Month: July 2026

Of note from Detroit Hockey Now this morning:

First, Bob Duff reports that former Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde, who spent this past season as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs, is moving to the Montreal Canadiens:

With his arrival in Montreal, Derek Lalonde is 50% of the way through the NHL’s so-called Original Six teams. With the Canadiens, he’ll be replacing Trevor Letowski. Letowski is stepping down from the coaching staff. He was hired by Montreal in 2021.

Lalonde was also an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning under Jon Cooper. He won Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021. The latter win came at the expense of the Canadiens.

Even though Montreal coach Martin St. Louis spent 13 seasons with the Lightning, the two men never crossed paths. St. Louis left Tampa Bay in 2014.

Second, Duff notes that several tournaments are being held internationally which have a “Red Wings flavor“…

Continue reading Three DHN things: regarding (assistant) coach Lalonde, former Wings taking part in tournaments and ‘Lids at the Library’

MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that Dylan Larkin has added one team to his trade-to list:

Dylan Larkin has expanded his list of teams he will waive his no-trade clause to join, but it’s not by much and it’s probably not going to get him any closer to being dealt by Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman.

Larkin recently added the Dallas Stars to his original list that included only Florida, Minnesota and Vegas.

The Red Wings had talks with the Stars and according to a league source asked for young center Wyatt Johnston in return. It doesn’t hurt to ask, but there was no chance of that happening. Johnston is seven years younger than Larkin, coming off a 45-goal, 86-point season, and hasn’t missed a game in four NHL seasons (incidentally, the Stars selected Johnston 23^rd overall in 2021, after trading down from No. 15 with the Red Wings, who took Sebastian Cossa).

The Stars offered Jason Robertson, but there are a couple of hurdles to that potential deal.

Continue reading Khan reports that Dylan Larkin’s added the Dallas Stars to his trade-to list (FLA, VGK, MIN)

Red Wings forward Marco Kasper and Boston Bruins forward J.J. Peterka highlighted a group of European pro hockey players who took part in a summertime skills camp hosted by Lausanne HC of the Swiss League recently. Here’s an Instagram gallery from the event, which was held by skills coach Yanick Dube:

Continue reading Instagram post of note: Marco Kasper, J.J. Peterka take part in skills camp in Lausanne, Switzerland

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins on “X”/Twitter:

Moose crossing… into trouble 😈 pic.twitter.com/JLXLM8ckhE

— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) July 8, 2026

From the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs:

Max Plante Named to 2025-26 CSC At-Large Academic All-America Team

University of Minnesota Duluth men’s hockey player Max Plante earned one last award for his sophomore season Wednesday, named to the 2025-26 Academic All-America® at-large teams selected by the College Sports Communicators.

The academic honor — Plante’s second Academic All-American nod this season after being named a ACHA All-American last month — joins a long list of honors the Hermantown, Minn. native has pocketed this season. The 2026 Hobey Baker Award winner, Plante previously earned district academic team accolades with a 3.58 cumulative GPA in Communications this year. Plante was also the USA Hockey’s College Player of the Year, USCHO’s Player of the Year, was a First Team 2025-26 CCM/AHCA Hockey All-American and the NCHC Player of the Year and the NCHC Forward of the Year.

Plante becomes just the fifth-ever CSC All-American for the Bulldogs, and the first since Tanner Laderoute earned the honor in 2023. Previously winners were Kyle Schmidt in 2011 and Jeff Scissons and Dan Shroyer in 2000.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a profile of Red Wings 2026 draft pick Michal Orsulak, a right-catching goaltender who played for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders this past season. The Red Wings are awash in goaltending prospects like Trey Augustine, Michal Postava, Michal Pradel, Rudy Guimond and Carter Gylander, but they chose to add Orsulak to the mix for good reason:

In any draft, in any sport, a team looks to acquire talent. Regardless of position. When Kris Draper, the Wings’ director of amateur scouting, and his staff saw Orsulak available, the Wings had to pounce. The Wings grabbed Orsulak in the third round, 79th overall.

“The size, the compete, the way he moves, we just felt that with where we were in the draft, we felt it was a real good pick to add,” Draper said. “We feel we have a good athlete, competitive. We’re real excited to add him.”

Orsulak, 18, had an outstanding season for a powerful Prince Albert team in the Western Hockey League (WHL), after having played junior hockey in his native Czech the year before.

Orsulak was 28-4-4, with a 2.22 goals-against average and .907 save percentage with four shutouts, helping Prince Albert get to the WHL finals. Orsulak also was a key factor in Czechia earning a silver medal at the world junior championships, getting the attention of numerous scouts.

“We (Prince Albert) had a good year for sure, and I played better than the year before,” said Orsulak, who is returning to Prince Albert next season. “Confidence real high after world juniors, but (people don’t remember) who finished second.”

Kulfan also takes note of Orsulak’s physical attributes:

Continue reading Getting to know Wings goaltending prospect Michal Orsulak

Red Wings prospect and former Michigan State Spartans goaltender Trey Augustine’s both very good at goaltending and very good at academic pursuits:

Congratulations to our two @CollSportsComm Academic All-Americans, Matt Basgall and Trey Augustine!

Both conclude their careers at MSU as two-time Academic All-Americans, with Basgall earning first team honors and Augustine being named to the second team.

The Big Ten Defensive… pic.twitter.com/Mq23BuVaN0

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) July 8, 2026

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted an article which discusses new Red Wings forward Viktor Arvidsson. Arvidsson, a 33-year-old forward, joined the Wings as a free agent on July 1st, and he spoke with the media two days later:

“I know Todd [McLellan] and I really liked playing under him,” Arvidsson said in his introductory Zoom call with the media last Thursday. “It was an easy decision. I’m happy to be a Red Wing, and it’s going to be fun.”

The 2025-26 campaign was another productive one for the 33-year-old forward, who reached the 20-goal mark for the sixth time in his 12-year NHL career, totaling 54 points (25 goals, 29 assists) in 69 regular-season games before scoring two goals in four Stanley Cup Playoff contests with the Boston Bruins.

Arvidsson valued playing with mostly the same linemates this past season, explaining how he felt that consistency helped him offensively. 

“I think I’ve always been good, scored and created offense at 5-on-5,” he said. “And defensively, I’ve been good. I just feel like going from L.A. to Edmonton, I kind of got stuck in Edmonton a little bit with not playing consistently 5-on-5 and playing with a lot of different people. In Boston, I played with the same players. You create that chemistry with certain players, and I think we meshed together last year really well. It was fun to play. I just think I compete so hard. I get chances. I like to be around the net and find loose pucks. That’s a big part of my game.”

Arvidsson also discussed his desire to help the Red Wings’ leadership as a veteran forward who’s familiar with coach McLellan’s “tough but fair” coaching style:

Continue reading Viktor Arvidsson hopes to assist Detroit’s leadership group as part of Todd McLellan’s Red Wings team

I know someone on Twitter/X whose handle is, “Dylan Larkin is a #1C,” and we ought to start an, “Andrew Copp is a #1C” account given that it’s true for the Detroit Red Wings without Dylan Larkin’s services.

Anyway, the Wings posted a Tweet commemorating Copp’s 32nd birthday this morning:

🥳🎂 pic.twitter.com/iyYI0NEClR

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 8, 2026

To his credit, Copp posted a Red Wings-tenure-high 43 points in 79 games this past season, and he was more consistent than he’s ever been as the team’s de-facto #1B center as Dylan Larkin struggled down the stretch. Here’s hoping that he can exceed his 2025-2026 season performance this upcoming campaign.

DobberHockey’s Alexander MacLean estimates which players fantasy hockey poolies should pick for their “dynasty” fantasy hockey leagues this upcoming season, and MacLean suggests that Red Wings 2026 draft pick JP Hurlbert might make his NHL debut by the end of the 2026-2027 season:

Pick 18 – J.P. Hurlbert (RW) – DET

Another high-upside winger available in this range, Hurlbert thrived in the WHL where he could showcase his offence, and is off to Michigan in the NCAA this coming season who is loading up for another championship run. It’s possible that if he thrives there too, that he could be one and done at the NCAA level and see a few NHL games at the end of the season for a Wings team that likely won’t be playoff bound.

Continued; I’m not certain whether Hurlbert will end up in the NHL by the end of the season, obviously, given Detroit’s preference for “seasoning” their prospects in the AHL before they graduate from the Grand Rapids Griffins to the NHL.

After scoring 42 goals and accumulating 97 points over the course of 68 games with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers this past season, it’s entirely possible that Hurlbert can continue to buck the developmental curve…

But Detroit’s just not the kind of team to give young players late-season “cups of coffee” with the big team just to give them some NHL experience.