The Malik Report

This is an intriguing suggestion from Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff, who weighs in on the Wings’ loss of faceoff specialist Luke Glendening to Dallas:

In fact, the Wings believe they have someone capable of filling Glendening’s skates already in their farm system. Center Chase Pearson has spent the past two seasons working as a checking center with Detroit’s AHL farm club in Grand Rapids and they believe he has the tool kit to be an effective fourth-line center at the NHL level.

Always a responsible two-way center, in his last NCAA season at Maine, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Pearson was presented the Frank Jones Award as the best defensive forward by the New England Hockey Writers Association.

Selected 140th overall by Detroit in the 2015 NHL entry draft, Pearson played all four years at Maine. He’s posted successive 8-14-22 seasons with Grand Rapids. Interestingly, the first year, he did it in 59 games. Last season, it took him just 28 games to put up the same numbers. Pearson also improved from minus-3 to plus-9.

Continued

In the alumni department…

Alex Goligoski’s 1-year, $5M deal with Minnesota is now official.
Devils lock in Jonathan Bernier to a 2-year, $8M deal.— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) July 28, 2021

OFFICIAL: #NYR have agreed to terms with free agent defenseman Patrik Nemeth on a three-year contract.

Welcome to New York! pic.twitter.com/d6gkIcwhOM

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) July 28, 2021

Really nice deal for the former Red Wing in NJ https://t.co/4VZoIyqbrT— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) July 28, 2021

#NEWS: Bern baby bern.

We’ve signed goaltender Jonathan Bernier to a two-year deal worth $4.125 AAV.

RELEASE: https://t.co/9ZVFNjdb8t pic.twitter.com/IgEEm9bRrT— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) July 28, 2021

Bummer:

Hearing Luke Glendening will be joining the Dallas Stars on a two-year deal at $1.5 million AAV. #GoStars@DFOHockey @Sportsnet— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 28, 2021

Confirmed:

Glendening to DAL 2×1.5— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 28, 2021

Longtime #RedWing leaving after eight years with team. https://t.co/cApdWA8U2V— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) July 28, 2021

Term has to be typo, right? https://t.co/x1wgX5Cv9U— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) July 28, 2021

Meant price for Glendening….has to be more than that, doesn’t it?— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) July 28, 2021

Stars GM Jim Nill was AGM in Detroit when the Red Wings first signed Glendening, and when he was part of Griffins’ Calder Cup win in 2013. Red Wings lose their alternate captain and another right-shot forward. https://t.co/ppG55Vu7bB— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) July 28, 2021

luke glendening reportedly has left #RedWings for $300,000 LESS than they were paying him— gregg krupa (@greggkrupa) July 28, 2021

Luke Glendening kills penalties, wins face-offs and is a solid fit for 3rd/4th line Center. Another Jim Nill under the radar depth signing. Will replace Cogliano on the PK. Stars look extremely deep down the middle.— Bruce LeVine (@BruceLeVinePuck) July 28, 2021

Update: MLive’s Khan:

Continue reading Seravalli: Glendening to Dallas

Somewhat expected. Go chase a Cup, Luke:

#RedWings made an offer to Luke Glendening, but I have a feeling he’ll get a better one from another team and leave. We’ll see. Free agency officially begins in 30 minutes. Finding right-handed shooting forwards might be difficult.— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) July 28, 2021

Per the Saginaw Spirit, we have our first Red Wings prospect tournament invite:

?NHL Camp Updates?#LGRW has invited #Spirit forward Davis ‘T-Bone’ Codd (@tbone_codd) to attend their Development Camp pic.twitter.com/NzeIWHRr97— Saginaw Spirit (@SpiritHockey) July 28, 2021

The 5’9,” 163-pound forward was passed over in this year’s draft .

Good depth for Grand Rapids:

UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today agreed to terms with goaltender Calvin Pickard on a one-year contract extension. pic.twitter.com/QJmyEKepVz— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 28, 2021

Here’s the press release for the Pickard and Gagner signings:

Continue reading Red Wings extend Calvin Pickard for one year

From the Red Wings:

UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today agreed to terms with center Sam Gagner on a one-year contract extension. pic.twitter.com/N23EbGboqR— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 28, 2021

Update: PuckPedia has the Gagner deal’s terms:

The #LGRW re-signed 31 y/o Sam Gagner to 1 year $850K Deal.

7G 15P in 42GP

Rep’d by Jeff Jackson @wassermanhockey https://t.co/gHiLqULDSt— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 28, 2021

Update: The Free Press’s Helene St. James weighs in:

Continue reading Red Wings re-sign Sam Gagner for one year

DetroitRedWings.com’s Daniella Bruce and Arthur J. Regner spoke with Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper regarding the Wings’ 8 2021 draft picks:

#RedWings Director of Amateur Scouting Kris Draper evaluates the 8 prospects taken in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft with @daniellabruce_ and @ArthurJRegner. #DRWDraft #LGRW

Presented by: @PointsBetMI
? Full Interview: https://t.co/TFNgc8WFgu pic.twitter.com/4u8nzDuNEX— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 28, 2021

Here’s hoping that Justin Abdelkader finds NHL employment, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie:

After winning a Swiss League championship in Zug and captaining Team ?? to a bronze medal at the World Championship, veteran NHL forward Justin Abdelkader is still hunting for an NHL job. He’s getting $1M+ for each of the next 5 years on a buyout from DET.— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 28, 2021

Team Finland won an absolutely wacky game at the World Junior Summer Showcase on Tuesday, defeating the U.S. 7-6 in a shootout.

After the game, Red Wings prospect Eemil Viro spoke with me and the Detroit News’s Nolan Bianchi regarding the utterly insane result, his hope that Finland can win a tournament that everyone is taking very seriously, his goal scored for the Finns, whether he’s staying with TPS Turku of the Liiga for another season (he isn’t sure at this time, but he wants to stay home for one more year) and the skills that he feels he has to improve upon:

Viro was the most impactful player on the ice in terms of the Red Wings’ prospects; there’s no doubt that he needs to add more strength and physicality to his game, but he’s mobile as all hell get out, he has experience playing against men with TPS Turku, and he did score a long-bomb goal that gave Finland a very brief lead in a game where the lead was a hot potato.

Carter Mazur looked strong and solid as a penalty-killer and shift disturber for the U.S. While he wasn’t able to earn a ton of ice time due to the oodles of special teams play during the game, when he did get a regular shift, he looked like the heart-and-soul player that the Wings envision him to be;

And Cross Hanas continued to earn looks on the U.S. penalty-kill, which is something new for the Portland Winterhawks winger. Hanas still has to work on his skating a bit as he can be caught flat-footed transitioning from defense to offense, but he possesses strong two-way instincts, he can shoot and pass well, and his all-round ceiling is fairly high as a second-line forward who can provide a good two-way game.