The Malik Report

DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner looks back at Red Wings forward David Booth’s 2017-18 season “numbers” this morning:

28 – Number of games Booth appeared in for the Red Wings.

4 – In his 28 games played, Booth notched four goals. His first goal as a Red Wing came during a two-goal outburst on November 25 at Little Caesars Arena versus the New Jersey Devils.

5 – Total number of points he had for the season, the second lowest point total of his career. During the 2012-13 season when he played for Vancouver, Booth had three points in only 12 games played due to an ankle injury.

12.1 – Booth’s shooting percentage, which ranked third on the Wings behind only Anthony Mantha (12.6%) and Luke Glendening (12.5%).

Regner continues, noting that Booth was a superb “glue guy”…

According to the Sault Star’s Peter Ruicci, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and the Ontario Hockey League have stated that none of the racial slurs that Givani Smith had to deal with this past week originated with the Kitchener Rangers’ opposition:

“I can say with 100 per cent certainty, at no time did anyone from our organization, our staff or our players utter a racial slur at Givani Smith,” Hounds head coach Drew Bannister said on Sunday.

Further, the Hounds coach spoke of how there was never a time during the series when allegations of such an occurrence  were brought to his attention by the OHL or the Rangers organization.

“The first I heard about it was Saturday when the article by Josh Brown was published,” Bannister added. “If the league would have heard about such an incident, they would have dealt with it immediately.”

Smith could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Ruicci continues with quotes from OHL commissioner David Branch, and I can only shrug my shoulders and say that fans can be terrible…

MLive’s Ansar Khan answers questions from readers this morning, and Khan duly notes that the Red Wings’ defense is stacked against the possibility of adding prospects to the mix.

With Trevor Daley, Danny DeKeyser, Jonathan Ericsson, Nick Jensen, Niklas Kronwall and Xavier Ouellet under contract for the upcoming season, and Mike Green a decent bet to return as an unrestricted free agent, it’s hard to figure out how any of Dennis Cholowski, Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek, Libor Sulak or any other of the Wings’ prospects will fit into the blueline:

The Red Wings have a high-stakes decision to make in terms of which player they will draft 6th overall in Dallas next month, and the Wings have 4 selections among the top 36 picks (among a total of 11 draft picks this year), so there’s going to be some serious debate as to which player or players the Wings should pick at the draft.

The Detroit News’s John Niyo spoke with Red Wings director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright regarding the debates the team’s front office will have during the organizational meetings that are underway presently at Little Caesars Arena:

The 45-year-old Wright isn’t joking when he talks about some of the “long, drawn-out meetings” that’ll eventually produce the Red Wings’ prospect rankings for next month’s NHL Draft in Dallas.

A draft that general manager Ken Holland has described as a 2-for-1 deal for Detroit, considering the team holds a league-high 11 picks, including two picks in each of the first two rounds — that’s four of the first 36 selections overall — and three more in the third.

“We debate everything,” said Wright, who joined the Wings organization in July 2013 after spending six years prior to that with the Columbus. “It’ll be respectful, but these meetings can get heated at times, which I enjoy. I like it. I encourage it, actually.”

Likewise, he’s embracing the moment, prepping for his fifth draft with a full understanding of what’s at stake, the Red Wings now fully invested in a organizational rebuild after spending most of the last 25 years with a decidedly different outlook.

“I mean, I think there’s pressure on any draft — for any team,” Wright said. “But we’ve got a great challenge in front of us. It’s on our shoulders right now, and everybody knows that. It’s an exciting time.”

Niyo continues, and given how often the Red Wings “go off script,” I’ve learned to not make any favorites–especially given, as Niyo notes, that the interviews the Wings hold with prospects during the draft combine in late May have a way of re-ranking the Wings’ list.

That’s where somebody like Michael Rasmussen can make an impression that lasts.

World Championship scribe Julie Robenhymer penned an article for DetroitRedWings.com. Robenhymer speaks with Dylan Larkin, discussing Larkin’s desire to improve his game by playing at the World Championship for Team USA:

“Last year, I took away the experience of playing hockey and making plays and skating at a really high level and I think I brought that back to Detroit and had a pretty good year,” he said about the 16 goals and 47 assists he earned for 63 points in 82 games for the Red Wings this year. “I’m just trying to take it to the next level now and take another step further. I want to have a good tournament and end my season on a good note.

“And it’s not about stats. I don’t care if I score a goal the whole tournament, I just want to win,” Larkin said before this year’s world championship began on Friday in Denmark. “I want to come out of here with confidence going into the summer and feeling good about where my game’s at and where it has the potential to go so I can work towards getting there this summer and have a real good season next year too. I want to keep getting better.”

