The Vancouver Canucks blew some minds last Friday by signing defenseman Zeev Buium, who hasn’t even played a full NHL season yet, to an 8-year, $75.04 million contract, awarding Buium an average annual value salary of $9.38 million.

With the Red Wings having yet to sign restricted free agent Simon Edvinsson to a contract extension, the Wings may have to exceed Moritz Seider’s $8.5 million salary in order to ink Edvinsson to a long-term pact.

As such, Detroit Hockey Now’s Max Smith wonders aloud what the Wings’ strategy might involve:

For the Red Wings, Edvinsson now finds himself comfortably in a position to be asking for a higher AAV and potentially shorter contract terms. Buium has 76 career NHL games and 26 points split across his rookie season with the Wild and Canucks last year, which is roughly comparable to the 25 points in 72 games Edvinsson had last year in his sophomore season.

That was a downtick from his production as a rookie, though Edvinsson did have to spend time recovering from two separate injuries over the year. However, Edvinsson has shown himself to be much more capable as a defender than Buium has, with a +/- of +12 in each of the last two years, while Buium finished his rookie season as a -24 with the Canucks.

Any way you slice it, for the moment, Edvinsson has the edge on the stat sheet and should be able to leverage that to his full advantage with the Red Wings next GM.

If Steve Yzerman were still the GM, I’d argue that the team would hold fast to Seider’s contract value as an internal salary cap, but with a new GM/president of hockey operations coming in, all bets are off…

Continue reading Afternoon news: Zeev Buium’s contract complicates Simon Edvinsson negotiations; the clock’s ticking on extending DeBrincat, Kasper to 8-year contracts

NHL.com/de posted a very long interview with Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider as part of the NHL’s international sites‘ season previews today. Here is a rough translation of the interview from German:

Seider: “I want to be the best defender”

In the European Player Media Tour interview with NHL.com/de, the defender of the Detroit Red Wings talks about summer training, noise and doubters

As part of the European Player Media Tour 2026, NHL.com/de conducted numerous interviews with German-language NHL professionals. In this issue: Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings

Hi Moritz! What was the highlight of your summer?

Just the two vacations we’ve taken. We were both with friends and had a few more days for both, so [it was] only my girlfriend and I. It was fun, we had a great time. We were together with Tim Stutzle and another player in Mallorca. Most recently we were on active vacation in Austria with a lot of hiking and cycling, which was really nice.

You’ve trained a lot with Tim Stutzle. You are both top players in the NHL and you meet on the ice as opponents. What was the joint training like?

It was great. I think without Tim, I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in right now, simply because we’re two people who can’t finish second. But there must always be a second-place guy. This helps us to get to a higher level, in every aspect, on and off the ice. So we have a healthy rivalry, and have found a way to accept second place. But that motivates us to work even harder in other areas to beat the other one there. This is our thing.

Tim is a forward, you’re a defender – doesn’t he rub it under your nose when he scores more goals?

(Laughs) No. We quit that a long time ago. This is also because such a thing often comes back at you quite quickly. There are so many things we can compete in, so it’s easier to shut up and accept victory.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider gives a long interview to NHL.com/de

According to Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff, former Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula earned a prestigious honor recently, adding to a career full of personal and team achievements and accolades:

Valtteri Filppula was part of the Detroit Red Wings team that won the Stanley Cup in 2007-08. That’s the franchise’s most recent Cup victory.

He’s a member of hockey’s elite Triple Gold Club. Those are players who’ve won the Stanley Cup, the IIHF World Championship, and an Olympic Gold Medal.

Now, Filppula is also a Hall of Famer. On Saturday, Finland’s Ice Hockey Museum announced six new inductees to the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame. Filppula was among that group.

Continue reading Valtteri Filppula has one heck of a hockey resume

The Hockey News’s Adam Proteau posted a list of 6 changes in the NHL-NHLPA CBA which go into effect this upcoming season, and the last one on Proteau’s list might be most apropos for the Red Wings.

If you recall, the Wings kept sending Marco Kasper down to the AHL on paper, and then recalled him to the NHL over and over during his rookie season (per Sean Shapiro’s intrepid reporting in 2025) to save salary cap space:

6. AHL Player Transactions

In the old CBA, NHL teams had the option of technically loaning a player to their minor-league affiliate without that player actually having to report before being recalled the following day.

It was a sneaky but legal maneuver, but in the new labor deal, any player assigned to the American League is required to play in at least one game before they can be recalled to the NHL. 

