The Malik Report

Grand Rapids Griffins play-by-play announcer Bob Kaser spoke with Dallas Stars assistant coach Todd Nelson recently, and here’s the Griffins’ video of said conversation:

This Tweet comes via Yardbarker’s Erin Walsh:

Sounds like there has indeed been significant interest in teams trading for Torey Krug's rights (@RearAdBsBlog on the case). My belief is last offer from #NHLBruins to Krug's camp was 6 years x $6.5 million.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) September 28, 2020

I have no idea whether the Red Wings are interested in Krug, but I’m fairly certain that they’ll have to trade for his rights if they want to sign him.

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a profile of defenseman Jamie Drysdale this afternoon:

A new wave of talented, puck-moving defensemen blossomed this season and stepped up in the playoffs, led by Miro Heiskanen (Dallas), Cale Makar (Colorado) and Quinn Hughes (Vancouver).

Jamie Drysdale watched closely as someone who would love to be mentioned soon in the same conversation.

“It’s pretty hard to look away from the three young D,” Drysdale said. “They’ve kind of been putting on a show in these playoffs. Just how they control the play, the offense, the skill they have is pretty cool and I hope to kind of follow in their footsteps.”

Drysdale is projected to be the first defenseman selected in the NHL draft on Oct. 6 (first round). He might go as high as No. 4 to the Detroit Red Wings, who selected defenseman Moritz Seider with their top pick last year at No. 6 and need more top-four quality D-men.

Continued

Per the Detroit Red Wings (PuckPedia reports that Turgeon signed a 1-year, $750,000 deal):

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today signed center Dominic Turgeon to a one-year contract extension.

Turgeon, 24, has spent most of his four professional seasons with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins. In 2019-20, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound center produced 23 points (10-13-23) and registered only four penalty minutes while being the only Griffins player to skate in all 63 of the team’s games. Turgeon has appeared in 275 games for Grand Rapids since 2016-17, totaling 93 points (36-57-93), a plus-28 rating and 74 penalty minutes. He has added five points (2-3-5) and two penalty minutes in 22 career AHL postseason games, helping Grand Rapids win the 2017 Calder Cup championship as a first-year pro. Turgeon has also skated in nine career NHL games with the Red Wings since debuting in 2017-18, posting two penalty minutes, five shots on goal, six hits, 11 blocked shots and four takeaways in 10:53 average time on ice.

Originally drafted by the Red Wings in the third round (63rd overall) in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Turgeon spent four seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Portland Winterhawks prior to his professional career, tallying 152 points (67-85-152) and 91 penalty minutes in 259 games from 2011-16. He captained the Winterhawks in 2015-16 and registered a junior career-high 70 points (36-34-70) in 72 games. He was also a WHL champion with Portland in 2012-13 and picked up 18 points (10-8-18) in 45 career postseason WHL games. Born in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Turgeon skates for the United States internationally and represented Team USA at the 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, combining for four points (0-4-4) in 11 appearances between the two tournaments.

Dominic Turgeon, Center
Born Feb 25 1996 — Pointe-Claire, PQ
Height 6.02 — Weight 205 — Shoots L
Selected by Detroit Red Wings round 3 #63 overall 2014 NHL Entry Draft

The Detroit Red Wings have posted Fox Sports Detroit’s 24-minute 2020 Draft Preview special on the Wings’ YouTube channel:

A pair of Tweets of note this morning:

Via Kukla’s Korner on Twitter, the New York Rangers posted a tribute video for Marc Staal…

892 games.
107 playoff games.
1,308 hits.
Countless battles.

Thank you, Marc, for 13 years of showing us all what it means to be a Ranger. pic.twitter.com/NNkWJninFF— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 28, 2020

And the Red Wings are holding a virtual “Tent Sale” to benefit the Red Wings Foundation starting on October 5th:

We’re ONE week away from our Virtual Tent Sale! ? From October 5-8, get autographed #RedWings & @tigers memorabilia, last-chance items & more!

Sign up for reminders » https://t.co/vRAVcZ3vUk pic.twitter.com/SjrUQ1YQs2— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 28, 2020

Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon profiles Flint hockey pioneer Rico Phillips this morning, discussing Phillips’ attempts to respond to this past summer’s racially-charged events with positive change. Dixon’s article is a very “long read,” but it’s worth your time:

Rico Phillips has always been the type of person to take things a step further than most. After sitting on a firetruck at age seven, Phillips knew what he wanted to do with his life. The kid who used to park himself in an empty lot across from Flint Fire Station No. 1 in the hopes of witnessing the sirens sing eventually retired after 27 years on the job last fall. Another example: As a high school trainer, Phillips opted to work with the hockey team for no other reason than the fact he knew their banged-up bodies would give him tons of practice. Just months before hanging up his yellow helmet, Phillips was on stage at the 2019 NHL Awards in Las Vegas, accepting the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award for his role in founding the Flint Inner City Youth Hockey Program.

It’s maybe no surprise, then, that this past spring, the events of a May day in Minnesota sent him surging forward again. “George Floyd was murdered unnecessarily and I’m sitting in my house trying to figure out [what I can do],” Phillips says. As he worked through his thoughts and feelings, Phillips had the option, thanks to the connections he’s made, to call the man who broke the NHL’s colour barrier. He knew he wanted to take action, but couldn’t figure out how to channel his efforts. So he put it to O’Ree. “I said, ‘Willie, I’m having a hard time. I want to say something, but I just don’t know what to say and where to say it,’” Phillips recalls. “He told me, ‘Rico, your voice is in ice hockey and people are listening to you, so let your voice be heard.’”

Continued

Crain’s Detroit Business posted an article sponsored by The Children’s Foundation’s Larry Burns this morning. The article highlights the charitable contributions of several community leaders; today’s article includes part of an interview with Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Daniels, who discusses some of the highlights of the upcoming Jamie Daniels Foundation’s Celebrity Roast of Scotty Bowman:

Burns: This year it will be a virtual roast of Scotty Bowman. How can people help? 

Daniels: The main place people can go to help is JamieDanielsFoundation.org. The silent auction is live on our website and bidding ends October 15. The roast will air on FOX Sports Detroit on Wednesday, October 14 at 8:00 p.m. and again at 9:30 p.m. It’s 90 minutes long and you can bid throughout the show.

Burns: You’ve got some great people lined up.

We started reaching out to people like George Bowman, and then George reached out to Jeff Cumberworth at Ally Financial, who reached out to Jack Nicklaus’ team. Jack Nicklaus does a hilarious two-and-a-half-minute video about Scotty. Steven Page, the former lead singer of the Barenaked Ladies, now with the Steven Page Trio, will perform a wonderful song called “Into the Light.” Hill Harper from “The Good Doctor” will open our show. We also have Michigan coach Red Berenson, Stu Grimson, Wayne Gretzky, JK Simmons, Jeff Daniels, Mitch Albom, Jim Leyland, Ken Dryden, Brendan Shanahan, Nick Lidstrom, Dominik Hašek, Doc Emrick, Glenn Hall, Jimmy Devellano, Dave Hodge, the longtime host of Hockey Night in Canada, and there’s still more to come.

Continued

The Free Press’s Helene St. James profiles draft prospect Marco Rossi this morning. The Ottawa 67’s center (and Canadian Hockey League leading scorer) has interviewed with the Red Wings several times over the summer, and the 5’9,” 183-pound center has built upon his physique thanks in part to a very, very long offseason:

“My main goal was to get faster, get more explosiveness,” Rossi said. “I started to do that right away when I came back from Canada in mid-March. We did a really good job. We’ve been working on it 6-7 months now, and it’s going really good. We can see big improvements. I’ve never felt so good on the ice. It got so much better with my body.”

To have six months in a weight room, uninterrupted by games, is unheard of for hockey players. It has allowed Rossi, listed as 5-foot-9 and 183 pounds, to gain muscle. He knows he’s on the smaller side, but similarly sized forward Brayden Point — at 5-10 and 166 pounds — has been putting on a show for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup playoffs. After Datsyuk left the Wings in 2016, Point emerged as Rossi’s new role model. 

“He’s so smart,” Rossi said. “He’s the same size as me and the way he’s skating around other players is so crazy. He’s not afraid. He’s a really good playmaker and a really good shooter.”

The Wings could use a player who brings both those facets. Though they have a potential second-line center in Joe Veleno, Rossi brings another level of hockey IQ, the kind of deft passing that could make him an ideal center for Filip Zadina. Rossi is a strong-willed player who plays aggressively in all three zones, a budding star with game-breaking ability. He’s been a cunning player since shortly after he learned to skate. 

Continued; I have no problem with the Wings drafting any of Rossi, Cole Perfetti, Jamie Drysdale, Jake Sanderson et. al.

NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale wrote an intriguing article this morning, discussing the debate as to whether Jamie Drysdale or Jake Sanderson is a better draft prospect. Morreale spoke with twelve scouts as to which prospect will make a greater impact at the NHL level, and Drsydale won out–barely:

Continue reading NHL.com’s Morreale delves into the Drysdale vs. Sanderson debate