MLive’s Ansar Khan suggests that the Detroit Red Wings should be ranked 6th in the Atlantic Division going into the upcoming season, behind both the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, and ahead of only the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins:

6. Detroit

GM Steve Yzerman had ample cap space and still does ($12 million), but the free-agent market was thin, and he wasn’t able to swing a significant trade. The Red Wings return with mostly the same roster, adding depth forwards James van Riemsdyk and Mason Appleton and third-pair defensemen Travis Hamonic and Jacob Bernard-Docker. They fell five points short of the final playoff spot and hope an upgrade in goal to John Gibson and a full season under coach Todd McLellan, along with internal growth, can be the difference in ending the 100-year-old franchise’s longest playoff drought.

Continued (paywall); the Red Wings’ performance this upcoming season will have to surprise a lot of people, including the team’s own beat writers.

Of Red Wings prospect-related note today:

In the MHL, Nikita Tyurin finished at +1 with 2 blocked shots in MHK Spartak’s 2-0 win over MHK Dynamo.

Update: Per Red Wings Prospects on Twitter:

Nikita Tyurin(5th round’25)
+1 1/3 SOG 1 Pass interception 1 Takeaway 1 Hit 2 Shot blocks 25:45TOI!!!
•Excellent shutdown performance
•Great first pass
•Doesn’t necessarily throw big hits but gets body positioning and rubs the opponent out on the boards. #LGRW
(Skill play) pic.twitter.com/3t2KwSw0Iq

— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) September 8, 2025

The Hockey News’s Jake Tye posted a profile of Red Wings prospect and University of North Dakota left wing Dylan James, and while I wouldn’t call the 6,’ 190-pound senior a “blue-chip prospect” going into his senior year at UND, the 40th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft is something of a “wild card” prospect.

As Tye suggests, James faces an incredibly important senior season as he vies for a contract offer from the Red Wings:

In his freshman season, James scored eight goals and dished eight assists for 16 points through 36 games. His sophomore season saw little improvement as he played four more games at 40 but only recorded three more points at 19 on the year. This past season as a Junior, he continued his subtle climb in production up another three points to a fairly decent 22 through 38 games. Entering his Senior year, we can predict based on his regular three-point increase every season that he likely record 25 points, which would be solid but will it be enough to get an entry level deal?

The Red Wings just finished letting go of the rights to an in-state standout this past off-season in former fourth-round pick Red Savage. The Michigan State captain had a stellar junior season with 27 points over 38 games (0.71 point-per-game average) before finishing off his collegiate career with an injury and being limited to 11 points through 20 games. Savage has, for the most part, produced at a higher clip than James on average and Savage still did not receiving an entry level deal. He would go on to sign with the Buffalo Sabres’ AHL affiliate in the Rochester Americans.

Hopefully, this isn’t the same path for James as the Red Wings would like to get the most out of their picks. What would James need to do to show the organization that he’s ready to take the leap to pro hockey? 

Tye continues, noting the comments made by Nate Danielson and Shai Buium regarding the adjustments necessary to thrive at the AHL level, but the one thing he leaves out is important:

The University of North Dakota is the type of school where you have to earn your shifts, beginning as a seldomly-used freshman and a slightly more-involved sophomore. It took James two years to establish himself at the NCAA level, and his junior and senior seasons are really going to tell the tale as to whether he’s worth an NHL or AHL deal.

There’s much at stake for James this season, obviously, but the Red Wings believe that his game and conditioning are top-notch. We’ll see where he goes.

DobberHockey’s Eli Fieldman offers a list of 10 fantasy hockey-relevant “iron men” for poolies to pay attention to this upcoming season, and in doing so, he reveals that one Red Wings player has played in more consecutive games than Moritz Seider:

3.   Moritz Seider (328 Games)

Without missing a single game in his NHL career thus far, Moritz Seider has emerged as Detroit’s defensive anchor and a top-notch fantasy asset. For a workhorse defenseman logging heavy minutes against top competition each night, Seider’s durability is extraordinary. While his elite category coverage (including hits, blocks, power play production) makes him one of the most valuable fantasy defensemen in fantasy hockey, his durability adds yet another layer of appeal.

2.   Alex DeBrincat (374 Games)

At just 5’8″, DeBrincat has faced questions about his ability to handle the rigors of the NHL throughout his career. Cat’s response, however, has been emphatic – to the tune of 374 consecutive games and counting. Along with his reliable goal scoring, DeBrincat offers power play punch in a top-six role. Cat’s combo of production and durability makes him a key part of Detroit’s rebuild and one of the most dependable wingers around.

Continued;

The Hockey News’s Michael Augello examines “pluses and minuses” of three “bubble teams” in the NHL’s Eastern Conference in the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings, and both the good and not-so-good news about the Red Wings involves a single position:

Detroit Red Wings

Positive 

After years of struggling to find a legitimate No. 1 goalie, GM Steve Yzerman may have finally solved the issue with the acquisition of John Gibson from Anaheim. The rest of the summer was spent solidifying their depth, adding veterans Travis Hamonic, Mason Appleton and James van Riemsdyk. 

Negative 

The Wings did not add any offense to a club that had only four players who scored 20 or more goals last season, which means they will have to play much better defensively, even though the depth on their blueline is questionable, and will need their improved tandem of Gibson and Cam Talbot to steal points. 

Continued; the Wings need to both manufacture more offense and improve their defensive play, and at present, it appears that the team’s desire to add a top-six forward and a top-four defenseman will have to wait.

The NHL Network spent this past summer ranking top players by position, and this morning, they begin releasing their list of the top 50 players regardless of position in the NHL. Of numbers 50 to 41, Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin occupies the 41st position:

41. Dylan Larkin, C, Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings captain is the ninth player in team history with four consecutive 30-goal seasons and the first to do it since Henrik Zetterberg from 2005-09. Last season, Larkin played all 82 games for the second time, finishing with 40 assists and 70 points, and had a goal and an assist in four games at the 4 Nations Face-Off to help the United States reach the championship game, a 3-2 overtime loss to Canada. The 29-year-old center has also had at least 13 power-play goals in each of the past three seasons.

I can’t embed it, but there’s a video of Mike Johnson and Corey Schneider discussing Larkin’s pluses posted within the article.

Update: you can watch the video here.

Winged Wheel represnting'!

Dylan Larkin is back on the list, this time at #⃣4⃣1⃣!@DetroitRedWings | #NHLTopPlayers pic.twitter.com/0C4sPDFcaN

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) September 7, 2025

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a “getting to know you” article regarding the 7 free agents who the Red Wings invited to take part in their pair of Prospect Games against the Dallas Stars this upcoming weekend:

Among the seven rookie free agents that the Red Wings have extended an invitation to participate in the club’s prospect games against the Dallas Stars, defenseman Justice Christiansen is the captain of the WHL Prince Albert Raiders. In the summer, Christiansen was also the captain of the Canadian team that won the World U20 ball hockey championship in Slovakia.

Last season, the 5-foot-9, 191-pound Christiansen scored 22 goals for the Raiders.

At the other end of the spectrum, 6-foot-7, 225-pound Swedish defenseman Carl-Otto Magnusson was also extended a camp invitation. The Frolunda rearguard is known more as a stay-at-home defenseman. And since he’s still eligible for the 2026 NHL entry draft, the Red Wings wouldn’t be able to offer Magnusson a contract if he wows them at rookie camp.

Magnusson was selected in the CHL Import Draft by the QMJHL Moncton Wildcats. However, he opted to remain in Sweden.

Still, there will be plenty of Moncton flavor on Detroit’s rookie roster. Two draft picks – goalie Rudy Guimond (2023) and center Grayden Robertson-Palmer – will play for Moncton this season.

Joining them will be free agent right wing Vincent Collard. He scored 25 goals for the QMJHL champions last season. Collard also had a four-goal performance in Game 3 of the QMJHL final against Rimouski.

Continued

The Hockey News’s Andre Leal posted a set of biographical sketches regarding 3 likely-to-play-in-the-AHL prospects which he suggests bear watching in Oliver Bonk, Tanner Molendyk and Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka:

Axel Sandin-Pellikka,  Grand Rapids Griffins

Axel Sandin-Pellikka really made a name for himself in the last two World Junior Championships that he featured in. For the latest 2024-25 world juniors, Sandin-Pellikka captained Team Sweden.

Despite a fourth-place finish, the blueliner equalled Carolina Hurricanes prospect and Chicago Wolves right winger Felix Unger Sorum to lead his team in points with four goals and 10 points in seven games. 

With that, Sandin-Pellikka finished the tournament tied in second for points behind Team USA’s and Washington Capitals prospect defenseman Cole Hutson, who had 11 points.

The offense-minded defenseman has already made a few appearances in the AHL last season. After racking up 12 goals and 29 points in 46 games for Skelleftea in the SHL, the Grand Rapids Griffins brought him in to end the AHL campaign.

The Detroit Red Wings prospect recorded one assist across two regular-season and three post-season contests.

Continued; Sandin Pellikka may have a bit of a slow start if he requires readjustment to the North American style of play, but his skill set translates well to every rink, so we’ll get hints as to whether his apprenticeship will be short or somewhat extended over the course of training camp and the exhibition season.

Red Wings prospect Carter Mazur suffered a dislocated elbow on the second shift of his NHL debut, and he’s been beset by injuries over the past two AHL seasons as well. Mazur spoke with the Hockey News’s Jake Tye recently regarding his “upper-body injury,” his recovery from said issue, and his expectations going forward:

“It’s been my dream ever since I was a little kid to play for the Detroit Red Wings, so just to get the taste of it was kind of a good thing, and it just makes me want to work even harder to get back there,” Mazur said “I’ve had the right people behind me, the right training staff and everything to go through that injury, it was pretty tough when it happened but I’m looking forward to getting back out there and showing them what I can do.”

The 23-year-old winger has his sights set on making the Red Wings roster once again and feels like he is in a favorable spot to rejoin the team once again. 

“I’m not really a stat guy, I don’t really care about stats and I’m more about making a team right now, I’d say I think I’m in a good position to make Detroit, that’s my main goal” Mazur explained “I got a little taste of it last year, even though it ended pretty badly, which kind of sucked, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity to go into camp and just put my best foot forward and just show them what I can do.”

The former Denver Pioneer had a successful college career with 75 points in 81 games and helped lead his school to a NCAA National Championship in 2022. He carried that momentum into the AHL, where he became an impact player over two seasons, posting 28 goals and 30 assists for 58 points in 86 games. What makes these numbers even more impressive is that Mazur doesn’t view himself as a point producer, but rather as a gritty, physical player who brings energy and edge to the ice. One of his favorites in the NHL to watch right now is Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett.

“I was watching [Bennett] in playoffs, and just how he competes, and he’s just a hard player to play against, I feel like that’s kind of how I am I’m not going to be a guy who’s going to go out there and dominate and get you 80 points,” Mazur outlined “I’m a gritty guy, I like to go to the hard areas, I feel like I would fit well on a top line, I could play up and down the lineup, and it’s just something that I’ve really built in my game, I like to penalty kill, I just like to be hard to play against. I think that’s probably the biggest thing that stands out about my game.”

Continued…good stuff here.

Of Red Wings prospect-related note today:

Dmitri Buchelnikov took part in CSKA Moscow’s “derby” against Dynamo Moscow, with CSKA prevailing by a 6-2 score, but Buchelnikov didn’t register a point. He finished even with 1 shot in 14:52 played.

Update: In Champions Hockey League action, Noah Dower Nilsson finished at -2 in 14:55 played as Frolunda HC lost 4-2 to Sparta Prague.