Month: September 2025

Stupid anxiety returns

My apologies for my absence on Saturday. I suffered a massive anxiety attack.

While I availed myself of all the medication I can take and ask the coping mechanisms I know of, I was unable to knock the anxiety back down to a reasonable level.

I will return as soon as I’m able to feel like a human being again. Right now, I’m in a lot of pain and I need to rest as best as I can.

I really hate when this happens. I just want to do my work.

A bit of preseason praise for Noah Dower Nilsson, Anton Johansson and Michal Svrcek

Before every SHL season, Aftonbladet takes some of the SHL’s star players and analysts, and Aftonbladet asks them to create a salary-capped “dream team” roster.

According to Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff, both an SHL expert and an SHL player mentioned Red Wings prospects in their dream team selections:

According to analysts at Sportsbladet, one of those [difference-makers] is going to be Dower Nilsson.

“I think an injury-free Noah Dower Nilsson will get a new lease of life under (new coach) Robert Ohlsson in Frölunda, where he has impressed in the preseason,” Sportbladet’s Jonathan Konekta wrote.

In 35 games last season with Frölunda, Dower Nilsson, 20, accounted for four goals and six assists. Detroit selected him 73rd overall in the 2023 NHL entry draft.

Noah Dower Nilsson was coming off shoulder surgery a summer ago, so he didn’t get a full season in during the 2024-2025 campaign…

Along with himself, former Red Wings forward Mathias Brome is including Red Wings prospects Anton Johansson and Michal Svrcek on his team.

“Anton Johansson will get to play a lot (in Leksand),” Brome said. “Michal Svrcek is a cheap wing in Brynäs.”

21-year-old Anton Johansson comes highly-heralded by many, including his father, Tjomme, who happens to be Leksands IF’s GM, and Svrcek, a 2025 draft pick, has pluck, and may very well play the majority of his season on Brynas’ A-Team.

The ‘Prospect Games’ will be a learning experience and a bit of runway for the Red Wings’ prospects

There is no Matthew Wuest Trophy at stake and no three-games-in-four-nights schedule now that the Red Wings’ Prospect Tournament has become a two-game exhibition against the Dallas Stars…

But that doesn’t mean that the Red Wings’ prospect team will take 2-game exhibition series (8 PM EDT on Saturday night on DetroitRedWings.com/Victory+ and 7 PM Sunday night on DetroitRedWings.com/Victory+) will take the set any less seriously.

Before heading down to Frisco, Texas, DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills spoke with Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson about the importance of the tournament for the Wings’ prospects and free agent tryouts*…

“We want to see players on a team that competes and works really hard,” Watson told DetroitRedWings.com on Friday afternoon. “We gave them a ton of information, so we’re going to see how much that sticks. Sometimes, you can see how a player understands the information given, so that’s another part of it. We just want them to go out and play. They’re all here for a reason, so go be the best version of yourself and show why you are here. It’s also the first impression for management to see what the guys’ summers looked like. And for us as a staff, it’s a great opportunity to get back to presenting to teams and coaching on the bench. There’s a lot that goes into this weekend versus just seeing it as two games.”

All the action from Comerica Center will be streamed live on DetroitRedWings.com and the Detroit Red Wings App. A full roster and schedule can also be viewed here.

“Everybody is going to be competing this weekend,” forward prospect Alexandre Doucet said. “There’s going to be a lot of eyes on us. It’s a good way to show what we’re capable of.”

Parallel to Doucet’s approach heading into the two-game series, helping the players continue to grow their game is important to Watson.

“There’s going to be some guys playing different positions so we can see how they perform, whether it’s a center playing wing or wing having to play center,” Watson said. “The same goes with the defensemen too – some guys are going to be playing their off hand. It’s giving guys opportunities to play different roles within the lineup that maybe they aren’t going to play this winter and to keep developing them.”

The emphasis for the prospects is always to give them a running start ahead of training camp instead of throwing them to the wolves when the NHL players show up, affording the “kids” the opportunity to play players of their general age range and play games at prospect speed ahead of training camp.

