The Hockey News’s Jan Levine posted three fantasy hockey previews regarding the Detroit Red Wings this morning, starting with a fantasy hockey outlook for the entire team…

As mentioned in the projected lineups column, the first line is more than solid. Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond should combine for close to 100 goals and 225 points. Then the production levels out, Patrick Kane showed that age is just a number, posting 59 points in 72 contests last season. Marco Kasper improved the second half of the season, but he needs to take another step forward to provide the level of offense this team needs.

Once you get past those five offensively, the output up front thins substantially. Jonathan Berggren may be in a make-or-break campaign. If he fails to produce, he could be elsewhere next season. James Van Riemdsyk will be counted on to provide some tertiary scoring and veteran leadership. Andrew Copp underwent surgery for a torn pectoral tendon in late February but should be ready for training camp and a middle-six role.

Perfect world, Carter Mazur, Nate Danielson or Dmitri Buchelnikov force their way onto the team. Beyond that, what we see is what they will be. The Red Wings may lack enough offense unless Michael Rasmussen, Elmer Soderblom or Mason Appleton raises their output to make the playoffs and will need to rely on improvements in net.

Simon Edvisson is vying for and deserves a long-term contract. He has just scratched the surface of how good he will be. Paired next to Moritz Seider, the team’s best all-around player, the duo provides Detroit a legitimate first group.

After those two, the talent falls off, at least on the current roster. Axel Sandin-Pellikka and William Walinder will eventually be the second pair. ASP is an offensive juggernaut while Wilander his defensive ballast. When that occurs remains to be seen. Until then, the lines of Ben Chiarot, Justin Holl, Jonathan Bernard-Docker, Erik Gustafsson and Ian Mitchell will split time on the blueline.

Where Detroit hopes they have improved is between the pipes. John Gibson, on the block for years in Anaheim, but hard to move due to his contract and his desire to stay with the Ducks, landed with the Red Wings this offseason. If he can avoid injury, Gibson should take on the bulk of the workload, reducing Cam Talbot to back up duty, at least under Sebastian Cossa is deemed ready. When at the top of his game, Gibson is an above average netminder.

He discusses the Red Wings’ projected lineup…

One-time (one-season) Red Wing and Dallas Stars legend Mike Modano appears on today’s “Ozzy and Keats” podcast:

The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli and Alex Andrejev have published an investigative article which should concern every Tigers and Red Wings fan:

At least eight men employed by the Detroit Tigers, its business arm or broadcast partner have been accused of misconduct toward women since 2023, including four vice presidents and two other high-ranking employees, an investigation by The Athletic found.

Seven of those eight were accused of mistreating women employed by Ilitch Sports and Entertainment (IS+E), which operates the MLB franchise, the NHL’s Red Wings, Comerica Park, Little Caesars Arena and other entertainment entities. The allegations against the men ranged from offensive comments to physical confrontation.

Six of the men either resigned, were fired or did not have their contracts renewed — three exited in a six-month period beginning last November. One vice president was suspended after The Athletic requested comment about the allegations against him late last week.

“The dysfunction is woven into the culture. It feels like a bunch of guys who can do whatever they want,” said a current male employee. “It’s not a place women can feel safe.”

Continued (paywall); the article doesn’t paint a flattering picture of the Red Wings’ parent organization, Ilitch Sports + Entertainment.

I’m not going to pass judgment upon the Ilitch organization based on some bad apples, but this indicates a cultural problem that they should address openly and honestly.

From Expressen’s Tobias Soderlund: Henrik Zetterberg may be the Red Wings’ “secret agent” in terms of scouting prospects and recommending free agents to the NHL team on an unofficial business, and now Zetterberg has chosen to officially work as an advisor to his former SHL team, Timra IK:

Henrik Zetterberg returns to Timrå IK

Henrik Zetterberg is ready for Timrå IK.

He will take a new role in the sports organization.

“I’m passionate about Timrå,” the legend said.

Henrik Zetterberg, 44, has been given a rolee as a sports advisor for Timrå for the upcoming SHL season. The club writes in a press release that he has already previously worked behind the scenes with the recruitment work for the team, but now he receives an official position in the sports organization.

“I am passionate about Timrå IK and would like to contribute a more structured role; this is an association with proud traditions, but also with a strong belief in the future,” he told the club’s website.

The focus of the assignment is on attracting more young talent to Timrå.

“I want to help create conditions for even more young, ambitious players to be able to take steps here and contribute to the association’s continued growth,” says Zetterberg.

I’m a big believer in the concept that you can’t rewrite history, so I have to shrug my shoulders a bit as Bleacher Report’s Lyle Richardson discusses “5 NHL Trade Fails That Will Keep Haunting Teams During the 2025-26 Season“:

Detroit Red Wings Trade Jake Walman to the San Jose Sharks

On June 25, 2024, the Detroit Red Wings traded Jake Walman and a 2024 second-round pick to the San Jose Sharks for future considerations. The move raised eyebrows as the Wings appeared to give away a good defenseman who’d played well enough to earn a three-year contract extension the year before.

After the trade, The Athletic’s Max Bultman reported the move appeared to have been made to free up salary-cap space and to clear some space on a crowded blue line. Rumors later emerged claiming Walman had a rocky relationship with the coaching staff, frowning on his “extracurricular activities” during stoppages of play.

Walman, 29, had a good season with the last-place Sharks, earning a team-leading 23:11 of ice time per game and tallying a career-high 32 points in 50 games. On March 6, the rebuilding club flipped him to the Edmonton Oilers, where he had eight points in 15 regular-season games while logging 21:26 of ice time.

Considering how well Walman played with two different teams last season, the fact the Red Wings gave him away (and included a 2024 second-round pick in the deal) was not one of general manager Steve Yzerman’s finest moves. Their ongoing need for another top-four defenseman makes it even worse.

Continued; for better or worse, you can’t re-litigate the past.

Yes, having Walman would help the Wings’ blueline, and no, in retrospect, it was a very strange move, but whether the Red Wings were looking to make a bigger move that didn’t happen, or whether Walman somehow alienated the team’s coaches and management…

It happened. And the Detroit Red Wings’ coaches and management and players have to deal with it. It was weird for sure, but it’s done and over with, and to quote Royal Blood, “All we have is now.”

Now, the Red Wings need to add a top-four defenseman via trade sometime between now and the 2026 trade deadline, and in the interim, they’re going to have to make due with the blueline that they’ve got presently.

On Monday night, NHL Network named Dylan Larkin their 41st-best player in the NHL, and on Tuesday evening, their Twitter account posted the video in which Mike Johnson and Corey Schneider discuss the reasons why they picked Larkin for the Top 50 list:

"[Dylan Larkin] does everything well… He's a guy that wants and cares to be successful." – @mike_p_johnson @JamisonCoyle | @DetroitRedWings | #NHLTopPlayers https://t.co/8viQMIfew0 pic.twitter.com/rOzyoFO9zz

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) September 10, 2025

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted an article about Red Wings prospect Carter Mazur in which Red Wings director of player development Dan Cleary and assistant GM/director of amateur scouting Kris Draper do the talking:

“He’s had some tough-luck injuries over the course of his professional life, which has been unfortunate,” said Dan Cleary, the Wings’ assistant director of player development. “But I tell him, ‘I know this sucks, but you got to start over, you got to dig in, got to rehab, and you got to keep going’. He was in such a good place last year (and) put in tremendous work.”

Mazur, a Jackson native and the Wings’ 2021 third-round draft pick (70th overall) has continued to put in the work this summer. He’s put on approximately 25 pounds of weight this summer to better handle the bigger, stronger bodies at the pro level.

The plan now is to keep that added mass during the long, difficult regular season and possibly reach the NHL to stay, this time.

“He’s put on good weight to his frame,” Cleary said. “He’s been able to keep it and he’s going to need it. But for him it’s just some bad luck and I’m hoping he can get past that bad luck. I believe he will.”

Kris Draper, the Wings’ assistant general manager/director of amateur scouting, singled out Mazur during the Wings’ development camp in July. Draper felt Mazur, and the young player’s development and perseverance, was a good example for the young draftees in that camp.

“All these kids that we talk to, they talk about putting weight on,” Draper said. “But in the end, it’s going to happen over time, and we just have to be patient. I’ll give you a perfect example in Carter Mazur. He was at 165 (pounds) when we drafted him and he’s weighing in at almost 195 pounds right now. Twenty-three years old and he’s finally been able to put all that weight on — and he’s putting on the right weight. It’s something that he knows he needed to do. With some kids, it (the physical development) takes a little bit longer.”

Continued; Draper’s right, it’s important for players to not simply add bulk, but instead, to add muscle mass.

That’s the “right weight” that the Wings want to see players add, so you’ll often see a youngster show up 10 or 20 pounds heavier one year, and then they’ll drop some of that weight because they feel too bulky maxed out.

Former Red Wings forward Daniel Sprong finds himself in the KHL this season, playing for CSKA Moscow, and Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that another Red Wings alumnus is trying to show Sprong the ropes of Russian pro hockey:

CSKA Moscow is expecting big things this season from former Detroit Red Wings forward Daniel Sprong. That being the case, the KHL club is leaving no stone un-turned in seeking to make Sprong’s adjustment period to his new league and surroundings as seamless as possible.

Igor Nikitin, coach of CSKA Moscow, is supplying Sprong with every tool he has at his disposal to help Sprong make an impact. That includes lessons from a Hall of Famer, a Red Wings icon.

Sergei Fedorov is mentoring Sprong in the ways of Russian hockey.

“There is no point in explaining about the league, because a certain adaptation process needs to be completed,” Fedorov told Russian website Sport-Express. “We are solving technical and hockey issues that relate to his game and the game of the entire team. For now, he plays with both foreigners and Russian players. The adaptation process has begun.”

…

As a member of CSKA’s board, he’s far more concerned with turning his club into a champion again. Whatever he can do to help Sprong contribute, Fedorov is there to provide.

“It can be anything,” Fedorov said. “I can’t answer specifically how quickly he adapts. I can give general parameters. At the same time, there is an adaptation to the league, players, referees, flights, and life schedule.”

Continued with more of Fedorov and Sprong’s interview with Sport-Express’s Fyodor Nosov…

The NHL Network claims that its “research department” has determined the top 25 NHL prospects today, but the Red Wings’ only representative is Axel Sandin Pellikka:

21. Axel Sandin-Pellikka, D, Detroit Red Wings

The 20-year-old, who was a first-round pick (No. 17) by Detroit in the 2023 NHL Draft, had a busy 2024-25 season. He had 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) in 46 games for Skelleftea of the Swedish Hockey League, the top league in the country. His goals and points were the most of any under-21 skater in the SHL. He had eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 11 playoff games to help Skelleftea reach the SHL semifinals, and was also named the best defenseman at the 2025 WJC, when he had 10 points (four goals, six assists) in seven games. Sandin-Pellikka signed his entry-level contract with the Red Wings on May 6 and played in two regular-season games (one assist) and three playoff games for Grand Rapids of the AHL. He was also named the top defenseman at the 2024 WJC (two goals, four assists in seven games).

Continued; the list only includes one goaltender, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacob Fowler (at #24), and it’s mostly a “big-name” list as opposed to a “big-talent” list. I’m not particularly impressed by it, but I’m biased!

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski asked Red Wings forward Patrick Kane about the return of Jonathan Toews to the NHL as Toews has signed as a free agent with the Winnipeg Jets:

“I think it’s awesome. Obviously with what he’s been through, to be able to put himself in a position to come back and be feeling good, I think that’s the most important thing,” Kane told ESPN on Tuesday. “It could be really a great story for the NHL and for the franchise and for him and his family. So I’m excited about watching him.”

…

“We talk quite a bit. He came to Chicago about a month ago, so I was able to see him there. Even obviously with him not playing the last couple of years, he’s been great — just keeping in touch and reaching out after a game every now and then. Always nice to hear from him,” he said.

Kane also left the Blackhawks in 2023 when Chicago traded him to the New York Rangers.

“It’s funny how your paths kind of change, right? You’re seeing each other every day for 17 years and then all of a sudden, you kind of go your separate ways,” he said. “I felt that way about some of my other teammates too, like Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp. These are your best friends. All of a sudden they retire or they go to a different team and you don’t see them as much. It’s kind of wild.”

With Toews potentially finishing his career in his hometown, there’s always been speculation that Kane could do the same, having grown up in Buffalo. Is that something he’d consider?

“You know what? I feel like I’ve been pretty fortunate with the franchises that I’ve played for. Chicago. New York was a great experience, even though it didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. Now, Detroit,” Kane said. “I mean, I’ve really, really enjoyed my time there. It’s been a great place to kind of revive my career and play in a good situation and be on a team that’s on the rise.”

Continued; Kane’s not heading to Buffalo.