The Malik Report

The Red Wings are taking care of their depth players:

The #RedWings today agreed to terms with left wings Adam Erne and Taro Hirose on one-year contract extensions.

? » https://t.co/0LWo2QaZrK pic.twitter.com/bJP63G6Rns— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 8, 2020

The #RedWings re-signed 24 y/o RFA F Taro Hirose to 1 year extension. Per @MatiszJohn, $825K NHL, $160K Minors

-2G 7P in 26 GP
-19% 5v5 GF, 39% DFF, 43% Corsi
-Rep’d by Allain Roy @RSGHockey

https://t.co/p1iETNqgKM— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 8, 2020

Here’s the press release:

Red Wings agree to one-year extensions with Adam Erne and Taro Hirose

Erne skated in 56 NHL games after trade from Tampa Bay; Hirose split first full pro season between Detroit and Grand Rapids

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today agreed to terms with left wings Adam Erne and Taro Hirose on one-year contract extensions.

Continue reading Red Wings re-sign Erne, Hirose to one-year contracts

I’m not the first one to find this article–Red Wings Prospects on Twitter posted this while I was sleeping–but here’s a rough translation of Red Wings director of European scouting Hakan Andersson’s long interview with Mans Karlsson:

“I’m the first to say ‘[it’s] shit in what it says on the passport'”

They were not content with [just drafting] Lucas Raymond. Detroit picked three Swedes in this year’s draft – with its first three draft picks. Now European scout Håkan Andersson talks about the selections.

“We do not hunt for Swedes – we hunt for the best hockey players,” Andersson says to hockeysverige.se.

No NHL team is as closely associated with Swedes as the Detroit Red Wings. There is, of course, a simple explanation for that, and that explanation is spelled Håkan Andersson. The team’s legendary scout has worked for Detroit for 30 years, and has made a lot of blue-and-yellow discoveries.

In this year’s draft, Detroit chose  Lucas Raymond with its first choice, the fourth overall, and with his second and third choices, respectively, defenseman William Wallinder from Modo and forward  Theodor Niederbach from Frölunda were picked. A hat trick of Swedes, then.

But it is more of a coincidence, says Håkan Andersson. 

“I have worked for Detroit for 30 years and it is clear to most of those who are on the team now. That discussion comes up at regular intervals and I am the first to say, “It’s shit in what it says in the passport – choose the best players” , says the scout to hockeysverige.se and continues:

Continue reading Roughly translated: Hakan Andersson talks about the Wings’ draft picks with Hockeysverige.se: ‘It’s shit what it says on the passport’

FYI: It’s official now:

Update: The #RedWings have assigned center Joe Veleno to Malmo (SHL) and reassigned defenseman Mortiz Seider from Mannheim (DEL) to Rogle (SHL).— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 8, 2020

Here’s more from the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

Continue reading Tweet of note: Red Wings officially assign Joe Veleno, Moritz Seider to Swedish teams

The Athletic’s Max Bultman penned a superb article this morning, issuing 12 thoughts about the Red Wings’ 12 2020 NHL draft picks. Among his comments:

Perhaps the feel-good pick of the day came with the first pick of Round 7, when the Red Wings selected Kienan Draper, Kris’ son. Draper plays for Chilliwack in the BCHL, where he had a four-point game over the weekend.

Kienan said afterward that he and his dad had talked about the possibility beforehand, and that he would have been happy to be picked by any team.

“But to be picked by my hometown team is really awesome,” he said.

“A couple of our scouts — one in Ontario who followed Kienan at St. Andrew’s College last year, and one of our scouts in the West who was following him in Chilliwack this year — they were pushing pretty hard,” Yzerman said.

Yzerman and Kris Draper discussed the possibility recently, and Yzerman first asked him, “Are you sure you want to put your son in that position?” before telling him, “Your obligation is (to) do what you think is the right thing for the Detroit Red Wings, and I trust your judgment.”

“And I know that he did that,” Yzerman said.

Continued (paywall)…

The Red Wings selected Cross Hanas with the 55th pick in yesterday’s NHL draft, and Hanas spoke with The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro and Saad Yousuf regarding the growth of hockey in Texas:

Hanas and [Pittsburgh Penguins pick Chase] Yoder both grew up playing in the Dallas Stars Elite Hockey Club. The first question Hanas was asked after he got drafted pertaining to his roots was, “Why hockey and not football or baseball?”

