Three authors from the Hockey News have written disparate articles which mention and/or critique the Detroit Red Wings this evening, and some of their takes are better than others.
First, THN’s Mike Fink isn’t impressed with the way Detroit attempted to develop goaltender Sebastian Cossa, who was traded this past weekend to Utah in return for the 23rd overall draft pick (which became JP Hurlbert).
As such, Fink wrote a very well-crafted critique about goaltender development in the AHL:
There’s this belief that some GMs have that a great organization can never have enough prospects. The talent pool and the pipeline bringing young players to the NHL can never be too deep. It turns out that’s not the case, and some teams, to put it bluntly, are hoarding prospects.
The Red Wings entered the 2026 trade deadline on the verge of snapping one of the longest playoff droughts in the NHL. They have prospects on top of prospects, plenty in the system to make a blockbuster move, and they didn’t.
On top of that, they have three goaltenders in their system to move. Cossa was the primary starter with the Griffins while Michal Postava was the backup who ultimately took over the starting job during the Calder Cup Playoffs. Throw in Trey Augustine, who spent most of last season in college but joined the Griffins late, and Yzerman had goaltenders to move and chose to move none of them.
It’s part of Yzerman’s difficult relationship with the position, one that’s troubled him since he became the Wings GM. He’s never found a true number one starter despite making all the moves, including a John Gibson trade, to find one. It’s why Yzerman kept three in the system, hoping one of them would work out.
The problem is that he eventually had to make a move with one of them. By the time he did, it was too late, and now, the Red Wings enter the offseason with pieces to sell instead of players to add, especially after top-line center Dylan Larkin demanded a trade. The surprise is that the Red Wings landed a first-round pick in the Cossa trade, which says a lot about the value of a potential NHL starter.
As far as Fink is concerned, the Red Wings should have both given Cossa more of an NHL shot, and that they should have traded him sooner instead of “hoarding” goalies:
Goaltenders take time to develop and are usually on their second contract by the time they force the NHL team’s hand. That’s not the case with skaters. They force teams to make a decision by the time their entry-level contract is up.
For NHL teams, it’s about finding who the true prospects are, the ones who will be difference makers for the future, and who aren’t. At some point, these prospects must be traded or have space on the roster for them. Otherwise, teams are not making the most of their prospect pool.
The Red Wings put themselves in a difficult position with the way they handled Cossa. They developed him into an NHL-caliber player but never benefited from it. Now, they are paying for it. The rest of the teams will take note.
I don’t know whether the Wings “paid for it” given that they’ve added Daniil Tarasov as a younger back-up for John Gibson, and given that they’ve handed the goaltending reins in Grand Rapids to the superb Michal Postava and highly-rated Trey Augustine. Add in the ability to draft a goal-scoring winger in JP Hurlbert, and they made out OK in the larger scheme of things…
But I do fully agree that the Wings should have afforded Cossa more playing time at the NHL level in order to see what he could provide in goal, and I agree (by extension of Fink’s theory) that the Wings have been far too careful with their prospects over the course of the past couple of seasons.
As much as I like the John Leonards and William Lagessons of the world, you’re never going to find out how good Carter Mazur or Amadeus Lombardi (since traded to New Jersey) or William Wallinder or Antti Tuomisto (since signed by Vegas as a free agent) are if you never call them up.
Second, the Hockey News’s Adam Proteau gives the Red Wings some rare praise for their free agency moves/signings before suggesting that the “Yzerplan” is still full of holes:
The Red Wings have been a perennial disappointment for years now, and this off-season for Detroit has been underwhelming so far.
Yes, adding the scoring of former L.A. King Viktor Arvidsson will help the offense.
After that, the Wings brought in players who aren’t difference-makers. That includes former Panthers backup goalie Daniil Tarasov, former Buffalo Sabres defenseman Jacob Bryson and former Vegas Golden Knighs right winger Keegan Kolesar.
Detroit GM Steve Yzerman has about $18.7 million in cap space, but nobody was rushing to sign with the Wings as free agency opened up this week. That’s a terrible comment on the hole-ridden ship Yzerman has built.
It’s not like Dylan Larkin has rescinded his trade request, either. The Red Wings are likely to get worse if they move him before the season begins. They already needed another top-two center before Larkin even made his request, and they haven’t addressed that, either.
Patrick Kane and David Perron are still UFAs, so they could come back. Nevertheless, the Wings had a stunning late-season collapse this past year, and nobody they’ve brought in can push them into the post-season.
Detroit has more or less become radioactive, and Yzerman’s chief challenge is to turn this ship around. It won’t be easy, and the Red Wings need more help this summer than Yzerman has provided.
I would suggest that the Red Wings aren’t “radioactive”–they’re just a “have-not” in today’s NHL, no longer the kind of attractive free agent destination they were in the late 90’s and early 2000’s despite the sleet and rain and gray skies that framed Joe Louis Arena’s cramped quarters.
Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena is one of the best facilities in the NHL for both fans and for player amenities, and the Red Wings treat their players very, very well, but none of that matters (ugly, dark winters and pothole-laden roads included) if the team can’t win, and right now, they’re really struggling to win consistently.
I believe that the Wings have the right coach to turn the ship around, and that the Larkin trade will help address some of those roster holes.
But it’s going to be up to whoever is here in September to truly begin to change the franchise’s trajectory, and that’s on everybody, not just the Wings’ management team.
Finally, the Hockey News’s Owen Cameron misses the mark in assessing Dylan Larkin’s initial trade request destinations, and what those teams (Florida, Vegas and Minnesota) would have to give up to acquire Larkin…
Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights will likely put Alex Pietrangelo’s $8.8-million cap hit on the LTIR. But as it stands, the team is almost $9 million over the salary cap.
If Detroit is willing to take on Adin Hill’s $6.25-million cap hit, along with another roster player, the Golden Knights have two firsts in the 2028 draft, including the one they got from the New York Rangers in the Pavel Dorofeyev trade that happened on draft night.
Yeah, I’m not seeing Detroit adding goaltender Adin Hill to their crowded crease…
The Red Wings would likely need one or two centers who can lead their top two lines in return, though. If William Karlsson and Tomas Hertl are available, they’re at least 32 years old and don’t fit Detroit’s long-term plans well.
Cameron writes very well and tries very hard to explain why Larkin will have to expand his list of teams to which he’d be willing to be traded, but then there’s this conclusion:
While the three teams seem unlikely to acquire Larkin for different reasons, the center will likely have to add more teams to his trade list. If he doesn’t do that, Steve Yzerman and Co. would probably love to have their top center back for at least another season.
No. The bridges have been burned and cannot be rebuilt in Larkin’s situation. It is possible that Larkin may be asked to show up at training camp sans his captain’s “C,” but I would suggest that it’s incredibly improbable that such an outcome occurs.
When the captain of the Detroit Red Wings has his agent tell the former captain of the Detroit Red Wings that he wants a change of scenery, that’s the kind of message that never leads to reconciliation, despite the fact that the Free Press’s Helene St. James believes it could really happen.
Dylan Larkin won’t be a Red Wing by the time he comes to visit Little Caesars Arena as a member of an opposing team sometime during the 2026-2027 season. And that’s that.