It also helps the players to come together and have to gel in a short-tournament environment, as Watson told Mills:

“All of this is great,” Watson said. “Whether it’s going north to Traverse City or south to Frisco, it’s an opportunity for these guys to be together. Whether it’s at the hotel or on the flight, they’re all going to be together. Hopefully, they’re playing together at some point in time too, whether it’s in Grand Rapids or in Detroit. They can really gel…And for the staff, this is a great opportunity for us to come back together. We can see each other face-to-face, meet face-to-face and really talk about what we want to do and how we want to achieve a successful weekend.”

Continued; the Red Wings’ prospects and coaching staff will watch and learn this weekend, and we’ll do the same.

*Just as an FYI, the prospects who are invited to the tournament as try-outs or Grand Rapids Griffins-contracted players attend training camp as well (for the most part).

Three B’s among the ‘players to watch’ during the Prospect Games: Bear, Brandsegg-Nygard and Buium

With the Red Wings and Dallas Stars’ pair of “Prospect Games” scheduled to start tomorrow (8 PM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com and Victory+), MLive’s Ansar Khan examines the Wings’ roster for the tournament and picks 5 players to watch during the back-to-back games this weekend. Among them:

Carter Bear: A winger who blends scoring ability and competitiveness, Bear is described as having a non-stop motor and is coming off surgery for a torn Achilles. It shortened his season with Everett (WHL) to 56 games (40 goals, 42 assists). He is slated to return to Everett for his final junior season following training camp.

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard: A good-sized winger (6-1, 198) who likes playing physical and has offensive upside. He joined the Grand Rapids Griffins in April after his season ended with Skelleftea AIK of the Swedish Hockey League. His game might be better suited for the playoffs, where he tallied six goals and nine points in 14 games between Skelleftea and Grand Rapids compared to five goals and 11 points in 44 regular season games.

Shai Buium: Big, left-shooting defenseman (6-3, 209) is coming off his first pro season, when he finished second among Griffins defensemen with 25 points (including two goals) in 67 games. Selected 36th overall in 2021, he’s preparing for his second AHL season.

Continued (paywall) with praise for Nate Danielson and Axel Sandin Pellikka; I’m very interested to see whether Bear’s partially torn Achilles tendon has healed;

MBN is going to have to step up his physical game to truly establish himself as a power forward;

Buium has quite the opportunity to jump over other defensemen ahead of him on the Wings’ depth chart this upcoming season.

Prospect round-up: Kiiskinen takes 8 shots, Buchelnikov takes 6 shots in European action

Of Red Wings prospect-related note on a rough Friday for the Wings’ European crop:

In the DEL, Kevin Bicker‘s going to take part in the Prospect Games with the Red Wings, but he’ll head back to Frankfurt soon, and his Frankfurt Lowen dropped a 9-1 decision to the Grizzlys Wolfsburg;

In the Finnish Liiga, Jesse Kiiskinen finished at -1 with 8 shots in 16:06 played as HPK Hameenlinna lost 4-1 to Assat;

And in the KHL, Dmitri Buchelnikov finished even with 6 shots and a hit in 13:23 as CSKA Moscow lost 2-0 to HC Sochi.

Tweet of note: Reminder that the Prospect Games take place this weekend

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Update: It appears that the prospects skated at Little Caesars Arena today:

Yet another Erik Karlsson rumor

Pro Hockey Rumors’ Brennan McClain offers new news on the Erik Karlsson front:

Now that the Pittsburgh Penguins are in rebuild mode, much has been made this offseason about the potential trade candidacy of the trio of Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, and Erik Karlsson. Regarding the latter candidate, while speaking on the Kevin Karius Show, Josh Yohe of The Athletic expects a trade to be completed sooner rather than later, with one team in particular leading the pack.

According to Yohe, the Detroit Red Wings have been the most active team in their pursuit of Karlsson. This isn’t to say that the Red Wings are the only interested party, but they are the team that Yohe has heard the most about. Detroit is in a unique position as a team looking to contend, which could also conceivably afford Karlsson’s total $10MM cap hit.

If the Red Wings considered taking on Karlsson’s full salary, it would limit any potential trade return for the Penguins, but it could be the best option for the rebuilding club. It’s not complicated to ascertain Detroit’s purported interest in Karlsson, as the right side of their defense behind Moritz Seider is undeniably thin.

