The Malik Report

It appears to be a case of bad asset management meeting a bad attitude, and it's as simple as that.

MLive's Ansar Khan let us know bluntly that Petr Mrazek hasn't endeared himself to management due to his attitude, saying the following...

Part of the reason Mrazek's luster has faded has been deportment issues that can be traced to contentious off-season contract negotiations (they settled on a two-year, $8 million deal; Mrazek will be a restricted free agent in 2018), maybe earlier. Mrazek was not happy the Red Wings were unable to trade Howard in the off-season and let the club know in less-than-tactful terms. Mrazek has always had a swagger and air of confidence, which appealed to the Red Wings. But sometimes he's too cocky for his own good, some in the organization believe. He became increasingly difficult to coach last season, they said. Jeff Blashill's decision to start rookie Jared Coreau in the outdoor game in Toronto spoke to the attitude adjustment the team was seeking from Mrazek. The decision to expose Mrazek was a slap in the face to the young goalie. But the saga isn't complete.

The Windsor Star's Bob Duff had a terse conversation with Ken Holland regarding the Red Wings' expansion draft decision-making process (as did the Macomb Daily's Chuck Pleiness), before confirming Khan's assertions that Petr Mrazek's attitude and work ethic are of concern to the Wings...

“I have no comment,” Holland said. “All the players except one will be back on our team.” Others of significance left exposed for the expansion draft included forwards Riley Sheahan, Drew Miller, Luke Glendening, Darren Helm, and Tomas Nosek, defensemen Niklas Kronwall, Xavier Ouellet, Jonathan Ericsson and Ryan Sproul and goaltender Jared Coreau. The expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights get to select one of them during the expansion draft, and Holland did acknowledge that unlike some other NHL teams, he won’t be making any backroom deals with Las Vegas GM George McPhee in order to ensure a player or players are passed over by the Golden Knights. “We had a tough year,” Holland said of missing the playoffs in 2016-17. “We’re trying to build our team. I’m not spending any future assets to hang onto players.” There certainly is a chance that should Holland see someone on the unprotected list that is of interest to him, he could work out a package to get the Golden Knights to draft that player and then flip him to the Wings. “I talked to George McPhee a number of times this week,” Holland admitted. “I do plan on talking to him through the freeze period. I do know he’s working with a number of teams. I talked to most of the managers in the NHL leading into (Saturday’s protected list submissions).”

And the Free Press's Helene St. James put things a little more politely...

Mrazek had a career-worst season with a 3.04 goals-against average and .901 save percentage in 50 games. Then he went to the World Championship and was so mediocre (2.47 goals-against average, .881 save percentage) the Czechs didn’t even use him when they faced elimination in the quarterfinal. Mrazek makes many great saves but also lets in a stoppable goal regularly, which isn’t a winning formula. However, Howard is 33, has two years left at a $5.3-million cap hit, and can’t seem to stay healthy (in fairness, the knee injury he suffered in December was because he got run over). Mrazek is 25, and has a year left at $4 million. He also has lost the starting job two years running. ... General manager Ken Holland was not available for comment. It is clear, however, that the decision to expose Mrazek rather than Howard indicates a significant change in how the Wings view Mrazek a year after anointing him as No. 1.

While the Detroit News's Ted Kulfan speculated as to Mrazek's likely destinations if he is picked:

Mrazek could tempt the Golden Knights, who could team Mrazek with the anticipated selection of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who was left unprotected by Pittsburgh. But more likely, the Golden Knights would simply flip Mrazek to a team that reaches out to them, asks Vegas to select Mrazek, and works out a trade with the Golden Knights for Mrazek. Teams such as Vancouver, Arizona, Philadelphia, Colorado and St. Louis might be in the market for a goaltender who can split the workload – or be a quality backup. Teams can negotiate trades with Vegas until Wednesday at 8 a.m. in an effort to keep the Golden Knights from selecting certain unprotected players. But Holland said last week he is not interested in making those side deals with Vegas. Holland, though, is open to the possibility of asking Vegas to select an unprotected player (likely a puck-moving defenseman) and working out a trade afterward. If not Mrazek, judging from speculation around the Golden Knights, Sheahan or Ouellet appear to be the two most popular picks by the expansion team.

Here's what I know but am not supposed to say in this manner:

Petr Mrazek can be a cocky, arrogant jerk. [edit: Let's try this so that there's less concern here--and there's nothing wrong with being a cocky, arrogant jerk. Professional athletes can possess massive egoes, and sometimes that's exactly what they need to succeed. There's a problem here, however...]

Petr Mrazek sometimes thinks his shit doesn't stink, and he reacts to his coaches and teammates with the same, one-sentence answers to bad goals against or bad performances: "I feel good," "I'm fine," "I just move forward," "Sometimes it happens," "It's no big deal," etc.

I'm gathering that he backs those statements up with the same as-if-it-never-happened work ethic during practices with his teammates and goaltending coach (and it should be said that it was no easy decision for the Wings to bid farewell to Jim Bedard after 19 years to promote Jeff Salajko from Grand Rapids).

But you still don't deal with a player with an attitude problem or a player who's pissed management off by giving him a wake-up call that could endanger your asset management, and that's exactly what the Wings have done in making Mrazek available for selection by the Golden Knights for use as a player or a trade chip.

A team that acts in a manner that emphasizes proper asset management doesn't allow bad attitudes, conduct with less than the utmost decorum or disappointment with players' contract negotiation tactics to cloud its judgment as to whether it should protect a 25-year-old goaltender with trade value over a 32-year-old goaltender with less trade value.

It's just gotten so tiresome to continue finding out that the Red Wings didn't bring back a player or prospect because of a real or perceived slight, regardless of whether it has to do with the player's on-ice performance, and that those who have offended (regardless of whether their missteps were small or large in scope) are most often gotten rid of in a manner that doesn't maximize their potential as assets for the team.

In the end, a player with talent and a player with tradeable potential is an asset, and even if he's a self-important *#$%@& who won't work hard enough (and all indications suggest that Mrazek has an attitude problem and a work ethic problem, and has had these problems since Day 1 as a Red Wings prospect), you don't just "let them go."

That's not the way that a team in a salary cap era should deal with limited assets, but it's become the way that the Red Wings' hockey operations department runs.

That's a problem, a big problem, and it's an attitude problem.

P.S. I don't think that Petr Mrazek is a bad human being because he displays many of the qualities of someone with a "bad attitude." I don't believe that the Red Wings should have exposed Mrazek due to any attitude issues.

What I do believe at this point is that we have clear indications that the team is managing attitudes more than players, and that's of great concern.

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