Author: George Malik

Of Red Wings-related note from an “off day” Monday which devolved into a 10-hour nap for me:

DetroitRedWings.com: Jonathan Mills filed a recap of the Red & White Game:

Along with Sunday’s Red & White Game, Tanguay said Training Camp provided the group with a great opportunity to lay the groundwork for the 2025-26 season.

“I thought that playing every day raised their competitive juices a little bit,” Tanguay said. “For the most part, it was a very competitive camp. We’ve asked guys to give us their best. Show us why you need to be in the NHL. Leave a calling card, and some guys have. Some of the guys, we’ll see in the exhibition here, how it plays out. But I think for the most part, the first four days have been very successful.”

For example, Emmitt Finnie is a player who is making a positive impression this fall, as Sunday marked the second straight day that the seventh-round pick (No. 201 overall) in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft skated on a line with Larkin and Lucas Raymond.

“He probably, more than some of the guys, he’s brought his best aspect forward,” Tanguay said about the 20-year-old forward prospect. “He’s a good skater and puck retriever. He showed it [at the 2025 NHL Prospect Games] and [at Training Camp] and again [on Sunday]. We put him on a good line, and he showed he was able to retrieve pucks and drive the pace with his speed and size. He gave Larks and Razor some touches.”

With the Red Wings ready to begin an eight-game preseason slate on Tuesday night, it’s important that every player keeps building their game as Opening Night (Oct. 9) gets closer on the calendar.

“This is [head coach Todd McLellan’s] team now, so he’s set his priorities and the tone for Training Camp,” Tanguay said. “It’s been good to have our whole staff together for most of the summer and for the preparation but also, seeing our guys. There are some real expectations for us and for our group to grow. We’ve said a lot of things over the course of the last few years and now, the expectation is that you must put those words into action. It’s still very early. We haven’t played any other teams yet, but guys have been enthusiastic, and we’ve liked the response that we’ve gotten so far.”

MLive: Ansar Khan discussed Sebastian Cossa’s need to step up ahead of a pivotal 2025-2026 campaign:

This morning, FanDuel Sports Network Detroit is confirming its 3-game broadcast slate for the Red Wings’ preseason…

Hockeytown, are you ready?! 🤩

Preseason hockey on FanDuel Sports Network 🔜#LGRW pic.twitter.com/ue6es2N5Wk

— FanDuel Sports Network Detroit (@FanDuelSN_DET) September 22, 2025

But an earlier press release from the Red Wings stated that 7 of the 8 preseason games will air on either FanDuel Sports, DetroitRedWings.com, or the NHL Network:

Tune in this preseason!

📰 » https://t.co/3PQMfeGUVo pic.twitter.com/KWAflMVU0g

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 19, 2025

The Red Wings have posted a Tweet which offers a summary of yesterday’s Red & White Game festivities:

🔴 & ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/qzr9Fn89NG

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 22, 2025

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff filed an overnight column which duly notes that Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka hasn’t dominated over the course of training camp.

That’s not surprising given that the 5’11,” 185-pound defenseman is all of 20 years old, but some fans did expect fireworks as soon as ASP hit the ice in Traverse City, and, thus far, Sandin Pellikka’s been…

All of 20 years old, skating in a training camp with NHL players for the first time. Is he taking a step back from last year’s North American pro debut with Grand Rapids? That’s not necessarily the case:

“He’s a smart player, like, really smart,” assessed Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin. “And you see the way he moves on the power play, see how he walks the blue. I’ve been impressed with how he breaks the puck out. I think he’s gotten better every day. And as a young guy coming in, it’s difficult, but he’s really done a good job.”

What hasn’t been evident in Sandin Pellikka’s game, even going back to his late-season debut with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins last spring, is that wow factor. And the Red Wings want to see that from him.

“There’s pros to Axe’s game, and we’re certainly looking for that,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said, “because if we’re not seeing what really makes him special as a player, then he’s probably playing very safe.”

Players with high-end skill operate on a different plane than mere mortals. They must be given some rope, some opportunity to be taking risks with the objective of making a spectacular play.

“Those types of plays a lot of guys don’t make, he can do that,” Griffins coach Dan Watson said.

Sandin Pellikka himself is indeed keeping a level head:

“I want to play good,” Sandin Pellikka said. “I want to show the staff that I can play hockey on a good level and I want to do my best out there.”

Even if it doesn’t happen right away for him, not to worry. Simon Edvinsson’s first NHL camp didn’t go spectacularly, but after serving an apprenticeship in GR, he’s become a fine NHL defenseman.

Continued; I’m just not surprised that ASP had a pedestrian Prospect Games, and hasn’t been spectacular thus far during training camp. Sandin Pellikka hasn’t played with NHL’ers yet, and there’s a shock factor to competing against the best of the best.

He’s got more than enough pro experience with Skellefta AIK in Sweden, but skating against players who put dinner on the table by shutting down the Sandin Pellikkas of the prospect world on a smaller rink, with less time and space = the adjustment period has definitely been evident in his game thus far.

That’s okay. He’ll get better.

Bleacher Report’s Lyle Richardson offers “1 player on every NHL team to get excited about ahead of the 2025-2026 season,” and the Red Wings’ participant is an obvious choice:

Detroit Red Wings: Lucas Raymond

Detroit Red Wings fans haven’t had much to get excited about with their team mired in a nine-season playoff drought. However, the play of Lucas Raymond should help them get their hopes up entering this season.

Raymond is among a group of rising young Red Wings that includes defensemen Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson and center Marco Kasper. The 23-year-old right wing has steadily improved, leading the Wings in scoring in each of the last two seasons, including a career-best 80 points in 2024-25.

A talented play-maker, Raymond’s consistent development makes him the Red Wings’ best offensive player. He should remain a threat to reach 80-plus points this season, and will be a key factor in the Wings’ hopes of ending their long postseason drought.

Continued; Raymond’s probably the team’s best goal scorer, too, so there’s that…

The Free Press’s Helene St. James adds to the narrative regarding Red Wings goaltender Sebastian Cossa this morning, offering a bit more from Cossa to complement the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan’s notebook from last night:

“It’s a contract year for me, so a big year,” Cossa said. “I had a really good summer, put in a lot of work. I’m just trying to stay consistent throughout the year, get my shots when I can. Use the experience I’ve gained the past couple years to really push the pace and be the best version of myself.”

Four years ago, the Wings saw so much potential in Cossa that they traded up to make him the first goaltender selected in the 2021 draft, at No. 15 overall. But he has struggled to establish himself at the AHL level, and his lone NHL appearance came in December, when he relieved Ville Husso to start the second period in what ended up a shootout victory at the Buffalo Sabres. At that time, Cossa was doing well with the Grand Rapids Griffins – but then things started to go awry for Cossa and for the Griffins.

“It’s pretty obvious I didn’t have the best second half last year and wasn’t happy with the playoff performance,” Cossa said of his 2024-25 season, which he ended with a 4.51 goals-against average and .868 save percentage in two playoff starts. “So bit of a chip on the shoulder when it comes to that, and proving I can play at a really high level in the AHL and hopefully get a shot here. 

“I thought I was rock solid the first half of the year, up until December. We got into a bit of a slump as a whole team and I wasn’t playing great as well and that rolled into the playoffs. That was unfortunate, but I was really happy with the first half of the year.”

Continued (paywall); Cossa and the Griffins did fade over the course of the second half of last season, but he wasn’t alone in his struggles. He gets another year to prove that he can be a stable presence as he turns 23 in November.

Big Elmer Soderblom took something of a victory lap during the Red & White Game in Grand Rapids on Sunday, and in scoring two goals to cap a superb training camp performance, Soderblom has probably bade farewell to the AHL for good.

As the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker noted, Soderblom was appreciative of the atmosphere in a sold-out Van Andel Arena, and he suggested that the Wings’ daily scrimmages helped build up to a proper Red & White affair…

“It was real fun, it was fun to see all the fans here, a full crowd and it was unbelievable,” a grinning Söderblom said afterward.

Following an intense three days of Training Camp in Traverse City, Söderblom feels that the team as a whole is shaking off the rust from the several months of the offseason.

“It feels like I’ve been ramping up a bit and the pieces are coming together more and more,” he said. “Always a little rusty from the summer with, game-wise, habits and stuff. That’s why I think it’s important for us to scrimmage and get some games going, I think that will really help the guys get into the habits again.  For me personally, it feels like it’s getting better and better.” 

And now the Red Wings’ resident 6’8,” 247-pound behemoth is ready to prove that he’s earned a full-time spot on Detroit’s NHL roster:

“It felt really good to play some games last year and show what I can do, so coming into this year feels a little bit more (knowing) what I should do, and know my role and what I can bring to the team,” he said. “I’m just trying to bring my game, do the things that I do good, and just make an impact that way.”

We all know that Red Wings goaltending prospect Sebastian Cossa faces a pivotal season this year. At 22, going on 23 in November, the 6’6,” 209-pound netminder had an up-and-down sophomore season with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, starting strong and fading down the stretch.

This year, the Red Wings have chosen to go with a 2-goaltender system, and they didn’t sign a veteran to spell Cossa in Grand Rapids, instead, signing Czech league star Michal Postava as a rookie companion.

This year should afford Cossa multiple chances to build upon his rookie debut in 2024-2025 with some stints in Detroit, but Cossa’s got to stake his case for time in the Wings’ crease, especially given that fellow star goaltending prospect Trey Augustine’s probably playing in his final season at Michigan State.

Cossa told the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan that he’s well aware of his situation:

“I’m the highest on the depth chart that I’ve ever been going into camp,” Cossa said. “That’s good, but at the end of the day I still got to put the work in. I still have to play. It’s step by step. I’m happy where I am right now and just want to continue to push it.”

After an impressive first half in Grand Rapids last season — which also included Cossa’s first NHL victory in his first NHL game, in a relief role in Buffalo — Cossa’s play took downturn after the All-Star break (as did many Griffins, to be fair). That also included a forgettable overall performance in a first-round, three-game series loss in the playoffs.

Cossa didn’t shy away, or make any excuses, for his disappointing late-season downfall.

“I didn’t have the best second half last year, I wasn’t happy with the playoff performance,” Cossa said. “There’s a bit of a chip on the shoulder when it comes to that. I want to prove I can play at a really high level in the AHL and hopefully get (an NHL opportunity). I was rock solid the first half of the year up until to around December, then a couple of injuries in Grand Rapids and Detroit, and you miss a couple of guys and we got into a bit of a slump, the whole team. I wasn’t playing great. It’s unfortunate.”

Red Wings coach Todd McLellan’s well aware of Cossa’s situation, too…

I posted a set of text recaps of Sunday’s Red & White Game a couple of hours ago, and in the interim, two more recaps were posted.

MLive’s Matthew Ehler took note of Red Wings assistant coach Alex Tanguay’s remarks regarding the game and its standout performers:

“What those players do in the summertime is play summer hockey so there’s no stopping and there’s not really that motion,” Red Wings assistant coach Alex Tanguay said. “Once you get into the games and in tight spaces, you get your feels back. It’s important for our players to get their feels back, get their legs back and to get bumped a few times to know what it feels like again. Playing every day raised their competitive juices a little bit.”

DeBrincat put Team White on the board first with a goal in the first period, while Jonatan Berggren scored later on in the frame and Emmitt Finnie added his own tally in the second period for Team Red.

Finnie impressed teammates and coaches throughout camp –– he played on a line with Larkin and Lucas Raymond on both Saturday and Sunday.

“He probably, more than some of the guys, he’s brought his best aspect forward,” Tanguay said. “He’s a good skater and he’s a good puck retriever and he showed that in the games in Dallas and he showed that in the games here. And again tonight, we put him on a good line and he showed that he was able to retrieve pucks and drive the pace with his speed and his size.”

Tanguay was also impressed with Amadeus Lombardi’s play, and in his assessment thereof, Tanguay made a wise remark regarding every prospect’s attempts to earn an NHL job:

Okay, I’ve posted a “Tweetcap” of today’s Red & White Game, as well as the post-game comments video. As we round 7 PM, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan and the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker have posted recaps with good quotes from Dylan Larkin, Elmer Soderblom, Emmitt Finnie and assistant coach Alex Tanguay.

All four seem to agree that the team’s playing intense, fast hockey right now, but after four days of intrasquad scrimmages, captain Larkin told Kulfan that there’s a fatigue factor developing–and it’s not physical fatigue that we’re talking about:

“Unbelievable atmosphere,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “I’m not surprised knowing the hockey fans here in Grand Rapids and the people that drove from all over the west side of the state to come watch. It was real special.”

The pace was faster than in Traverse City for the three days of camp — and frankly, the pace was impressive there, too. Larkin felt the tempo and intensity of Sunday’s scrimmage and felt it was more like an actual game. But it’s time to face someone in a different uniform, which the Wings will Tuesday when they host Chicago.

“We’re tired of playing each other,” Larkin said. “We’ve been going at each other for four days now, somewhat the same teams and lineups, and we’re ready. You saw it kind of got physical there (Sunday) and that’s good for our group to do that. I’d like to hit someone else now and play with Patrick (Kane), Marco (Kasper) and Alex (DeBrincat) and not against them.”

We talked about Finnie overnight, and after scoring a goal in the scrimmage, he’s feeling pretty good about himself–and the coaches have taken notice of #58’s play: