The Malik Report

The 13-12-and-3 Detroit Red Wings hope to snap a 3-game losing streak as they host the 7-11-and-5 New York Islanders this evening at Little Caesars Arena (7:30 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit/MSG+/97.1 FM).

The Red Wings won the last meeting between the teams, but only via a 4-3 overtime decision, and Barry Trotz’s Islanders are trying to make their December push toward a re-set after struggling through the first 20-or-so games of the season.

Detroit theoretically held a morning skate, but the morning skate Tweets were very sparse today:

Marc Staal is back skating with the team as we prep for #NYIvsDET.

?: https://t.co/a1ZFiGyALB pic.twitter.com/sKXq55RRM6— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 14, 2021

Marc Staal on the ice for morning skate today. #LGRW— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) December 14, 2021

Alex Nedeljkovic is the first goaltender off the ice this morning. #LGRW— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) December 14, 2021

Meanwhile, in Plymouth, at the U.S. World Junior selection camp…

Red Wings prospect @Carter_Mazur continues to impress at the @usahockey #WorldJuniors selection camp. He’s showing goal-scoring touch and physicality. @NHLNetwork @DU_Hockey ??— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 14, 2021

Things get tricky for the 13-12-and-3 Red Wings this evening as the 7-11-and-5 New York Islanders come to town this evening (7:30 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit/MSG+/97.1 FM).

The Red Wings have lost 3 straight, and while the Islanders are looking to earn their first 2-game winning streak of the season, they’ve won 2 of their past 3 games, including a 4-2 win against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday evening.

NewYorkIslanders.com’s Sasha Kendrach posted a very good game preview this morning…

After collecting their first win on home ice on Saturday night at UBS Arena, the New York Islanders are looking to keep the momentum going as they travel to Detroit to take on the Red Wings on Tuesday night for the second time this season and this month. 

In their previous meeting on Dec. 4, the Red Wings defeated the Islanders 4-3 in overtime. The Islanders’ received scoring from their special teams with a shorthanded goal from Cal Clutterbuck and two power-play tallies from Oliver Wahlstrom. Detroit’s win was backed by regulation goals from Filip Hronek, Sam Gagner and Givani Smith while Moritz Seider buried the OT winner. Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves on 30 shots in the loss, while Alex Nedeljkovic made 20 saves on 23 shots in the win. 

The Islanders enter Tuesday’s matchup coming off a big 4-2 win over New Jersey on Saturday night, which marked the club’s first-ever victory at UBS Arena. Noah Dobson scored on the power play, Andy Greene and Jean-Gabriel Pageau found the back of the net at even strength and Zach Parise netted the game winner with a shorthanded goal. Sorokin made 30 saves on 32 shots. 

Since defeating the Islanders in overtime on Dec. 4, Detroit has subsequently lost its last three games. Their most recent loss came at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche on Friday where they were beaten 7-3. Vladislav Namestnikov, Joe Veleno and Filip Hronek (power play) scored, while Thomas Greiss made 4 saves on 7 shots through 10:49 before being replaced by Nedeljkovic, who made 36 saves on 39 shots.

And Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen summarized the teams’ respective situations:

Continue reading Red Wings-Islanders quickie preview: rematch for teams heading in different directions

I’m not going to my family’s Christmas party because of the delta variant of COVID-19. My aunt is immune-compromised, and while all my relatives are vaccinated and boosted, my aunt has informed me that she believes the virus is too, well, virulent for us to take the risk of hugging and hanging out with 30-some people when Michigan has the highest rates of COVID infection in the nation.

My aunt is vaccinated and boosted, as am I, but her immune system is effectively a wet piece of paper towel, and a one-ply piece of cheap paper towel at that. She’s going through an immune flare-up where her immune system attacks her body right now, and it’s just too risky for me to be out in crowds, even vaccinated, well-meaning ones.

Bluntly, there is no magic bullet against COVID infection. It’s a respiratory illness, and it’s spread by breathing, sneezing, coughing, things that all of us do on a regular basis. And it’s incredibly virulent against human beings.

As we’ve learned in the sporting world, when players are breathing, sneezing, coughing, spitting, sweating, bleeding and generally exerting themselves athletically in close proximity, COVID can spread like wildfire, even if teams are masking and isolating players away from on-ice and in-the-locker-room activities.

Long story long, even vaccination is not a magic bullet, but it sure as hell helps reduce the severity of COVID among those who contract it.

The Red Wings are vaccinated against COVID except for one player, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Bertuzzi informed the media on Monday that the fact that he got COVID and missed 5 games due to his infection will not change his mind as to not getting vaccinated. I’ll let Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff take it from here…

Continue reading Notebook round-up: On Bertuzzi’s return

TSN’s Mark Masters filed a notebook article on Monday discussing the Canadian World Junior team’s participants, including Red Wings prospect and Grand Rapids Griffins defenseman Donovan Sebrango, who’s part of Canada’s WJC team:

Donovan Sebrango is a superstitious guy. 

“In my stall, I like things – my water bottle, my tape – to the right of me,” the Grand Rapids Griffins defenceman said. “I always have to use a new roll of clear tape on my shin pads every game. And sometimes I’ll change things to see if things change.” 

The latest example came at Canada’s selection camp. Sebrango, the Detroit Red Wings’ third-round pick in 2020, was among the final cuts last year. 

“Usually I come in with a bit shorter hair and a bit of a shaved face,” he said. “It didn’t go well for me last time, wasn’t able to make the team, so I came in this year with longer hair and a bit more scruff … I came in with a different look.” 

It worked. On Sunday night, Sebrango learned he would be one of Canada’s eight defencemen at the World Juniors. 

“It’s definitely a nerve-wracking day, but it’s one of the days you dream of,” he said. “It’s what you play the game for, those kind of days.” 

And while Sebrango is superstitious, the truth is it’s his game that earned him a ticket to Edmonton. 

“Just consistency and playing the game simple,” he said of his camp performance. “There’s nothing too special to my game. Just playing simple, breaking pucks out and being a physical guy.” 

Continued

Update: Now with video!

“In my stall, I like things – my water bottle, my tape – to the right of me. And sometimes I’ll change things to see if things change.”

How a superstitious Donovan Sebrango changed his look and his outcome at ?? Canada’s #WorldJuniors camp: https://t.co/Dyd2ZGx2Co#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/PGhWGvMwtR— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) December 14, 2021

The Red Wings are trying to get some traction for their website-based practice reports. Here’s Monday’s installment:

The Red Wings signed Robby Fabbri to a 3-year, $12 million extension on Monday night, and the Wings’ beat writers weighed in on the deal, starting with MLive’s Ansar Khan…

Robby Fabbri was a young forward whose promising career in St. Louis had been sidetracked by major knee injuries when the Detroit Red Wings acquired him as a reclamation project in 2019.

Three years later, he’s proven to be a productive top-six forward and part of the franchise rebuild. On Monday, the Red Wings announced they have signed Fabbri to a three-year contract extension with an average annual value of $4 million.

Fabbri, 25, is in the last year of his contract at a cap hit of $2.95 million. He was due to become an unrestricted free agent after the season. Now he is locked up through the 2024-25 season.

Fabbri has eight goals and six assists in 28 games this season. He has appeared in 110 games over parts of three seasons with Detroit, collecting 32 goals and 63 points.

And continuing with Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff…

Continue reading Wings’ beat writers weigh in on Fabbri’s extension

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article discussing Robby Fabbri’s contract extension and Tyler Bertuzzi’s return from COVID protocols on Monday, but he also noted an important storyline regarding one Vladislav Namestnikov:

Blashill switched forwards Vladislav Namestnikov and Filip Zadina, putting Namestnikov with Pius Suter and Robby Fabbri, while Zadina skated with Michael Rasmussen and Adam Erne.

For Namestnikov, it’s essentially a promotion to more of an offensive line, given Namestnikov’s performance lately.

“A well earned promotion,” said Blashill, noting Namestnkov also was placed on the power play last week. “I would say he’s played as good as any forward in our group the last little bit. He’s skating well, he’s producing enough offense and he’s played real good hockey. So to me, it’s a well earned promotion.”

Zadina could get more time playing with the puck, while playing with two big, grinding forwards.

“I don’t know that either one of those lines is going to get a whole bunch different ice time,” Blashill said. “I don’t necessarily see it as a demotion for Z. Z has worked hard, and potentially playing with Ras and Erne, it gets him even more puck touches because they’re hard on the puck, hard forecheckers and if he gets more puck touches, does he then produce more offense? Z is working hard and as he works hard, he’ll work through and grow and that’s all we ask of him.”

Continued

It’s the pre-Christmas crunch for the Red Wings, with 5 games to be played over the course of 10 nights, and Monday was a busy day from a news cycle point of view, with Robby Fabbri’s surprise contract extension being announced at 9 PM…

But I had to step away from the computer and pull the covers over my head instead. I’ve been dealing with both a bad cold/flu bug for a couple of weeks, and my anxiety and depression have been flaring up.

Monday was a particularly bad day from the depression standpoint, and I’m still in a lot of discomfort this evening. There’s not too much that my medications can do to help and even the aunt couldn’t seem to break down the walls that I’ve put up, so…

I’ll see what the evening holds, and hopefully be good to go for the morning skate on Tuesday.

This sucks, and I hate talking about it more than I hate having to deal with it, but people tell me that it helps them to be reminded that people with mental illnesses are human beings that have public lives, so…I’m letting you know how things are. They ain’t great.

The Red Wings announced a contract extension with Robby Fabbri tonight:

RED WINGS SIGN ROBBY FABBRI TO THREE-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION  

… Forward is Third in Red Wings Scoring Since Joining Organization …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today signed center Robby Fabbri to a three-year contract extension with an average annual value of $4 million.

Fabbri, 25, is in his third season with the Red Wings and ranks among team leaders with eight goals (5th), six assists (T10th), 14 points (T7th), three power-play goals (T1st), 66 shots (2nd) and 16:59 average time on ice (4th among forwards). Fabbri joined the Red Wings on Nov. 6, 2019 when he was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues in exchange for center Jacob de la Rose. The seventh-year pro has totaled 63 points (32-31-63) and 46 penalty minutes in 110 games for Detroit, ranking third on the team in scoring since he was acquired behind only Dylan Larkin (86 points) and Filip Hronek (64 points), while tying for the team lead with nine power-play goals and racking up a team-best eight game-winning goals.  

Since making his NHL debut in 2015-16, Fabbri has skated in 274 NHL games between Detroit and St. Louis, logging 136 points (62-72-136) and 106 penalty minutes. He won a 2019 Stanley Cup championship with the Blues, working his way back from a pair of injuries that sidelined him for over a year, including the entire 2017-18 season, picking up six points (2-4-6) in 32 regular-season games and adding one goal in 10 postseason contests. Originally drafted by the Blues in the first round (21st overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Fabbri initially broke into the league as a 19-year-old with a career-best 37 points (18-19-37) in 72 games before racking up 15 points (4-11-15) in 20 playoff games for St. Louis.  

A native of Mississauga, Ontario, Fabbri played three seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm from 2012-15, where he was teammates at various points with fellow Red Wings forwards Tyler Bertuzzi, Givani Smith and Pius Suter, prior to turning professional. Fabbri racked up 171 points (80-91-171) in 147 games with the Storm, while adding 33 points (14-19-33) over 30 career OHL postseason games. His most productive OHL campaign came when he registered 87 points (45-42-87) in 58 games with Guelph in 2013-14. Fabbri captured the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the most-valuable player in the 2014 OHL playoffs after totaling 28 points (13-15-28) in 16 games to help Guelph capture an OHL championship. Fabbri also owns two gold medals representing Team Canada by way of the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament and the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Now I’m more than a little biased in believing that the NHL media has wanted to name Trevor Zegras or Cole Caufield this season’s Calder Trophy winner as the rookie of the year long before the 2021-2022 season began, and The Score’s Todd Cordell’s balanced commentary accompanying Calder Trophy odds for this week does little to change my opinion regarding the situation:

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Lucas Raymond was one of my dark horses prior to the season. He has lived up to the hype and then some, piling up 10 goals and 14 assists through 28 games while skating on the top line for the surprisingly competent Detroit Red Wings. One of the most impressive things about Raymond has been his efficiency at five-on-five. He’s averaging more points per minute in that game state than the likes of Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andrei Svechnikov, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak, among many others.

It hasn’t taken long for Trevor Zegras to develop into a human highlight reel at the NHL level. The flashy Anaheim Ducks pivot has picked up 22 points over 28 games and has served as the primary play-driver and facilitator on one of the league’s more underrated lines with Rickard Rakell and Sonny Milano. He’ll be in the mix until the end.

Moritz Seider is going to be a franchise defenseman. You can argue he already is for the Red Wings. He’s on pace for 55 points this season and yet his play without the puck might be more impressive than his offensive ability. He has logged more than 22 minutes per night – often against top competition – and has shown the ability to slow down elite players with his fantastic positioning, stickwork, and anticipation. Seider is certainly carrying the heaviest workload in this rookie class, and it sure looks like he can handle it.

Continued; I just have this gut feeling that the NHL media types would rather see Zegras or Caufield, who played so very well in limited regular season and then playoff action to kick-start their hype trains, win the trophy.