Month: July 2025

The Athletic asked its NHL beat writers to grade their respective teams’ offseason trade and free agency performances, and Max Bultman gives the Red Wings a surprisingly solid grade:

Detroit Red Wings: B-

It’s hard to quibble with anything the Red Wings did, and in adding John Gibson, James van Riemsdyk and Mason Appleton, they probably improved the overall roster. The middling grade, though, is because while those moves should help, they’re also not major needle-movers. In a weak market, that’s not totally unexpected, but for a team trying to snap a nine-year playoff drought, it’s also not particularly exciting. — Max Bultman

Continued; in hindsight, the Red Wings could have done worse in the free agency market, and I’m not certain how much better they could have done in attracting marquee free agents to a rebuilding team.

The Red Wings signed 25-year-old defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker to a 1-year, $875,000 contract on July 1st, and Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted an article in which he discusses Bernard-Docker’s pluses and minuses:

“Just being hard to play against, being annoying and kind of always on guys and trying to be physical when I can,” Bernard-Docker listed as his objective when he’s on the ice.

At the same time, Bernard-Docker admits that when it comes to that element of his game, he needs to find more consistency in his performance.

“That’s another part of my game in the NHL, I feel like maybe hasn’t been as consistent as I want it to be, is just like the physicality aspect,” Bernard-Docker said. “And there’s been some games where I think I’ve shown that I can do that. Other games maybe are where it’s not as apparent.”

Bernard-Docker may also prove of value to the club in another area where the Red Wings came up lacking during the 2024-25 NHL campaign. He’s viewed in NHL circles as being a more than capable penalty killer. Detroit was last in the NHL in that department last season. The Red Wings were successfully killing off just 70.1% of the club’s shorthanded situations.

“I think that’s one area that I was really able to develop and show kind of when I played in the minors and is an area that I think maybe I haven’t shown as much as I’d like to in the NHL yet,” Bernard-Docker said of his work on the PK. “And I think it’s an area that I know is a really strong part of my game. I’m willing to block shots. I think I’m pretty good with my stick.”

Continued

Earlier on Friday, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted an article about Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine’s decision to remain at Michigan State University for at least one more season, and this evening, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan continues the narrative:

Statistics aside, Augustine felt he had a productive season in that he learned to be more under control in net. This coming season, Augustine wants to work on his body.

“That’s huge for career longevity,” said Augustine, who adds developing a consistent approach mentally is also important. “After a negative, how do you respond? Or if you make a big save, and if they have another good chance, you have to be focused again. Whether it goes right for me, it doesn’t matter. It’s the same approach and you have to be ready for the next shot.”

Augustine is also excited about playing another season for [Spartans coach Adam] Nightingale, who Augustine credits with the MSU turnaround. Nightingale has won Big Ten and national coach of the year awards for his work at MSU.

“It’s the culture coach Nightingale has brought in since he got there (in 2022),” Augustine said. “Really, he’s done a phenomenal job of getting good people first and into the building, and that makes it easy to work as a team and go from there.”

Augustine didn’t want to speculate too much about what he’ll do next spring when he’ll be confronted with the same decision about turning pro or returning to MSU. There’s the coming season to prepare for, with the stated goal of winning a national championship. But if everything goes right, next year Augustine will be starting his pro career.

“Ideally,” Augustine said. “(But) I still have to go out there and prove it and make a decision at the end of next season.”

Continued; Augustine’s pretty dang mature for a 20-year-old young man.

New Red Wings goaltender Michal Postava, a 23-year-old Czech, spoke with the Wings’ media corps yesterday, and Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen compiled a list of the Red Wings’ top goaltending prospects as a result.

Allen suggests that Sebastian Cossa and Postava are arguably #1 and #2 on the Wings’ goaltending prospects list, with Trey Augustine lurking close behind among a sextet (or, if you prefer on July 4th, a “six pack”) of Red Wings goaltending prospects:

Unless the Red Wings sign a third goalie for their roster, Cossa is the team’s No. 3 goalie. He will be 22 when the season starts and his goalie partner Michal Postava, signed as a free agent out of the Czech League, will be 23.

“While we think we know what we have in Sebastian again,” Yzerman said. “As I sit here, I think Sebastian needs more time in the American League and we’re counting on him to play well. Michal played extremely well in the Czech League and we will see how he adapts over here for the first time.”

Today, Detroit Hockey Now views Cossa and Postava as Detroit’s top goalie prospects in that order.  Cossa has shown continuing improvement in his first three professional seasons, while Postava has already won a Czech League championship.

How does the Czech League compare to the AHL? It depends upon who you talk to. However, regardless of how you view the Czechia top league, the fact that Postava was impressive when the [Czech Extraliga] championship was at stake is an important reason why the Red Wings signed him.

Continued

Per The Athletic’s Max Bultman:

At [28 years of] age, Fischer could have had plenty of good professional playing years ahead of him, in his role as a trusted checker, penalty-killer and locker room glue guy. But increasingly, he had found himself being pulled in another direction.

“Over the last couple years, I think I just look at my life and what makes me happy, and being around family and kind of my life in Scottsdale — some of my friends here are really close with me, and I have a pretty small group out here, and honestly it’s just more so a decision of moving on into another chapter of my life,” Fischer said on a phone call Thursday night. “I wish there was a big reasoning why, but in the end, I’m very thankful for the career I had, but just personally I think I know it’s time for a new chapter in my life.”

Fischer wasn’t ready to share specifics about that next chapter publicly just yet, beyond that he’s moving on to a business opportunity in the golf world with a close friend in Arizona.

Fitting for an NHL role player, Fischer would have been content to simply fade into the background as he moved on from the sport. But in making this decision —  an uncommon one for a player so young — he also wanted to say “thank you to all my teammates, and trainers and coaches.”

“I’m very thankful for all the people I’ve come across, and I’d tell you right now: I didn’t get here on my own,” Fischer said. “It makes me look back and just appreciate the whole journey, and it makes me very thankful for it all.”

Continued (paywall)

Red Wings prospect goaltender Trey Augustine spoke with the Wings’ media corps on Thursday morning. Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff took note of Augustine’s remarks, filing a subscriber-only article about the reasons why Augustine has delayed his professional debut to play for at least one more season at Michigan State University:

“It was a good year,” Augustine assessed of his sophomore campaign with the Spartans. Despite entering the NCAA Tournament as a #1 seed, Michigan State was upset. “I mean, obviously it ended on a negative note, and there’s still something to prove there,” Augustine said.

He found himself weighing a tough choice when his college season came to an end. The Red Wings wanted to get him into the Detroit organization to begin his professional journey. However, the 2023 second-round draft pick wanted to go back to East Lansing, Michigan, and take care of business.

“It was difficult,” Augustine admitted. “I didn’t feel there was a wrong answer. Just kind of what worked best for me and my career. And I still need to get stronger on and off the ice. And I think staying in college gives me a little bit of a better opportunity to kind of develop my body and get ready for the professional game.”

Continued (paywall), with Red Wings assistant director of player development Dan Cleary weighing in…

The Fourth Period took note of the comments Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman made today regarding his team’s desire to consider and/or pursue roster-bolstering trades this summer:

Speaking with the media on Thursday, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman admitted they didn’t really get much of an opportunity to dip their toe in the free agent waters and that they “knew pretty early we weren’t going to be involved in much.”

“The guys that we were hoping to talk to all signed before free agency with their clubs or got traded before,” Yzerman said. “In the case of Mitch Marner, we didn’t even get an opportunity to talk to these guys. There’s not much you can do about that.”

With more than $12 million in salary cap space, the Red Wings have plenty of flexibility to add to their roster and the plan, it appears, is to do so via trades.

“We’ll certainly explore,” Yzerman stated. “I know there’s a couple of teams looking to move some people for various reasons.”

…

“Without going into detail or elaborating, there are a couple teams looking to do some things that we do have some interest in and are possibilities,” he said. “Something might come up over the summer, for whatever reason, in another organization. What I intend to do, once things settle down here – we’ve got the holiday weekend – would be to circle back next week with everyone to see what their plans are for the off-season, if they have any holes to fill, or players, for whatever reason, they want to move. So, we’ll see if anything comes up here in the next week or so.”

Continued

As The Athletic’s Max Bultman notes, the Red Wings held a much smaller Summer Development Camp than they usually do, with about 30 players instead of 45-ish, and as the team had to cancel its 4-on-4 game due to a number of injured players on Thursday, so it was difficult to offer many notes about the prospects given that they were only taking part in skill-development drills.

Still, Bultman offered several observations regarding the Wings’ top prospects. We’ve heard quite a bit about Jesse Kiiskinen and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, so let’s take a look at another player who has gotten lost in the shuffle:

10. Red Wings’ 2022 second-round pick Dylan James was someone I thought Detroit might have signed by now, after three years in college at North Dakota. James had a career-high 14 goals last season, and the Red Wings really like his skating and penalty killing, thanks to his anticipation.

James told me he did have the chance to leave after his junior year, but he felt like the chance to develop more with more ice time as a senior at North Dakota than turning pro.

He’d like to play on the power play, with the potential for more offense coming there, and “didn’t want to rush out of there and kind of hinder myself at the next level. I want to make sure that I’m ready before I jump to the next level.”

Obviously, by going back, there’s the threat that James could become a free agent next August. But it sounds like the Red Wings were OK with his decision to go back for his senior year, and they are still the only team that can sign him next spring.

If they are able to sign him, he certainly has some projectable traits in his game to translate into a checking role down the line.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took note of Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s comments regarding top prospects Nate Danielson and Axel Sandin Pellikka, which the GM made during today’s press conference:

▶ Yzerman wouldn’t rule out a prospect from Grand Rapids such as Nate Danielson or Axel Sandin-Pellikka making the opening night roster. “I don’t want to rule anybody (out) to have a strong preseason and forcing us to take a longer look. That’s possibly for several players, including Nate. We have 12 players (forwards) signed so our debate is whether to sign another one to have 13 forwards, or do we leave that spot open to see if something comes up this summer.”

▶ On Sandin-Pellikka, the young defenseman gained pro experience being able to participate during the playoffs in Grand Rapids, but making the NHL next fall isn’t going to be easy. “I’ll wait and see. I’m not going to rule out any player coming in and being so good in camp that we’re going to keep him. We’ll see how it goes. I guess I can answer that question at the end of training camp. It’s great Axel came over at the end of his (Swedish) season and play some games in Grand Rapids to get a feel. It was enlightening for him, maybe even eye-opening. But he’ll have to force himself into the lineup.”

Continued

Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman engaged in a frank conversation with the team’s media corps today. Here’s a summary of said media members’ takes on Yzerman’s remarks:

1. MLive’s Ansar Khan took note of Yzerman’s remarks regarding the top free agents going elsewhere, and what the team does next…

“The guys that we were hoping to talk to all signed before free agency with their clubs or got traded in the case of Mitch Marner; we didn’t even get an opportunity to talk to these guys,” Yzerman said. “Going into free agency, we all recognized that it was going to be difficult all around the league. For whatever reason, there weren’t as many what we would all consider high-end free agents available this year. So, it wasn’t really a shock to us that we weren’t able to get anything done with any of the bigger-name guys.”

He said it’s not frustrating, however.

“It’s been my experience over the years that things kind of work themselves out,” Yzerman said. “Opportunities arise. You try to force it, (you give) too many years, too many dollars, or you give up too much in a trade. Trying to be diligent, maybe patient, just wait for the right player, the right opportunity … to add to our lineup and use our assets wisely if we can.”

The Red Wings have $12 million in cap space and Yzerman will continue exploring trade possibilities.

“There are a couple of teams looking to do some things that we have some interest in,” Yzerman said. “What I intend to do is once things settle down, get through the holiday weekend, is to circle back with everyone, see what their plans are for the offseason, if they have any holes to fill, players they want to move. We have plenty of cap space to do a lot of different things. The most important thing is to find players that fit. What we could use right now is a defenseman, a top four, and preferably a right shot. That would be our biggest potential need.”

2. Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff also took note of Yzerman’s comments regarding the trade market…

Continue reading Summarizing the media’s takes on Steve Yzerman’s press conference