As noted last week, new Red Wings forward Wilmer Skoog spoke with Hockeysverige.se’s Ronnie Ronnqvist on Friday, discussing his decision to sign with Detroit and his expectations for his upcoming tenure with the team.
This morning, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff offers more highlights from Skoog’s Swedish-language interview:
In his third pro season with the Florida Panthers organization in 2025-26, Skoog, 26, finally made his NHL debut. He played three late-season games for the Panthers. In the season finale, an 8-1 drubbing of the Red Wings, Skoog collected two assists. Those were his first NHL points. He thought he’d done enough to earn a new contract with the Panthers. Skoog thought wrong. No qualifying offer was forthcoming from Florida.
“It wasn’t disappointing, but I was a little surprised,” Skoog said. “I then mostly saw opportunities to talk to other teams and see where there was interest.”
He knows that the Red Wings haven’t made the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2016. Skoog embraces the opportunity to be a piece of the puzzle that finally puts it together and gets Detroit back into the NHL postseason.
“These are new challenges, and I hope to be a part of and contribute to hopefully making it to the playoffs,” Skoog said. “It’s a process all the time, even for all the players. I think it’s more about where I see opportunities for myself. A little bit of what they say and what I myself think and believe. I think it feels like a good ‘fit’.”
Duff also noted Skoog’s remarks regarding joining a team with a history of utilizing Swedish players:
“It’s crazy fun,” Skoog said. “Everyone knows there have been a lot of Swedes there, and there still are. I’m looking forward to being a part of it and getting to know the guys in the Detroit organization. I’ve always looked up to “Lidas” [Lidstrom] and all those guys. I’ve personally never had a favorite team in the NHL, but I know some friends have Detroit as their favorite team and walked around with caps and jerseys from there. They’re happy now. I sent a message when everything was done and only got happy faces in response.”
