Of Red Wings-related note this evening:
- Sportsnet’s Justin Bourne offers “two sentences” regarding every notable free agent signing, and, as the Red Wings made two notable free agent signings in Viktor Arvidsson and Daniil Tarasov (Keegan Kolesar was brought in via trade)…
Bourne offers this regarding the 33-year-old Arvidsson, who posted 25 goals and 54 points in 69 games last season…
Arvidsson is one of those guys who, when he’s healthy, is easy to love. Small but lays it all on the line, goes to the net, but his availability will be a question mark.
And this regarding Tarasov, a 27-year-old who stands at a massive 6’5″ and 196 pounds:
Big, young, and actually had better numbers than Bobrovsky in Florida last year. The goalie market is a crapshoot, though, so who knows.
2. This is just plain old neat. Hetrik.sk, a Slovakian sports website, reports that the goaltending coach for the legendary Slovak team Dukla Trencin took part in the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp (and what follows is roughly translated):
Slovak hockey had an extremely strong presence at the Detroit Red Wings development camp. It’s a huge tribute to goaltending coach Peter Kosa, who works for home team Dukla Trencin, to receive a direct invitation from the famous NHL club.
However, at the top training center BELFOR, directly inside the Little Caesars Arena complex, however, he was not the only representative from under the Tatras [mountains].
The four-day camp (June 29 to July 2, 2026), which is intended for the biggest prospects of the organization, also included Slovak players, the talented goalkeeper Michal Pradel and forward Michal Svrček.
From our point of view, Kosu’s participation attracted the most attention. He traveled to Detroit not only for an excursion, but also became a full-fledged part of the coaching staff of the “Red Wings.” He shared his immediate impressions of the fantastic overseas experience on the social network X:
I would like to thank @DetroitRedWings organization for invitation for development camp and to be part of coaching staff. So happy and thankful for that opportunity. I have to give lot of credit to management, coaches and other staff how they treated me, i felt like at home 🐙
— Kosa Peter (@KosaPeter) July 2, 2026
3. Third, Woodward Sports’ Red Wings page on YouTube posted a clip of Vegas Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon, who spent part of his post-free agency presser discussing the Golden Knights’ decision to trade forward Keegan Kolesar to Detroit. McCrimmon sounds like he’s going to miss Kolesar’s presence:
4. Finally, the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker took note of Kolesar’s remarks during today’s introductory press conference, regarding both his exit from Vegas…
“Crim (GM Kelly McCrimmon) gave me a text and just said, ‘Hey Keegan, I have bad news, give me a call,'” Kolesar said of finding out he was being dealt. “You see that text and you know right away, I’m getting out of here. It’s a whirlwind – you play your entire career in one spot, it’s very rare,” he continued. “It’ll take some time to get over it because I’ve made so many great relationships in that city. It’ll take some time to turn the page but that’s just the human side of it. But there’s a lot of excitement too.”
While being traded often overlooks the human element, Kolesar knows that at the end of the day, playing in the NHL is a business.
“I don’t know if I was expecting it, but it’s always in the back of your mind because it’s hockey, it’s how the game works, and people can be in and out,” Kolesar said. “I didn’t expect it, but you’re always prepared for it. It’s the business of it.”
And Kolesar’s excitement about joining the Red Wings:
Kolesar is not only excited to join a group of players that he views as up and coming, but to add an element of physicality that had been missing.
“Really excited to join a group that I’ve played against for years now. They have a tremendous amount of skill and talent in their lineup,” he said on Thursday during an introductory Zoom call. “Just talking to guys now, they felt as though there was a missing piece and maybe identity of having that – not the fighting aspect, but more the toughness and being hard to play against, being a veteran presence on the front end, bringing guys into the fight.”
“That’s something I can provide,” he continued. “I think with the skill that they have, that part of the game is fine for them. I think they’re going in a great direction with a lot of young studs that I felt have been good for a number of years and are tough to play against. I just want to bring whatever I can to (be) more of an identity for the team.”
If you missed it, Kolesar spoke with the media for almost 19 minutes today:
