Month: July 2025

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Red Wings announce 2025-26 theme nights & promotional schedule, including Centennial Era celebrations

• Single-game tickets on sale August 8, presale access available at detroitredwings.com
• Centennial Eras focusing on historic seasons, events and players throughout franchise history
• Fan-favorite theme nights return, including Thanksgiving Eve and New Year’s Eve, Star Wars Night, Tigers Night, Heritage Nights and College Nights
• Giveaways include Zamboni gravy boat, vintage bobblehead and Joe Louis Arena coffee mug

DETROIT – Following last week’s reveal of the 2025-26 Detroit Red Wings regular season schedule, the team today announced its slate of promotional and theme nights. Included within that announcement are several Centennial Era Nights, dedicated to celebrating specific periods within the 100 Years of Hockeytown.

On August 8 at 10 a.m., single-game tickets can be purchased on DetroitRedWings.com/Tickets. Fans can sign up for the priority presale list today for the opportunity to purchase tickets before the general public by visiting the 2025-26 Priority Presale page.

Red Wings Centennial appropriately begins with an Original Six matchup against the Montreal Canadiens on October 9 at Little Caesars Arena. The game will be preceded by the fan-favorite Red Carpet Walk, presented by Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Meijer, allowing all fans to join in Opening Night festivities in Chevy Plaza.

Red Wings Centennial

The 2025-26 season has added significance, with Red Wings Centennial celebrating 100 years of Hockeytown dating back to the team’s founding in 1926. As part of Red Wings Centennial, presented by Meijer, the organization will host a series of events and alumni appearances, produce original exclusive content, unveil a commemorative jersey design and lead community initiatives to honor a century of excellence on and off the ice.

Throughout the upcoming season, the team’s rich history will be celebrated through five distinct Eras. This begins with Origins Era (October), Dynasty Era (November), Iconic Moments from Olympia Stadium and Joe Louis Arena (December), Dominance Era (January) and Next Flight Era (March and April). Each Era will have a specific night of celebration at Little Caesars Arena featuring legendary teams, players and moments.

Hockeytown Centennial FanFest is a four-day immersive experience taking place from November 6-9, 2025, at MotorCity Casino Hotel, while 100 Years of Hockeytown: A Night at the Fox Theatre, a unique multimedia celebration bringing Red Wings history to life through music, video and live storytelling, will be held on Saturday, November 8 at Detroit’s iconic Fox Theatre. For more information on these celebrations, fans can click here. Tickets for the Hockeytown Centennial FanFest and 100 Years of Hockeytown: A Night at the Fox Theatre are now available at DetroitRedWings.com/100.

The full 2025-26 season promotional calendar, including theme nights, fan giveaway items and group ticket specials, is listed below.

Red Wings 2025-26 Promotional, Giveaway and Theme Game Calendar

Continue reading Press release: Red Wings unveil centennial season promotional schedule

Per the Detroit Red Wings on Twitter, the Red Wings will hold 7 “theme nights” which spotlight the team’s evolution this upcoming season:

Introducing ERAS NIGHTS! 🎉

Each night will celebrate a historic era of #RedWings hockey & honor the individuals who have shaped the franchise throughout Centennial.

More » https://t.co/ZHrlrDyuBn pic.twitter.com/qz7XyGkGIr

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 25, 2025

The trade rumors regarding Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell have been stirring since the start of the free agent period.

This week, both Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s Dan Kingerski and Bleacher Report’s Adam Gretz offered takes on the respective values of Rust and Rakell as consolation prizes for the teams that were unable to land a top-six forward via free agency.

This evening, we receive another take from the Pittsburgh Penguins’ press, via the Hockey News’s Kelsey Surmacz, and she believes that one of said players is worth a compensation package that includes one high or two late first-round draft picks.

According to Surmacz, the Penguins shouldn’t be interested in an offer from the Detroit Red Wings or any other team unless Penguins GM and President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas can get into the late 1st round at least once, if not twice:

Continue reading A third take on the sky-high compensation prices for Rust and Rakell

Michelle Crechiolo of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ website posted a very lengthy article about Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Will Horcoff, who was selected 24th overall in this past June’s 2025 NHL Draft…

But the story includes a whole lot of learning about Red Wings assistant GM and Grand Rapids Griffins GM Shawn Horcoff. Shawn was a pain in the Wings’ ass with that great Edmonton Oilers team that upset the Red Wings along the way to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006, and he was always a player known for his work ethic:

Shawn himself was a fourth-round pick (99^th overall) of Edmonton back in 1998. After playing four years of college hockey at Michigan State, where he met wife Cindy, Shawn made his Oilers debut in the 2000-01 season.

He ended up playing there for 13 years, with Will arriving about midway through Shawn’s tenure. He was born on Jan. 23, 2007, a couple of months after Shawn scored his first career hat trick – “my only one,” he said with a laugh – which came against the Penguins at Mellon Arena.

Other highlights included Shawn being named to the 2008 NHL All-Star Game, where he won the Fastest Skater competition, and being awarded the captaincy in Edmonton.

