The Detroit Red Wings released the roster for their 2025 Summer Development Camp this afternoon, and it’s a smaller roster than usual, consisting of far more drafted and signed prospects than usual.
The Red Wings’ summer development camp roster tends to consist of about 40 prospects, and this year, there are only 16 forwards, 9 defensemen and 6 goaltenders, for a total of 31 players attending the camp, which will be held from Monday to Thursday at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center.
Defensemen Viking Gustavsson Nyberg, Jake Livanavage and goaltender Connor Hasley are the only free agent invites, which is way, way down from the usual 10-15 free agent invitees, though it should be noted that Gustavsson Nyberg, Livanavage and Hasley are all undrafted NCAA players.
Here’s a not-so-brief summary of the 31 attendees:
Forwards:
Brennan Ali: Ali is a 21-year-old center and 2022 draft pick who stands at 6′ and 194 pounds, and he played in his sophomore season with the University of Notre Dame this past season, posting 7 goals and 12 assists over the course of 38 games played.
Ali hasn’t been able to replicate his high school or USHL status as a nearly-point-per-game scorer, but the plucky Illinois native is known for his relentless determination, work ethic, and he’s starting to grow into his body. I hear that he’s a particularly physical center as well.
Heading into his junior season, the Wings will expect the hard-working forward to increase his point production as his role with Notre Dame increases.
Austin Baker: Baker, a native of White Lake Township, Michigan, stands at 6′ and 190 pounds, and plays left wing. The 2024 draft pick posted 10 goals and 21 assists for 31 points in 56 games played for the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede this past season, where he wore an alternate captain’s “A.” He’s heading into his freshman season at Michigan State University.
Baker made a name for himself posting 31 points in 59 games for the US NTDP’s Under-18 team, but the Red Wings chose the stocky center hoping that he’ll slowly develop into a speedy forward who can blaze up and down the wing, possibly offering some offense to the mix.
Baker’s still at the start of his developmental runway as he prepares to play several seasons at Michigan State.
Carter Bear: As the Red Wings’ 13th overall pick in this past weekend’s NHL Draft, it will be interesting to find out how much on-ice activities Bear can participate in due to the fact that the 6,’ 180-pound left wing is admittedly at 80% in terms of healing from a lacerated Achilles tendon.
The Winnipeg native is renowned for his competitive nature and intensity, and he posted 40 goals and 42 assists for 82 points this past season for the WHL’s Everett Silvertips, with whom he’s been playing since he was 16. A late 2006 birthday, Bear will turn 19 in November, and the Red Wings are expecting the highly-regarded top prospect to have another big season in the WHL.
Kevin Bicker: At 20 years of age, the 2023 draft pick really grabbed and took hold of a regular spot with the Frankfurt Lowen of the German league this past season, graduating from a 4th-line, 5-minute-per-game player to a regular.
The problem is that the 6’1,” 176-pound left wing who’s a forechecking and competitive player suffered an injury which limited him to 20 regular-season games and prevented him from playing in the World Juniors with Germany. The Red Wings like Bicker’s pluck and work ethic, but he’s got to get and stay healthy to continue to develop.
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard: The highly-heralded Norwegian was drafted 15h overall in 2024, and the 19-year-old winger stands at 6’1″ and 207 pounds. That’s not overly big for a power forward, but Brandsegg-Nygard, who played for Skelleftea AIK of the SHL this past season, posted a respectable 5 goals and 11 points in 42 games as he adjusted to playing in a man’s league, and he posted 6 points in 11 playoff games. MBN also headed to Grand Rapids, where he posted 3 points in 3 playoff games, and earned rave reviews for his hard shot and physical panache.
MBN also played for Norway at both the World Junior Championship, the men’s World Championship, and the Olympic Qualifying tournament, playing better against the men than he did against the boys.
MBN will be coming over to North America full-time this upcoming season, and the Wings will want him to continue adding strength as he prepares to play a heavy game on the smaller North American rink this fall.
Noah Dower Nilsson: The Red Wings drafted Dower Nilsson last summer as a 19-year-old, and at 20 years of age, the 6,’ 185-pound center has established himself at the SHL level with Frolunda HC. He posted only 10 points in his first 35 SHL games, but Dower Nilsson dominated at the J20 level in 22-23, he’s battled shoulder injuries since then, he’s had surgery to repair his shoulder, and now…
He projects as a puck distributor with good skating skills and a surprising amount of pluck for his size. His brother, Liam, has exited the Red Wings’ organization, but the Wings hope that NDN will be able to mature into a Max Plante-like playmaker one day.
Charlie Forslund: The 19-year-old winger stands at a massive 6’4″ and 212 pounds, and the 2024 6th round draft pick graduated from what is essentially a “minor league” team in Falu IF of the Hockeyettan to Mora IK’s J20 team this past season, posting 23 points in 44 games at the under-20 level.
Forslund is a massive player who’s a massive gamble as he’s big, talented, and somewhat ornery, but he’s really only begun to develop as a professional athlete, so there’s more in store in terms of working on his skills and physical play over the course of the next season with Mora’s men’s team.
Eddie Genborg: The Red Wings drafted the 6’2,” 205-pound left wing with the 44th overall pick in this past weekend’s NHL Draft, and after dominating the Swedish J20 league with 34 points in 28 games, he graduated to Linkopings HC’s SHL team, posting only 2 points in 28 games in Sweden’s men’s professional league.
He’s moving on to play with Henrik Zetterberg’s developmental team, Timra IK, and as a physical, competitive forechecker with a nose for the net, the Red Wings may have visions of a sort of Tomas Holmstrom 2.0 in a player who’s already growing into a man’s body.
Dylan James: James is the classic “slow burn” prospect. The 21-year-old left wing was drafted in 2022, and the 6,’ 190-pound forward is going into his senior season at the University of North Dakota. James wasn’t utilized in a front-line role as a freshman or sophomore, but he gained the trust of his coach this past season, and he posted 14 goals and 22 points in 38 games for the Fighting Hawks.
James is facing something of a high-stakes senior season as the Wings have an abundance of speedy, grinding wingers, and the former 40th overall draft pick will have to blossom into his potential to be signed.
Jesse Kiiskinen: The Red Wings signed the 2023 draft pick to a contract earlier this spring, and the Finnish tornado stands at 6’1″ and 190 pounds. Possessing a hard shot and a physical edge, Kiiskinen posted 44 points in 46 games for the mediocre HPK Hameenlinna of the Finnish Liiga this past season, and he posted a total of 16 points in 17 games while playing for Finland at the junior level.
Red Wings fans were bummed out when the team traded physical defenseman John Gibson to Nashville for Kiiskinen, but Jesse has developed into a dominant and edgy player, and the 19-year-old may or may not make the jump to the AHL this upcoming season. He really came out of the weeds to develop into a high-level prospect this past year.
Maximilian Kilpinen: Kilpinen is a player at a crossroads. The 21-year-old center stands at 6’1″ and 187 pounds, and the 2022 draft pick blossomed as an 18-year-old, posting 21 goals and 48 points in 40 games for MoDo Hockey’s J20 team, but he’s struggled to find his game at higher levels. Playing against men at the Allsvenskan and SHL levels, mostly for Ostersunds IK, Kilpinen just hasn’t found his scoring touch, and he was loaned out to Hudiksvall of the HockeyEttan, the Swedish version of the ECHL, for the end of this past season.
Long story long, the talented Kilpinen hasn’t found his game playing against elite competition, and now he finds himself in a league semi-professional enough that some of Nicklas Lidstrom’s kids play there. He’s got to find a way to work his way back up the developmental ladder if he is to be signed to a contract.
Owen Mehlenbacher: The former Muskegon Lumberjack has spent two unremarkable seasons with the University of Wisconsin, where the 6’2,” 190-pound center has posted only 10 points over the course of 51 games. As such, the 21-year-old, 2022 draft pick is transferring to the University of Massachusetts, where he’ll play alongside Wings prospect Larry Keenan.
Mehlenbacher was a bit of a reach as a 7th round pick, but there’s untapped offensive potential to be found, and hopefully, he’ll find it as a junior at UMass.
Max Plante: The 19-year-old, playmaking center stands at only 5’11” and 176 pounds, but the Minnesota native had a superb season with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he played alongside his brother, Zam. Despite suffering a wrist injury that halved his season, he posted 19 assists and 28 points in 23 games, and he earned praise for his performance at the World Junior Championship, where he posted 3 points in 6 games despite playing with his wrist in a brace.
Plante is seen as an elite passer and playmaker–he posted 46 assists in his final, 51-game season with the U.S. NTDP program–and while he’s on the smaller side, the incoming sophomore is seen as one of the Wings’ brighter prospects due to his passing and playmaking skills.
Grayden Robinson-Palmer: The Red Wings drafted Robinson-Palmer with their 204th overall pick in this past weekend’s draft, and Robinson-Palmer is young for his draft class–he won’t turn 18 until August 29th. The 5’11,” 196-pound center dominated both while playing for the NV River Rats’ AAA team, where he posted a point per game, and at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, where he captained his team while posting 39 points in 30 games.
It’s hard to project players coming out of high school, and I believe that he’s headed to the USHL’s Omaha Lancers ahead of a commitment to play for Dartmouth College, but he’s a smart shooter, passer, and, like so many of the Wings’ newer draft picks, known for his competitiveness.
Brent Solomon: The Red Wings drafted Solomon with the 109th overall pick in this past weekend’s NHL Draft, and, like Robinson-Palmer, Solomon is a high school-playing prospect. Standing at 6′ and 172 pounds, the right-shooting right wing posted 38 goals and 56 points playing for Champlin Park High in Minnesota, and he posted another 28 goals and 38 points over the course of 21 games played for Team Twin Cities Orthopedics in Minnesota AAA hockey this past season.
Not surprisingly, with numbers like that, he’s known for his goal-scoring abilities, heavy shot, and leadership. He’s heading to the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede before embarking upon his college career next fall for the rebuilding University of Wisconsin program.
Michal Svrcek: Standing at 5’11” and a stocky 190 pounds, the Slovakian center actually played for Brynas IF of the SHL this past season, posting 30 points in 30 games at the J20 level, and 3 points in 17 games at the SHL level. He also participated in the Under-18 World Junior A challenge, the Under-18 World Championship, and the World Junior Championship this past season.
Svrcek is known for his puck-handling and tenacity, and he’s very young at all of 18 years old, developing in a very strong organization with Brynas IF, and he’s got skill and pluck to spare.
Defensemen:
Brady Cleveland: 20-year-old defenseman Brady Cleveland has bounced around a bit, playing limited minutes for the University of Wisconsin and then Colorado College during his freshman and sophomore college campaigns, respectively, so he’s headed to the University of Minnesota-Duluth to play alongside Plante. There’s no doubt that the 6’5,” 220-pound defenseman plays an incredibly physical game, and is a very good skater, but he has yet to replicate the 106-penalty-minutes-in-only-55-games statistic that he set with the U.S. NTDP program. Going into his junior NCAA season, Cleveland will look to munch more minutes as he continues to establish himself as an extremely tough defender.
Viking Gustavsson Nyberg**: A massive free agent invite at 6’6″ and 225 pounds, the left-shooting defenseman from Stockholm, Sweden, is 21 years old. After maturing in Leksands IF’s J20 league back home, he made the jump to North America, playing for Northern Michigan University as a freshman, and the University of Connecticut as a sophomore.
Gustavsson Nyberg is not a big point producer, having posted all of 14 points over the course of 72 games played, but he’s stable and steady, and after that…We’re going to need more information to find out about the massive defenseman who’s clearly already grown into a man’s body.
Larry Keenan: I didn’t do a whole lot of prospect news over the course of my own injury-shortened 2024-2025 season, but I tried to keep up, and I heard nothing but good things about this 2023 draft pick. Standing at 6’4″ and 196 pounds, the left-shooting Keenan is 20 years of age, but he just completed his freshman season for the University of Massachusetts, posting 11 points in 40 games for UMass.
Keenan posted nearly point-per-game numbers while playing for the Culver Military Academy in high school, and the Penticton Vees of the BCHL, but he’s not projected to post many points at the NCAA level. Instead, he’s known as a leader and an incredibly steady defenseman who is wise beyond his years. Every time a Google News alert would pop up for Keenan in my Gmail inbox, I’d read praise for Keenan’s ability to defend and Keenan’s ability to step up and lead despite his status as a freshman defender. At this point, he projects to be a steady two-way defenseman who’s bound to wear a letter on his sweater.
Jake Livanavage**: Another free agent invite, the 21-year-old Livanavage stands at only 5’10” and 174 pounds, but the Arizona native who grew up playing hockey in Phoenix headed to the University of North Dakota for his college hockey career, and he’s posted 29 and then 28 points in 40 and 38 games, respectively, as a freshman and then a sophomore, registering 24 assists per season.
Livanavage is known as a strong puck-mover and offensive defender who is obviously an excellent passer, and whether playing at the USHL level (where he played for the powerhouse Chicago Steel) or the NCAA level, Livanavage has been an assist machine. He’ll head into his junior campaign after spending this week in Detroit.
It should be noted here that all of the Red Wings’ NCAA-committed players are only really available to the Red Wings’ development staff over the summer, because they’re in school and preparing for their NCAA seasons when the Red Wings’ fall prospect games and training camp take place.
As such, players like Gustavsson Nyberg, Livanavage, Plante, Keenan, Cleveland, etc. have to soak up as much information as possible over the course of the next week, because this is their time of year to learn from the professionals.
Will Murphy: The Red Wings picked Murphy with the 172nd overall pick in this past weekend’s NHL Draft in Los Angeles, and they appear to have picked Brady Cleveland 2.0 here. Standing at 6’4″ and 209 pounds, despite being only 17 years of age, the Prince Edward Islander has played for the Cape Breton Eagles for the past season-and-a-half, posting 45 penalty minutes in 54 games.
Murphy has enough skill and skating ability to get by, but he’s mostly known for being a physical force, and as a stalwart stay-at-home defenseman. He’s there to intimidate and physically punish opponents, and that’s what he does.
Jack Phelan: At 21 years of age, the 2023 draft pick and 6’3,” 185-pound right-shooting defenseman isn’t a big point-producer, but after playing in two post-draft seasons with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede (he wore the captain’s “C” during his second season in Sioux Falls), Phelan played for the rebuilding University of Wisconsin program this past season, posting 4 assists in 36 games.
Like Keenan, I hear nothing but good things about Phelan’s all-round play and leadership skills, so even as a freshman, he was earning praise for showing up as his struggling team attempted to right itself. That’s good news.
Fisher Scott: The 6’2,” 179-pound Scott is 20 going on 21 this October, and the Red Wings selected him 208th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. The Colorado native had three very solid campaigns for the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints, and then he began his NCAA career this past season, playing for the Colorado College Tigers. He posted 10 points in 34 games played.
In Scott’s case, the Red Wings swung for the fences on a late-blooming all-round defenseman, and going into his sophomore campaign at CC, Detroit’s going to expect Scott to step into a larger role on a playoff-contending team.
Jacob Truscott*: Contracted to play for the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins (or the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye) this upcoming season, the 23-year-old Truscott is a native for Fort Gratiot, Michigan, and he stands at 6’1″ and 185 pounds. he played for the U.S. NTDP in Plymouth before heading to Ann Arbor, where he played five seasons for the University of Michigan. At U of M, he served as the Wolverines’ assistant captain in 2022-23, and he’s been their captain for the past two seasons.
Truscott doesn’t post a whole bunch of points, but you can take several letters out of his last name and get what coaches like about him–the trust factor. He’s not overly big, he doesn’t produce prodigiously, and he’s not a huge penalty-minute-maker, but he busts his ass out there, and sometimes, that’s more than enough.
John Whipple: Yet another US NTDP graduate, the 19-year-old defender was drafted 144th overall in 2024, and he stands at 6’1″ and 194 pounds. Whipple played for the University of Minnesota this past season, and he posted only 3 points over the course of 29 games, but again, I heard good things about his performance and overall play.
He’s not overly big by today’s NHL standards, but he’s known as a steady, physical defenseman, and as he prepares for his sophomore season as a Golden Gopher, the Wings and Golden Gophers alike will want him to demonstrate more snarl.
Goaltenders:
Trey Augustine: The accomplished Augustine stands as the Red Wings’ best goaltending prospect not named Sebastian Cossa. At 20 years of age, the 2023 41st overall pick has matured into a strong collegiate goaltender, leading Michigan State University to 42 wins over the course of 60 games played, and he’s done so while improving his goals-against and save percentages. Augustine also played at the World Junior Championship as a freshman and as a sophomore, and he’s played at the men’s World Championship, too.
Augustine is not big at 6’1″ and 194 pounds, but he’s incredibly technically sound, utilizing his smarts, anticipation and calmness to play a steady, sometimes acrobatic but generally calmer and more poised game, making hard saves look easy.
It was Trey’s choice to remain at MSU instead of turning pro this spring, and that’s okay. He wants to earn an NCAA championship as a collegiate athlete, and he hasn’t been able to do so yet, so there’s some unfinished business for Trey in college yet.
Rudy Guimond: The 20-year-old Guimond set records this past season, and he burst onto the scene as a 20-year-old prospect. Standing at a lanky 6’3″ and 172 pounds, Guimond had an OK career with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, but he really blossomed when he played for the Moncton Wildcats this past season. Guimond won 16 straight regular season games, posting a 1.73 GAA and a .940 save percentage, and in the playoffs, he went 8-and-1, posting a 2.25 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.
Guimond was going to be headed to Yale as a 20-year-old, but as he won’t turn 21 until next May, the Moncton Wildcats asked him to stay on as their starting goaltender–after splitting duties with Mathis Rousseau during the latter portion of the regular season and playoffs–and Guimond said “yes.”
Connor Hasley**: A free agent invite, the right-catching Hasley stands at 6’3″ and 194 pounds, and he’s an older collegian at 24 years of age. Hasley really blossomed this past season with Bentley University, posting 21 wins in 36 games, with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage, but he’s asking for a change in transferring to the surprisingly powerful Arizona State University program for his senior season.
The late-bloomer from the Buffalo suburb of Tonawanda, New York is likely to be looking for an AHL or ECHL contract at this point, so the Red Wings will watch him closely when he returns to college hockey in Arizona this fall.
Landon Miller: The Red Wings drafted the 6’5,” 203-pound goaltender with the 126th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. At his draft date, he had an OK season for the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, then a shaky campaign with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds…
And this year, the 19-year-old was supposed to take the reins as the starter for the Soo Greyhounds, but he had an honestly terrible season for a retooling team, posting 13 wins in 37 games, with a 4.07 goals-against average and an .877 save percentage. He was worse in the playoffs, going 0-and-2 with a 5.61 goals-against average and a .796 save percentage.
He really struggled this past season, but his mechanics are supposed to be good and he’s got strong fundamentals, so the question going forward is whether he can rebound from a particularly rough 2024-2025 campaign. For a goaltender, confidence is key, and Miller was not just bad–he was pulled from games on a regular basis, not really displaying the ability to take control of the pace of play.
So there’s that. Not every player’s development is linear, and sometimes you have to take some steps backward before taking steps forward.
Michal Postava: After employing a revolving door’s worth of goaltenders for the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins over the last couple of seasons, the Red Wings are hoping that Postava and Sebastian Cossa serve as strong competitors and co-starters for the Griffins this upcoming season.
Postava is 23 years of age, and he’s a chonky dude at 6’2″ and 205 pounds. The Red Wings signed the Czech after he’d bounced around for several seasons, eventually landing with HC Kometa Brno of the Czech Extraliga this past season.
In Brno, Postava went 23-18-and-0, posting a 2.39 goals-against average and .921 save percentage, and in the playoffs, he went 10-and-6, with a 1.97 goals-against average and .940 save percentage. As such, the Comets won the Czech Extraliga championship, and it’s evident that he caught the eye of Red Wings director of player recruitment Jiri Fischer.
Because he’s an older goalie at 23, 9 months older than the 22-year-old Cossa, the Red Wings believe that Cosssa and Postava should gel together, and if they don’t, Carter Gylander was great in Toledo, and the 24-year-old Gylander will want to earn a promotion.
All in all, the Wings have a very good situation in terms of their AHL and ECHL goaltending, even with Jan Bednar leaving for Assat Pori of the Finnish Liiga. Adding an ECHL veteran will be the priority this offseason…
And it’s up to Postava, Cossa and Gylander to shine.
Michal Pradel: The Red Wings apparently can’t have too many good young goaltenders. They drafted the Slovakian Pradel with the 75th overall pick in this past weekend’s NHL Draft in Los Angeles, and he stands at 6’5″ and 198 pounds. Pradel is a somewhat raw youngster who is massive and not that fantastic in terms of rebound control, but he’s been very steady for the Slovak national team, where he played at the Under-18’s, the World Junior Championship, and at international tournaments for the Slovak team…All in the middle of attempting to make the jump to North America, where he’s played in 14 games for the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, going 9-and-4.
After maturing in Slovakia, the usual track of a USHL player is to follow up a solid season or two of U.S. Major Junior hockey by playing in college, but he can now play in Canadian Major Juniors as well (see: the OHL, WHL and QMJHL), so there are many options open to Pradel going forward. All he has to do is want to work hard and develop.
*= Grand Rapids Griffins contract
**= Free agent invite
Great job George.