Month: July 2026

It’s a World Junior Summer Showcase kind of Tweetcap: Brent Solomon scored for USA White in a 4-1 loss to Finland

It’s difficult to cover the World Junior Summer Showcase at the best of times. Team USA’s website would at least post scores and scoresheets when the event was held in Plymouth; it’s being held in Windsor, Ontario this year, and the Hockey Canada website is kind of…selective…In terms of what’s being shared with the non-media public.

What I’ve got for you today is a couple of Tweets regarding the lineups for today’s WJSS game between Team USA White and Team Finland, which won 4-1 over the Americans (per a Hockey Canada box score shared by the U.S. website).

Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis posted the teams’ lineups…You’ll note that Victor Plante and JP Hulrbert flanked Sammy Nelson on the top line, and Brent Solomon played on the 3rd line…

Continue reading It’s a World Junior Summer Showcase kind of Tweetcap: Brent Solomon scored for USA White in a 4-1 loss to Finland

Allen discusses the Red Wings’ potential to play more physically this upcoming season

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen attempts to discern how the Red Wings could add a more physical edge to their team game this upcoming season:

The [Keegan] Kolesar addition was big because [outgoing GM Steve] Yzerman understood what he had coming this season. Last year, Marco Kasper (186) and Ben Chiarot (171) were the only two Red Wings with 150 more hits.

With Kolesar’s arrival and the anticipated increase in Emmitt Finnie’s 131 hits, plus the possibility that Carter Mazur and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard will play regularly, the Red Wings could have six players with 150 or more hits. MBN and Mazur have both shown in the AHL they like to hit.

It could easily be seven if Moritz Seider chooses to dial up his physical play it could easily be seven players with 150 more hits. He had 121 hits last season as he concentrated on being a more complete defender.

The Red Wings may not be done adding hitters. Reportedly, the Red Wings are still interested in unrestricted free agent Eeli Tolvanen who has averaged 200 or more hits for Seattle over the past

If the Red Wings decide to embrace a physical theme, we all know Seider will be one of the leaders.

How much could all of this help the Red Wings who finished 29th in the NHL with 17.83 hits per 60 minutes last season?

The New York Rangers (25.47 hits per game), Florida Panthers (24.42), Ottawa Senators (23.59) and Philadelphia Flyers (22.46) were the NHL’s most frequent hitting teams last season. In that group, only the Ottawa Senators had as many as four players with 150 hits. And one of those players was Brady Tkachuk who is now with the Florida Panthers.

Continued; any amount of increased physicality that makes Detroit “tougher to play against” would be welcomed.

Tweet of note: Marco Kasper’s team wins the ‘Sunshine Hockey League’ title

From Red Wings Prospects on Twitter: Every summer, Marco Kasper takes part in a summertime hockey league based in Austria called the “Sunshine Hockey League,” and it appears that the Karnten native had yet another good showing in the non-checking league:

Kasper played on the “Lendhafen Seelöwen,” who unseated the “Slovenian Rams” as champions.

JP Hurlbert acquits himself well in World Junior Summer Scrimmage

Ahead of the start of the World Junior Summer Showcase tomorrow in Windsor, Ontario, Team USA’s WJSS team held a scrimmage at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center last night.

The Detroit News’s Connor Eargood took note of the following from said scrimmage, which included Red Wings prospects and U.S. World Junior Championship hopefuls JP Hurlbert, Victor Plante and Brent Solomon:

In the moments after his shootout goal put Team White up in the count, J.P. Hurlbert wore a pensive expression as he watched the rest of the sequence play out. His eyes followed each skater as they tried to decide a winner in Friday’s bout. When the shootout finally ended in a goal for teammate Mikey Berchild, Hurlbert beelined for his goaltender Xavier Wendt with a big grin and a hug.

Overall, Michigan-bound Hurlbert showed why he is one of Team USA’s most skilled forwards in Friday’s action. He also showed that there are steps he needs to take before he is a dominant game-breaker.

Hurlbert’s game is laden with skill, which made him good enough that Detroit traded into the first round and took him 23rd overall in June’s NHL Draft. He flaunted that raw ability with a first-period goal, picking the pocket of Team Blue defenseman Odin Vauhkonen and taking the puck straight to the net on a breakaway. With a deft move to slip the puck five-hole, he scored the 2-1 goal for his side. His pass to Berchild on the power play also led to the 4-1 goal.

However, Hurlbert was also on the receiving end of a breakaway going the other way when Harvard’s Richard Gallant blocked his shot on a closeout and finished it for the 4-2 goal. Hurlbert also served a high-sticking penalty (though it may not have actually been his own) in the closing minutes of an abridged third period. That was when Michigan State-bound defenseman Tommy Bleyl scored the tying goal with 37.1 seconds to play. Hurlbert can coast at times, and that showed up Friday when his team led.More: Red Wings top draft picks starting to jell in Team USA camp at LCA

All the skill in Hurlbert’s game makes him a major scoring threat for Team USA, but he could be more effective in the defensive zone, where his skill could be a major asset in the transition game that Nightingale’s teams rely on. For a July scrimmage, though, he showed lots to like.

Continued (paywall)

A full week at the hospital sucks.

I’m glad that the blogging business has been relatively quiet, because Aunt Annie and I just found out that, having been here since Tuesday for a UTI and a couple of fall-related skin tears, we’re going to be here for at least two more days due to AA having a very low hemoglobin count.

She’s having a blood transfusion today and may need some gastrointestinal testing, and if we have to deal with any further complications…

We will go home and get some home help care nursing, not head to a rehab facility, because AA does terribly away from her natural environment, but in the interim, we’re looking at a 6 to 8 day hospital stay, with me remaining by AA’s side at all times to serve as a caregiver and advocate.

I’m gonna remind you that we’re still raising funds to pay property taxes, and we need your help there…

Continue reading A full week at the hospital sucks.

Tweet of note: Patrick Kane thanks Detroit and looks forward to his Chicago return

Patrick Kane thanked the Detroit Red Wings organization today on Twitter, using a double-picture post to both look back and look forward to his reunion with the Chicago Blackhawks:

Some questions and answers about the Red Wings’ present-moment roster

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen asks 5 pertinent questions regarding the Red Wings’ potential 2026-2027 season performances with an as-is roster:

Five storylines to ponder as we head toward trading Dylan Larkin, hiring a new Director of Hockey Operations and trying to avoid an 11th consecutive season out of the playoffs.

  1. How many goals will Marco Kasper score this season? Right now, he projects to be Detroit’s No. 1 center between Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond.
  2. Is Nate Danielson healthy enough now to challenge for a Red Wings’ roster spot? He’s never going to be a dominant offensive performer, but could be a helpful contributor.
  3. Can Michael Brandsegg-Nygard play in Detroit’s top six? He offers a physical presence and a big shot.
  4. Last season, John Gibson was a difference-maker after Dec. 1. Can he be that player again this season.
  5. Who plays on the second line with Arvidsson and Andrew Copp? Is it a young player, such as Emmitt Finnie or Brandsegg-Nygard? Or, will it be a player that comes to Detroit in the Larkin deal?

My takes:

  1. Kasper is still a 20-goal-scorer and more of a playmaking force in my mind. I still believe that he can be a 50-point player in the future, but I am an optimist about his recovery from a sophomore slump;
  2. I believe that Nate Danielson’s ready to contribute. He may be more of a two-way center at this point, but the Red Wings need all the center depth that they can get right now, and he was sharp in Grand Rapids;
  3. MBN will probably start as a 3rd-line player, and while he’s not huge at 6’1″ and 207 pounds, he’s very stocky, very strong and very talented in terms of getting that shot off in traffic. I would like to see the Wings continue to develop MBN’s shooting with skills coaches in order to establish his shot as a reliable scoring threat;
  4. Gibson will have to be a difference-maker this upcoming season, but he won’t be alone. Daniil Tarasov should provide solid back-up goaltending, and, if the Red Wings’ next GM is a smart person, the Wings will see some of Michal Postava and Trey Augustine in Detroit as well;
  5. Again, MBN starts on the Wings’ 3rd line for now, so it’s a Finnie-Copp-Arvidsson 2nd line for me.

The Athletic talks ‘on-ice villains’ this morning, and Patrick Roy seems as good a choice as any for a Red Wings antagonist

The Athletic asked its beat writers to name each and every NHL team’s biggest “on-ice villain,” and Max Bultman went with a fairly obvious pick for the Red Wings’ biggest nemesis of the modern era:

Detroit Red Wings

Patrick Roy

You can argue the Red Wings were as much a villain for Roy as vice versa, helping to chase him out of Montreal and right into the era-defining rivalry between Detroit and the Avalanche. Roy became one of the central figures of that rivalry, though, partaking in two high-profile goalie fights — first with Mike Vernon, then Chris Osgood — and, of course, leading Colorado to the Stanley Cup in 1996 after knocking out the Red Wings, and again in 2001 (though the Avalanche didn’t face Detroit in the postseason). His swagger and Hall of Fame pedigree are a bonus to make him an iconic on-ice enemy. — Max Bultman

Things apparently hit both ways:

Colorado Avalanche

Darren McCarty

There were several different directions to possibly go with this choice. Todd Bertuzzi was in serious consideration for the incident that ended Steve Moore’s career in 2004, but I opted to go with McCarty because the rivalry with the Red Wings in the 1990s and 2000s was one of the best in the sport’s history, and McCarty is probably the best villain of that Red Wings squad. Sure, Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov were villains for playing major roles in many Avs defeats, but there’s also a level of respect there because they were such incredible players. — Jesse Granger

Tweet of note: A little Friday night conspiracy theory regarding Dylan Larkin from TSN

My answer to TSN’s Frankie Corrado, who is a wise and prudent analyst, is, “No.” He and Jay Onrait offer interesting theories regarding Dylan Larkin’s potential desire to make amends with the Red Wings and/or expand his trade list, but:

No, he did not engineer Steve Yzerman’s demise in order to remain a Red Wing, and no, unless the Montreal Canadiens were to blow the Wings’ doors off with a tremendous trade return, Detroit would not trade its captain to the Canadiens (presuming Larkin would expand his list at all).

Right now, my gut feeling some 23 years after the Sergei Fedorov break-up is that this is still a bit of a hostage situation, and Larkin’s still the one pointing that loaded CCM at the Red Wings’ front office, whatever state it may be in.

This is a little fun for the all-hockey-all-the-time sports networks, but for Red Wings fans, who are pretty pissed off about the Larkin situation and the stasis in the Wings’ front office, well…This isn’t just talk. It’s about the future of the franchise.

Khan reports that the Wings were on Anthony Mantha’s trail before Steve Yzerman stepped down as GM

According to MLive’s Ansar Khan, the Red Wings almost reacquired Anthony Mantha via free agency before Steve Yzerman chose to step down as the team’s general manager:

With Dylan Larkin seemingly on his way out and Patrick Kane declining to re-sign, the Red Wings were and still are desperate for offense. So, Yzerman offered Anthony Mantha a one-year deal for $5 million.

Mantha, 31, coming off a career-high 33 goals and 64 points with Pittsburgh, nearly accepted. Then Yzerman was out two days later, and the New Jersey Devils signed Mantha for two years at a $4.75 million average annual value.

Since then, nothing apparently has changed with Larkin’s trade request, Kane signed with the Blackhawks, the Red Wings’ search for a new GM continues and the team still needs more offense, including a top-line center.

They’re not going to find much in the free-agent leftover pile that includes former Red Wing Vladimir Tarasenko, Eeli Tolvanen, Michael Bunting and Patrik Laine.

Continued…Perhaps things will work out for the best this way? It’s hard to say until the team hires its next GM and we see what transpires thereafter.