This particular change isn’t going to register all that much on the radar of hockey fans, but it’s one of those odd holes in the CBA that teams found a way to exploit. Every new labor deal tries to tie up whatever loose ends are out there, and that’s the case with this move.

It’s holding teams to account, and teams now are going to have to adjust to this more stringent rule.

Continued; this will also apply to players who no longer clear waivers and are recalled.

They’re subject to waivers again after playing in 10 NHL games or remaining with an NHL team for 30 days, so a John Leonard, for example, would have to head back down to Grand Rapids for real and play in an AHL game before being recalled again instead of remaining in Detroit when he was assigned to GR on paper.

I’m not the biggest fan of “What if?” articles regarding situations that haven’t happened yet.

That being said, Sports Illustrated’s Jason Fink asks whether the Red Wings made the right decision in determining that turning-pro prospect Trey Augustine’s a better bet to become Detroit’s “goalie of the future” than 24-year-old Sebastian Cossa, who will make his NHL debut with the Utah Mammoth as Karl Vejmelka’s presumed back-up this upcoming season…

And you do have to factor the future potential of one University of Michigan forward JP Hurlbert into the equation, given that the Wings essentially traded Cossa to Utah for the Hurlbert (also known as the 23rd overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft)…

So let’s play along with Fink’s equation:

Scenario A: Augustine becomes the Red Wings’ long-term starter and the trade looks brilliant.

Scenario B: Both become quality NHL goalies and the trade becomes more about what Detroit received for Cossa.

Scenario C: Cossa becomes a star while Augustine struggles, and Detroit spends years hearing about the goalie it let get away.

And because Cossa was a first-round pick Detroit traded up to acquire, Scenario C would sting considerably more.

Again, to me, it’s way too early to determine the answer to the question as to whether the Wings made the “right decision,” especially given that 24-year-old Michal Postava’s emergence as a potential NHL-caliber goalie played into the Wings’ decision to trade Cossa. Scenario “D: Postava emerges as the #1 goalie, and the equation doesn’t matter” is an entirely possible option.

However…

The Red Wings have spent years searching for its next franchise goaltender and, for a brief period, appeared to have two candidates. The Red Wings decided they didn’t need both.

Cossa now gets the opportunity to prove Detroit gave up on him too soon; meanwhile, Augustine gets the considerably heavier burden of proving the Red Wings didn’t. Detroit has made their choice.

Now comes the part that could take years to determine: whether they chose the right goalie.

Too soon. Too soon.

The Hockey News’s Jake Tye posted a fantasy hockey preview for the Detroit Red Wings, whose roster’s hard to pin down given Dylan Larkin’s uncertain place within the next GM’s vision for this year’s Red Wings team.

Nonetheless, Tye suggests that Simon Edvinsson is primed for a breakout, and Tye also believes that two Wings should merit candidacy as “sleeper picks”:

Sleeper: John Gibson & Emmitt Finnie

Many goaltenders in recent years have proven that age is just a number, and Gibson is looking to do the same. After a strong first season in Hockeytown, the 33-year-old enters the final year of the eight-year deal he originally signed with Anaheim back in 2018. 

He’ll look to build off that solid season with a chip on his shoulder as he plays for his next contract. With Cam Talbot gone in free agency and Detroit bringing in Daniil Tarasov as a one-year backup, Gibson should have plenty of runway, and he’s a strong bet to outplay his current 140th-overall average draft position, along with other netminders being taken ahead of him like Dustin Wolf, Tristan Jarry, Pyotr Kochetkov and Philadelphia’s tandem of Joseph Woll and Dan Vladar.

Finnie, meanwhile, was one of Detroit’s biggest surprises last season, developing rapidly from a seventh-round pick and AHL grinder into a full-time NHL regular at just 21 years old. The Lethbridge, Alberta native steadily improved his production at every level, earned a spot on Detroit’s opening-night roster, and finished his rookie campaign with 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 points while playing all 82 games. 

With another offseason of development ahead, Finnie has the potential to keep climbing, likely remaining a top-line option alongside Larkin and Raymond, with 45-plus points within reach. Owned in just three percent of Yahoo leagues, he’s an intriguing low-cost, high-reward option to watch on the waiver wire.

Continued; I’m not sure that Finnie will still be on the Wings’ top line, but he’s established himself as someone who drives play as a relentless forechecker, and that gives him a leg up on the competition.

During last year’s hiatus, I kept on getting Google email alerts about Red Wings prospect and UMass defenseman Larry Keenan, a 21-year-old left D who stands at 6’4″ and 205 pounds.

Keenan didn’t overwhelm statistically last season, posting 8 goals and 11 assists for 19 points in 39 games played, but the news stories I read consisted of coaches, players and scouts raving about Keenan’s leadership, clutch play and excellent 2-way abilities.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a profile of Keenan today, describing the big defender as, “Keenan the Most Improved Prospect?” I’m not certain that the question mark is necessary as the 2023 draft pick has become someone whose name is in at least the “He’s going to make pro hockey” conversations, if not discussions as to whether his ceiling is that of a solid 3rd pair NHL defender:

Three Reasons Why Keenan Will Play in the NHL

1. Possesses a toolbox that will allow him to be a three-zone defenseman in the pro game. He can have impact all over the ice. He has NHL-caliber skating.
2. His offensive game is improving. He can skate the puck out of his zone and can shoot the puck.
3. Gets his team out of trouble in the defensive zone. Can play heavy. Can kill plays

What May Hold Him Back

The Red Wings boast a collection of quality young defensemen looking to climb onto the roster. He must continue to improve both offensively and defensively if he wants to compete for playing time against the likes of Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Anton Johansson.

Continued; I agree with Allen’s assessment here. Keenan would raise more eyebrows if he wasn’t a defenseman in the Red Wings’ system, where players like ASP are NHL’ers-in-waiting, and Anton Johansson stands ready to make his pro debut at a rangy 6’4″ and 196 pounds, having earned some “wows” for his physical play both in the SHL with Leksands IF and during his 16 games (8 regular season games and 8 playoff games) with Grand Rapids.

Trying to break into the Red Wings’ corps of defensive prospects on the right-hand side isn’t going to be easy, but I certainly wouldn’t bet against Larry Keenan.

The dearth of news regarding the Red Wings’ general manager/president of hockey operations search is slowly but surely cracking. Last night, per SI’s Jonathan Bailey, PuckPedia posted the following Tweet:

There is word that some candidates who were involved in the Red Wings GM process have recently been told they are no longer in the running for the position

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) September 3, 2026

Of note from Detroit Hockey Now this morning:

1. According to Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff, the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, should have a stacked roster this upcoming season, even given the likely NHL graduations of players like Carter Mazur, William Wallinder and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard:

The Griffins’ website currently lists 34 players as signed with the club.

That list includes 20 forwards: Carter Bear, Ondrej Becher, Tag Bertuzzi, Kaden Bohlsen, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Cameron Butler, Nate Danielson, Noah Dower Nilsson, Kienan Draper, Sheldon Dries, Dylan James, Jesse Kiiskinen, John Leonard, Carter Mazur, Nolan Moyle, Sutter Muzzatti, Theo Rochette, Dominik Shine, Wilmer Skoog, and Chase Stillman.

Then there are 10 defensemen: Ronnie Attard, Shai Buium, Justice Christensen, Marcus Crawford, Anton Johansson, William Lagesson, Alex Kannok Leipert, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Jacob Truscott, and William Wallinder.

The four goalies are Trey Augustine, Carter Gylander, Jonathan Lemieux, and Michal Postava.

Continued; the AHL has no roster limit for teams, but it’s highly likely that some of the players signed to AHL contracts would be assigned to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye for playing time.

2. Duff also reports that the Red Wings haven’t replaced radio color commentator Paul Woods yet. With training camp approaching, Duff believes that the Wings will platoon several voices alongside Ken Kal this upcoming season:

Continue reading Two DHN things: Griffins have abundance of roster players; waiting on Paul Woods’ replacement

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a column which discusses the Red Wings’ imminent prospect tournament this afternoon. In the subscriber-only article, Allen highlights Nate Danielson, Theo Rochette, Carter Bear, Anton Johansson and Trey Augustine as five players who will serve as focal points as the Wings’ prospects play 3 games in 4 nights next weekend:

Who is Theo Rochette?

This is the 24-year-free agent forward the Red Wings signed out of the Swiss National League. The Red Wings don’t have an impressive history of hitting the lottery with European free agent signings. The organization took some criticism from Eduards Tralmaks because he didn’t believe he received a true chance to earn an NHL uniform.

But it will be new regime making decisions about Rochette. What we know about Rochette: he is a sformer QMJHL player who went undrafted. But scouts were impressed this past season when he put up 22 goals and 21 assists for 43 points in 46 games for Lausanne. He was a 106-point scorer in his final season in the QMJHL.

This was his third season in the Swiss League, and he has improved each season. The issue on Rochette is his smallish physique. He’s 5-10, and not much more than 170 pounds.

Continued (paywall); all four players could really improve their stock over the course of the prospect tournament, which is Allen’s point of emphasis.