“When I was really young, my favorite player had to be my dad, just watching him all the time,” Will said. “I would always go to his games in Edmonton and just seeing the fans and how much each game mattered and how competitive they were, I knew I wanted to play hockey since I was very young.”

By the time Shawn got traded to Dallas in the summer of 2013, Will was a rink rat, through and through.

“I would be lying to say that didn’t fuel me towards the end of my career, trying to play later, because it was so great to be able to bring my son to the rink,” said Shawn, who was Stars teammates with Jason Spezza and Trevor Daley. “Just kind of having him around and soaking it all in, and be able to skate after practice or just kind of mess around in the locker rooms.

“The one thing is in pro hockey, there’s a lot of ups and downs, right? And when your kids are around, your family’s around, they don’t feel that, they don’t see that. There’s no bad days for them. I think there’s a time and a place, obviously… maybe you’re in a little bit of a slump, and it’s like hey, Will, we gotta stay away today [laughs]. But for the most part, it was always really welcomed.”

Continued; the read is not all Red Wings-related, but it certainly tells us about Shawn’s values and hockey philosophies. That’s very relevant to the job he does today working with Steve Yzerman at the NHL level and running the Red Wings’ top developmental affiliate in Grand Rapids.

Daily Faceoff’s Tyler Kuehl offers an update on Erik Karlsson trade rumors via a “plug” for Daily Faceoff’s daily podcast:

On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Matt Larkin explain why the Penguins have the chance to be making some moves before autumn.

Matt Larkin: They have chips that I think a lot of teams could use. It’s been the narrative this offseason – they’re the one team that is truly committed to rebuilding and tanking because, of course, the gods are going to give them Gavin McKenna as they do every 20 years. Pittsburgh gets that superstar.

So, I’m looking at Bryan Rust. I’m looking at Rickard Rakell. There are a few teams that still need a top-six forward. If you can make money work, I think Winnipeg does. I think Toronto does. Buffalo is pretty desperate for some kind of veteran help, and Erik Karlsson, to me, is the really intriguing name. He has two years left…if you retain half that salary…he’s a bargain all of a sudden, and there are teams that could use his veteran savvy, his puck-moving ability on the right side.

I really like him for the Detroit Red Wings. That would be an ideal fit. They’re a team that I think wanted to bid on Aaron Ekblad didn’t even get the chance … I think they really badly need that right-shot defenseman. You could have a mentor for your young Swedes on defense, Simon Edvinsson and Axel Sandin Pellikka as well, would be a nice fit with Erik Karlsson there. He just brings something that they need, a bona fide top-four defenseman. So I’d be kicking the tires hard on him if I’m Detroit, who also has a really deep and loaded Prospect pipeline. There’s a really nice fit for a trade there.

Continued; I still don’t quite see the “fit” in terms of the Red Wings adding some or all of Karlsson’s $11.5 million cap hit deal (for two more seasons) at 35 years of age, but there’s no doubt that he could help the Wings’ blueline.

Here’s the podcast clip, lined up to 7:04 into said podcast:

According to the following press release on CambridgeToday.ca, Red Wings defenseman the Ben Chiarot-led “Scotland’s Yard” street hockey tournament raised $153,000 CDN for pediatric cancer care in the Kitchener-Waterloo region this year:

The annual Scotland’s Yard Road Hockey Classic — an initiative co-chaired by Chiarot and his wife, Jacqueline, to support pediatric cancer care at Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN) — netted $153,000 on July 19, bringing the event’s total to more than $1 million since 2022.

Nearly 100 teams raised money for children’s care at WRHN, the recently merged hospital in Kitchener-Waterloo. Additional funds were raised on site through sales of Scotland’s Yard merchandise, beer and other activities, including a silent auction.

Both the Detroit Red Wings Foundation and NHLPA supported the event with a donation.

“Hitting that $1-million milestone is a huge accomplishment that will directly benefit kids who need it most across this community,” said Chiarot. “I’m fortunate to be able to use my platform as a hockey player for something good like raising money for children’s care. Everyone who came out to the event stepped up and helped make a difference.”

Chiarot and other notable pros, including Kevin Klein, Gregory Campbell, Mike Hoffman, Loren Gable and Laura Fortino, helped coach some of the 96 teams through their games Saturday. The players mingled with kids and their families, signed autographs and posed for selfies — all for a good cause.

Continued

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills checked in with Red Wings forward Marco Kasper, who’s training for the 2025-2026 season back home in Austria:

Serving as one of the young, driving forces for the Detroit Red Wings in the 2024-25 season, Marco Kasper certainly showcased exciting potential throughout his NHL rookie campaign. And as far as 2025-26 goes, Kasper believes there’s a lot more in store — from both an individual and team perspective.

“We felt like we had a good thing going at the end of the season honestly,” Kasper recently told DetroitRedWings.com. “We want to play those meaningful games and make the playoffs. We have to do everything we can as a team to make the next jump. It’s a lot of offseason work individually, then we’ll get back together in September and just work really hard. We need to play like we did during the last few months of the season, figure out how to get even more wins and get in the playoffs.”

Kasper, who’s playing in the “Sunshine Hockey League” back home in Klagenfurt, tells Mills that he’s hoping to improve upon his 37-point rookie season:

“At the beginning of the offseason, you always focus on getting bigger and stronger so that’s a big part of it,” he said. “I’m trying to improve my shot even more so that I’m more dangerous offensively. Otherwise, it’s just trying to get a bit better in all those small details. That’s what’s important at this high of a level.”

At 21, Kasper is a key piece on a skilled Detroit roster that also features young talent like Elmer Soderblom, Jonatan Berggren and Albert Johansson, each of whom re-signed with the Red Wings this offseason.

“It’s great that all those guys got their contracts,” Kasper said. “It’s fun seeing and knowing all those guys are coming back. We all played together in Grand Rapids before and then last year in Detroit, so the whole group is a lot of fun.”

Continued; Kasper’s father, Peter, is not only his agent, but also a long-time pro hockey player, so he comes from superb bloodlines in terms of his professionalism.

Last week, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reported that Red Wings free agent signing and 28-year-old forward Eduards Tralmaks signed a back-up deal with HC Energie Karlovy Vary of the Czech Extraliga.

That complicates things as the Red Wings were planning to send the hulking 6’4,” 209-pound forward to the Grand Rapids Griffins to start.

As Duff notes this morning, Tralmaks’ back-up plan throws a wrench into the Wings’ hopes of adding a depth winger who has both North American experience, and who led the Extraliga in scoring last season:

Even though he’ll be in training camp with the Red Wings, Karlovy Vary officials remain surprisingly confident that they’ll be getting a chance to suit up Tralmaks at some point in the future.

Will that be the near future? They seem to believe that it could be.

“We were in contact with him when it all happened,” Karlovy Vary sports director Jiri Kalous told Czech website iSport. “Eddie also told us that if the moment doesn’t develop as he would like, that is, when he doesn’t play the NHL consistently, he is very interested in returning.”

The Detroit brass is curious to see what Tralmaks can offer them. They like his size (6-foot-4, 209 pounds).

Unlike most European free agents, he’s well-schooled in the North American ways of hockey. He played youth hockey for the Boston Bandits of the EHL. Tralmaks also played for the USHL’s Chicago Steel.

Following four years with the NCAA Maine Black Bears, Tralmaks played in the AHL with the Providence Bruins and in the ECHL with the Maine Mariners. During the 2021-22 AHL season, he’d produced 14-13-27 numbers with Providence.

Continued; Tralmaks is a heavy late-bloomer, but the Wings may very well not see him for more than a couple of weeks if he uses his back-up contract to opt out of AHL duty.

I am a grumpy, sleepless middle-aged man this morning, and I don’t like “power rankings” when I wake up rested, either. As such, you’ll have to excuse me for instinctively wincing and then grumbling as ESPN posted a set of midsummer “power rankings” based upon teams’ offseason performances:

20. Detroit Red Wings

Pre-playoff ranking: 21
Stanley Cup odds: +10000

Little Caesars Arena has yet to host a playoff game. Is this the season that the drought ends? Detroit was knocking on the door this past season, and GM Steve Yzerman filled perhaps the org’s biggest need by trading for veteran goaltender John Gibson this summer.

Continued; I’d describe the Red Wings’ offseason as “in progress” given that the Wings still need to add a top-six forward and/or a top-four defenseman. I’m not certain whether the Wings will actually make those moves via trades this summer…

But it’s important that the Red Wings have addressed their needs in the crease by bringing in Gibson to supplement Cam Talbot, with Sebastian Cossa and Michal Postava scheduled to start with Grand Rapids in the AHL, and Carter Gylander likely to backstop the Toledo Walleye.

The Detroit Red Wings traded 6’4,” 209-pound defenseman Andrew Gibson to the Nashville Predators for Finnish right winger Jesse Kiiskinen and a 2nd round pick that was flipped to San Jose in the Jake Walman trade last summer.

A year ago at this time, some hockey types were scratching their heads, wondering why the Wings moved a bruising, downright mean Soo Greyhounds defenseman in Gibson in exchange for a skinny Finnish forward who had an OK season for the Lahti Pelicans of the Finnish Liiga in 2023-2024.

Thankfully for Detroit, Kiiskinen had a tremendous season for a very mediocre HPK Hameenlinna team last season, posting 14 goals and 30 assists for 44 points in 46 games played in the Finnish men’s league. Internationally, Kiiskinen not only wore an alternate captain’s “A” for the FInnish World Junior team, but he also posted 6 goals and an assist over the course of 7 WJC games.

While posting those numbers, Kiiskinen displayed a nasty edge to his game, a nose for the net, and a whole bunch of resilience as HPK struggled. As such, the Red Wings signed Kiiskinen to a 3-year, entry-level contract on June 3rd, and the plucky 6’1,” 190-pound forward attended the Wings’ Summer Development Camp in early July.

MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Kiiskinen at the Summer Development Camp, noting that the young forward led the Under-20 scoring ranks in the Liiga in 2024-2025:

Continue reading Meet Jesse Kiiskinen