. Players underperform and end up as pleasant surprises. To dismiss any team before the season even starts is risky, especially one like Detroit, which has brought in considerable talent. However, as I look at their roster and compare it to their direct competition, I’m left with the impression that Detroit remains an underdog in the battle for a postseason berth.

Continued; I’m a little more optimistic about the Red Wings’ chances of staying in the playoff mix for the duration of the regular season.

Whether the team earns a playoff spot or not will be determined by the growth of young players, health, and of course luck and circumstance, but I think that the Red Wings have at least built themselves a solid layer of depth players behind their stars which the team simply did not possess a year ago, and if they can channel their first-half-of-the-season performance under coach Lalonde and his staff (including some better special teams play), a Wild Card spot is certainly within reach.

I’ve been trying to figure out where I feel that the Red Wings’ 2022 draft picks fit into the prospect system of late, and it’s particularly difficult to gauge where someone like 212th overall pick Brennan Ali fits in. The 6,’ 194-pound center from Illinois dominated playing high school hockey at the Connecticut prep school level, and he had limited experience in the USHL.

As Detroit Hockey Now’s Nate Brown notes, Ali’s headed to Notre Dame this fall, and we may discern a more accurate assessment on his “ceiling” as he battles NCAA competition:

Ali is kicking off his college career with Notre Dame, but the returns from his prep career and even his brief stint in the USHL are certainly encouraging. Ali’s rights with Detroit don’t expire until 2026 when he’ll be 22, so growth between that time is certainly going to be something they’ll keep monitoring.

Director of Amateur scouting Kris Draper mentioned following the draft how neat it was to see Ali’s reaction on being drafted.

“It’s a very special moment,” Draper said. “We were excited that he was here as well. When he came around the table you could see the joy he had so it was a very special for him.”

Ali described himself as a power forward when answering questions following the selection.

“Hard to play against,” Ali said of himself on the ice. “Big, physical, fast and a good shot to go with that.”

Continued; Ali was a late-round pick for a reason, but the plucky forward hopes to become a Carter Mazur-type prospect at some point soon.

Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper was in Pictou, Nova Scotia last Friday, raising funds in a charity golf tournament, and he spoke with the Pictou Advocate’s Steve Goodwin regarding the future of the franchise:

Draper, who played most of his NHL games with the Red Wings, was a special guest during the Weeks Hockey Organization’s annual celebrity golf tournament last Friday at Abercrombie Country Club. The former forward is the Red Wings’ director of amateur scouting.

“We’re getting some good, young pieces,” he said. “We think we have some good, young players coming. We’re excited with who we’re adding.”

Former Red Wings superstar Steve Yzerman named Draper to his current position after returning to Detroit in 2019. Draper said his presence will remind players of his past achievements. Yzerman won three Stanley Cups during 23 seasons as a player and one as an executive with the Wings.

“It just fits,” Draper said. “It means he’s here to do what he did in Tampa and as a player with Detroit. Off-ice, he wants to do the same thing.”

Draper’s uncertain start to his NHL career included parts of three seasons with the Winnipeg Jets before they sent him to the Red Wings for $1. He mentioned the deal during his address last Thursday at the Weeks barbecue and auction.

“It’s amazing how things work,” he told the gathering, regarding his NHL career. “I was very excited for the opportunity. I not only played the game. I’m a huge fan of the game.”

Continued; Draper was on the Winged Wheel Podcast this week as well:

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills wrote a notebook article which focuses on the continuing development of one Sebastian Cossa this afternoon:

Detroit Red Wings goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa isn’t fazed knowing that when a game is on the line, he is his team’s last line of defense. In fact, playing under pressure is what Cossa relishes.

“Mentally, I love the game,” said Cossa, who was Detroit’s 15th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. “Being a goalie, it’s being the last end-all or be-all. I like that about the position, for sure.”

Last season, Cossa compiled a 33-9-3 record with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage in 46 regular-season games with the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings, finishing as the Central Division nominee for the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy as the WHL Goaltender of the Year.

“A lot of hockey,” the young netminder said about his 2021-22 campaign. “I think it was a lot of experience for me and it was really good.”

Cossa added that he learned a lot from Phil Osaer, the Red Wings’ head of goaltending, scouting and development.

“He (Osaer) was coming up to Edmonton to work with me probably once a month,” Cossa said. “Him coming up was great, but they (Detroit’s player development staff) tried to keep their distance a bit and let me play my game.”

Continued

Sportsnet’s Sonny Sachdeva offers a list of 5 teams which might end up signing 31-year-old center Nazem Kadri, and, as has become usual in these articles, the Red Wings are included in the mix:

DETROIT RED WINGS: On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Red Wings. They’re not a contender, not by a mile, given the club hasn’t made the post-season in six years. But they’re no down-and-out rebuilding squad either.

Steadily improving over the past few years, Detroit took another key step in 2021-22 on the back of its youth movement, as star rookies Lucas Raymond and Mo Seider showed a glimpse of their elite potential. Add that to the potential growth still on the horizon for 22-year-old Filip Zadina (the club’s sixth-overall pick in 2018), Simon Edvinsson (sixth-overall, 2021), and Marco Kasper (eighth-overall, 2022). Then there’s the pair of proven veterans in Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi, both still in their mid-20’s, coming off 30-goal, 60-point campaigns.

And, of course, the veteran talent GM Steve Yzerman’s already thrown into the mix this off-season: forwards David Perron, Andrew Copp, and Dominik Kubalik, defenders Ben Chiarot and Olli Maatta, and, perhaps most importantly, netminder Ville Husso. Given that bevy of moves, it’s clear Yzerman feels it’s time for his project to take a bigger leap forward. But the veteran GM still has more than $10 million in cap space to work with, and only a couple in-house free-agent questions to address.

The Red Wings’ top six has already been steadily improving under Yzerman. Dropping Kadri into the 2C spot behind Larkin would give it a significant push forward, with Raymond, Larkin and Bertuzzi up top and Kadri perhaps between Perron and Jakub Vrana. Which would push Copp down into a role as a quality third-line centre, or onto the second-line wing, with one of the other wingers moving down to bolster the bottom six. Either way, it would be an undeniable upgrade for the group’s overall level. 

And there’s no denying Kadri would be the type of player Yzerman would covet, given all we’ve learned about what the Hall of Famer looks for in players. Broadcaster and former NHLer Darren Pang, a close friend of Yzerman’s since their teenage years together, shed light on that subject for us a while back.

“He always had that eye. He always knew a hard player to play against or a guy that was a little soft in the corners, would give up a puck rather easily,” Pang told Sportsnet a few years ago, when Yzerman was still GM of the Lightning. “I’d ask him about this player or that player — he’d always say, ‘No no, watch that player in the corner. He’ll give up the puck easy. Watch this player, his second and third effort is incredible. And you look at Tampa Bay’s players and who they’ve scouted — if they’re undersized, they’re undersized, but they’re competitive. Every one of them. They’re competitive hockey players — they want the puck, they’ll do whatever it takes to get the puck. He saw something inside them — their soul, their spirit, their competitiveness, their hunger. That’s the way Steve was, the whole time.”

Given the mettle Kadri showed during Colorado’s Cup run, he seems a player who’d stack up well in Yzerman’s eyes. A deal with Detroit wouldn’t be joining a sure-thing contender, but it would give Kadri the chance to join an up-and-comer built by the same GM who helped create one of the league’s current behemoths. And the chance to take on a new role, to bring some Cup experience and veteran leadership to a talented young squad, to help lift one of the game’s historic franchises back to the post-season.

Continued; I don’t see it happening, but that’s just me.

The Red Wings posted a reminder of a not-so-long-gone legend’s birthday today…

Happy birthday, Ted. ♥️ pic.twitter.com/4zITqx8Mot— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 29, 2022

And NHL.com’s Dave Stubbs posted a fine set of Tweets regarding one Terrible Ted:

Late, legendary Ted Lindsay was born this July 29 in 1925. @DetroitRedWings icon, @NHLPA pioneer. A take-no-prisoners battleship on skates, earning the greatest face in hockey, off the ice Ted was a visionary, giant-hearted humanitarian and philanthropist https://t.co/enhb2VctlP pic.twitter.com/PKCn6ZY6fX— Dave Stubbs 🇨🇦 (@Dave_Stubbs) July 29, 2022

My 2017 Las Vegas breakfast with Ted Lindsay, the last time “Terrible Ted” presented the @NHLPA award named in his honour. His room-service breakfast was granola and honeyed tea. I was crushed; I was sure it would be broken glass and gasoline https://t.co/CdKpAUUdPJ— Dave Stubbs 🇨🇦 (@Dave_Stubbs) July 29, 2022

From 2016: Ted Lindsay’s huge heart and the work that he and his wife, Joanne, were doing on behalf of autism care and research. The important work continues beyond his life with @TedLindsay07 https://t.co/LXHCAgROKO— Dave Stubbs 🇨🇦 (@Dave_Stubbs) July 29, 2022

From 2016, Ted Lindsay unplugged: on his childhood, Stanley Cup. boycotting his own Hall of Fame induction, and the equally strong-willed Rocket Richard, his greatest rival in hockey https://t.co/ka2WEl4dIL— Dave Stubbs 🇨🇦 (@Dave_Stubbs) July 29, 2022

Trailblazer of the original Players’ Association and Hockey Hall of Fame forward, Ted Lindsay, would have been 97 today. He left behind a significant legacy that continues to impact the game of hockey.

Go down memory lane, as told by Ted himself: https://t.co/ueX3Ey1Dza pic.twitter.com/SiezE8vlPG— NHLPA (@NHLPA) July 29, 2022

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an article this morning which discusses new Red Wings defenseman Olli Maatta, who feels that he’s got more to give as a 28-year-old with 10 years’ worth of NHL experience:

Määttä (6 feet 2, 210 pounds) and fellow free-agent signing Ben Chiarot (6-3, 234) both shoot left and project to pair with right-side defenders Moritz Seider and Filip Hronek. [GM Steve] Yzerman described Määttä and Chiarot as “defense-first defenders, bigger bodies that get in the way, are hard to play against, can block shots.” 

