The Malik Report

The Athletic’s Max Bultman filed a mailbag feature several days ago, and part two thereof hit the internet wires today. Among Bultman’s questions and answers:

How “on the hot seat” is Filip Zadina? Seems like the additions of David Perron, Dominik Kubalik, and the emergence of Jonatan Berggren makes his hold on a roster spot extremely tenuous. — Starlino

I get what Starlino is getting at, because as we sit here today, it’s already hard to find a spot for Zadina on the power play, with Perron, Kubalik, Raymond and Jakub Vrana figuring to lock down spots on the flanks, Larkin and Copp presumably in the bumper, and Bertuzzi and Rasmussen around the net. From that standpoint, yes, there’s certainly some pressure on Zadina this season. You only get so much time to solidify yourself as a key piece, even in a rebuild.

I do think some perspective is helpful when comparing him to Berggren, though. The two were part of the same draft class, and Zadina has played 160 NHL games, compared to none for Berggren. Their paths have been different, and Berggren had a nice season in the AHL last year, no doubt, with 64 points in 70 games. But the difference between the AHL and NHL is steep — in Zadina’s last AHL stint, way back in 2019-20, he had 16 points in 21 games. Which is all to say, Berggren may well make his way into the NHL picture this season, and in time, maybe he ends up better than Zadina. But as of now, I’m not ready to say Berggren’s emerged in a way Zadina hasn’t.

The fact Zadina’s had more NHL opportunities means fans — and likely management — have had more time to grow impatient with him. He does need to have a breakthrough under Derek Lalonde, or a change of scenery could very well be in order. But in terms of losing his roster spot outright? I’ll need to see eight wingers on this roster be better before I’m ready to go there.

Continued (paywall)

Former Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom spoke with Aftonbladet’s Simon Norberg, Tomas Ros and Hans Abrahamsson regarding the news that legendary defenseman Borje Salming is ill with ALS. Here’s a rough translation of the article from Swedish:

Salming: “Fight with all you can”

Borje Salming is suffering from AHL. Now he’s supported by Nicklas Lidstrom.

“I know you will fight with everything you can against this terrible disease,” he says.

Between 1973 and 1989, Borje Salming played in over 1,000 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Classified by many as the biggest pioneer for Swedish players to enter the NHL.

Today, the now-71-year-old ice hockey legend announced, via the news agency TT, that he’s suffering from the nerve disease ALS.

“Have a good dialogue”

The message was received with great despair by the former great defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom.

“Borje, I am thinking of you during this tough time. You have been my idol all these years, and I know that you will fight with all you can against this horrible disease, just as you fought on the ice. You have always been my role model,” he says to Sportbladet.

Even Inge Hammarstrom, who went over together with Salming in the 70’s, supports his former teammate.

“I say hello to you and all of you. I have a good dialogue with him and support him as much as possible. We have to keep our fingers crossed that they find the right medicine to stop this.”

The following Red Wings prospects will be taking part in World Junior Championship action on Wednesday, August 10th:

Team Sweden vs. Switzerland @ 2 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network.

Simon Edvinsson, Theodor Niederbach and William Wallinder play for Team Sweden.

Team Canada vs. Latvia @ 6 PM EDT on TSN and the NHL Network.

Sebastian Cossa and Donovan Sebrango play for Team Canada.

Canada WJC coach Dave Cameron says Red Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa will start in goal tomorrow vs. Latvia. Didn’t specify who would start vs. Slovakia on Thursday, Dylan Garand (NYR) or Brett Brochu. “Game at a time,” he said.— Adam Kimelman (@NHLAdamK) August 10, 2022

Via Red Wings Prospects on Twitter, Red Wings 2022 draft pick Dmitri Buchelnikov was named the best forward at the Sochi Open.

It’s a preseason tournament, designed to showcase the Under-25 National Team in a set of exhibition games vs. KHL teams, but it’s still good to know that the Wings’ 52nd overall pick was dominant at times over the course of the tournament:

You are looking at the best forward of the Liga Stavok Sochi Hockey Open!

Dmitry Buchelnikov, who was unstoppable during the competition, has indeed been crowned the top forward of the tournament in Sochi.

A thoroughly deserved award! #RussiaHockey pic.twitter.com/QwfS1PXQrE— Russia Hockey (@russiahockey_en) August 10, 2022

Buchelnikov is in the SKA St. Petersburg organization, and he’s going to try to at least make the jump from the MHL, which is the equivalent of Russian Major Junior hockey, to the VHL, the Russian AHL, where he’ll play for SKA-1946.

If he can jump all the way to the KHL and play for SKA St. Petersburg’s men’s team, that will be a huge leap forward for a player who posted 41 goals and 34 assists for 75 points in 56 MHL games last season.

At present, EliteProspects’ Buchelnikov profile has the right-shooting center slated to stay with SKA-1946’s MHL team this upcoming season.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Nate Brown examined the Red Wings’ 1st and 2nd round draft tendencies under GM Steve Yzerman, and, this morning, Brown continues his analysis of the “Yzerplan” by viewing the Wings’ 3rd through 7th round picks over the past three seasons:

The [Moritz] Seider pick set the tone for the Yzerman era as he’s chosen defensemen nearly 38% of the time. Left wings follow with a quarter of the 40 selections. Both Seider and [Lucas] Raymond are in the NHL, and seem like shoe-ins to blow past the aforementioned 99 games at the NHL level.

Of those 40 picks, where did they choose from? The results really shouldn’t be surprising. (Note, I folded in the SHL J20 selections into the SHL category simply because they’re likely feeding into the SHL parent club.

Interestingly, the SHL and USHL make up more than half of the Red Wings picks during that four-year time frame. The Canadian Hockey League, if brought together, make up eight of those selections. Cumulatively, the CHL, USHL, and SHL make up nearly 75% of the Red Wings draft over the last four seasons.

The main takeaway here is that while it feels like the Red Wings are certainly targeting more players from the SHL, it’s actually quite close when factoring in prospects from both the USHL and CHL. Make no mistake, however, that the strong returns already from Seider, Raymond, Soderblom, Edvinsson and Johansson certainly makes a strong point.

Simply put: the Swedish League produces talent.

Continued with some really solid round-by-round analysis…

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn is asking fans to weigh in as to their confidence (or lack thereof) in their respective teams’ front office staffs, based upon the following categories of hockey team management:

Roster building: How the front office has managed its roster, looking in general terms about the players in the system and whether they formulate the right building blocks for the team’s goal of contending, whether that’s in the present or future.

Cap management: How the front office has managed the team’s finances, with regards to the efficiency of money spent (are there a lot of bad contracts on the books?), cap space, future flexibility and general dollar worth. Bottom line: If a team is or isn’t spending money, are they doing so wisely?

Drafting and developing: How the front office has managed its farm, from draft day to the big leagues, relative to their draft pick capital. Is the team making smart selections and are those players meeting their potential after the draft?

Trading: How the front office has managed the trade block, mainly has management made the right calls in trading assets and whether they’re generally on the right or wrong side of a deal.

Free agency: How the front office has managed a period generally synonymous with mistakes and how it has navigated the minefield of free agency. Does the team generally give out reasonable deals, or is it prone to over-paying and over-committing to players it shouldn’t?

Vision: How the front office communicates its plan, both implicitly and explicitly. Vision is mostly an abstract concept, one that boils down to whether a team’s plan to build a Stanley Cup contender is evident in its decision-making process and whether its plans for the future appear sound.

So, have fun:

Single team survey

32-team survey

Team USA rolled over Germany 5-1 in their first of four World Junior Championship “round robin” games.

Red Wings prospect forward Carter Mazur had an assist, finishing at +2 with 2 shots in 15:37 played, skating as the right wing on the Americans’ top line;

And Red Savage scored a goal, finishing at +1 with 4 shots, playing 11:26 as the left wing on the Americans’ fourth line.

Continue reading Red Wings at the WJC: Mazur 1A, Savage 1G in Americans’ 5-1 win over Germany

Red Wings prospect and Edmonton Oil Kings goaltender Sebastian Cossa was expected to split time with Dylan Garand during Team Canada’s four “round robin” games at the World Junior Championship in Edmonton, but it’s a bit surprising that he’s starting Canada’s opening game vs. Latvia on Wednesday (6 PM EDT start on TSN/NHL Network).

TSN’s Mark Masters posted a video report in which Canada coach Dave Cameron spoke about Cossa’s experience in winning the WHL Championship with Edmonton, and then Garand spoke about the excitement of playing at the WJC:

Red Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa will get the start for Team Canada in its first game of the #WorldJuniors against Latvia. Head coach Dave Cameron discussed what Cossa brings to the team and revealed that Dylan Garand will ‘probably’ start on Thursday: https://t.co/0OiWds7cDQ pic.twitter.com/mwX15m4ACD— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) August 10, 2022

Cameron also spoke a bit about Cossa in a 1-on-1 interview with Masters:

“Now the real fun starts…”

Head coach Dave Cameron feels Canada is ready for the #WorldJuniors challenge: https://t.co/2B5IH9QurG#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/EJHMK0ktBW— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) August 10, 2022

According to Hockeysverige.se, Red Wings prospect and Frolunda HC winger Liam Dower-Nilsson will take part in Team Sweden’s entry in the Four Nations Cup between August 25th and 27th in Roveniemi, Finland.

The Four Nations Cup is seen as something of a dress rehearsal for the year’s upcoming World Junior Championship in December/January, so LDN’s fairly likely to take part in the World Juniors during the 2022-2023 season.

Dower-Nilsson is 19 years old, and the 6,’ 172-pound center will try to break into Frolunda’s men’s team on a full-time basis this year.

Liam’s brother, Noah Dower-Nilsson, took part in the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup as a 17-year-old last week in Red Deer, Alberta, and it’s his draft year. He’s 5’11” and 172 pounds, and plays center.

The Finnish national team won a 6-1 decision over Latvia on Tuesday at the World Junior Championship, and Red Wings prospect Eemil Viro did what Viro does:

He played a quietly efficient game, finishing at +1 with 3 shots in 19:34 played.

Update: Here are the game’s highlights: