The Malik Report

In a subscriber-only article, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan notes that the Red Wings will be playing in one of the NHL’s most competitive divisions this upcoming season:

This Central Division hardly looks like a breather, in any way, for the Wings — or, likewise, the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks. The top four teams from each of four divisions qualify for the playoffs; there will be no wild cards.

The race to make the playoffs in the Central will not be easy.

You have the two Stanley Cup finalists from last season — the champion Tampa Bay Lightning, and runner-up Dallas Stars — both in the same division. Both, also, have retained the majority of their rosters.

Columbus and Carolina both won one round in the Return To Play last summer, and appear capable of reaching the playoffs this season.

Nashville and Florida qualified for the Return To Play, lost in the qualifying round, but both have rosters capable of producing winning seasons.

If the Red Wings are to reverse last season’s misery, they’ll have a difficult time doing so.

“Our division is stacked,” Mantha said. “It’ll be a great challenge for us. If we want to prove people wrong, those are the teams we have to beat.”

Continued (paywall)

WXYZ’s Brad Galli filed a video report in which he discusses the Red Wings’ desire to start off their 2020-2021 season on a high note when the Carolina Hurricanes come to town this Thursday:

The Athletic’s NHL writers were polled on a variety of topics for an NHL preview article today, and the writers suggest that a certain coach is the odds-on favorite to be fired first this season, as noted by Scott Burnside:

On the other end of the job security scale, Detroit’s Jeff Blashill earned 13 votes as the first coach to be relieved of his duties. Doubt that happens given Detroit’s ongoing rebuild and, in fact, I was one of three who voted that there would be zero coaches fired in-season. Pretty sure Blashill hopes that’s the trend.

Continued (paywall); I wouldn’t be surprised if Blashill lasts the entire season with the Wings, for starters, so I disagree with this assessment…

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted an article in which he offers his best estimate of the Red Wings’ 2020-2021 season opening-night lineup:

Red Wings training camp is now officially in the books, after two warp-speed weeks of practices, scrimmages and mad dashes between players jostling to be in the NHL lineup Thursday night.

Because of three big question marks — forwards Darren Helm, Bobby Ryan and Adam Erne all being deemed “unfit to practice” Monday — that lineup picture still looks a bit murky, even with Monday’s final practice featuring 20 skaters (one fewer than Detroit could carry into the season). Detroit coach Jeff Blashill also stressed Monday that while the NHL’s roster deadline creates a “decision day” feel, those decisions are also not permanent. The roster is, and will remain, relatively fluid into the season.

Nonetheless, as Thursday nears, what appears to be Detroit’s opening night lineup is coming into view, pending the availability of those three forwards. Here’s how it’s shaping up, what could still change and some final thoughts on the roster as camp comes to a close.

Continued (paywall)

MLive’s Ansar Khan predicts the order of finish in the NHL’s Central Division for the 2020-2021 season this morning, and Khan tells MLive subscribers that the Red Wings will finish at the bottom of their newly-adopted division:

8. Detroit (17-49-5, 39 points)

The Red Wings ranked at or near the bottom of the league in all statistical categories but should be improved offensively, defensively and in goal after several offseason moves. Bobby Ryan and Vladislav Namestnikov will provide some secondary scoring to complement a strong top line of Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi. Marc Staal, Troy Stecher, Jon Merrill and a healthy Danny DeKeyser improve the defense. Thomas Greiss is a significant upgrade in goal. The Red Wings might slip ahead of the Blackhawks to avoid the Central basement, but even that could be a tough task considering how much ground they would need to make up.

Continued (paywall)

If you’re interested in this sort of thing, from the Red Wings….

PointsBet Becomes Official Gaming Partner for the Detroit Red Wings and Little Caesars Arena

Multi-year partnership highlighted by opening of PointsBet Sports Bar at Little Caesars Arena

Follows recent announcement of PointsBet becoming the official gaming partner for the Detroit Tigers

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings have entered into a strategic multi-year partnership with PointsBet, a premier global sportsbook operator and provider of a market-leading sports wagering app. The partnership, designed to enhance fan engagement and game-day excitement, includes the rebranding of Sports & Social Detroit at Little Caesars Arena to the PointsBet Sports Bar. Expected to be operational in 2021, the PointsBet Sports Bar will offer a full-service food & beverage menu, high-definition televisions, live betting odds, special guests, unique programing, VIP access and fun gaming promotions. 

“Our fans will enjoy the lively atmosphere of the PointsBet Sports Bar and the energy this partnership will bring to the game-day experience in and around Little Caesars Arena,” said Chris Granger, Group President, Sports & Entertainment, Ilitch Holdings, Inc. “We are proud to deepen our relationship with PointsBet and we look forward to creating dynamic experiences for our fans.”

Continue reading Press release: Red Wings partner with PointsBet

Red Wings equipment manager Paul Boyer spoke with Carolina Hurricanes broadcaster Tripp Tracy recently, and here’s the podcast of their discussion:

The NHL Tonight’s Mike Rupp, Kevin Weekes and Tony Luftman discussed the Red Wings’ prospect pool and their lack of a franchise goaltender in a 2:52 clip posted on NHL.com tonight. Kevin Weekes praises Tyler Bertuzzi, calling him a “diet Matthew Tkachuk”:

Of prospect-related note:

In Belarus, Kirill Tyutyayev did not play in Yunost Minsk’s 3-1 win over Shakhtar-2 Soligorsk;

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Malte Setkov finished even with 1 shot, 1 penalty taken and 1 shot block in 26:24 played during AIK Stockholm’s 3-2 shootout win over Vasterviks IK. At least Setkov is playing regularly in the Allsvenskan, which isn’t usually true in the SHL;

And in NCAA Hockey, Cooper Moore finished even with no shots as the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks won 2-1 over Colorado College.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter paid attention to Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill’s media availability on Monday, and the coach essentially wrapped up the Wings’ training camp and expectations for their imminent regular season over the course of a couple of paragraphs’ worth of comments:

Blashill, who is entering his sixth season at the helm of the Red Wings, said the biggest aspect of improvement he’s focused on is team defense. He said it takes everyone–forwards, defensemen and goalies–to help translate defense into offense, and translate offense into winning.

“I would say that we need to, without a shadow of a doubt, be better in our team defense,” Blashill said. “I hope that not only the players we added on the blue line, but also the type of players we added up front–the guys that are fairly complete players, that are respectful of what it takes to win–ultimately, would give us a chance to be a more sound team defensively, which then means you probably have the puck more and you’re a better team offensively.”

With several key veteran additions, through free agency and trades, the Red Wings look to be improved in every aspect of the game, and Blashill said he’s excited about his club’s mindset heading into Thursday’s season opener.

“I like our hunger,” he said. “We’re a group that had an extraordinarily long layoff. I think sometimes you gain perspective in those situations. I certainly think we’re a hungry group, a group that wants to keep getting better, a group that doesn’t like what’s happened here and wants to get this organization to better days.”

Continued;