Red Wings assistant director of player development and interim Grand Rapids Griffins GM Dan Cleary spoke with the multi-talented Daniella Bruce prior to the Red Wings-Sabres game, per Detroit SportsNet:
Dan Cleary, Assistant Director of Player Development for the @DetroitRedWings, talked with @daniellabruce_ before the first home preseason game of the season. pic.twitter.com/ketIvWWloE
— Detroit SportsNet (@WatchDSN) September 24, 2026
The Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker spoke with Red Wings forward Emmitt Finnie regarding his expectations heading into Finnie’s sophomore season. Finnie plays like a Tasmanian Devil, and his play-driving, speedy, forechecking style earned pundits’ praise throughout the course of a superb freshman campaign:
“I think my confidence is high right now,” Finnie said. “Obviously, I had some success last season, and it was nice to carry that into the offseason.”
Showing the maturity of a seasoned veteran, Finnie acknowledged that there are still areas of his game he wants to improve, including his work on the backcheck.
“I really wanted to improve my game; I was trying to focus on lots of areas – winning battles low, just working on all areas of my game,” he said. “And defensively, I want to be sharper.”
Finnie, whom the Red Wings selected in the seventh round (201st overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft, recorded 30 points during his rookie season. Although he isn’t entering this season with a specific points target in mind, Finnie believes the production will follow if he continues to, as he put it, play the right way.
“I just take it as it comes,” he said of his point totals. “Obviously, you want to produce, and for me, it’s putting myself in the right position to score goals and making plays where I can get assists. If I just keep playing the right way, they’ll come.”
Finnie told Whitaker that he’s embracing coach Todd McLellan’s desire to coach a faster, tougher team as well:
“I think he wants our whole team to play hard, and it’s an area of my game I like to play,” Finnie said of his physicality. “I like to finish my checks and be hard on the forecheck, and I feel like that’s when I play my best, when I do that. I’m gonna continue to do that.”
Ahead of the start of the NCAA Division 1 college hockey season, College Hockey News’s Mike McMahon posted a “top 10” list of most likely-to-be-competitive schools, and the “Plante-based” Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth are in the middle(ish):
6) Minnesota Duluth: There might not be a better line in college hockey than Plante-Plante-Plante.
Everyone knows Hobey Baker Award winner Max Plante (52 points) and his brother, Zam Plante (51 points). Now add Victor Plante to the mix.
The 18-year-old was selected in the second round of this past summer’s NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, the same organization that drafted Max in the second round in 2024. Victor Plante had 66 points in 77 games for the U.S. NTDP last season, and while nothing is final, it certainly makes sense that we’ll see all three brothers together at some point this year.
That trio will grab the headlines, but the Bulldogs have a solid roster built around the Plante brothers. Jayson Shaugabay (43 points) returns for his junior year, and Ty Hanson (36 points) looks like one of the top defensemen in the nation.
The only unproven part of the roster is in goal, where freshman Carl Axelsson arrives after being one of the top goaltenders in the USHL last season with Muskegon (.916 save percentage). Ethan Dahlmeir was limited to eight games behind Adam Gajan last season, but he posted a .910 save percentage in those minutes and should be an option as well.
Offensively, the Bulldogs are one of the top teams in the country, and Hanson anchors a strong D corps on the other end.
Continued; I think that many Red Wings fans will be watching Victor and Max closely this upcoming season.
The Hockey News’s Adam Proteau takes on a flight of fancy today, suggesting that the Detroit Red Wings should submit an offer sheet to restricted free agent forward Adam Fantilli of the Columbus Blue Jackets:
The Columbus Blue Jackets‘ standoff with star center and RFA Adam Fantilli has no apparent end in sight, and that is opening up a window for another team to take advantage of the situation by tendering an offer sheet to poach him from the Blue Jackets. And that team, more than any other team, should be the Detroit Red Wings.
Tossing a boatload of money at Fantilli would serve many purposes for the Red Wings. Firstly, they’d be adding a cornerstone player, and someone who could take the place of former captain Dylan Larkin once interim GM Shawn Horcoff trades him. And if Columbus matches the offer sheet, so be it.
Detroit currently has $21.3 million in cap space, and they’ve got all the draft picks they’d need to send the Blue Jackets’ way as compensation for Fantilli. The Red Wings need to be bold, and they need to be aggressive.
They’d be doing both those things by offer-sheeting Fantilli, and they’d be hurting an Eastern Conference rival in the process. And from the perspective of Fantilli, an Ontario native, he’d be playing much closer to home.
Thus, an offer sheet for Fantilli makes too much sense to be ignored. The Blue Jackets seemingly can’t get a deal done, but the Red Wings have the potential to. If Horcoff wants to remove the ‘interim’ tag off his job title, this kind of move would be a huge step in the right direction.
Continued; Fantilli is a hell of a player as a 21-year-old power forward, but Shawn Horcoff’s main job is to sway a certain defenseman named Simon Edvinsson to stay in Detroit, first and foremost.
Fantilli is a secondary target at best, given that Columbus has a generous $12.45 million in salary cap space remaining, per PuckPedia. Having to offer sheet Fantilli at $13 or $14 million = much less money with which to re-sign Simon Edvinsson, and that’s not cool.
As noted earlier this afternoon, Red Wings coach Todd McLellan issued some effusive praise about Detroit prospect defenseman Anton Johansson, while cautioning that forward Carter Mazur and defenseman William Wallinder, who have to be waived to be sent down to Grand Rapids, have to earn their spots in the lineup.
According to the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan, coach McLellan had this to say about Wallinder’s pluses, contrasting the 24-year-old Wallinder’s status from both Anton and Axel Sandin Pellikka, who don’t need waivers to be sent down to the AHL:
Wallinder, 24, is in a different spot from the other two defensemen. Wallinder is out of minor-league options and has to be exposed on waivers if he were to be sent back to Grand Rapids. There’s a good chance some other team would grab the 6-foot-5, 210-pound steady defenseman.
“I’m in a good spot,” Wallinder said of his mindset. “I’ve been taking this serious, working hard this summer. Hopefully, I get a shot at it this year.”
Wallinder is rangy like Johansson, and is stronger defensively. McLellan likes the two-way attributes Wallinder can bring to the table.
“We’re relying a lot on the minor-league staff and some of our scouts (but) he’s mobile, a big man with lots of good range to break plays up and he moves a puck efficiently,” McLellan said. “First passes are on the tape and then he can play. With his range and mobility, he should be a real good penalty killer, so, we’ll see.
“He’s put his time in. The organization has developed him, and we expect him to play on our club, but he’s going to dictate whether that happens or not. There still is a business element to running a team and the commitments to players in terms of term and dollars and everything else. Some of that comes into play. But that’s why this season runs a long time, and we’ve got to get everything sorted out.”
Continued (paywall) with equal praise for Anton Johansson:
Continue reading On William Wallinder’s place in the Red Wings’ ‘numbers game’ on defenseWell, this is…A bit of a bummer. NHL.com/de posted an 18:33 interview with Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider, in which the big defenseman speaks about his equipment, talking about his long-cuffed gloves with “shot blocker” inserts, wide shin guards and reinforced stick (per the translation of the blurb that accompanies the interview)…
But the whole dang thing is in German, so you’ll have to enjoy the talk from a distance unless you’re fluent in the language.
According to MLive’s Ansar Khan, both Red Wings prospects Carter Mazur and William Wallinder need to have strong showings over the course of the final two exhibition games in order to crack Detroit’s lineup, as coach Todd McLellan suggested:
Continue reading Mazur and Wallinder must step up to make the Red Wings’ opening-night roster“We have a numbers issue with the NHL group; there’s just too many defensemen and forwards,” coach Todd McLellan said. “We chose to go a certain route, so Maze and Wally went on the other side. I still think there’s more in both of them, to tell you the truth, in exhibition season. I wouldn’t read too much into Group A and Group B.
“I told the players this at training camp last year; there were 10 players that were, if you want to label them, the B team or looks like the American League team, 10 different ones that played on our club during the year. One played the whole year, Emmitt Finnie. Axe (Sandin-Pellikka) was here almost the full year. (Michael Brandsegg-Nygard) started. So, there were a lot of individuals in that (second) group that ended up over here.”
Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen wondered aloud whether Red Wings defenseman Anton Johansson’s 4-assist performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday might have swayed coach Todd McLellan’s hand, with Detroit’s coach considering keeping Anton around at the NHL level.
Here’s what McLellan told Allen:
“We feel real good about our depth,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “. . .there are players who have elevated their stock, for the lack of a better term, and Anton is one of those.”
The second issue is the Red Wings haven’t yet settled on how many defensemen to keep.
“Will we carry seven or eight?, ” McLellan said. “That’s a question that we internally have to continue to discuss.”
After sending veteran defenseman Jacob Bryson to Grand Rapids, the Red Wings now have Jacob-Bernard Docker, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, William Wallinder and Johansson now competing for two or three positions.
The Red Wings’ televised game tonight (7 p.m.) and Saturday’s home game are important for this group.
Coach McLellan really likes Johansson’s pluck and resolve, but Allen duly notes that the Red Wings won’t keep Anton around to sit, and the fact that both the younger Johansson and Axel Sandin Pellikka can clear waivers = reason to send them down to keep William Wallinder, who’s no longer waiver-exempt:
“He has joy for the game,” McLellan said. “(Anton Johansson) loves being out there smiling. He brings an energy that kind of rubs off on other people.”
FloHockey’s Allen Catour highlights Trey Augustine, Max Plante and Jesse Kiiskinen as three Red Wings prospects to watch this upcoming season:
Jesse Kiiskinen Brings Offensive Upside
Jesse Kiiskinen is another prospect worth watching in the Red Wings organization.
The forward continues to develop his game and remains one of the young players working through Detroit’s system. His offensive abilities and long-term potential make him an intriguing player to monitor entering the season.
A strong year could help strengthen his standing among Detroit’s top prospects.
Max Plante Is A Forward To Watch
Max Plante gives the Red Wings another promising young forward to follow.
As he continues his development, Plante remains part of the organization’s future plans and a player worth monitoring. His progression will be an important part of Detroit’s prospect story as the season unfolds.
Red Wings fans will be watching to see how he continues to grow within the system.
Continued; for what it’s worth, I thought that Augustine looked good against the Penguins despite surrendering 2 3rd-period goals; Kiiskinen was pretty much invisible until he scored against the Pens, illustrating that he needs a little more work in terms of his consistency of play.
As for Max Plante, he told the Duluth News-Tribune’s Matt Wellens that he’s still hungry for more NCAA hockey wins while playing alongside his brothers, Victor and Zam, at the University of Minnesota-Duluth:
Continue reading A bit of praise for Trey Augustine, Jesse Kiiskinen and Max PlanteMcKeen’s Hockey’s Peter Harling posted an article about players who skated in Europe last year who happen to be available for fantasy hockey drafts ahead of this upcoming season, and Harling includes Red Wings prospect forward Theo Rochette on his list:
Theo Rochette, C – Detroit Red Wings
Rochette has dual citizenship with Canada and Switzerland. He played five seasons in the QMJHL, culminating in a 106-point season in Quebec where he captained the Ramparts to a Memorial Cup Championship. Undrafted, he has played the past three seasons in the Swiss NL with Lausanne where he has 104 points over 131 games. His recent play at the WC with Switzerland where he posted six points in ten games caught the Red Wings eye and they signed him to an ELC. Rochette is an undersized, playmaking center with excellent vision. Looking at a season in the AHL with Grand Rapids, he could see some NHL time this season but is a work in progress.
Continued; Rochette’s only 5’11” and 172 pounds, so he got pushed around during the prospect tournament and in exhibition games, but he’s definitely got superb passing skills, and he’s a maneuverable skater. I would definitely deem him a “work in progress” despite his status as 24 years of age.
