The Malik Report

Of note from the Hockey Writers’ Red Wings correspondents this morning:

1. Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson’s entry-level contract with the team expires next spring, and as such, the big defender is going to be the Wings’ most important restricted free agent a summer from now.

I’ve stated that my best guess as to where Edvinsson’s next contract will land is somewhere in the $6.5 million range, but the Hockey Writers’ Tony Wolak believes that Edvinsson will be a little more expensive to re-sign after posting 31 points with the Wings last season:

[E]ight years is the best outcome for the Red Wings. With K’Andre Miller, Bowen Byram, and Matt Roy as the top comparables, it suggested that the AAV should fall between $7.1 and $8.5 million. 

Miller recently signed for eight years at $8.5 million. Byram just signed for two years at $6.25 million. These two should give some indication as to what the short- and long-term contract options could look like.

That said, other contract extensions could influence Edvinsson’s next deal. For one, I don’t expect the Red Wings to let Edvinsson’s AAV surpass that of Moritz Seider ($8.55 million). 

Additionally, Edvinsson’s agent could reference Owen Power’s 2023 deal with the Buffalo Sabres. He signed for eight years at $8.35 million, which, based on cap hit percentage (9.49 percent), would be about $9.87 million when operating under a $104 million salary cap in 2026-27. New deals for Thomas Harley, Luke Hughes, and Lane Hutson could be used as anchoring points as well.

But as of now, an eight-year, $8.125 million AAV deal makes the most sense for Edvinsson. An impressive 2025-26 campaign could change that, though.

Continued; as Wolak suggests, the Red Wings and Edvinsson’s camp won’t feel that time is a big issue propelling negotiations given that Edvinsson has a big season ahead of him, but locking him up to an 8-year deal before the current CBA expires and teams are only allowed to ink their home-grown players to 7-year contracts will be a must.

Again, I don’t see Edvinsson commanding north of $7 million, but I’ve been wrong before….

2. And the Hockey Writers’ Devin Little has compiled a list of 5 Red Wings prospects who Little believes will be ready for at least short NHL stints this upcoming season:

Continue reading Two Hockey Writers things: on Edvinsson’s next contract and NHL-ready prospects

Yesterday, Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon listed the Detroit Red Wings as one of seven possible destinations for Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson, who may or may not be a salary cap casualty as Dallas has to re-sign several young restricted free agents before the 2026-2027 season.

As I said yesterday, I’m not a big fan of the “fit” or lack thereof for Robertson, who will likely have a say in where he’s moved, and I don’t believe that the Stars have any urgency to move Robertson before next year’s trade deadline (presuming they move him at all).

That being said, Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen does believe that there’s a “fit” in terms of the assets that the Red Wings would have to surrender to acquire Robertson’s services:

The expectation is that the Stars, if they trade Robertson, will be looking to recoup the assets they gave-up to acquire Rantanen from Carolina. They gave up two first-round picks (2026 and 2028), plus Logan Stankoven and two third-round picks.

If they do that, it would be as if they traded Robertson for Rantanen.

Looking to take the next step in their rebuild, the Red Wings could give up two first-rounders. They don’t have a player like Stankoven, but they could offer William Wallinder. He’s not a top four defensive prospect, but he projects to be a dependable third line performer. They also a bushel of players with potential like Anton Johansson, Shai Buium, Max Plante, Jesse Kiiskinen,  Carter Mazur, etc.

The Red Wings will have to give up someone they don’t want to give up to get this kind of deal done.

The other aspect of this kind of deal is whether Robertson is willing to entertain signing long-term with his new team. You can’t really make this kind of deal without a belief is probable. Robertson did play in Detroit as a youth player.

Continued; they say that the team which ends up with the best player “wins” a trade, but if I’m going to be “playing GM,” I don’t see the Red Wings’ front office surrendering 2 first-round picks and at least a top prospect for Robertson.

Do the Red Wings need another top-six forward? Sure. But I’m not sold on Robertson’s asking price being met, never mind Robertson’s willingness to sign an extension with the Red Wings. It just doesn’t seem likely to me.

This morning, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler “re-drafts” the class of 2022, suggesting that the Red Wings should have picked Columbus prospect defenseman Denton Mateychuk instead of Marco Kasper with the 8th overall pick:

8. Detroit Red Wings: LHD Denton Mateychuk

Actual draft pick: No. 12 (change: +4) to Columbus
My final ranking: No. 13 (change: +5)

I still don’t think people realize how good Mateychuk is. The 5-foot-11/6-foot defenseman has had a tougher time cutting through in recent years, but Mateychuk has been one of the very best players in his age group for as long as I’ve watched him. He stepped right out of junior and into being a top D in the AHL and one of the best rookie D in the NHL right away last year.