Hanas said the perception of hockey in Texas is misunderstood, the sport is growing and there are a lot of people with a strong passion for the game. Hanas, a Stars fan growing up in Highland Village, played in the Dallas Stars organization all the way until he made the jump to the WHL a couple of years ago. Two of his teammates were Justin Robidas — son of longtime Stars defenseman Stéphane Robidas — and Jackson Nieuwendyk — son of former Stars forward and general manager Joe Nieuwendyk. Hanas’ father, Trevor, played junior hockey and has been a coach for the Elite Hockey Club the entire time the family has been in Dallas.

“It’s actually a lot better than what people would think Dallas hockey would be,” Hanas said.

…

“I think it’s a huge honor because I did grow up playing all of my youth hockey down here in Dallas,” Hanas said. “I think it’s really good because a lot of kids in the program kind of look up to me as a kid that is always around the rink, watching me and stuff, and want to be where I played. That was me growing up with watching Seth Davis, Caleb Jones, Ryan O’Reilly and Max Gildon. It’s really cool to have that feeling that younger kids in Dallas look up to me.”

Continued

Here’s Rogle BK’s Lasse Mauritzson’s Q and A with Mortiz Seider, roughly translated:

“It will be fun to kick off the season”

He is one of German hockey’s great future names. But the autumn of 2020 has not been normal for Moritz Seider–at home in Germany they are still waiting to start the hockey season. Now the wait is over for Seider, who will play in Rögle in the SHL. “It will be fun to start the season,” says Moritz.

At last summer’s NHL draft, Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman surprised many when he used the team’s first choice, No. 6 overall, to select German defender Moritz Seider and signed a rookie contract with the well-built right-handed defender.

Expectations are high on the very promising defenseman and he is predicted to have a brilliant NHL career.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Moritz Seider’s Q and A with Rogle BK’s website

Here’s the press release that Rogle BK’s Lasse Mauritzson posted regarding their landing of Moritz Seider on loan from the Detroit Red Wings:

Rogle borrows defensive talent from Detroit Red Wings

German prospect Moritz Seider is ready to play in Rögle BK for the rest of the season. The 19-year-old defenseman was selected as the sixth player overall in last summer’s draft by the Detroit Red Wings. Now the NHL club is lending Seider to Rögle this season.

“We as an association are happy and proud of the confidence the Detroit Red Wings show us by letting us be part of developing Moritz Seider into a future regular NHL player. Moritz is a two-way, right-handed hill that is very mobile and has a good shot from the blueline,” says Rögle’s sports director Chris Abbott.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Rogle BK’s Moritz Seider press release

The Red Wings plucked defenseman Alex Cotton from the Lethbridge Hurricanes as a 19-year-old “overager” who blossomed after being passed over in last year’s draft. Cotton spoke with the Lethbridge Herald’s Dale Woodard about his draft experience:

Following a season in which the six-foot-two, 180-pound blue-liner from Langley, B.C. led all WHL defencemen with 20 goals and 67 points in 63 games, Cotton landed squarely on the Red Wings’ radar.

He learned the good news as he monitored the NHL draft online.

“I was just sitting on the couch with my family,” said Cotton. “I was the first one to notice. I was so relieved. All of my emotions came out at one time, it was just a surreal feeling.”

Though he was the first to notice his selection, Cotton quickly brought his family into the loop.

“They all freaked out just as much as I did,” he said. “Mom burst into tears like a mom should.”

Continued

ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski took on the enormous task of dissecting the free agency needs of each and every one of the NHL’s 31 teams (ahead of the start of unrestricted free agency tomorrow at 12 PM EDT). Here’s what they have to say about the Wings’ needs:

Detroit Red Wings

Key players hitting UFA: F Kyle Brodziak, D Trevor Daley, D Jonathan Ericsson, G Jimmy Howard

Key players hitting RFA: F Tyler Bertuzzi, F Anthony Mantha, F Brendan Perlini (did not receive qualifying offer), D Madison Bowey (did not receive qualifying offer)

Cap space: $28,211,111

Continue reading ESPN’s Kaplan, Wyshynski talk Wings and free agency

Late last night, the DEL’s Adler Mannheim confirmed that Moritz Seider’s time with the team was coming to an end, and this morning, Rogle BK of the SHL has announced that Seider will spend the season with them. I’ll work on a translation of the press release ASAP.