Robenhymer continues, and Larkin’s drive is…intense!

 

Former Detroit News scribe and current Michigan Radio correspondent John U. Bacon shared a story from his new book, “The Best of Bacon: Select Cuts.” Today, Bacon tells the story of Slava Fetsiov’s decision to fight for his freedom to leave the Big Red Machine:

Sometime this summer, Detroit’s 39-year old defenseman Slava Fetisov will have to decide whether to return to the Red Wings for one final season, play somewhere else, or retire. For many players, this would be the toughest decision of their lives.

For Slava Fetisov, it’s almost trivial.

Just a few days past New Year’s 1989, Fetisov sat in a room at the Hilton Hotel in East Rutherford, New Jersey, debating the decision of a lifetime.

The Red Army leader and his team were in the middle of the “Super Series,” a two-week run of exhibition games against NHL teams. A few hours before that night’s game against the New Jersey Devils, their general manager, Lou Lamoriello, tried to convince Fetisov to defect right then and there, to leave his title, his team, and his homeland behind forever. But if Fetisov agreed, there would be no going back.

Continued

At the World Championship in Denmark:

Gustav Nyquist finished even with 3 shots in 17:39 played as Sweden defeated the Czech Republic 3-2.

Libor Sulak finished even with 1 shot in 17:56 for the Czechs, and Filip Hronek scored a goal on 3 shots in 16:49 played.

The IIHF’s website posted a recap and a highlight clip:

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

At 20, Hronek is the third-youngest player on the Czech team. He joined the squad after the Grand Rapids Griffins were eliminated in the first round of the AHL playoffs on Monday.

Hronek is a by-product of the Wings’ trade to Pavel Datsyuk’s contract to Arizona in 2016, after Datsyuk decide to leave Detroit with a year left on his contract. Part of the return was the Coyotes’ second-round pick in that summer’s draft, and the Wings used that selection, at 53rd overall, on Hronek.

He turned heads in his first full year of pro hockey, finishing this past season with 39 points in 67 games, finishing second in scoring among rookie AHL defenseman. He ran the Griffins’ first power play unit (15 of his 28 assists came during man advantages). Now he’s off to a good start at the World Championship, a tournament that Dylan Larkin used last year as a huge boost to his confidence.

The Toledo Walleye are in trouble. Absent star defenseman Simon Denis, the Walleye’s offense got stuck in neutral: only Dylan Sadowy scored as the Walleye lost 4-1 to the Fort Wayne Komets on Saturday night, and Toledo trails its second-round series 3 games to 2.

Game 6 will take place Tuesday in Fort Wayne, and as for Saturday night’s action, the Walleye’s website posted a recap and highlight clip:

Continue reading Walleye lose to Fort Wayne, face 3-2 deficit in second-round series

Of playoff-related prospect note:

In the OHL championship series, Jordan Sambrook finished at +2 as his Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds won 4-2 over the Hamilton Bulldogs on Saturday, tying the OHL championship at 1 game apiece.

Kaden Fulcher stopped 30 of 33 shots for Hamilton.

Of Red Wings-related note at the World Championship in Denmark:

Team USA beat Denmark 4-0.

Frans Nielsen finished at -2 with 3 shots in 19:52 played for Denmark;

Nick Jensen had a goal and an assist, finishing at +3 with 1 shot in 17:41 played for Team USA;

And Dylan Larkin finished at +2 with 3 shots in 17:44 played for Team USA.

Team USA’s website posted a quick recap:

Will Butcher (Sun Prairie, Wis.) Chris Kreider (Boxford, Mass.), Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn.) and Nick Jensen (St. Paul, Minn.) all scored as the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team earned a 4-0 victory over Denmark here tonight in its second preliminary round game of the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship.

Keith Kinkaid (Farmingville, N.Y.) made 20 saves in the shutout.

The U.S. will return to action Monday (May 7) against Germany at 4:15 p.m. local time/10:15 a.m. ET. That game, along with all U.S. Men’s World Championship games, will be broadcast live on NHL Network.

The IIHF’s YouTube channel also posted a highlight clip:

Here’s Team USA’s post-game video:

 

Elsewhere, the Czech Republic beat Slovakia 3-2 in overtime.

Libor Sulak finished even with 3 shots in 18:47 played;

Filip Hronek finished even in 6:55 played;

And as some of you already reported, Martin Frk did not play for the Czech Republic as he didn’t make the final cut.

Here are highlights from the game: