Month: July 2025

Press release: Red Wings selling tickets for ‘Hockeytown Centennial FanFest’ and ‘100 years of Hockeytown: A Night at the Fox Theatre’

From the Detroit Red Wings:

ON SALE NOW: HOCKEYTOWN CENTENNIAL FANFEST AND 100 YEARS OF HOCKEYTOWN: A NIGHT AT THE FOX THEATRE

DETROIT – Tickets are on sale now for two marquee events celebrating the Detroit Red Wings Centennial. Fans can experience the Hockeytown Centennial FanFest, a four-day immersive tribute to 100 years of Red Wings hockey, taking place November 6-9, 2025, at MotorCity Casino Hotel. In addition, 100 Years of Hockeytown: A Night at the Fox Theatre, a one-night-only unique multimedia celebration, will be held on Saturday, November 8 at Detroit’s iconic Fox Theatre, bringing Red Wings history to life through music, video and live storytelling. Additional details including confirmed alumni and ticket package information are available at DetroitRedWings.com/100.

Hockeytown Centennial FanFest

This is an immersive, multi-day event celebrating the legacy of one of hockey’s most iconic franchises. The event will bring together Red Wings alumni and fans from all generations and will feature:

Continue reading Press release: Red Wings selling tickets for ‘Hockeytown Centennial FanFest’ and ‘100 years of Hockeytown: A Night at the Fox Theatre’

Two things: Kane and JVR, together again; Wings-Pens trade rumors

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes that new Red Wings forward James van Riemsdyk has a tie to Patrick Kane as the players went 1st and 2nd (Kane first, JVR second) in the 2007 NHL Draft:

After all these years, they’ve finally put it together. For the first time, the two friends will also play as NHL teammates with the Red Wings. Detroit signed JVR as a UFA earlier this month, two years after doing likewise with Kane. In fact, Kane signed his new one-year deal with Detroit one day prior to van Riemsdyk also agreeing to a one-year pact. He was with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season.

“He’s one of my really good buddies and we’ve obviously been kind of through this whole journey over the years together in a lot of ways,” van Riemsdyk said. “Through some different USA hockey things and some different things over the years with training or bouncing ideas off each other or stuff like that. So it’s really exciting that we get a chance to do all that on the same team.”

It’s the first time they’ve played on the same team since the 2005-05 US NTDP under-18 squad. Both were 16 years old. Kane was the team’s leading scorer that season with 17-17-34 totals. Third in scoring with 18-11-29 numbers was van Riemsdyk.

2. And I hate summertime trade rumors, but MLive’s Ansar Khan notes that several members of the Pittsburgh Penguins have been linked to the Red Wings in the rumor mill. While I don’t understand how Erik Karlsson would fit as a wild and rangy offensive defenseman with a $10 million cap hit, these two players make some sense in terms of “fit”:

Continue reading Two things: Kane and JVR, together again; Wings-Pens trade rumors

Video: Patrick Kane speaks with ESPN Chicago’s ‘Carmen and Jurko’

This was hanging out on my “For You” page on YouTube, but the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker beat me to the punch, so he gets credit.

Patrick Kane spoke with ESPN Chicago’s “Carmen and Jurko” today, and it’s a light-hearted, Chicago-oriented 26-minute conversation ahead of what is supposedly “Patrick Kane Day” in Chicago on August 8th (8/8).

Kane mostly talks about his Stanley Cup-winning goal in 2010, his love for Chicago, where he’s likely to retire, his hopes to continue playing at a high level for 1,500 games (he’s at 1302 games now), his desire to return to playoff hockey, his return to Chicago as a Red Wing, the Hawks’ Stanley Cup celebrations, and there are hints about “Patrick Kane Day” before he Jonathan Toews’ comeback, he discusses Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks’ future, his son’s status as a hockey nut, his golf game, and he apparently wanted to re-sign with Detroit for a year, saying that it’s a great spot to be despite the rivalry with Chicago, and that the fans have embraced him.

When it’s important to make an educated Russian guess

It’s hard to get hockey information out of Russia these days. Red Wings Prospects on Twitter is a beacon of knowledge as it applies to 21-year-old Wings prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov, who’s going to play this upcoming season for CSKA Moscow…

But Americans and Canadians can’t get in and out of Russia easily–or without scandal (see: the Canadiens going to St. Petersburg to woo Ivan Demidov).

So, when the Red Wings made the decision to draft defenseman Nikita Tyurin with the 140th overall pick in this past June’s NHL Draft, the Red Wings’ director of amateur scouting admitted that he leaned very, very heavily on the Wings’ Russian scout in order to determine whether MHK Spartak Moscow defenseman was worth drafting. Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen took note of Kris Draper’s remarks regarding Tyurin (via a subscriber-only article):

“All I’ve seen is on video,” said Kris Draper, Detroit’s assistant GM and director of amateur scouting. ” (But) Nikolai Vacherov, our Russian scout, was (in Detroit). As we were discussing players, his name came up. The one thing that Nikolai kept talking about was what a great playoff that he had.”

Tyurin is a 6-foot, 170-pound puck-moving blue liner with steady, effective defensive work. He had four goals and 20 points, and was plus-20, for Spartak in Russia’s top junior team. In the postseason, he posted five assists and was plus-6 in 19 games to help Spartak win the MHL championship.

“Good skater, good hockey sense, good with the puck, good first pass defenseman,” Draper said.

According to Draper, Vacherov “pounded the table” (so to speak) for the Red Wings to utilize their 5th round pick on Tyurin:

“When you’re in the later rounds and you have one of the area scouts that is excited about a player, that’s what I want to hear,” Draper said. “And Nikolai, when we talked about it, said he’d really like to draft him and bring him into the Detroit Red Wings prospect pool. And in the end, that’s why we ended up making that decision.”

Continued (paywall);

I know that fans are absolutely desperate to see Buchelnikov come over to North America, and, given his offensive ability as contrasted against his 5’10,” 170-pound frame, I’m certain that the Red Wings’ training staff want to get their hands on Buchelnikov to bulk him up, too.

Regrettably, Buchelnikov won’t be a free agent until after he plays this upcoming season for CSKA, and the Wings will monitor Tyurin’s development as closely as they can, contract situation included, in order to try and bring him over to North America when he’s ready to make the jump to AHL hockey.

A Dougie Hamilton rumor for future reference

I always believe in taking trade rumors with salt, especially at this time of year, but RG.com’s Jimmy Murphy suggests that the Red Wings are among the teams kicking the tires on 32-year-old New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton (who Murphy states is not on the trade block as of yet), and…Well, the rumor makes some sense:

With his full no-movement clause becoming a ten-team modified no-trade clause on July 1, New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton has become the topic du jour in NHL trade rumors.

“Teams are calling on [Hamilton] now,” an NHL executive source told RG media recently. “I heard the Leafs looked into him. They’re looking into multiple options for their blue line, and a lot of them have offensive flair. That’s their strength, so there’s a common thread with their trade targets right now, and Hamilton fits the bill.”

As for other potential Hamilton trade suitors, the source had this to say:

“The Stars, Red Wings, and Mammoth have also been pushing hard to acquire a right-shot defenseman that can bolster their offense and improve their power play, so they make a ton of sense.”

However, while teams may be inquiring about Hamilton on the NHL trade market, another NHL executive source cautioned not to expect the 32-year-old, 6-foot-6, 229-pound, slick-moving defenseman to be traded anytime soon.

“First is how many of those teams are willing to and can take on his $9 million cap hit? The second thing is that the Devils aren’t out there shopping him right now, and by no means are they in a hurry to trade him. Don’t forget, Jonathan Kovacevic is coming off of knee surgery, and as far as I know, he’s probably not coming back until late November/early December. 

Hamilton’s still big and mobile, but he has a $9 million salary cap hit, though the Devils had to pay him a whopping $10.55 million signing bonus on July 1st of this year. Per PuckPedia, Hamilton’s due $1 million in salary and a $7.4 million signing bonus in 2026-2027, and $5.25 million in salary in 2027-2028.

Long story long, this isn’t a trade suggestion bubbling to a boil on the hot stove or something, but given the fact that the Devils would have to eat some of Hamilton’s salary cap hit to move him, it’s something to keep under our hats for future reference.

Perhaps the Devils might feel a greater need to add to their $6.9 million in cap space after the team re-signs defenseman Luke Hughes, who’s due a big raise from his $925,000 entry-level contract this summer.

Like I said, far from a bubbling, boiling rumor, but something to keep in mind for later this summer, if not into the 2025-2026 regular season.

Press release: NHL, NHLPA ratify 4-year CBA starting in 2026-2027

Per the NHL and NHLPA:

NHL, NHLPA Ratify Four-Year Collective Bargaining Agreement

NEW YORK/TORONTO (July 8, 2025) – The National Hockey League Players’ Association’s full membership and the National Hockey League’s Board of Governors have ratified a four-year Collective Bargaining Agreement, more than a year before the expiration of the current contract. The new agreement runs through the 2029-30 season.

“The partnership between the Players’ Association and the League is stronger than it ever has been and working together under this agreement presents a fantastic opportunity to continue to grow the game,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “We are grateful to the Board of Governors for its support of this agreement that strengthens our game and ensures we are collectively delivering a great fan experience in the years to come.”

“This CBA shows what can be accomplished when the NHL and the Union work together – an agreement that will allow for the continued worldwide growth of the game. That is a win for everyone,” said Marty Walsh, NHLPA Executive Director. “We could not have achieved this outcome without the involvement and support of our players. Special thanks to our Executive Board and Negotiating Committee.”

The Memorandum of Understanding will be made available on NHL.com and NHLPA.com at a later date.

Roughly translated: Goaltender Michal Pradel is at the beginning of his professional hockey journey

Red Wings prospect Michal Pradel spoke with SVRT.sk regarding being drafted by Detroit 75th overall during this past June’s NHL Draft in Los Angeles. Here’s a very rough translation of the article:

Young goaltender realizes he’s got strong competition in Detroit: It motivates me to work even harder

He was the highest-drafted Slovak in this year’s NHL Draft.

The highest-drafted Slovak hockey player in the recent NHL Draft, goaltender Michal Pradel is already back in Slovakia after taking part in Detroit’s development camp. At the draft in Los Angeles, he was chosen 75th overall by a famous team from the Original Six, the Detroit Red Wings’ overseas team.

“It really was an unbelievable feeling. Seeing it live and being there during the first round, even with others being drafted, was an incredible experience. There weren’t all the players there, now it was a little different, but it was a great experience anyway,” the 18-year-old shared.

It won’t be easy

Although the Detroit Red Wings have had their biggest success during the time when Michal wasn’t yet born, he claims that the team was among his favorites from a young age. “It’s a team with an incredible history, even though I haven’t seen that before, and it’s only about now. When I was a kid, I also had a hat with a Detroit logo,” he says.

Our young representative won’t have it easy in the Motor City. With the Red Wings, the team’s top goaltending talents are Trey Augustine and Sebastian Cossa. “They have incredible prospects, which is just more motivation for me to work harder to catch up and overtake them,” he said.

He knows very well what he needs to work on to break through to the elite in his career: “They told me I have to get stronger.”

“For Michael, the goaltender, he’s pretty strong. I’d rather say that he has to work on his mobility and explosiveness. Of course, in time with training sessions I may see other flaws,” said conditioning coach Simon Klimcik.

The goaltender’s journey to the NHL is always long and not easy. He plans to stay in America. “Now it’s being dealt with in this way because I’ve been drafted by Regina in the CHL. I’ll call them this week to see whether I’m staying in Tri-City of the USHL, or going to the CHL,” he outlined his plans.

In addition, he’s finishing high school, and, after graduation, he wants to go to an American university, which should be one of the key steps to fulfilling his big dream to play in the NHL.

Tweets of note: Copp’s birthday and a schedule-guessing contest

Of Red Wings Twitter-related note:

First, Red Wings forward Andrew Copp turns 31 today…

And, as the NHL release its 2025-2026 season schedule around the middle of this month, the Red Wings are holding a contest in which they ask fans to guess the opponents in the Red Wings’ “biggest games of the 2025-2026 schedule”: