The Malik Report

The Score’s John Matisz headed to Grand Rapids to examine the player-development factory known as the Grand Rapids Griffins:

On a Thursday morning in early November, the sounds of hockey bounce off the walls inside a fanless rink. It’s a practice day at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a midsized city some 150 miles west of Detroit.

Skates dig into the ice surface. A shot rings off the goalpost. Cursing fills the air after a shooter narrowly misses the net. A coach barks “Gap up! Gap up!” at a defenseman competing in a two-on-two drill.

In this hockey laboratory, there’s one coach for every two-and-a-half players. The players’ red hockey pants are emblazoned with the Detroit Red Wings’ iconic winged wheel logo, but the Grand Rapids Griffins emblem on each helmet serves as a reminder of the present moment. This is the minor leagues.

“Up top, in the NHL, you’re just worried about the final product,” says Mike Knuble, the former NHL forward who’s now an assistant coach for the Griffins. “Down here, it’s more so about the process to create the product.”

A variation of these sights and sounds can be seen and heard daily in AHL rinks across the continent, from San Diego to Laval, Quebec. All 32 NHL organizations are inherently invested in the development of their prospects – particularly in the AHL, where top affiliates compete not only for the league championship but also for the feeder league’s highest graduation rate.

For the Red Wings, a proud Original Six franchise, the significance is amplified.

Continued; this is a very lengthy but must-read…

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski ranks the NHL’s 32 teams into “contender tiers” this morning, and while the Red Wings are technically a playoff team in the NHL standings today, they’ve played in 24 games, among the most in the NHL (the Boston Bruins, for example, sit 5 points behind the Wings with 5 games in hand), so Wyshynski deems the Red Wings as needing “more time to cook“:

The Red Wings added Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider and Alex Nedeljkovic to their roster and were like, “welp, time to start winning again.” Granted, a .457 points percentage isn’t exactly “cancel the rebuild!” material, but it would be their highest since the 2016-17 season, when their current leading scorer was 15 years old.

Continued (paywall); Detroit is 12-9-and-3 this morning, which is 3 games above .500 by NHL standards, but exactly .500 to you and me.

Red Wings prospect Jesper Eliasson has moved from organization to organization 8 times over the past three seasons, and this morning, the 21-year-old goaltender has been loaned out to another team after not working out with Almtuna of the Swedish Allsvenskan.

According to HockeySverige.se’s Martin Jansson, Eliasson, who was reassigned to his SHL team, Farjestads BK, is now headed to play for Vasby IK of the Swedish HockeyEttan, a league lower than he’s been playing in.

That kind of sucks, because the Swedish hockey leagues go from SHL at the top (probably better than the AHL) to the Allsvenskan (AHL-ish level hockey) and then there’s a steep drop-off to the HockeyEttan, where semi-pro guys play.

The Red Wings have yet to sign Eliasson, so it’s going to be important that a goaltender who hasn’t been able to gain any traction as he’s bounced around do nothing less than dominate at a lesser league level than he’s been playing.

The Athletic’s Max Bultman discusses the Red Wings’ trio of superb rookies helping power the team forward this season in Alex Nedeljkovic, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider:

Seider, Raymond and Nedeljkovic are certainly not the only three stepping in big moments for Detroit. Bertuzzi’s enormous third period in Buffalo set up Seider’s game-winner. Larkin is tied for sixth in the NHL in game-winning goals, with three, and remains Detroit’s heartbeat. Thomas Greiss and Erne were shootout heroes Wednesday. The list goes on.

But the three rookies have been so impactful, so quickly, that the Red Wings suddenly have the feel of a team that finds a way — whether it’s pulling out a win, or steadying a teetering run of play like they faced coming home from Arizona.

They were building toward that at times last year, so it’s not totally new. And of course, it’s still too early in this season to be too definitive about any of this. But if the energy around these Red Wings feels different, it’s at least partly because these three rookies have helped make it that way.

“What helps bring energy up is knowing that you have really good players in your locker room,” Blashill said. “And obviously, there’s been a real infusion of talent with those three players.”

Continued (paywall)

The Detroit Red Wings won a 4-3 shootout decision over the Seattle Kraken last night at Little Caesars Arena, and both MLive’s Ansar Khan and the Free Press’s Helene St. James weigh in on the Wings’ win this morning (and the highlights are courtesy of AWood40):

Khan notes that the Red Wings won their fourth straight game despite playing…less than excellent hockey…

“I thought our compete was high, I thought our energy was good,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I didn’t think our execution was great. I thought we were sloppy at times. Sometimes we made the game a little bit harder. Sometimes when you get in late (from the road) you don’t play quite as smart as you need to play, and I thought there was some of that tonight.

“But we weren’t at our best and we found ways to win, which I think is critically important. Certainly, there are lessons to be learned. But you want to do it while you’re winning, and we did that.”

The Red Wings on consecutive nights came back to win after allowing the tying goal in the third period. Ryan Donato scored his second goal of the game with 5:44 to play in regulation to tie it at 3-3 for the Kraken.

The Red Wings got shootout goals from Dylan Larkin and Adam Erne — the winner in the fourth round.

“It was a great win in Boston, so to follow it up here after we get in late, it’s a back-to-back, but I feel like really big of the team to be able to pull this one through even if the play maybe wasn’t there today,” Lucas Raymond said. “Today wasn’t the prettiest game, but we got it done and that’s a huge thing.”

Khan continues; St. James describes the Red Wings’ win as an effort capped by “Rookies and Resiliency“:

Continue reading Khan, HSJ in the morning: plucky Wings lean on their youth to win a less-than-elegant game

Something tells me I’d better get used to this late-night translating Swedish business.

Lucas Raymond’s phone number is in the hands of the Swedish press, and he’s gracious enough to answer when they call, so, after being named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month, and scoring a goal in the Wings’ 4-3 shootout win over Seattle, Raymond spoke with Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom and Aftonbladet’s Per Bjurman.

Here’s a rough translation of his conversation with Gunnar Nordstrom, minus the last two paragraphs (which are kind of redundant)…

Continue reading Roughly translated: Lucas Raymond speaks with Expressen, Aftonbladet after his 10th goal of the season

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in North America on Wednesday night:

In the QMJHL, Oscar Plandowski finished even with 2 shots and a checking from behind major penalty in the Charlottetown Islanders’ 2-1 win over Gatineau;

In the WHL, Cross Hanas finished at -1 with 5 shots in the Portland Winterhawks’ 6-2 win over Prince George;

And Alex Cotton had 2 assists, finishing at +1 with 3 shots in the Vancouver Giants’ 5-3 win over Kelowna.

The Detroit Red Wings won over the Seattle Kraken by the narrowest of margins, defeating Seattle 4-3 in a shootout on Wednesday night.

The Red Wings surrendered a 1-0 lead, trailed 2-1 and then blew a 3-2 3rd period lead, and overtime was downright dreary “soccer hockey” as the Red Wings seemed to daydream elegant passes into would-be highlight reel goals instead of just shooting the damn puck at the damn net and chasing after it…

But Robby Fabbri, Vladislav Namestnikov and Lucas Raymond’s regulation goals stood up thanks to both Dylan Larkin and Adam Erne’s shootout goals, as well as a fine performance from Thomas Greiss, who earned his 150th career win in a 23-save, 3-of-4-shootout-save performance (with a couple of goalposts and crossbar ringers on his side).

Long story long, the Red Wings looked a little tired, more mentally than physically, coming off a big, emotional win in Boston the night before, but the Wings stuck with it against an undermanned but tremendously tenacious and pesky Kraken team.

So the Wings took the battle of Octopus vs. Giant Squid, Chapter 1, extending their winning streak to 4 games ahead of a more marquee Saturday match-up vs. the Islanders…

And yes, the Red Wings won without Tyler Bertuzzi for the first time. That must be mentioned, as must Bertuzzi’s soon-to-be 5-game absence due to COVID protocols.

For our friends from Seattle, as the Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker notes, taking a point from the now-12-9-and-3 Red Wings was tangible consolation, especially given the performance of their interim top line of Yanni Gourde, Joonas Donsokoi and a visibly stiff and sore (from blocking shots) Ryan Donato:

Continue reading Red Wings-Kraken wrap-up: by the narrowest of margins, Detroit prevails for 4th straight win

Ugh.

Blashill said Bertuzzi is feeling fine but will be in COVID protocol for 10 days. He’ll miss five games.— Nick Cotsonika (@cotsonika) December 2, 2021

Jeff Blashill says Red Wings F Tyler Bertuzzi, who is not vaccinated, will be in COVID-19 protocol for 10 days, will miss 5 games.— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) December 2, 2021

The Detroit Red Wings aimed to win their 4th straight game for the first time this season at the expense of the injury-ravaged Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night.

The Red Wings tried to do so without Tyler Bertuzzi and Danny DeKeyser (COVID), which is an increasing concern, and with Thomas Griess in goal, despite Greiss having given up 5 goals apiece in the Wings’ last 4 appearances.

The Red Wings won, but ONLY JUST. Detroit was forced to a shootout by the sparky, sneaky Kraken, and Dylan Larkin and Adam Erne out-scored Joonas Donskoi to afford Detroit a 4-3 victory.

Over the course of regulation, Fabbri, Namestnikov and Raymond scored for Detroit, and Thomas Greiss stopped 21 shots to secure his 150th career win as the Kraken lurked, lurked, lurked and struck, struck, struck against a sleepy, day-dreamy Red Wings team that has earned its 4th straight win for the first time this season…

Again, but only just.

Continue reading Red Wings-Kraken quick take: No Squid Game, a shootout win instead