He was drafted where Josh Morrissey was and had a better first pro season. I don’t think a similar path as a 30-something point D who breaks out for more in his late-20s like Morrissey is out of the question here, and moving on from David Jiricek cleared the path for him to continue to be prioritized (though it was already pretty clear that he’d leapfrogged Jiricek even before the trade). I’d listen to arguments for Mateychuk behind the next few players on this list, but I’d stop there. At his floor, I think we’re probably looking at a better version of what Rasmus Sandin is on a good Capitals team.

10. Anaheim Ducks: C Marco Kasper

Actual draft pick: No. 8 (change: -2) to Detroit
My final ranking: No. 24 (change: +14)

I think all of Nazar, Nemec, Mateychuk, Rinzel, Kasper, Kulich and Snuggerud could probably be sorted any way you like from No. 6-12 in a re-draft. I’m sure the Red Wings would just take him again at No. 8, too. Kasper was always going to become a real solid, effective NHL player. In a weaker draft, I should have given that more value. If the me of 2025 were back in 2022, I would have had him higher even without hindsight. I might not have landed on him at No. 8 today still, but he would have been in the ballpark.

Continued (paywall); the Red Wings definitely need to add a top-four defenseman, but Kasper has been such a perfect fit in the 2nd line center’s spot that I would not hesitate to pick Kasper instead of Mateychuk.

Bleacher Report’s Adam Gretz offers mid-summer grades for the offseason performances of the NHL’s 32 teams this morning:

Detroit Red Wings

Grade: C

The big move so far was adding a mediocre veteran goalie (John Gibson) to a team that has been a revolving door for mediocre veteran goalies the past few years. If Gibson can duplicate what he did a year ago for Anaheim in a bounce-back year, that would be helpful. But there is no guarantee he can do that.

Beyond that they swapped out Vladimir Tarasenko for James van Riemsdyk, which seems like nothing more than a shuffling of deck chairs, and re-signed Patrick Kane. 

A lot of the flaws that already existed defensively and during 5-on-5 play offensively still exist. 

It has been a slow, methodical rebuild under the watchful eye of general manager Steve Yzerman, and it seems that is going to continue.

There is still salary cap space to be used, so maybe a trade is still on the horizon.

Continued; I’d give the Red Wings an “incomplete” B- grade for their offseason. Adding van Riemsdyk and Jacob Bernard-Docker in free agency, in addition to Gibson as a trade asset, help the Red Wings’ depth, but the team hasn’t made a meaningful move to address the top-six forward corps or second defensive pairing.

I’d add a “yet” to the previous sentence, but I have a sinking feeling that the Red Wings will only be able to add a top-six forward or a top-four defenseman without depleting its prospect pool and draft picks, leaving one of those two needs unmet until closer to the 2025-2026 trade deadline.

Of Red Wings defensive-related note this morning:

1. Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff surmises that the Red Wings haven’t completed renovating their defensive corps this morning, suggesting that the Red Wings’ re-signing of William Lagesson and signing of Jacob Bernard-Docker don’t feel like the Wings’ final moves of the summer:
   

The Detroit brass has always preferred to carry eight blueliners on the NHL roster. If that is again the decision, it only makes sense that Lagesson will be that guy. There’s nothing to be gained from having a prospect like William Wallinder or Antti Tuomisto, and certainly not Axel Sandin Pellikka, sitting and watching. They need to be playing every night with the AHL Griffins.

That’s all assuming nothing changes within the club’s defensive personnel. As colleague Kevin Allen recently pointed out, there are a number of under-the-radar defensemen who could be had in the NHL trade market.

Seattle’s Jamie Oleksiak is a big body who would add offensive upside while skating in a third pairing. The dream sequence would be the acquisition of reliable, steady veteran Ryan McDonagh from Tampa Bay. He’d be a calming presence and an ideal partner for Seider. And his first pass tends to border on the impeccable. It was Yzerman who made the original move to bring McDonagh to Tampa Bay.

Do we know if any of these moves are in the works? No.

Call it a feeling, a sense if you will. Just a nagging sensation that the Wings aren’t done yet when it comes to retooling the defense.

Continued; the Red Wings are running pretty young and lean in all three groups–at forward, on defense and in goal–and it is entirely possible, if not probable, that we’ll see the team add another forward and another defenseman to flesh out the forwards and defense…

But my gut feeling is that the Wings aren’t going to add an Oleksiak or McDonagh for them to sit and watch the 3rd pairing play. The team needs to bolster its 2nd defensive pair, and that means upgrading said pairing by a more than marginal…margin, for lack of a better word.

2. Speaking of which, MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an article about Bernard-Docker this morning, discussing the 25-year-old righty’s desire to play as a regular on the Wings’ roster:

Continue reading Two things: On a ‘gut feeling’ and Jacob Bernard-Docker

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen has posted a subscriber-only article about Red Wings 2024 draft pick and University of Minnesota-Duluth forward Max Plante, a 5’11,” 176-pound center who’s an elite passer and play-maker.

As Allen notes, Plante suffered from a wrist injury which required him to wear a brace and miss time over the course of last season. Nonetheless, he posted 19 assists and 28 points for UMD over the course of only 23 games last season, and the Wings believe that, with time, Plante should rise among the prospect ranks:

Minnesota-Duluth forward Max Plante (47th, 2024) was among the Detroit Red Wings who couldn’t skate at their development camp recently and yet Dan Cleary still talked about him like he did.

“I love Max,” the Red Wing director of player development said. “Max’s energy. Hockey sense. Max’s competitiveness his first year.”

It’s clear the Red Wing have plenty of time for Plante, the son of former NHLer Derek Plante.  Detroit Hockey Now didn’t have him in our Top 10 prospects, but we see him right outside that group. He’s a smallish winger, known more for his playmaking than scoring. He scored nine goals and finished with 28 points in 23 games as a Bulldogs freshman. The Minnesota native was undermined by injury early in the season.

“He got off to slow start. I think he only played like five games before world juniors in the season,” Cleary said. 

Continued (paywall); Plante is playing on a line with his brother, Zam, and as Allen discusses, his family is legendary in the Duluth suburb of Hermantown, Minnesota, so the 2nd round pick (47th overall) is hoping to stay healthy and display his passing acumen as a sophomore playing for his hometown team.

It should be noted that 6’5″ defenseman and Wings draft pick Brady Cleveland will join Plante in Duluth after transferring schools this past spring, so two Detroit prospects will be trying to find their stride at UMD this upcoming season.

Updated at 9:03 AM: Columbus Blue Jackets forward Yegor Chinakhov wants out of Ohio’s capital city due to a self and agent-described dispute with Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason over playing time.

The 24-year-old forward with a $2.1 million cap hit has some scoring potential, so MLive’s Ansar Khan offers reasons why the Red Wings might want to pursue the promising young forward…

–They need a forward with top-six abilities, a void they couldn’t fill through free agency.

–Chinakhov has a lot of untapped potential.

–He’s young, with one year left on his contract ($2.1 million) and as a restricted free agent in 2026 will remain under club control.

–He’s unproven, and by requesting a move, his trade value might be diminished.

And Khan’s biggest reason to not go after the 6’1,” 205-pound Chinakhov is a simple one: cost.

Continue reading Talking about targeting Chinakhov, Kuznetsov or Roslovic

I’m not one to criticize other people’s blog posts for the sake of criticizing other people’s blog posts. Even in the middle of July, the hockey news cycle moves so fast that there’s no time to waste getting petty–and no readers’ time to waste, ever–for the sake of arguing.

In this instance, however, I’ve thought about this for almost 12 hours now, and I cannot hold my tongue here.

The Hockey News’s Jake Tye discusses the Red Wings’ goaltending situation going forward, and by going forward, I mean not only into course of the 2025-2026 season, but to what might happen to the Red Wings’ goaltending situation in the summer of 2026.

That’s a whole year from now, and in the cases of the Wings’ NHL goaltenders in John Gibson and Cam Talbot, the team’s AHL goaltenders and prospects in Sebastian Cossa and Michal Postava, and top prospect Trey Augustine, we’re talking about a long period of time.

Especially in the cases of Cossa, Postava and Augustine, the Red Wings’ young goaltenders are all facing pivotal developmental seasons, and what next year at this time brings is a difficult question to answer.

Tye is already surmising that the Red Wings’ status as having four known quantities in Gibson, Talbot, Cossa and Augustine = a crease crunch that will take a trade to alleviate next summer at this time:

Continue reading There’s little point in getting lost in ‘hypotheticals’ regarding the Red Wings’ crease

Because the Dallas Stars are extremely close to the salary cap’s upper limit, there’s been a lot of talk about the team trading 2-time 40-goal scorer and $7.75 million man Jason Robertson in the last year of his contract.

The operative theory around the league is that the Stars can afford to lose the 25-year-old Robertson (who turns 26 tomorrow) in order to re-sign a slew of restricted free agents next summer.

I haven’t bought the theory that the Stars should split with a 4-time 30+ goal-scorer, but the rumor mill stirs at this time of year, and Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon suggests that the Red Wings are one of seven possible destinations for Robertson. That’s “late July” high:

Detroit Red Wings

Detroit has not made the playoffs since 2016 and has not won a playoff round since three years before that, in 2013. You could be packing your bags for college this summer in Michigan and basically have only the foggiest recollection of a post-season series victory for the Wings.

It sure feels like general manager Steve Yzerman is ready to jump, as he lamented the fact Detroit didn’t even get to pitch many of the players he was interested in on July 1 because they re-upped with teams before hitting free agency.

If signing UFAs isn’t a viable option to bring more scoring to the Red Wings — who finished 22^nd in the league last year with 2.87 goals per game — maybe Detroit goes the trade route again, as it did to acquire Alex DeBrincat in July 2023.

The bottom line is Detroit must find a way to push this rebuild forward and Yzerman is more than prepared to act aggressively in the name of doing so.

Continued; the operative theory is nice and all, and I could see the Red Wings making an aggressive trade this summer, but someone like Jason Robertson would cost more than DeBrincat…

And I just don’t see the operative need for Dallas to dump an asset like Robertson off for top prospects and 1st round picks simply because next summer’s rising salary cap is still going to be a tight fit with restricted free agents Thomas Harley, Mavrik Bourque, Nils Lundqvist and Arttu Hyrry to re-sign. We all know that Jim Nill is a smart man, and if he’s trading Robertson, he’s going to get an incredibly strong return.

The Red Wings want to get better, and Steve Yzerman has suggested that he’s willing to move picks and prospects if there’s a “fit” in terms of improving the team, but I just don’t buy that Dallas is desperate to move someone a year before even a rising salary cap won’t quite be enough to keep everybody, and we all know that the price would be extremely, probably prohibitively expensive.

Why not wait until the trade deadline to sort things out, and keep Robertson’s services for most of 2025-2026? Why not find a way to keep him over the course of te next 8 months? Jettisoning Robertson just doesn’t make sense for me, even to Detroit, and this feels like a late-July exercise in theoretical trade scenarios instead of a pressing need.

It’s not that I don’t see a “fit”–it’s that I don’t see any urgency by a GM who knows how to bend the salary cap into a pretzel in order to keep his players in tow. And I don’t know if I see GM SY paying the astonishingly high price that Robertson would command. GM’s always want the prime stud, but you don’t sell the barn to buy a horse.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills spoke with Red Wings defenseman Albert Johansson recently, discussing Johansson’s desire to help contribute to a Red Wings playoff push, his sense of self after becoming a full-time regular defenseman in 2024-2025, and his training routine back in Karlstad, Sweden:

“We made a push and didn’t get in, and when you’re back home and you see the [Stanley Cup Playoffs] are still going on, you want to be there,” Johansson recently told DetroitRedWings.com. “You want to play in the playoffs. With the team we have, I know all the guys in the room are very excited and want to get there. For the fans too, because it’s been a long time. It’s a hunger.”

In 2024-25, Johansson registered nine points (three goals, six assists) in 61 games. The 24-year-old defenseman was a sponge during his rookie campaign, absorbing as much as he could from his veteran teammates and gaining a strong sense of what it takes to succeed as an NHL regular.

“I know the League now,” Johansson said. “I know what I must improve. This is a big summer for me. I want to take that next step too. I’m just trying to get stronger, be in good shape, come back here and have a successful year next year.”

Johansson will have an opportunity at this year’s Training Camp to show head coach Todd McLellan and the entire coaching staff everything that he’s been working on this summer.

“Everyone wants to take that next step, get in the playoffs and play those important games,” said the former second-round pick (No. 60 overall) in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. “I’m super excited about getting back for Training Camp, seeing all the new guys and those who were there last year too. We can start working together again to reach that goal.”

Continued