The Malik Report

Good for Blash:

We have hired Jeff Blashill as assistant coach.

Glad to have you in Tampa, Coach!https://t.co/vgPFocOxBw— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) July 12, 2022

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde spoke with DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills about the addition of NHL veteran and NHL head coach Bob Boughner to the coaching mix as an associate coach and assistant who will help the defense:

“He’s coached a Norris Trophy winner and Stanley Cup winners,” Lalonde said about Boughner last Friday at the Bell Centre in Montreal. “A huge piece, ecstatic. What makes me more excited is he probably had other options. I think he liked not only where our young D-core is and where it could be, but him being part of developing them in where our organization is and was.”

Boughner, who was Detroit’s 32nd overall pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, spent parts of the last three seasons as head coach of the San Jose Sharks and was at the helm of the Florida Panthers from 2017-19.

The NHL coaching and management tree is a tight-knit group. Lalonde took advantage of his relationships to do his homework on Boughner, and came away impressed

“I talked to (Dallas Stars head coach) Pete DeBoer about him, and I felt like Pete wanted to put his hands through the phone and slap me to hire him ASAP,” Lalonde said. “That’s how strongly he felt about him as a coach and how he’d be a really good fit for us.”

Lalonde said talks with Boughner began over the phone and quickly progressed leading up to the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

“We were fortunate enough to have real positive talks throughout,” Lalonde said. “We sat here the other day and said ‘listen, let’s try to get on this.’ And Steve did, amongst his many other things going on.”

Continued

The Athletic’s Sean Gentille offers a set of salary cap rankings from best to worst in the NHL, and he says this of the Red Wings’ cap situation:

Detroit Red Wings

2022-23 salaries: $51,478,889
RFAs estimate: $2.5 million
Dead money deals: Justin Abdelkader buyout ($2.305 million), Richard Panik retained ($1.375 million), Frans Nielsen buyout ($500,000)
Notable unsigned UFAs: Sam Gagner, Thomas Greiss, Marc Staal
Problem contract: None
Projected cap space: $28,564,486

The Red Wings, for all intents and purposes, could spend their summer figuring out their approach to the futures of 2023 UFAs Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi. Of the three players they sent qualifying offers on Monday, Filip Zadina is the relevant piece — whether it’s to hold, cheaply extend or flip for another team’s change-of-scenery RFA. Only new goalie Ville Husso and Robby Fabbri are signed for more than two seasons. The team’s other two cornerstones — Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond — each just finished the first year of their entry deals.

There’s also more than enough space for Steve Yzerman to add an actually relevant player or three, if he wishes. Those could be short-term deadline-flip plays, or they could be legit pieces for the next good Red Wings team. Max Bultman went over 10 solid options, starting with Ondrej Palat.

Continued (paywall)

The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro blasts Original Six teams for having the luxury of “tanking” today, and while he focuses on the Chicago Blackhawks, who are clearing their decks of talent in an obvious tank job, he does not have kind words for the Detroit Red Wings, either.

He offers this take on the hiring of Derek Lalonde and the heralded Yzerplan…

When Derek Lalonde was introduced as the Red Wings’ new coach he and general manager Steve Yzerman practically tempered any playoff hopes to an icy chill. Winning in Detroit isn’t part of the plan this year. The “Yzerplan” has long-term visions, and frankly, the Yzerplan is just slow-roll tanking with a catchier name.

And he offers this take on the Wings and Hawks’ respective situations…

Original Six teams can be bad and still matter, especially in a sport that puts tradition on an extreme pedestal. These legacy brands, even when terrible, are still the financial behemoths of the NHL. They sell more merch, they get better placements on national television, and they drive more revenue through sponsorship and television rights than any of the 26 NHL teams that entered the NHL after them.

It might have been embarrassing when the Blackhawks’ sellout streak came to an end. It was bad when the Red Wings literally changed the color of the seats at Little Caesars Arena because of the unsightly appearance of a less-than-full building, but lagging attendance for the Original Six teams isn’t tanking their bottom line as it would in, say, Nashville or even Colorado.

“The Blackhawks will still be one of the richest teams in the NHL this season,” one NHL team president said. “They’ll still make a ton of money. The Red Wings make double on their TV deal than I ever will. That’s just the reality of it. My GM has to put people in seats for my owner to be happy. It’s not fair, but sports aren’t fair.”

And he notes the following:

In places like Chicago, Detroit, and Montreal there are more of you [fans are] held by the mental captivity of hockey fandom and you can’t escape so you’ll still care, and that extends to your local area’s sports talk radio stations, columnists, and local television broadcasts.

Media coverage of a team is a reflection of the market, and how packed or empty a press box is when a team is playing poorly is a pretty good indicator of whether that team’s owner has the ability to actually tank without serious consequence.

The moral of the story is Chicago and Detroit will be fine. Their respective GMs will keep their jobs because the tank is understood and accepted as a part of the process where relevance doesn’t hinge on winning or losing. Other teams don’t have this luxury. Winning is required to drive relevance, and being in that soft middle and being close to the playoffs every year in a loser point system is more of a certainty than hoping a tank will pay off with a championship a decade from now.

Continued (paywall);

ESPN’s Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski posted a MASSIVE free agency primer on ESPN.com’s Insider page today, assessing what each and every one of the NHL’s 30 teams should/might want to accomplish over the course of free agency. Here’s what they have to say about the Red Wings:

Detroit Red Wings

Key players hitting UFA: None
Key players hitting RFA: D Jake Walman, RW Filip Zadina, F Mitchell Stephens
Cap space: $31,021,111

What they should do: General manager Steve Yzerman already checked a big box by trading for the rights to pending unrestricted-free-agent goaltender Ville Husso and subsequently signing him to a three-year, $14.25 million contract. That gives the Red Wings an excellent goalie tandem of Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic for the next few seasons.

Detroit’s primary area of need now is on defense. Veterans Danny DeKeyser and Marc Staal are both pending UFAs, and should they move on elsewhere, Yzerman will be eyeing different depth players for the back end, with a potentially larger role also going to Jake Walman if he remains in the fold. You could see Yzerman going for someone like Will Butcher or Olli Maatta, or perhaps Ian Cole. Those are capable second- or third-pairing defenders who can support and provide stability for the team’s top defensive talents like Moritz Seider. And they could be signed to relatively inexpensive, short-term contracts for the rebuilding Red Wings.

Similarly, there’s room for Detroit to boost its forward depth with some seasoned names like Bryan Rust or Calle Jarnkrok. They’re strong two-way players who can set an example for some of Detroit’s young players with enough offensive upside to be consistent contributors.

While the Red Wings are still charting their new course — under new head coach Derek Lalonde to boot — it’s all about staying low-flash in free agency.

Continued (paywall; read it if you can); it would be incredibly ironic if the Red Wings picked up the 30-year-old Jarnkrok as a free agent.

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a subscriber-only article this morning which discusses the Red Wings’ need to ‘make a splash’ in free agency to improve the team:

Steve Yzerman has been conservative in free agency during his first three years as general manager for a Detroit Red Wings team deep in a rebuild.

Is this the year he makes a bigger splash when the market opens Wednesday at noon?

The Red Wings have ample cap space and several needs, and Yzerman would like to add some talent if the price and term are right.

“We want help for Dylan (Larkin), Tyler (Bertuzzi), Filip Hronek,” Yzerman said last week. “They’ve been around for a few years, Dylan and Tyler particularly. We want to surround them with some better players. We watched the positive impact some of our younger guys had this year. We’d like to add to that and continue to move forward. If there’s a player that can make what we feel would be a significant impact, we’re not afraid to do that in free agency.”

The Red Wings have $31 million in cap space, according to CapFriendly.com, though a portion of that is reserved to re-sign some of their own free agents and for new deals for Larkin and Bertuzzi, who are entering the final years of their contracts.

Continued (paywall)

Red Wings prospect Eemil Viro offered a refreshing comment regarding what matters the most in terms of what the Red Wings’ summer development camp participants will take home from this week’s on and off-ice sessions, as noted by Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff:

“I think the friends on the team,” Viro said. “Getting to know the new guys, it’s gonna help me for next season. I’m really looking forward to that.”

The gathering of top prospects by an NHL team creates a very intriguing dynamic. These are the elite among the future of the game, from junior, college and European hockey. For most, it’s the first time they’ve met. That can prove awkward for longtime foes who suddenly find themselves fighting for the same side.

For anyone familiar with hockey culture, it won’t be the least bit surprising to discover that bad blood between opponents flows away easily like water under a bridge when they become teammates.

“It’s definitely a bit (odd at first),” Detroit goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa admitted. “When you don’t know a guy off the ice, on the ice you obviously make assumptions of the guy.

“But everyone here’s been great. At the end of the day, everyone’s competing on the ice. I think off the ice, everyone’s personality is a bit different. You might be chirping on the ice but off the ice, you can definitely become friends.”

Continued with more notes…

Sault This Week’s Randy Russon writes a weekly column regarding all things related to Major Junior hockey, and Russon has this to say about the Red Wings’ decision to snag Amadeus Lombardi in last weekend’s NHL Draft:

An example of perseverance and overcoming the odds occurred in the fourth round when the Detroit Red Wings took 5-foot-10, 165-pound centre Amadeus Lombardi from the Flint Firebirds. Lombardi, who scored 18 goals, 41 assists, 59 points in 67 regular season games for Flint in 2021-2022 before adding seven goals, eight assists, 15 points in 19 playoff matches, was a distant 13th round pick by the Firebirds at the 2019 OHL priority selections draft. The shrewd selection of Lombardi by Detroit from Flint looms as a potential off the charts steal of a deal by Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman.

Continued; Lombardi isn’t big by any stretch of the imagination, but his work ethic, hustle and skating have been impressive over the course of the first two days of development camp.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James’ usual morning column just hit the wires today, and in said column, she discusses Sebastian Cossa’s desire to turn pro with the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids this upcoming season (which is not assured):

If Sebastian Cossa has a say, he’s playing in the Detroit Red Wings‘ organization next season.

The 6-foot-6, 215-pound goaltender delivered impressive numbers in 2021-22: A 2.28 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in 46 regular-season games for the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings, plus a 1.93 GAA and .919 save percentage in 19 playoff games that included a trip to the Memorial Cup.

From Cossa’s viewpoint, he’s ready to turn pro.

“Going into the season, I want to play at the highest level of hockey I can,” he said Monday. “I think my game is going to do the speaking for me and management obviously has the say in where I’m going to be playing. But I put a lot of work into my game and I’m very confident in myself and my game. I think for myself, I’ve already proven it to myself.”

General manager Steve Yzerman just added Ville Husso to the Wings’ roster to fill out the tandem with Alex Nedeljkovic. Jussi Olkinuora was added to the depth chart in June, giving the Wings a 31-year-old with extensive experience in Europe to play with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Victor Brattström, a draft pick from 2018, is also under contract, and he played 32 games last season for the Griffins. 

Continued (paywall)

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted this a couple of hours ago, and it feels like information is changing all the time, but here we go:

Max has posted a superb list of 10 unrestricted free agents-to-be who might interest the Red Wings, and Max really went in-depth to discuss his targets’ pluses and minuses. Here’s my pick of the litter:

Andrew Copp, C: The local product is coming off an excellent run with the Rangers, scoring over a point per game in New York’s final 16 regular-season games, then adding 14 in 20 in the playoffs.

That’s a great way to go into free agency, and also the main reason for caution before getting too excited here: That performance might have given the 28-year-old enough ammo to command a long-term deal, which could eliminate his hometown team from contention. Detroit hasn’t given out any contracts longer than four years under Yzerman.

Still, Copp is a big-bodied center who just put up 20 goals, proved he can score in the playoffs, and has historically strong defensive impacts. That checks a ton of boxes for Detroit, and the local tie is a good reason to believe he’d entertain a return home.

Copp would be well within his rights to fully capitalize on his career year and secure his financial future this summer. But if he’s willing to sign on a medium-term deal to return home, he’s an obvious fit. Evolving Hockey projects a four-year deal at about $5.8 million, which feels manageable for the Red Wings.

Continued (obviously)