The Malik Report

Few things make me feel smaller and less significant than those days when fundraising goes south, and yesterday, the opening of Operation Tricorder, was one of those days.

I’m trying to raise funds to plain old fix the Pacifica so that I can drive to Grand Rapids with more than one headlight and more than one tail light, and, as you know by now, I’m trying to raise funds to replace a broken cell phone. Both items will be utilized at least partially to do stuff for the blog, but the cell phone is very admittedly also going to be used personally.

So that’s it. This is quite literally a non-profit blog, and I was hoping that you might not be so tapped out by the holidays and January’s status as a rough month to not give a hand, but maybe that’s the case.

I don’t have any commercials or ads to rely on, however, so I’ve got to ask anyway. We got the Moonshot done and I’m typing on my work computer because of you, and I remain hopeful that I’ll be able to raise the $200 for car repairs and $600 for the phone at some point soon. Let’s see what we can do.

If you’re willing to lend a hand, you can use PayPal at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport, Venmo at https://venmo.com/george-malik-2, Giftly by using my email, rtxg@yahoo.com, at https://www.giftly.com. And you can contact me via email if you want to send me a paper check.

As always, many thanks for your time and readership.

Bummer news via The Athletic’s Max Bultman on Twitter and the one and only Corey Pronman:

No international tournaments in February at the junior level this season as the U18 5 nations in Finland, U19 5 nations in Sweden and U17 4 nations in USA are off.— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) January 6, 2022

If Anaheim Ducks Wunderkind Trevor Zegras clears COVID protocols today, he will play opposite Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider tonight in Anaheim (10 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit Plus/Bally Sports California/Bally Sports San Diego/97.1 FM). The Athletic’s Eric Stephens and Max Bultman discuss and debate the Calder Trophy merits of the trio of super-rookies this morning:

Does one have an edge over the others?

Stephens: Looking at it right now, I’d say it’s neck and neck and neck. It is amazing that the Red Wings have not one but two leading candidates. And if Zegras were to win, it would make him the first Anaheim player to capture the award. Not even Kariya can make that claim — Kariya would finish third in 1995 behind Quebec center Peter Forsberg and Washington goalie Jim Carey.

On one hand, Seider has an edge in that playing defense at a high level in the NHL is a hard task and for a 20-year-old to be outstanding right off the bat should earn some extra points. Detroit coach Jeff Blashill isn’t protecting him either. Seider takes regular turns on the Red Wings’ penalty kill while also playing a big role in their power play. To be trusted with prime defensive assignments while also leading the blue line in scoring is quite a feat for a youngster.

On the other hand, Zegras is also playing a demanding position in centering Anaheim’s second line as he continues his maturation toward one day taking the reins from Ryan Getzlaf and becoming the Ducks’ No. 1 pivot. And it doesn’t hurt that Zegras has made the Ducks a dynamic team when he’s in the lineup and relevant on a national scale with his charisma and penchant for pulling off the unexpected.

Bultman: To me, it’s way too soon to call this race. These three players have each been the NHL’s Rookie of the Month over the first three months, and they each look like they’ll be able to keep it up as the season wears on. There’s not much separation.

But Seider and Zegras each have one area where they stand out from the other two.

For Seider, it’s his usage. Playing 22 minutes a night as a defenseman at such a young age speaks to the immense responsibility he’s already taken on. The fact so many of those minutes are coming from tough defensive-zone starts only compounds that, especially compared to Zegras, who has started nearly 80% of his even-strength shifts (among those that start on face-offs) in the offensive zone. When you factor that difference in, Seider’s production as a defenseman becomes even more impressive.

Continued (paywall)

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn examines the NHL’s awards races via the standard that is his favorite advanced statistic, “Goals Scored Above Replacement Value,” and, not surprisingly, he’s giving the Calder Trophy to Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks based upon one stat:

Last we spoke, Detroit’s dynamic duo seemed to be running away with this award, specifically Lucas Raymond. In the 10 games since, neither player has added much value to Detroit unfortunately and that’s a direct result of five-on-five play. Raymond had seven points (but no goals) over that stretch, but he also has an ugly 38 percent expected goals rate. Moritz Seider didn’t fare much better, at 42 percent, and the rough month now has both players behind the eight ball in terms of on-ice impact. At five-on-five, both players have a 48 percent expected goals rate on the season.

Compare that to the current leader, Trevor Zegras, who is impacting all facets of the ice with 25 points in 30 games and a 56 percent expected goals rate. The latter mark is the second-best on the Ducks. He’s been a major reason the team is back in the playoff hunt, and the Calder should be his to lose at this point.