Määttä was sold on being part of Yzerman’s rebuilding plans.

“I have to be honest with myself about where I’m at — last couple seasons haven’t been that great,” Määttä said. “I know I have a lot more in me. I think this is a great opportunity to show that I do have a lot more in me, that I can play in this league for a long time and in a bigger role than I’ve had the last couple seasons. That was one of the reasons I wanted to come to Detroit. I do heartily believe that when the team is good and everything clicks, everybody just looks better. It’s an exciting team, and good team. Having a new coaching staff, a really good culture that everybody wants to win.”

The Wings look the best they have since Yzerman was named GM in April 2019, with an influx of talent at all three positions. Seider, the 2022 NHL rookie of the year, boosted the offense the Wings got from the back end, and while Määttä was primarily added for his defensive game, his history shows he can contribute points, too. He twice reached 20 assists during his six seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who drafted him 22nd overall. Määttä had 13 assists in 2018-19 with the Penguins and again the next season with the Chicago Blackhawks, but has just 11 assists combined the last two seasons, both spent with the Los Angeles Kings. 

“I know my stats the last two years aren’t that good but I know I have more offense in my game than there has been,” Määttä said. “But the first mentality is I go out there and keep my own goal clean.”

Continued (paywall)

iDnes.cz’s Vojtech Tuma has written an in-depth interview with new Red Wings forward Dominik Kubalik, but the vast majority thereof is stuck behind a paywall. All I can translate is the introduction:

On Yzerman, teammates, a new challenge. Kubalik about the attraction of Detroit and the crisis in Chicago.

He struggled last season. He didn’t score goals, he shuttled between lines, and spent several games in the stands. “I’ve never experienced such a crisis,” admits Dominik Kubalik in an interview for iDNES Premium. He no longer thinks about the unsuccessful conclusion of his three-year tenure in Chicago, however. He’s moving on for the first time in the NHL. And he’s looking forward to a new start in Detroit.

Signing with the Red Wings offers several attractions. The Czech forward will have several fellow Czechs in the locker room, while also trying out the atmosphere in another traditional team from the Original Six.

Thanks to a two-year contract worth $5 million, he’ll have more peace of mind at work. And, in addition, he’ll be part of the ambitious rebuilding project of successful general manager Steve Yzerman.

“That’s why I chose Detroit,” says Kubalik.

The article continues behind the paywall…

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe reports that Toledo Walleye coach Dan Watson has signed a 5-year contract extension with the Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate:

After five years at the helm of the Toledo Walleye franchise, head coach Dan Watson is back for five more years.

Watson has been part of the Walleye organization since its inception in 2009-10, first as an assistant coach and then as the team’s head coach beginning in 2016-17. On Thursday, Watson signed a five-year contract extension.

“Being the head coach in Toledo is a true honor,” Watson said after throwing out the first pitch at the Mud Hens game. “It’s the top franchise in the ECHL for a lot of reasons. It’s very humbling to be standing here signing a five-year contract.”

The Walleye have never missed the playoffs in his first five seasons, and Watson has guided the team to two appearances in the Kelly Cup Finals. Toledo fell short in the 2018-19 season, losing to Newfoundland in the championship round. Last season, Watson guided Toledo back to the Finals before the Walleye lost to the Florida Everblades.

“Ultimately, our goal is to win the Kelly Cup. We’ve been close,” Watson said.

Continued

The Hockey News’s Mike Stephens posted a list of his top 5 free agent centers still available on the free agent marketplace, and he brings up an intriguing name still out there–one that the Red Wings employed this past season in Sam Gagner:

Sam Gagner 

2021-22 Stat Line: 81 GP, 13 goals, 18 assists, 31 points, 13:37 TOI
2021-22 Cap Hit: $750,000

Gagner has been around for so long that it’s easy to miscast him as a Jason Spezza-type greybeard. But Gagner will only be 33 when the regular season begins in a few months’ time, four years younger than Spezza was when he first signed in Toronto, and seems to have plenty of tread left on his tires after 15 NHL seasons. 

Despite logging under 14 minutes per night on a bad Red Wings team in 2021-22, Gagner still managed to rack up over 30 points and nearly 15 goals all while beginning just 41 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, providing terrific value as a depth forward making the NHL’s minimum wage. 

Who knows what he could do in different circumstances? Perhaps with a better supporting cast around him and the benefit of some offensively-sheltered usage, Gagner could the perfect addition to any contender’s fourth line as they gear up for a Cup run. 

There’s simply no risk in giving him a shot. And I’d bet as training camp roles around, Gagner finds himself on the receiving end of a few intriguing offers. 

Continued; Gagner is one of those players that’s probably going to go into an NHL team’s front office when he retires, and in the interim, he is still both relatively productive and relatively young, showing glimpses and flashes of top-end skill from time to time while performing at a workmanlike level.

I wonder whether the Red Wings might invite him to camp to see whether he can serve as a solid depth player for Detroit again.