While Karlsson’s defensive weaknesses have become more evident in his game over the past two years, he would certainly be an improvement for the Red Wings behind Seider. Additionally, bringing him in wouldn’t create any long-term commitments, which General Manager Steve Yzerman has generally worked to avoid during his early years managing Detroit’s front office.

Continued; you guys know that I’m not the biggest fan of adding Karlsson, especially at his full salary (he’s making $11.5 million in AAV this season, but the San Jose Sharks ate $1.5 million of that contract, thus the $10 million cap hit), but if it happens, I will take it.

A Swedish six-pack

Ahead of the start of the SHL season tomorrow, MLive’s Ansar Khan lists the Red Wings’ Swedish prospects, all six of them:

Eddie Genborg, RW, Timra IK (SHL): The 44th overall pick this year is big and strong (6-2, 205), skates well, plays physical and likes to forecheck. He’s hard to play against, the type of player the Red Wings need. After coming up in the Linkoping system, where he appeared in 28 games for the big club last season (two goals, no assists), he’s moved on to Timra.

Michal Svrcek, LW, Brynas IF (SHL): Selected in the fourth round this year (114th overall), he plays bigger than his size (5-11, 190) and is noted for his compete level and skating ability. The Slovakian had his initiation to the men’s league last season, appearing in 17 regular season games (one goal, two assists) and 10 playoff games (two assists).

Charlie Forslund, LW/RW, Mora IK (Allsvenskan): Big winger (6-4, 212) taken 176th overall in 2024 is said to have a wicked release but didn’t really show it last year with just nine goals in 50 games, mostly with the J20 team. Now, at 19, he’ll play in the second division men’s league.

Noah Dower-Nilsson, C/LW, Frolunda (SHL): A skilled playmaker who’s starting his second full season in the men’s league after producing four goals and 10 points in 35 games last season (no points in seven playoff games). He was selected in the third round in 2023 (No. 73).

Anton Johansson, D, Leksands IF (SHL): Good-sized two-way defenseman (6-4, 198) made a favorable impression during a brief stint late last season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, picking up five assists in 11 regular season games and one assist in three playoff games. The 104th overall pick in 2022, he returned to Leksands on a loan for his fourth season in the SHL, where his father, Thomas, is the general manager. He’ll return to the Griffins after the SHL season.

Maximilian Kilpinen, LW, Hudiksvalls HC (HockeyEttan): The Red Wings have until June 1, 2026, to decide whether to sign this fourth-round pick from 2022 (129th overall), and it’s not looking promising, considering he’s been demoted from the second men’s league (Allsvenskan) to the third tier (HockeyEttan) at age 21.

Continued

Tweet of note via RWP: Dylan James named alternate captain at University of North Dakota

Via Red Wings Prospects on Twitter, Wings prospect Dylan James has been named an alternate captain for the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks:

A bit about the Prospect Games and the demise of the Red Wings’ Prospect Tournament

The Prospect Games start tomorrow (Saturday at 8 PM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com and Victory+; Sunday at 7 PM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com and Victory+) between the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses the demise of the Traverse City prospect tournament, which involved teams’ desires to host their own tournaments–and cost:

The Wings and Stars played two games last year and will do so again this weekend, although not in Traverse City. They’ll play at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, the Stars’ practice facility.

The plan is to alternate between Traverse City and Frisco hosting the event.

The Traverse City-based prospects tournament began in 1998. At its peak, the eight teams played four games in five days with many of the daily sessions at Centre ICE Arena sold out or close to it.

More than 700 players who participated in the tourney played at least one NHL game, a testament to its quality. Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Lucas Raymond, Marco Kasper, Jamie Benn, Rick Nash and Jason Robertson are just a few of the players who competed as unproven young players and grew into NHL stars.

But as years passed, many NHL organizations began to have options closer to their own cities with similar tournaments born across the league landscape. The cost of housing some 20-25 prospects and staff in most markets was much cheaper than Traverse City in mid-September.

“Over the last three or four years, we’ve gone from eight (teams) down to two for different reasons,” general manager Steve Yzerman said last year after the two Dallas games in Traverse City. “Teams wanted to do different things. Some didn’t want to play four games. Some wanted to save the expense and not have to travel to Traverse City. They’re able to do different things.”

Continued (paywall); it’s just a big disappointment to those of us who believed in the TC prospect tournament to see it go elsewhere.