That can all change as the season goes on though, as there is very little separating the top of the class, with several standouts aside from the three big names. Michael Bunting deserves consideration despite his age for being a perfect fit on the Leafs’ top line next to Auston Matthews. He has some of the strongest five-on-five numbers of any rookie. Alex Carrier doesn’t have the most impressive scoring totals, but he’s thriving defensively in tough shutdown minutes next to Mattias Ekholm. The duo gets the toughest assignments every night, and Carrier has parlayed that into 53 percent of the expected goals. It’s a similar story for Jacob Middleton, who has helped reignite Erik Karlsson’s game in San Jose. Lastly, Carolina’s Seth Jarvis is scoring at a solid 52-point pace while posting impressive five-on-five impacts at both ends of the ice. His 61 percent expected goals rate leads the Hurricanes. He’s a dark-horse candidate. 

Continued (paywall); Raymond has hit a wall lately, but I’m not suddenly getting on the Zegras bandwagon due to his surge. If anything, the Red Wings hit a wall, too, dropping 6 of 8 games in December, and I believe that both the team and the two individuals mentioned will rebound.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James reexamines the Red Wings’ 6-2 win over the San Jose Sharks this morning, discussing the ways in which the Wings successfully snapped a 2-game losing streak with a dominant performance:

The Wings (16-15-3) didn’t practice Wednesday. They are scheduled to head to California to play the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, and the Sharks on Jan. 12. The Wings have won just four of their 15 road games.

Beyond the offensive boost Tuesday — after scoring just once in each of the first two games out of the Christmas break — the Wings played well defensively against the Sharks. They also did a good job defensively on New Year’s Eve against the Washington Capitals. 

“Every night is a challenge,” Blashill said. “We did some things that will help you be good on the road. We played a fairly smothering style from a defensive standpoint in terms of not giving them space and I thought we laid pucks in behind and went and got them.

“You come out of the break, and you’re one goal and one goal. Confidence matters. When you’re able to get six, it helps guys, it helps guys feel good about themselves, helps the team feel good. I think confidence can breed more offense, so let’s hope that happens. Hopefully, we’re continuing to learn and grow as a hockey team and what it takes for us to be successful home and away, but especially on the road.”

Suter and Tyler Bertuzzi each had two goals, and Robby Fabbri also scored; 10 Wings came away with points.

“A lot of different guys scoring and playing well defensively, you can build from that,” Suter said. “Every win you take some confidence. The road trips haven’t been as we’d like so we need a performance like this.”

Continued (paywall)

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses Filip Zadina’s status as a healthy scratch during the Red Wings’ 6-2 win over San Jose on Tuesday:

Zadina has gone from first line to second line to third line to healthy scratch in a matter of months, not the trajectory the Red Wings envisioned their No. 1 pick in 2018 would be on two years after becoming a regular in the NHL.

Coach Jeff Blashill said the 22-year-old forward needed a reset. Zadina has just four goals and six assists in 32 games. He has gone nine games without a goal and has just one goal and three points in his past 14 games.

“What Filip wants to do is put himself so he’s not in the mix of players we’re talking about (scratching),” Blashill said following Tuesday’s 6-2 victory over San Jose. “I don’t think it ever hurts a guy every once in a while to hit the reset button, kind of take some pressure off and just go get it. When Z gets back in the lineup, I’m hoping he can come back charged up and play real good hockey.”

Zadina could return as soon as tonight in Anaheim (10 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit), the start of a three-game California trip, with Carter Rowney’s status uncertain due to an injury suffered late in Tuesday’s game.

Whenever Zadina is back, he will feel more urgency to produce, knowing his spot in the lineup isn’t guaranteed.

Continued

In Red Wings prospect-related news, Honorary Prospects department:

The Toledo Walleye don’t have any Red Wings prospects right now, but Toledo got a 41-save performance from Billy Christopoulos, a hat trick from Brent Boeing and 5 assists from Brandon Hawkins in a 7-1 victory over their arch-rival Fort Wayne Komets.

The Walleye posted a recap:

Continue reading Prospect Round-up: Walleye win 7-1 over Komets

The Grand Rapids Griffins had a productive Wednesday at Van Andel Arena, defeating the Milwaukee Admirals by a 7-2 tally. Dennis Yan scored 2 goals, Tyler Spezia had a goal and 2 assists and Calvin Pickard stopped 25 of 27 shots for Grand Rapids.

The Griffins posted a game recap:

Milwaukee Admirals 2 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 7

Jan. 5, 2022

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A season-high seven goals were more than enough to push the Grand Rapids Griffins to their third straight victory against the Milwaukee Admirals on Wednesday when they won 7-2 at Van Andel Arena. The three-game win streak is tied for the longest by the Griffins this campaign.

Grand Rapids now has a six-game point streak against Milwaukee (5-0-1-0) this season. Turner Elson has scored a goal in five of his last six contests. Dennis Yan (2-0—2) and Tyler Spezia (1-2—3) joined Elson (1-1—2) with multi-point games. Kyle Criscuolo also extended his point streak (7-11—18) to 10 outings, which is tied for the ninth-longest scoring run in Grand Rapids history and the longest since Matt Puempel’s 11-game tear from Oct. 23-Nov. 15, 2019.

Continue reading Recap: Griffins rout Admirals 7-2

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed an evening notebook article on Wednesday, discussing the Red Wings’ need to build upon Tuesday’s win vs. the Sharks as the team embarks upon a 3-game California road trip with a game in Anaheim tonight:

Coming off a convincing 6-2 victory Tuesday at home against San Jose — where the Wings will end the California roadie — the Wings are heading into this trip with new-found confidence.

“We want to get as many points as we can down the stretch,” said forward Pius Suter, who sparked Tuesday’s win, both Suter and Tyler Bertuzzi getting two goals in the victory. “Road trips haven’t been as good as we’d like (this season), so we need to get off to a good start the next game and perform like (Tuesday) and that’ll help us moving forward.”

The Wings are 4-10-1 away from Little Caesars Arena and have lost their last three consecutive games. The Wings’ last road victory was Nov. 30 in Boston. Due to COVID postponements, the Wings only played three road games in December — but all were decided losses to St. Louis, Colorado and Carolina, three of the NHL’s best teams.

After losses to Washington and Boston at LCA last weekend — each gut-wrenching in the manner they unfolded — the way the Wings rebounded and took the game to San Jose was a step forward.

“We have to play as good as possible defensively,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We played pretty good against Washington and didn’t think good enough against Boston. (Tuesday) we did some good things that will help us be good on the road. We played a fairly smothering style from a defensive standpoint, not giving them space. That’s an important thing if you’re going to win on the road.

“Hopefully we’ll continue to grow and learn as a hockey team for us to be successful home and away, but especially on the road.”

Continued (paywall) with 5 points of emphasis….

In a subscriber-only article, the Detroit News’s John Niyo ponders Filip Zadina’s future with the Red Wings after coach Jeff Blashill scratched the promising young 22-year-old in Tuesday’s win over San Jose:

He ranks second among Wings forwards (behind Bertuzzi) in 5-on-5 expected goals for percentage, per Evolving Hockey, yet the scoresheet most nights leaves everyone wanting. One reason: Zadina’s subpar shooting percentage (5.6) is the same as it was during that nine-game audition in 2018-19, and not far off last season’s mark (6.3), which is hardly what anybody expected when then-Wings GM Ken Holland touted his scoring ability after that 2018 draft. Holland preached patience then, but also said he hoped Zadina would be “a big part” of a budding Cup contender “hopefully when he’s 21 or 22.”

Obviously, the past two seasons have been hard on player development for everyone in the NHL, but Zadina’s own frustration with his lack of production — and likely his role as well — has been evident.  

It also partly explains why Blashill was talking at Thanksgiving, right around Zadina’s 22nd birthday, about the young forward needing a different perspective — “He can’t put all his self-worth as a player into scoring,” the coach noted — and understanding all the other things that go into “playing winning hockey.”

That talk draws eye-rolls from frustrated fans, I know, after five straight losing seasons on Blashill’s watch. And it probably grates on young players as well. But Zadina has to know the GM he plays for now believes those same things about “winning” hockey players.

And one thing we know about Steve Yzerman, both from his tenure in Tampa and his first two seasons back in charge in Detroit, is he’s not afraid to make a move, even if it involves a young player some might view as part of his team’s core. Like the Anthony Mantha trade last April, for instance.

So while it’s too soon to say something similar will happen here with Zadina — a hockey deal for another player looking for a fresh start — it’s hardly out of the question. There are only two or three untouchables on the Wings’ current roster, and a pending RFA with 47 points in 118 career games can’t be one of them, no matter where he was drafted. No, for Zadina, the best way to make good on his promise here in Detroit would be to take the decision out of his coach’s hands, before it’s too late. 

Continued (paywall)