The Malik Report

WXYZ’s Brad Galli posted a video profile of former Red Wings forward Drew Miller, who now works as an insurance agent for Southfield, Michigan’s KIG:

Fox Sports Detroit has posted the Jamie Daniels Foundation’s “Celebrity Roast of Scotty Bowman” on YouTube for all to watch, and its silent auction is still underway…

Among the roast’s highlights, from the Free Press’s Helene St. James:

Continue reading Fox Sports Detroit posts Jamie Daniels Foundation’s ‘Celebrity Roast of Scotty Bowman’ online

Of Red Wings prospect-related note:

In the Finnish Liiga, Victor Brattstrom served as the back-up in KooKoo’s 3-2 loss to the Lahti Pelicans;

Jared McIsaac remained sidelined with a hand injury as HPK won 4-3 in a shootout over TPS Turku. Eemil Viro had an assist and 4 shots in 21:25 played for TPS Turku;

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Gustav Lindstrom took 4 shots and finished even in 20:51 played as Almtuna IS lost 3-1 to Vita Hasten. Filip Larsson served as the back-up goaltender for Almtuna;

Gustav Berglund played 13:45 in Vasteras IK’s 9-1 loss to Bjorklowen;

Via Red Wings Prospects on Twitter, William Wallinder played 20:00 in MODO Hockey’s 2-1 loss to Kristianstads IK;

And in the Swedish J20 league, Theodor Niederbach scored a goal and had an assist as the Frolunda Indians won 5-4 over the Malmo Redhawks. Niederbach now has 21 points (6 goals and 15 assists) over the course of only 12 games played for Frolunda’s J20 team.

Here’s Niederbach’s goal from Antonj85 on Twitter:

Theodor Niederbach gör 3-1 till Frölunda mot Malmö. #J20gifs #J20NS #FHC #DRW #LGRW pic.twitter.com/hEnJwUDnS6

— Anton (@antonj85) October 14, 2020

MLive’s Ansar Khan profiles new Red Wings defenseman Troy Stetcher. Stetcher isn’t big at 5’10,” but he brings a lot of grit and determination to the table:

“I pride myself in my work ethic, I try to lead by example in practice and throughout games,” Stecher said. “I know I’m not the biggest guy, but I definitely try to create a spark for my teammates through the (course) of a 60-minute game and I rely on my work ethic and skating.”

He also listed the areas he is looking to improve.

“Just boxing out in front is one of the bigger ones,” Stecher said. “Being a smaller guy, you need to find different leverage points. And then continuing to support the rush and having a good gap. I think it works both ways, offensively and defensively.”

The Canucks missed the playoffs four years in a row before making a nice run in the Edmonton bubble. They defeated Minnesota in the qualifying round and defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis in the first round before losing in seven games to Vegas in the second round. He is hoping to be part of a similar progression in Detroit.

“There’s been some challenging times,” Stecher said. “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and you just got to stay focused on what your process is and your goals are. I think the biggest thing is understanding it’s not going to happen overnight, it’s a process of getting there.”

Continued

Fox Sports Detroit will stream tonight’s “Celebrity Roast of Scotty Bowman” at 8 PM EDT tonight on their YouTube channel:

From the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers comes a profile of Red Wings 3rd round pick Dominic Sebrango, a rugged two-way defenseman who plays for Kitchener:

? “I’ve been lucky to be drafted to both Kitchener and @DetroitRedWings, I know I’ll be guided so I can turn into the best player I can be” – Donovan Sebrango (@D_sebrango3) on #NHLDraft Day

?: https://t.co/iEIBOrDgmK
 #RTown | #OHLRangers— Kitchener Rangers (@OHLRangers) October 14, 2020

Sportsnet’s Luke Fox examines the respective situations of his top 15 restricted free agents this morning, including Red Wings forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Anthony Mantha:

9. Tyler Bertuzzi
Age: 25
Position: Left wing
2019-20 salary cap hit: $1.4 million
Arbitration rights: Yes — and filed
Bargaining chips: Made first All-Star Game appearance. Back-to-back 21-goal, 47-point seasons. Skates nearly 20 minutes a night. Organization has invested seven years developing him into a first-line threat.

The latest: One of the few bright spots on a sad-sack Red Wings, Bertuzzi has over-delivered on his two-year, $2.8-million bridge pact signed back in 2018 and deserves a nice pay bump.

Of the three pending RFA forwards GM Steve Yzerman still must make decisions on, Bertuzzi is the most essential. Yzerman has been busy rebuilding his roster through smart, low-risk UFA signings, while clearing out veterans through buyout (Justin Abdelkader) or simply letting them walk (Jimmy Howard, Trevor Daley, Jonathan Ericsson).

Bertuzzi has 30-goal potential, brings grit to his game, and should be seen as a building block for a rebuild that needs as many as it can get.

Negotiations with Yzerman have begun as the sides try to work out a deal prior to arbitration Oct. 25.

Continued; Fox notes that Mantha has suggested that contract talks with the Wings won’t be easy, but we do know per Steve Yzerman’s conference calls that the talks with Mantha are a little further along than Bertuzzi’s negotiations.

NHL.com has posted a 2-and-a-half-minute long video of Dylan Larkin’s top 5 best plays from the 2019-2020 season:

Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Daniels appeared on “X’s and Bros” on the Michigan Sports Network this morning to discuss tonight’s “Celebrity Roast of Scotty Bowman” (8 PM EDT tonight on Fox Sports Detroit). Daniels appears at the 25-minute mark of the following clip, and he speaks until the 39-minute mark (i.e. the interview is 14 minutes long):

Long-time hockey scribe Kevin Allen has moved on from USA Today to write articles for several websites.

Today, Allen, writing for Hockeybuzz, praises both Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman and Colorado Avalanche GM Joe Sakic as NHL executives whose qualities off-ice moves have mirrored to their sterling on-ice reputations:

The Red Wings, the NHL’s worst team in 2019-20, were often unwatchable. Yzerman signaled his intention to address that when he completed a trade with the New York Rangers for defenseman Marc Staal.

Yzerman stayed true to his desire to build through the draft by picking up a second round pick in exchange for Staal’s hefty $5.7 million cap hit for one season. But Yzerman also liked the idea of adding a veteran defenseman to his lineup.

Picking No. 4 in the draft, Yzerman took Lucas Raymond, a slick Swedish sensation with the potential to be as good as anyone taken ahead of him. He also earned high praise for his second round pick of 6-foot-4 Swedish defenseman William Wallinder, said to be mobile and rich in offensive potential.

Yzerman was also active in the free agent market, adding forward Bobby Ryan, two more veteran defensemen in Troy Stecher and Jon Merrill, plus goalie Thomas Greiss and center-winger Vladislav Namestnikov. All of them will help make the Red Wings modestly better, and none of them received more than a two-year deal.

You never heard a single rumor about any of those moves until it was about to happen. That’s not how Yzerman operates.

Continued