Month: July 2025

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted an article today about Red Wings free agent signing Jacob Bernard-Docker, noting that the 25-year-old defenseman hopes to be a difference-maker on the Wings’ blueline:

“They have a really good, young core of guys [in Detroit], a team that I feel like is just on the bubble,” Bernard-Docker said. “A couple of seasons ago they just missed out on making the playoffs. There’s a lot of potential there, and it’s a team on the right trajectory. I’m super excited to go in there and show what I got and hopefully be a contributor.

“In a way it’s a similar group to where I was in Ottawa, with a real good young core, (just like) Buffalo had a real good core. They’re (the Wings) on that edge of breaking out. There’s a lot of real good players on the team. I’m just pretty pumped about the fit there.”

Not being tendered a qualifying offer by Buffalo surprised Bernard-Docker, who played well with the Sabres after a trade that sent him and Oxford native Josh Norris to Buffalo for Dylan Cozens and Dennis Gilbert. Bernard-Docker had a goal and three assists in 15 games with Buffalo, with a plus-3 rating. In 25 games with Ottawa, Bernard-Docker had a goal and three assists with a plus-2 rating.

Bernard-Docker had four goals and 10 assists, with a minus-7 rating, in 72 games with Ottawa the season before.

With the Wings, Bernard-Docker feels there’s an opportunity to find a role that has thus far been difficult to nail down in the NHL.

“For me, it’s just trying to find a spot where I can come in and carve out a role,” Bernard-Docker said. “I guess Buffalo didn’t quite see that, I guess with the D-men they have there or whatever, so I’m hoping to come in and be someone that can be a guy that is relied upon every night and just be real solid, physical and play my game.”

Continued (paywall)

The Red Wings posted a 6-minute video in which former players Danny DeKeyser and Drew Miller discuss their post-hockey lives and their roles with the Red Wings Alumni Association:

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRIFFINS SIGN ALEX KANNOK LEIPERT TO ONE-YEAR CONTRACT

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Thursday signed defenseman Alex Kannok Leipert (kann-ek lee-pert) to a one-year contract.

Kannok Leipert, a native of Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, appeared in 59 games with the Bakersfield Condors in 2024-25 and registered 11 points (4-7—11), 93 penalty minutes and a minus-one rating. Last season, he posted career-high numbers in games played, goals, assists, points, and penalty minutes. Prior to joining the Condors, the 24-year-old spent three seasons with the Abbotsford Canucks from 2021-24, showing a combined 12 points (1-11—12), 140 penalty minutes and a plus-10 rating in 123 regular-season games. Kannok Leipert also added one assist in two postseason games with the Canucks in the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs. The 161st overall pick by the Washington Capitals in 2018 made his professional debut with Abbotsford on Oct. 16, 2021, at Bakersfield and later bagged his first pro point with an assist on Feb. 9, 2022, against Tucson.

Prior to turning pro, Kannok Leipert spent parts of five seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Vancouver Giants from 2016-21, serving as captain for his final two campaigns. With the Giants, the 6-foot 200-pound defenseman recorded 83 points (21-62—83), 240 penalty minutes and a plus-47 rating in 219 regular-season games, adding 12 points (2-10—12), 14 penalty minutes and a plus-11 rating in 28 playoff outings. During the 2019 WHL playoffs, Kannok Leipert ranked fourth among defensemen with 12 points (2-10—12) in 22 games, falling 4-3 to Prince Albert in the Ed Chynoweth Cup Finals. From 2015-17, he skated with the Regina Pat Canadians U18 AAA team in the SMAAAHL and recorded a combined 48 points (13-35—48) in 88 regular-season games. In 2016-17, Kannok Leipert was named the SMAAHL’s top defenseman when he paced the league’s blueliners with 35 points (10-25—35) in 44 regular-season games en route to claiming the SMAAHL title, adding 11 points (1-10—11) in 11 postseason outings.

From the Detroit Red Wings:

MARCO KASPER NAMED RED WINGS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR BY DETROIT SPORTS MEDIA

  … 2022 First-Round Pick Was Tied for Fourth Among NHL Rookies with 19 Goals in 2024-25 …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings forward Marco Kasper has been named the 2024-25 Red Wings Rookie of the Year by the Detroit Sports Media (DSM).

