This past weekend was not a good one in the TMR household. After a week and-a-half’s worth of 12-to-16 hour shifts behind the laptop, with caregiving added in, I ended up exhausted and sick.
I slept through the vast majority of the weekend, and was so very exhausted that I didn’t even do a decent job of taking care of my aunt, who had a rough weekend herself.
As you might have noticed, TMR went dark as a result, so I would like to get the blog back on track with a roundup of this past weekend’s news.
Let’s do so on a source-by-source basis:
- We’ll defer to Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff as he offers a Nicklas Lidstrom conversation with Gunnar Nordstrom of Expressen. The two Swedish hockey legends discussed Viktor Arvidsson’s pluses after the free agent forward signed with Detroit on July 1st…
“Our coach [Todd McLellan] had Arvidsson in the LA Kings and knows that he has leadership qualities,” Red Wings vice president of hockey operations Nicklas Lidstrom told reporter Gunnar Nordstrom of Swedish website Expressen. “He will bring that.
“Then he is a player who will go hard on goal and be uncomfortable to face because he competes all the time. He will play among our top six forwards.”
And Lidstrom also spoke about a Red Wings depth signing in 26-year-old forward Wilmer Skoog:
Skoog scored 22 goals as an AHL rookie with the Charlotte Checkers in 2023-24. He counted 18 goals for Charlotte last season.
In his final two NCAA seasons with the Boston Terriers, the Swedish forward scored 31 goals and collected 61 points in 72 games.
Lidstrom has familiarity with Skoog’s work. He played in Lidstrom’s hometown as a junior.
“I recognize Wilmer Skoog a little bit from his time in Västerås juniors,” Lidstrom said. “He will start the season in Grand Rapids in the AHL, and if he plays well, he will get a chance with the Red Wings.”
If you recall, I posted a rough translation of a long conversation between Skoog and Hockeysverige.se’s Ronnie Ronnqvist on Thursday.
Also from Detroit Hockey Now, Max Smith discussed another depth signing Detroit made over the weekend in 23-year-old forward Chase Stillman, the son of NHL sniper Cory Stillman:
The Red Wings have signed right wing Chase Stillman to a two way contract worth $850k. The former 29th overall pick in the 2021 draft has been signed to replenish Grand Rapids’ depleted forward corps.
The New Jersey Devils drafted Stillman but the now 21-year-old never appeared in game action for the main roster. The Devils traded him to the Penguins during the 2024-25 season, and he was later part of the trade that brought Arturs Silovs to the Steel city last year. The 6’0 winger played the last three years in the American Hockey League, most recently with the Abbotsford Canucks. His contract with Grand Rapids this year is reportedly worth $90k.
Stillman had 3 goals and 6 assists in 24 games last year for Abbotsford in an injury shortened season. The young forward broke his fibula in two places last October, and while the injury didn’t require surgery, Stillman didn’t play again until February.
Stillman’s most productive season was his first in the AHL, with 24 points in 54 games. Grand Rapids meanwhile, has had to say goodbye to several of its most productive forwards, including Amadeus Lombardi (who is now with the Devils organization) and Eduards Tralmaks, who signed with the Edmonton Oilers.
I’ll give the Red Wings’ amateur scouts and Griffins GM Shawn Horcoff credit here: the Griffins-bound Red Wings signings aren’t older guys who have significant AHL experience this year. Instead, the Wings are picking prospects and/or players who are projects (see: Skoog) but aren’t quite “journeymen” who have no chance of making Detroit’s roster. That’s a sign of progress.
Moving on to the next topic, Detroit Hockey Now’s Max Smith discussed the Philadelphia Flyers’ offer sheet to Leo Carlsson, and Kevin Allen reported that the Red Wings don’t quite have the salary cap space with which to use the “offer sheet” route to poach another team’s restricted free agents, like Columbus’ Adam Fantilli or Dallas’ Jason Robertson (who’s off the table after going the arbitration route)…
The problem is the Red Wings don’t have the cap space to do that. Right now, the Red Wings have, according to puckpedia.com, just over $18 million. They still have Simon Edvinsson to re-sign. The projection (AFP Analytics) for the Edvinsson signing is that it will cost $8.7 million for a long-term deal. But the Red Wings can’t just leave that amount aside because maybe it will cost them $9 million or $9.5 million. It’s a changing financial NHL landscape. It’s impossible to know exactly how much they will need.
More importantly, the Red Wings have to protect themselves from an offer sheet to Edvinsson. That’s why the Anaheim Ducks didn’t make any big moves this summer. They knew this might happen and they made sure they could cover it.
The Red Wings probably need to make sure they have $12 million set aside, just in case, for Edvinsson.
That leaves $6 million plus. Plus, what if Patrick Kane wants to return? They will need $4 million (plus bonuses) for him.
You can say that Dylan Larkin’s $8.7 million will be coming off the books, but when? And aren’t you expecting the Red Wings will get a contract back of a player who helps them now? You could just take three first-round picks for Larkin and perhaps Detroit would get some help in three to six years.
Finally from DHN, Bob Duff has long bashed the Red Wings’ lack of toughness, but we all seem to agree that the Wings’ trade for Vegas Golden Knights checking forward Keegan Kolesar and the Wings’ signing of scrappy forward Viktor Arvidsson help address “Squeezing the Charmin.”
Duff goes a step further, suggesting that the Red Wings are “soft” because their captain is “soft”:
When the time of Larkin’s departure arrives, expect a seismic shift in the way that this club operates.
The only logical choice to follow Larkin as captain is defenseman Moritz Seider. He’s a no-nonsense, let’s get at it and get after it kind of guy.
There’s been speculation about a country club atmosphere within the Detroit dressing room. We don’t know if that’s 100% true, or if Larkin can be blamed for it if it does exist. What we do know is that, as captain of the team, rightly or wrongly, he wears it. It’s Larkin who’s been left to stand in front of everyone and explain the team’s annual failure to make the playoffs.
Players take their lead from the captain. From the outside, the Wings are viewed as soft, easy to play against. That needs to change pronto. Players like Kolesar and fellow newcomer Viktor Arvidsson can get that party started. Both play a hard, unforgiving game. They make opponents pay the price.
“I’ve always felt Detroit is a team that likes to skate it in and pass around, and maybe that’s an element that I can bring that, you know, keeps people on their toes,” Kolesar said.
On top of that, Kolesar is a Stanley Cup winner, and Arvidsson a two-time Cup finalist. That carries gravitas in an NHL locker room.
“I’m going to bring a competitive aspect of the game and try to be a role model for the younger guys, and just bring some leadership,” Arvidsson said.
I wouldn’t suggest that the Red Wings are “soft” per se, but they are a team that’s viewed as easy to play against due to their lack of depth.
2. The Hockey News: First, the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker took note of Red Wings director of player development Dan Cleary’s take on Detroit’s 47th overall pick in 2026, one Victor (brother of Max) Plante:
Last week, both Plante brothers were on the ice at BELFOR Training Center inside of Little Caesars Arena for Development Camp, and were watched closely by former Red Wings Stanley Cup winner Dan Cleary, who now serves as the club’s Director of Player Development.
“I got to see Victor in a crossover game when the program played Notre Dame,” Cleary said of the younger Plante. “Obviously, knowing the Plante family, I was like, ‘Victor has a nice game to him; he looks a lot like Max’. Being drafted the same number, it was whatever you want to call it, but it’s great having both of them.”
Understandably, both brothers are highly competitive.
“Whatever we do, we do team bonding and building events; they go head-to-head,” Cleary continued. “They’re competitive hockey players who love to be at the rink, they love to be around the rink, they want to work on their game and are always looking to improve….that’s what the good ones want to do.”
Victor, who is only 18, has a long road ahead of him before he can think about playing in the NHL. But so far, he’s resembled a sponge – soaking up all feedback that he gets.
“He’s super open to all sorts of criticism and encouragement,” Cleary said. “He comes from a hockey family. It’s very obvious.”
Zam Plante, the brother of Victor and Max who was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2022 NHL Draft, will also be playing with the [Minnesota-Duluth] Bulldogs this coming fall.
Whitaker also noted the comments made by former Red Wings goaltender Sebastian Cossa when the young goaltender was introduced to his new team via trade, the Utah Mammoth:
Cossa, whom the Mammoth have already signed to a two-year, $4 million deal, said that he wasn’t quite sure what to expect coming into the summer as a pending restricted free agent.
Speaking on the Utah Puck Report podcast with Jay Stevens of KSL Sports, Cossa said he focused on staying in the moment while watching Michal Postava start for the Grand Rapids Griffins during the Calder Cup Playoffs earlier this spring, while also hearing whispers of potentially being moved.
“For me, obviously, going into RFA this summer, I’d been hearing it through the grapevine for quite a while,” he said about the possibility of being dealt. “I went into the playoffs with Grand Rapids. Obviously, I wasn’t playing at that point, but I was just trying to stay in the present. We were hoping for a long playoff run there, but I wasn’t worried about it too much. But obviously, as the offseason gets going, you talk about it a little more — where you’ll be next year,” he continued. “Obviously, you see that stuff on social media. Still, I wasn’t too sure what was going to happen this offseason. I knew it was a possibility, but I didn’t know for sure it was happening.”
Known as the Arizona Coyotes before relocating to Utah in 2024, the Mammoth returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2020 and have a bevy of young talent that has helped them earn the reputation of a team on the rise.
“I’ve heard only good things about the organization, and the people reaching out to me already have made me feel comfortable already,” Cossa said of his first impressions of the Mammoth. “It’s been great.”
3. Detroit Free Press: Helene St. James placed a bow on her Summer Development Camp coverage by profiling JP Hurlbert, Rudy Guimond and Carter Bear:
Hurlbert has scored at whatever level he’s played at − and now the next challenge is to do so for the Wolverines, where Hurlbert will matriculate in the fall. He joins a program that’s also produced Dylan Larkin, Quinn Hughes, and Zach Werenski, among many.
“I’m super excited to go to Michigan,” Hurlbert said. “I think Michigan’s a great college. There’s a lot of skill there, tremendous staff. So when I got the opportunity, it was a no-brainer for me. I’m just super excited to go there.”
…
Guimond’s dad (and mom) are also the reason he’s going to Harvard.
“I was always a really good student, and I guess it also came from my parents, too.,” Guimond said. “They were big on school, my dad being a doctor. So it was kind of instilled in me, and … you watch movies, and it’s like, they’re a Harvard man or a Yale man. It’s just really cool to be able to say that you are a Harvard man.”
Guimond (6-4, 187) is coming off a very good season in which he played 50 games (2.27 goals-against average, .922 save percentage) plus 21 games in the playoffs (2.42, .910) with Moncton in the QMJHL.
…
Drafted at No. 13 in 2025, Bear (19 years old, 6 foot, 177 pounds) is coming off a very long season, having helped take the Everett Silvertips of the WHL all the way to the Memorial Cup championship game before losing to the Kitchener Rangers. Bear, an alternate captain, had 36 goals and 41 assists in 53 regular season games and seven goals and 15 assists in 18 playoff games.
“My season with Everett was unbelievable,” Bear said. “We won the WHL but came up short of the Memorial Cup. The amount of memories I gained and the friendships I made, It’s unbelievable. It was just so fun.”
4. Detroit News: Ted Kulfan discussed the Philadelphia Flyers’ $90 million offer sheet for Anaheim Ducks forward Leo Carlsson as it might apply to the Wings’ options for trading Dylan Larkin:
The Ducks have seven days to decide whether to match the Flyers’ offer. If they choose to let the 21-year-old Carlsson leave, then they will receive one Philadelphia first-round pick in each of the next four seasons as compensation.
If Ducks GM Pat Verbeek decides to not match the offer, those future picks from the Flyers could help Verbeek acquire a top two-way proven center like Dylan Larkin, if Larkin waives his no-trade clause.
Larkin’s original trade list included three teams: Florida, Vegas and Minnesota. His average cap hit is $8.7 million for five more years, less than half of Carlsson’s record-breaking salary.
As a result, Larkin’s value as a less-expensive center compared to Carlsson’s $18M salary will likely be highlighted even more now.
Yzerman said there are “no guarantees” Larkin will be traded and will only move him if the Red Wings receive an appropriate return.
Verbeek worked under Yzerman for nearly 12 years, including nine years in Tampa Bay as director of pro scouting, assistant general manager and director of player personnel.
Kulfan continues (paywall), discussing potential compensation in a Larkin-to-Anaheim trade. I don’t see it happening, but it’s a nice thought.
The Athletic: The Athletic issued letter grades to the free agency machinations of the NHL’s 32 teams (thus far)…
Detroit Red Wings: C+
The more accurate grade would be “incomplete.” The most important moves for Detroit this offseason are still unfinished and could take a while. But the Red Wings did add solid players to address their needs, bringing in Viktor Arvidsson to help their five-on-five scoring, signing Daniil Tarasov as a backup goalie and trading for Keegan Kolesar to bring toughness and improved forechecking to the bottom six. This grade doesn’t reflect the quality of those moves, which are more like a B, but rather it reflects how much work remains, especially with the Dylan Larkin trade. — Max Bultman
I happen to like the additions of Arvidsson, who’s a little “old” at 33, and Kolesar, who very well may be a “culture-changer.” Tarasov…
Well, let’s leave the analysis of the Wings’ goaltending to Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin, who offers this take on the “stock” of the league’s goaltending tandems:
Detroit Red Wings (stock unchanged)
John Gibson
Daniil Tarasov (1 x $2M)
(Out: Cam Talbot, Sebastian Cossa)Cossa went from dominating the AHL and looking like Detroit’s version of Jesper Wallstedt to losing the starting job to Michal Postava and becoming expendable as the Wings look to break in Trey Augustine in Grand Rapids next season. What a shame. In terms of NHL output, however, Tarasov can more or less bring what Cam Talbot did backing up John Gibson this past season. And while losing Cossa hurts, the Wings remain very deep in net with the Postava/Augustine duo in the AHL.
Tarasov is older at 27 and just as big as Cossa at 6’5″ and 197 pounds, but he’s played 5 seasons in the AHL and NHL, including a 33-game stint with the Florida Panthers this past season.
In the local news department, the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Danny Webster pondered whether the Vegas Golden Knights can swing a trade for Dylan Larkin…
The Knights aren’t going to gut their roster to add a center when there are other needs they could address. They would need to move a center out in order to bring another one in.
William Karlsson is in the final year of his eight-year contract. Self-explanatory: He’s not going anywhere. Eichel? Enough said. Nic Dowd is valuable in his role with the Knights. He’s not valuable at 36 years old to be a centerpiece for a Larkin trade.
That leaves [Tomas] Hertl, but he only has three teams that he would approve a trade to. It’s unclear who those teams are, but Hertl likes warm weather and a lot of sun. No disrespect to Detroit, but the city doesn’t fit those parameters.
There have been times where teams have been worn down and have given in. Claude Giroux’s trade to the Panthers in 2022 comes to mind. The Tkachuk trade can be argued as another example.
It happens all the time. It could happen again. The Knights could very much find their way to the front of the line again. Right now, it doesn’t seem likely.
“With everything we had going on, I didn’t think (free agency) was something we were going to be really involved in,” McCrimmon said. “Over the course of the offseason, we’re going to stay plugged in with what’s going on in the league.”
In the power rankings department, The Score’s power rankings list the Wings as the 24th-best NHL team…
24. Detroit Red Wings
Detroit’s offseason outlook hangs in the balance of a potential Larkin trade. Viktor Arvidsson and Keegan Kolesar were decent additions, but a resolution with the captain remains the Red Wings’ primary concern.
This morning, Bleacher Report’s Joe Yerdon issued power rankings of his own…
27. Detroit Red Wings
While GM Steve Yzerman and Dylan Larkin have the world’s iciest staring contest, the Red Wings have laid low so far in the offseason. They added Viktor Arvidsson out of Boston and goalie Daniil Tarasov from Florida in free agency. Patrick Kane is still out there, Alex DeBrincat needs an extension and RFA Simon Edvinsson needs a new contract. It might be summer, but it’s so cold in the D.
Meh. I like the Wings’ additions, and the DeBrincat extension situation won’t be settled until after Larkin is traded.
Finally, in the “Summertime Player News” department, Aftonbladet’s Per Magnusson reports that both Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson took to the stage at a Luke Combs concert…
The party culminates when NHL stars Rasmus Dahlin, Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson, as well as his home son Victor Leksell, come in and shot on stage.
And both Marco Kasper and J.J. Peterka were spotted at former NHL’er Dillon Dube’s summertime skills camp, which was hosted by Lausanne HC of the Swiss League.
