The Malik Report

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a subscriber-only article this morning, discussing Pius Suter’s impressions made on the team over the course of training camp and Sunday’s Red vs. White Game:

Tentatively, Blashill has Suter paired with Robby Fabbri, to see if they can build chemistry similar to that between Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi.

“I envision Larks and Bert playing together and we’ll see who plays on the right side,” Blashill said. “With Suits, it certainly could be with Fabs. That line was good today. Suits brings a lot to the table in a lot of different ways. He’s a really smart player. I’ve been impressed with him so far. He’s a very head-y player.”

Suter, 25, is a late bloomer to the NHL: Attempts to catch on with the Ottawa Senators (2017) and New York Islanders (2018) fizzled, and Suter played five seasons in his native Switzerland before a successful stint with the Chicago Blackhawks last season. When he wasn’t extended by the Hawks, Yzerman signed Suter to a two-year, $6.5 million deal.

The message when Suter met with Blashill before camp was to play the style of hockey that netted 14 goals and 13 assists in 55 games.

“Just keep doing what I did,” Suter said. “For me, it’s just to keep doing what I did last year and make the team better.”

Continued (paywall)

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses Filip Zadina this morning, noting that the 21-year-old forward is expected to make the jump from regular NHL’er to regular offensive contributor this season:

“We would love for him to take that next step offensively,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “If he’s occupying a top-six role he has to take that next step offensively, otherwise somebody else will get that opportunity.”

Blashill said he hopes to keep Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi together all season. Zadina has been on that line during the first three days of training camp, but if he doesn’t click with them, Blashill said he will put someone else in that spot.

It’s a terrific opportunity for Zadina, who scored only six goals, in addition to providing 13 assists, in 49 games last season.

“I would be really excited for sure,” Zadina said. “I’m doing the best I can to stick with them as long as I can.”

Continued

Red Wings forward Joe Veleno has always been projected to become a solid second or third-line center at the NHL level, but the Detroit Red Wings’ roster is well-stocked in the middle right now. As such, The Athletic’s Max Bultman wonders whether Veleno’s most direct path to the NHL involves taking (to the left or right) wing:

Looking at Detroit’s roster — with Larkin, Pius Suter and Michael Rasmussen all roster locks, and Carter Rowney and Mitchell Stephens among those battling for the fourth-line center job — I’m left wondering if Veleno’s quicker path to the NHL might be on the wing.

So, this weekend, I posed this question to Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill: is there a world in which Veleno is battling for a job on the wing this fall? Or is he exclusively competing down the middle — with the fourth-line center spot the most conspicuously vacant.

“There’s a world where he’s competing on the wing, for sure,” Blashill said. “There’s no doubt that I think if he ends up a much better player than some of the guys that we foresee in those spots, and he’s a better player than those guys and we can find him a spot in the top nine somewhere, then I think it’s a discussion. The discussion for fourth-line center, we’d have to talk what’s best for Joe Veleno at that point, too. Not just necessarily is he a little bit better than another guy; is that the best thing for our organization and the best thing for him in terms of his development? And those are talks that Steve and I will have as we go through exhibition season. And obviously, there’s unforeseen things like injuries. So let’s see where it goes. I think the biggest thing is he just needs to make a statement every time he’s on the ice, that he’s going to make us better.”

Not only was that a clear “yes” on the possibility of Veleno competing at wing — it actually sounded more plausible to me that Veleno makes the team at wing than he does at fourth-line center. Reading not-so-thinly between the lines, there’s a clear implication that Detroit wants Veleno to be a top-nine player if he’s going to make the team, whether that be down the middle or on the wing.

Continued (paywall)

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan has authored a subscriber-only article regarding Pius Suter and Mitchell Stephens’ offensive performances during the Red vs. White Game at Centre ICE Arena on Sunday. Here’s a pertinent part regarding Suter:

Suter signed a two-year deal worth $6.5 million ($3.25 million cap hit) after scoring 14 goals with 13 assists in Chicago. He had options, but the Wings were his focus.

“There’s opportunity here, there are some spots open,” Suter said. “I want to play and I also want to help the team grow. There’s a lot of guys around my age (25) that you can grow up together and gain experience and win more games every year and go from there. They were interested in me and I felt it was a good spot and a great organization with a lot of history and definitely will be fun.”

Suter got position inside of defenseman Moritz Seider to a loose puck, drove to the net and beat goalie Calvin Pickard for his goal.

Coach Jeff Blashill likes what he has seen from Suter thus far in camp.

“He’s a real smart player, I’ve been impressed with him,” Blashill said. “He’s a very heady player. He won’t wow you physically. He doesn’t shoot it a million miles and doesn’t skate like crazy. But he’s a real heady player and super smart. He knows where to be … offensively and defensively.”

Continued (paywall)

The Red vs. White Game today, held at Centre ICE Arena and streamed on the Red Wings’ YouTube channel, was a little strange in more ways than one.

First, the game was supposed to take place over the course of 2 24-minute periods–with 20 minutes of stoppage time, and then 4 minutes of alternating power play time for one minute apiece (no one scored on any of the 8 special teams sessions)–but the game was tied 1-1 after 2 periods, so a 3rd 10-minute period was hastily added, and, when that resulted in no winner, a 5-man shootout determined the game’s final result.

