Red Wings sign Viktor Arvidsson to a 2-year, $10 million contract

Per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan…

The 33-year-old stands at 5’10” and 180 pounds, he plays wing, and scored 25 goals among 54 points in 69 games played for Boston last season.

The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta confirms…

And Elliotte Friedman makes it 3 sources, and he reports that it’s a 2-year, $10 million contract:

The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun also confirms…

And here’s Kaplan in text form:

The Detroit Red Wings are closing in on a two-year contract with Viktor Arvidsson, sources told ESPN.

Arvidsson thrived last season on Boston’s second line with mates Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt. In 69 games, Arvidsson, 33, posted 25 goals and 54 points as the Bruins returned to the postseason after a one-year absence.

However, the 33-year-old was not able to come to terms with the Bruins, who made a big splash at the NHL Draft by acquiring winger JJ Peterka.

The Red Wings are looking to snap the NHL’s longest active playoff drought, which has reached 10 seasons. The biggest agenda item for GM Steve Yzerman this summer is how to handle captain Dylan Larkin‘s trade request.

Sources say Yzerman has been working through a small list of teams provided by Larkin, but has not found offers he’s happy with and is willing to wait until he identifies a deal that makes sense for the Red Wings. Detroit also allowed veteran wingers Patrick Kane and David Perron to explore the free agent market.

Continue reading Red Wings sign Viktor Arvidsson to a 2-year, $10 million contract

Red Wings re-sign Carter Mazur to 2-year contract

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Here’s Detroit’s press release:

RED WINGS RE-SIGN CARTER MAZUR TO TWO-YEAR CONTRACT

  … Jackson Native Made NHL Debut with Detroit in 2024-25 …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today re-signed forward Carter Mazur to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $875,000.

Continue reading Red Wings re-sign Carter Mazur to 2-year contract

Tweet of note: Max and Victor Plante ‘mic’ed up’

The Red Wings posted a 90-second clip of Max and Victor Plante wearing mics on the ice at the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp. Much trash-talking was made:

Nick Kypreos updates the Dylan Larkin trade impasse

From Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos’s “Real Kyper’s Trade Board“:

• The Red Wings would have no problem trading Dylan Larkin to Minnesota if the Wild were prepared to part with Matt Boldy. Other than Boldy, there is nothing else Detroit GM Steve Yzerman is too interested in. 

That leaves Larkin with three choices:

1. Open up the trade demand to more teams. The Wild and Golden Knights don’t have anything that excites Detroit.

2. Prepare to start next season with the Red Wings.

3. Prepare to stay home and not get paid.

As of July 1, door No. 2 looks like his best bet.

Continued; I believe that the Wings will be a *little* more flexible in terms of a trade return, but right now, GM SY is holding out for the best deal possible. That’s his prerogative.

Morning tidbits from Shapiro

The multi-talented Sean Shapiro posted some Red Wings tidbits on his must-read Substack this morning, offering some points of note ahead of the start of unrestricted free agency:

Nothing new on Dylan Larkin, for what it’s worth, I think Steve Yzerman is going to wait on this and he has no issue making Larkin come to camp if he doesn’t get a deal in place that he likes.

…

Alex DeBrincat has also been getting trade interest from other teams, but there’s a big difference between teams calling the Red Wings and the Red Wings actively “shopping” him, which is not the case.

Continued (paywall, but $7 is affordable); I don’t expect the Wings to ask Larkin to come to training camp at LCA this fall, should a trade not be consummated by that time. It would cause too much of a distraction. I’d suggest that he stay home instead.

HSJ in the morning: on the Dylan Larkin stalemate

This morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James addresses where the Red Wings find themselves in terms of Dylan Larkin’s trade demands, suggesting that the dispute between disgruntled player and team will stretch past the start of unrestricted free agency today and into the rest of the summer:

The Wings would like a top-six center and a winger in return for Larkin. That may sound like a high price, but it’s their right to play hardball. They have little depth down the middle, and losing Larkin without getting a center in return would weaken the roster and hamper attempts to end what’s now a 10-year playoff drought – the longest active run in the league. The Wings already were looking to add a scoring winger, and, for that matter, strengthen the second-line center spot, before the Larkin situation unfolded.

None of Larkin’s desired destination teams have made an offer acceptable to the Wings. The Panthers may not even be in play anymore after acquiring forward Brady Tkachuk from Ottawa on June 21, not to mention goalie Jacob Markstrom in a deal with New Jersey on Tuesday.

As much as Larkin holds power via his no-trade clause, the Wings hold power in not being obligated to trade him. It wouldn’t be an ideal situation for Larkin to have to report to training camp in in September – the expectation, for starters, would be that he turn in his captaincy. He’d have to deal with a segment of upset fans at home games. The Wings would have to make do without a captain, as it would be unfair to the next guy – Moritz Seider fits the bill – to be named in such circumstances.

Continued; again, I expect the Red Wings to require a 3rd team to “flip” whatever future assets they receive for Larkin in order to acquire “right now” help;

I might also suggest that the Wings pursue a trade for disgruntled Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson as well.

HSJ, Duff weigh in regarding potential Red Wings free agency targets

The NHL’s unrestricted free agent period begins at 12 PM EDT today, and this morning, both the Free Press’s Helene St. James and Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff make suggestions as to which players the Red Wings should sign.

St. James believes that Detroit needs to sign a scoring winger and a back-up goaltender, first and foremost, but she also suggests that the Red Wings need more “team toughness,” too.

Here are three of her main targets…

Viktor Arvidsson, F, Boston Bruins

The 33-year-old is a veteran of 682 NHL games (with 219 goals among 443 points), most recently contributing 25 goals, 29 assists and a plus-20 rating in 14:35 of ice time per game for the Bruins in 2025-26. He has also appeared in 91 playoff games (46 points). Arvidsson (5 feet 10, 181 pounds) has a quality the Wings don’t have enough of among their forwards: He is tenacious and consistent about going to the net, plays with pace and is a 200-foot player.

Continue reading HSJ, Duff weigh in regarding potential Red Wings free agency targets

Late-night Friedman ‘thoughts’ ahead of free agency

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman offers some late-night, pre-free agency thoughts and predictions, including the following:

Dylan Larkin: Steve Yzerman would rather make no trade than what he thinks is a bad trade.

Jason Robertson: Wants Dallas to budge. Don’t see it now. My guess is they go to arbitration. Unless Yzerman decides he’s the best option for Larkin. 

Continued, briefly (hey, it’s the night before a very busy day for Elliotte and the rest of us)…