Kasper, 21, skated in 77 games with the Red Wings during the 2024-25 season and ranked among the NHL’s rookie leaders with 19 goals (T4th), 18 assists (8th), 37 points (7th), 34 penalty minutes (T10th), three game-winning goals (T5th), one overtime goal (T3rd) and 145 shots (5th). The 6-foot-1, 197-pound forward recorded the most points by a Red Wings rookie in a single season since Lucas Raymond (23-34-57 in 82 GP) and Moritz Seider (7-43-50 in 82 GP) both reached the 50-point mark in 2021-22. Kasper picked up his first career NHL point with an assist in his season debut on Oct. 19 at Nashville and scored his first career NHL goal on Nov. 15 at Anaheim. He also netted his first career overtime goal on April 11 at Tampa Bay. Kasper (21 years, 3 days) became the fourth-youngest player in Red Wings history at the time of his first career overtime goal, behind Steve Yzerman on Oct. 26, 1983 (18 years, 170 days), Raymond on Nov. 27, 2021 (19 years, 244 days) and Seider on Nov. 6, 2021 (20 years, 214 days).

Originally selected by the Red Wings in the first round (8th overall) of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Kasper logged two points (1-1-2) and seven penalty minutes in two appearances with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins to begin the 2024-25 campaign. The Innsbruck, Austria, native spent the entire 2023-24 season with the Griffins, recording 35 points (14-21-35), a plus-nine rating and 30 penalty minutes in 71 regular-season games, in addition to seven points (4-3-7) and 14 penalty minutes in nine Calder Cup Playoff matchups. Kasper made his NHL debut as an 18-year-old on April 2, 2023 at Toronto, recording one shot and three hits in 14:59 of ice time.

The DSM Red Wings Rookie of the Year Award dates back to the 1948-49 NHL season. Previous recipients of the award include Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin and four Calder Memorial Trophy winners: Seider, Roger Crozier, Glenn Hall and Terry Sawchuk.

Update: MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a few quips from Kasper, taken earlier this season:

Continue reading Press release: Red Wings’ Marco Kasper named rookie of the year by Detroit Sports Media

From the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRIFFINS ANNOUNCE 2025-26 SCHEDULE

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Thursday announced their schedule for the 2025-26 American Hockey League season. It will mark the franchise’s 30th campaign overall, 25th as a member of the AHL, and 24th as the primary affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings.

Under third-year head coach Dan Watson, the Griffins will begin a 72-game schedule when they travel to the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park to face the Texas Stars on Friday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. EDT. Grand Rapids will return to Van Andel Arena for Opening Night presented by Huntington Bank on Friday, Oct. 17 when it welcomes the Manitoba Moose.

This year’s schedule is comprised of 56 contests against Central Division rivals, 12 games against the North Division and four outings against the Atlantic Division. The Griffins will compete against the Charlotte Checkers, who reached the 2025 Calder Cup Finals, for the first time since the 2016-17 season. The Toronto Marlies also return to the schedule after a brief one-year hiatus. Grand Rapids will begin the campaign on the road for the first time since the 2020-21 season. The schedule includes two season-high four-game homestands from Feb. 13-20 and Feb. 25-March 4, and a season-high five-game road trip from March 15-26. The slate also features 16 back-to-backs and two three-in-threes.

Continue reading Press release: Grand Rapids Griffins release 2025-2026 regular season schedule

This is at least an entertaining look at several Red Wings prospects taking part in a “reaction time game” which is used for both fun and education during the course of the team’s Summer Development Camp:

The Athletic’s Max Bultman ponders what the Red Wings’ path to “internal improvement” is, assuming that the roster remains in its current form (i.e. if there are no trades to bolster the top-six forward group or the top-four defensive group).

Bultman spotlights Marco Kasper, Simon Edvinsson, Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond’s developmental curves, but I’m most interested in the following paragraphs:

Yzerman also alluded to a young player coming up from Grand Rapids and helping the Red Wings, and there are two names that really come to mind.

One is Carter Mazur, who was called up last season only to quickly sustain an upper-body injury and be done for the season. Injuries have followed Mazur as a pro, but he’s the kind of gritty forward with offensive touch who could both help build a tougher-to-play against identity and score more goals in the bottom six.

The other, and perhaps the higher-ceiling candidate, is Nate Danielson — the 2023 ninth pick who had very similar numbers to Kasper in their respective AHL rookie seasons. Whether Danielson makes the team out of camp or not, his blend of size, skating, smarts and skill gives him the potential to play in the top six and complement Detroit’s top players.

Red Wings assistant director of player development Dan Cleary praised Danielson’s finish to last season, particularly the Griffins’ final game (a double-overtime playoff loss to Texas), and Detroit will challenge him to pick up where he left off.

There are other names to know for the season. Forward Amadeus Lombardi is one, after a great second season in Grand Rapids. Both Shai Buium and William Wallinder could bring more size on the back end. And of course, recent first-rounders Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and Axel Sandin Pellikka have big potential once they adjust to North American ice.

But Danielson, because of how truly well-rounded he is, has the most potential to move the needle for Detroit in 2025-26 among the prospects, if he can find his top level consistently.

Continued (paywall); the Wings’ desire for internal improvement will definitely involve a rookie or two making the big club’s roster, and, quite possibly, a veteran or two being supplanted by a younger player.

We all know that the Wings’ current-roster young players have to “take a step” forward for the team to improve; for me, the “x-factors” are members of the Red Wings’ youth movement coming up from Grand Rapids.

The Free Press’s Andrew Birkle suggests that the Detroit sports scene is “having a moment,” and a good one at that, so he lists 29 reasons to support his suggestion, including several which mention the Detroit Red Wings:

The Winged Wheel: Timeless. Classic. Instantly recognizable. What more could you want from a logo of a team in your city? And now we’ve got a fresh new variation for the 100th season of the team to remind everyone.

Dylan Larkin is willing to speak up: Whether or not it was the right answer, Larkin has been clear that he and the Red Wings’ locker room felt general manager Steve Yzerman let the team down by not doing anything at the trade deadline. No matter what, at least Wings fans can know that he will speak his mind if he feels he needs to.

Continue reading Good times and good vibes for the Detroit sports scene, including the Red Wings

The Grand Rapids Griffins goaltender’s crease has been a revolving door over the past 3-5 years, with both North American and European goaltenders spending a season or two in GR and then moving on.

This morning, MLive’s Ansar Khan focuses on the Red Wings’ European free agent signings who’ve struggled in the goal (see: Jussi Olkinuora, Patrik Rybar, Matej Machovsky) as compared with the Wings’ newest signing, 23-year-old Michal Postava, who won the Czech Extraliga championship with Brno Kometa:

“I think it’s very realistic he can play in the AHL next year,” Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said. “I haven’t seen him do it, so that’s the only question mark. I think he had an outstanding year. One of our scouts, Petr Jaros in Europe, who lives in the Czech Republic, has watched Kometa all year and really pushed hard for him. He’s watched him climb through every league, and I think the next step for him after a really good year is to go to the American League. Time will tell, but we think he’ll be more than fine there. The only cause for caution is that he hasn’t been over here yet. But based on everything else — I watched a lot of him on video — and he played very well.”

Postava went 23-18-0 with a 2.39 GAA and .920 save percentage during the regular season, his first in Czechia’s top men’s league.

Postava told Khan that he met with Jiri Fischer before deciding to sign with the Red Wings:

Seattle and Utah were among NHL clubs reportedly pursuing Postava, who cited an hour meeting in the Czech Republic with Jiri Fischer, Red Wings associate director of player personnel, for convincing him to choose Detroit.

“Proud to be in this organization,” Postava said last week during Red Wings development camp at Little Caesars Arena. “It’s maybe because there are many Czech players before like Jiri Fischer. And Detroit is a big club, big six. So, I think it’s big opportunity for me.”

Continued (paywall); the Wings hope that Postava splits time with Sebastian Cossa this upcoming season, though it is entirely possible that the Red Wings might still sign a 3rd goaltender to shuttle between Detroit and Grand Rapids as needed.

Red Wings prospect Jesse Kiiskinen will remain in Finland to play one more season with HPK Hameenlinna of the Finnish Liiga this upcoming year. Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff explains the circumstances of Kiiskinen’s situation…

“He had a good season in HPK and we expect him to have another strong season,” Red Wings director of player development Dan Cleary said of Kiiskinen. “Then we’ll see him in North America next year.”

Next year, because Kiiskinen, 19, has one season remaining on his contract with HPK Hameenlinna of the SM-liiga, Finland’s top pro league. Under the terms of his deal, if he’s not playing for the Red Wings in the NHL, he must be returned on loan to finish out his commitment to his Finnish club.

It’s the same reason why Red Wings draftee Anton Johansson will be playing in Sweden in the upcoming season for Leksand IF of the SHL. That’s no assessment of their potential as a Detroit prospect. It’s simply the facts of how European contracts work.

The usual rule for European contracts is that players have to complete their under-20 seasons with their European rights-holders if they don’t make the NHL.

They can attend their NHL teams’ training camps, and play in exhibition games (as Michael Brandsegg-Nygard did last season) but then they have to complete their 18-year-old and 19-year-old seasons with their European teams.

Duff also noted Kiiskinen’s self-described best skill (scoring) and the area which he believes needs improvement (his skating):

Last season, Kiiskinen led HPK in scoring with 14-30-44 totals, despite losing 14 games to injury.

“Just got better,” is his explanation for the strong season.

He also believes that those numbers might be a bit misleading when it comes to exhibiting the strengths of his game.

“I think I’m still like a scorer and like a shoot-first player,” Kiiskinen said. “Maybe the stats don’t show that because I had a lot of assists and more than goals, but I like to still make plays and make a goal. I still love scoring and have loved that all my life.”

Continued