Long story long, Mitchell Stephens scored a lovely breakaway goal for the red team, but Riley Barber tied the game at 1-1 from Kirill Tyutyayev; after Stephens scored his second goal, on a feed from Taro Hirose, Pius Suter deked his way past Moritz Seider to tie the game at 2-2, and, in the shootout, Lucas Raymond (on a deke-fest) and Vladislav Namestnikov (5 hole on Calvin Pickard) scored what ended up constituting the 3-2 shootout-winning tallies.

Here’s Fox Sports Detroit’s highlight clip from the game:

Continue reading Impressions from the Red vs. White Game

The Free Press’s Helene St. James and Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan both wrote articles which focus on the fact that Jakub Vrana needs to see a specialist after tweaking his shoulder during yesterday’s practice, per coach Jeff Blashill.

As I’ve already informed you of that fact, however, I think that the following from St. James might be more interesting…

With Vrana unavailable, 2020 top pick Lucas Raymond played in his spot Sunday, on a line with Pius Suter and Robby Fabbri.

“He made some really good plays,” Suter said of Raymond. “He finds the spot to pass. He can shoot the puck. He looks comfortable. He looks confident.”

In other injury updates, Blashill said Dylan Larkin won’t be available when exhibition season begins. Larkin has not yet been cleared for full contact, dating to the neck injury he suffered in April. 

If Vrana is out for any length of time, it could be an opening for Bobby Ryan to earn a contract. He’s in camp on a tryout, but the team knows what he can do from last season, when Ryan, 34, posted seven goals and seven assists in 33 games. 

And the Detroit News’s Kulfan’s notes include the following regarding Joe Veleno…

It was assumed that if Joe Veleno is going to make the Wings’ opening night lineup, it would likely be at center. But Blashill isn’t ruling out the possibility of Veleno playing wing.

“Obviously there are unforeseen things like injuries,” Blashill said. “Let’s see where it goes. The biggest thing is he has to make a statement every time he’s on the ice that he’s going to make us better.

“If (Veleno) is a much better player than some of the guys we foresee in those spots, and if we can find a spot in the top nine, then it’s a discussion.”

As well as a bit about Ryan’s try-out:

“Bobby is skating good,” Blashill said. “There’s always a path (to make the team). If you play great hockey, there’s always a path, so we’ll see. I certainly think there could be a path. He’s moving similar to how he was moving at the beginning of last season. There hasn’t been any drop off. He started last year and was able to have success.”

MLive’s Ansar Khan profiles Mitchell Stephens, the would-be fourth line center who hopes to earn a prominent grinding role on this year’s Red Wings team:

“Coming into this organization, they wanted to give me a shot, an opportunity to play a bigger role,” Stephens said. “I’m grateful for my time in Tampa. I played with a lot of great players. For the next chapter of my career, it’s growing, establishing myself and coming in here to do what I can to help the team, wherever that may be.”

It most likely will be as the fourth-line center, a spot Detroit needs to fill after Luke Glendening signed with Dallas. Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman acquired Stephens for a sixth-round pick in 2022. The Lightning, under Yzerman’s watch, selected Stephens 33rd overall (second round) in 2015. But he appeared in only 45 NHL games over the past two seasons (three goals, seven points).

Stephens has looked good the first few days of training camp. He scored two goals in Sunday’s Red and White scrimmage in Traverse City, utilizing his skating ability.

“I think the skating can lead to momentum and that’s important,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “From a skating aspect, he’s definitely been involved and brought energy. Ultimately, if he’s in this spot on a fourth-line role, it doesn’t mean you can’t add offense. We need offense from all four lines if possible.

“So, I’ve liked him. He’s certainly come to work every day. He brings an element of speed, he’s a right shot. He seems to have done a pretty good job on the penalty kill. If he can win face-offs on that right side, it would be huge.”

Continued

Of Twitter-related note this afternoon:

1. The Red Wings posted a 1-minute clip of “sights and sounds” from the Red vs. White Game:

Red vs. White ☑️#DRWTC pic.twitter.com/VzO9CZu8gO— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 26, 2021

2. And the Traverse City Record-Eagle’s James Cook posted a photo gallery from the game:

20 photos from today’s Red & White scrimmage game at @DetroitRedWings training camp in Traverse City.https://t.co/EziDIgS9NY pic.twitter.com/IPa1cGDcKP— James Cook (@JamesCook14) September 26, 2021

Of Red Wings-related note in the “not necessarily major news” category:

1. Christopher and Mrs. Ilitch took in the Red vs. White Game today. Fox Sports Detroit will officially reveal that a little later today, but I heard it from the security gents at the rink, who took the pair back to Cherry Capital Airport to fly back to Metro Detroit after the game;
2. And many Red Wings fans are already having a good time with the Detroit Red Wings’ 2021-2022 season headshot photos, which are up on Getty Images’ website right now.

After the Red vs. White Game on Sunday, forwards Pius Suter and Mitchell Stephens spoke with the media, as did coach Jeff Blashill: