Author: George Malik

This is a classic “Summertime Entry” in that it’s a minor detail that may interest Red Wings fans in the Metro Toronto area.

Former Red Wings enforcer Joe Kocur is a charitable force in Southeastern Michigan thanks to the Red Wings Alumni Association and the Joe Kocur Foundation For Children.

This August, you’ll be able to watch Kocur play in a charitable hockey game in Brampton, Ontario, per InBrampton’s Steve Pecar.

The following quote includes some links to the purpose behind “Hockey Night in Brampton” and a Ticketmaster link (tickets start at $36 CDN) as well:

Brampton has unveiled another star-studded lineup for the fifth annual charity game, with current NHL players Dylan Strome of the Washington Capitals and Owen Power of the Buffalo Sabres joining former NHL standouts Ryan Getzlaf, Joe Kocur, Kirk Muller and Cody Hodgson on the ice.

Toronto Maple Leafs legends Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark will once again serve as coaches, while former NHL star and Stanley Cup champion Gary Roberts joins the bench for this year’s event.

The game takes place on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at the CAA Centre in Brampton. Doors open at 6 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m.

A couple of days ago, I was able to post a snippet from Axel Sandin Pellikka’s interview with Norran–a behind-the-paywall Swedish newspaper–as shared with us by Hockeysverige.se’s Linnea Andersson.

Early this morning, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff provides us with a peek behind the paywall, as ASP discussed the possibility that he may not start the 2026-2027 season in Detroit.

Duff reports that Sandin Pellikka discussed his late-season demotion to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins with Norran’s Mille Dybro…

“Just developing as a player,” Sandin-Pellikka said. “It never hurts to get more games over here and just work on defense, work on offense. Play to the best of my abilities and just get better as a hockey player.”

The Wings added free agent defenseman Jacob Bryson, a 28-year-old NHL veteran, as a depth signing, and prospect D William Wallinder, who will be 24 on July 28th, is out of waiver options. As such:

The Fourth Period offered an update on the Dylan Larkin and Patrick Kane situations, based upon MLive’s Ansar Khan’s report that Larkin has added the Dallas Stars to his 3-team trade list of Vegas, Florida and and Minnesota:

According to Khan, the Red Wings initially asked the Stars for Wyatt Johnston in exchange for Larkin, but that was a non-starter for Dallas GM Jim Nill.

The Stars are believed to be willing to move restricted free agent sniper Jason Robertson to Detroit for Larkin, but such a move would require additional pieces involved and that has resulted in multiple hurdles, including whether Robertson would sign a long-term extension with Detroit, where he spends part of his off-season.

Several other teams have expressed interest in Larkin, including the San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken and New Jersey Devils, but Larkin has not yet been willing to significantly expand his list of teams, prompting Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman to declare he has not offered any guarantees to a move.

After discussing Larkin’s actual aggregate salary owed…

In a life that’s taken many twists and turns, I hate dealing in hypothetical situations.

The “What if’s” and “should’ves and could’ves” of existence are questions and declarations that don’t really help us reexamine wrong decisions we’ve made, the unfulfilled wishes that we have or the potential situations where we might have found ourselves in a very different place, had things gone differently.

We can only learn from the past, not re-litigate it, and we can only affect our present and our future. We can figure out what went wrong by performing an autopsy/audit of how we screwed up, we can try to implement plans to do things differently and/or avoid making the same mistake(s) today and tomorrow, and then, we have to move forward.

As such, I’m not posting a very well-written article from Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff that wonders “What If the Red Wings Had Made the Playoffs?” because Detroit didn’t do that.

I don’t believe that Dylan Larkin or Patrick Kane’s nebulous off-season destinations would not be in doubt simply because the Wings earned a playoff spot.

To me, maybe it’s wistful to wonder whether we’d be talking about a Larkin trade scenario if Detroit hadn’t face-planted over the course of the second half of this past season…

But it’s not useful to try to re-play those games for the sake of anything other than to perform an autopsy/audit on what actually happened, and to examine past practices so that the Red Wings can attempt to avoid them in the future.

I feel a somewhat similarly regarding draft pick development.

It’s really easy to say that team X should have drafted player Y instead of player Z, but second-guessing and third-guessing picks that weren’t made doesn’t help with having to develop the players that you’ve got to their maximum potential. You can’t redraft; you can make better choices next time around.

Along those lines, Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen has discusses “Why Draft Picks Don’t Work in [a] Larkin Deal” this morning.

Let’s talk “present and future” regarding a Larkin trade, at least as best as we are able:

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRIFFINS SIGN NOLAN MOYLE TO ONE-YEAR CONTRACT

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday signed forward Nolan Moyle to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2026-27 season.   

Moyle, a fourth-year professional out of the University of Michigan, made his AHL debut with the Griffins on Nov. 12, 2025, and concluded last season with two points (1-1—2), 15 penalty minutes and a plus-five rating in 16 outings with Grand Rapids. Also in 2025-26, the 27-year-old showed 10 points (5-5—10) in nine games with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, and eight points (1-7—8) in six appearances with EC-KAC in the ICEHL (Austria’s top pro league). The Royal Oak, Michigan, native began his pro career with the Kunlun Red Star in the KHL (China) from 2023-25 and totaled 13 points (5-8—13), 37 penalty minutes and a minus-eight rating in 67 combined outings before joining Toledo midway through the 2024-25 campaign. As a pro, Moyle has 48 points (18-30—48) and 86 penalty minutes in 130 contests from 2023-26.

Prior to turning pro, Moyle spent five seasons at the University of Michigan from 2018-23, serving as captain as a fifth-year senior in 2022-23. Moyle became a two-time Big Ten champion with the Wolverines (2021-22, 2022-23) and accumulated 46 points (24-22—46), 156 penalty minutes and a plus-15 rating in 164 career games. Moyle also spent two seasons in the USHL with the Green Bay Gamblers from 2016-18 and notched 60 points (24-36—60) in 116 career contests.

We already knew that Red Wings prospect goaltender Rudy Guimond was headed to Harvard University this upcoming season, but in case you’ve forgotten about his circuitous journey to the men’s hockey program, Harvard made sure to post a quick “welcome!” message to Guimond yesterday:

Welcome to Harvard, Rudy Guimond 🔴#GoCrimson | #OneCrimson pic.twitter.com/I8L2n5FDt1

— Harvard Men's Hockey (@HarvardMHockey) July 9, 2026

We’ve talked a bit about Red Wings goaltending prospect Michal Orsulak lately, and today, I found a paywalled interview that Orsulak, who plays for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, conducted with Denik Sport…

Thankfully, a couple of paragraphs are available before the paywall, so we’re going to read them together. Here’s a bit of Zdenek Soukup’s conversation with Orsulak:

I’ll do anything to make the NHL, says the hockey talent from Kralovice

Hockey goalie Michal Oršulák helped the Czech under-20 team to silver at the World Junior Championship, and was subsequently selected by the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL draft. However, the young man from Kralovice knows that he is still a long way from the most famous league in the world.

At the turn of 2026, hockey goalkeeper Michal Oršulák shone at the [World Junior Championship], helping the Czech team with his performances to a silver medal. And he made the most of it in the NHL’s recent draft, where he was chosen by the famous Detroit Red Wings by the legendary Steve Yzerman.

“It was amazing to meet such a legend,” said Michal Oršulák said enthusiastically during an interview that took place in his native Kralovice.

Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen discusses summertime “thoughts” for every NHL team this morning, as inspired by the last episode of the “32 Thoughts” podcast, which dropped earlier this week.

[sarcasm] Do not be shocked that Boylen discusses the Dylan Larkin situation [/sarcasm]…

Detroit Red Wings: Will a Dylan Larkin trade be found this summer?

The first of the big trade requests made public this off-season, Larkin is still a Red Wing, he’s still the captain, and there’s still a world where he remains on the team to start the 2026-27 season. This will be a tricky deal to make. At $8.7 million for another five years, Larkin’s contract (like so many others) has become even more valuable after the [Philadelphia Flyers’ Leo] Carlsson offer sheet. GM Steve Yzerman’s ask was already high, and it’s believed he wants NHL players instead of futures because the goal in Detroit is to end their 10-year playoff drought.

“I didn’t think, and part of me still doesn’t believe, that Larkin will start next year in Detroit. I’m just not convinced that Yzerman wants to start the season with this distraction,” Friedman said. “I’ve had a few people say to me don’t underestimate it, he’ll do it. If Yzerman believes the right thing to do is start the year with Larkin based on what he’s getting offered then he’ll do it. But I think the offer sheet made Larkin even more valuable, not only in Yzerman’s eyes but in other people’s eyes too.”

Continued; again, my gut feeling suggests that Larkin will be staying home this September instead of attending Detroit’s training camp, but I do believe that the situation will rectify itself at some point early during the 2026-2027 season.

The Detroit Red Wings chose to take a safe route in terms of managing the organization’s crease this month, with the team signing big goaltender Daniil Tarasov as John Gibson’s back-up goaltender.

As such, Michal Postava and Trey Augustine appear set to split time in the Grand Rapids Griffins’ crease, with Carter Gylander reprising his role as the Wings’ representative on the Toledo Walleye.

This morning, Detroit Hockey Now’s Max Smith suggests that Postava could very well unseat the 27-year-old Tarasov as Detroit’s back-up goaltender, given that Tarasov’s only significant NHL experience involves serving as Sergei Bobrovsky’s injury replacement this past season in Florida:

Prior to last year when injuries to the Florida Panthers lineup forced him in-net for 33 games, Tarasov had never started 25 games in a season.

In his five years playing with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers, Tarasov has a record of 32-49-9. His GAA remains solidly above a 3.00 in that span as well. Tarasov certainly can play at the NHL level.

If the Red Wings were looking to send a message to Postava that he wasn’t expected to seriously compete for the backup job, they probably would have looked for more solid options. Or re-signed Cam Talbot.

The Red Wings gave themselves the flexibility to bring Postava up, and potentially send Tarasov down during the season by signing him to a one year, two million dollar deal. If Postava wins the backup job after camp, then Tarasov would be able to help shelter a young Trey Augustine in his first season at the professional level. Not many teams want that kind of cap hit buried in the AHL.

Either way, it’s time for Yzerman and the Red Wings to let their young goalies have their run.

Smith suggests that Postava is the Wings’ current “goaltender of the future,” but I’d suggest that such a term is a little optimistic given that Sebastian Cossa was supposed to be the “goaltender of the future,” too…

And, with a crease that includes Postava, Augustine, Gylander, Rudy Guimond, Michal Pradel and Michal Orsulak all in the pipeline, Detroit arguably has several “goaltenders of the future.”

At present, Augustine is the long-term jewel in the crown, but goaltender development is wildly unpredictable, though the studious Augustine’s a pretty safe bet to continue to develop somewhat linearly.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen ponders whether promising rookie forward Emmitt Finnie will remain as an energy-producing winger as the Red Wings prepare for the post-Dylan Larkin era…

When the Detroit Red Wings Emmitt Finnie selected in the seventh round of the 2023 draft, he only had a 6.4% chance of having an NHL career of 300 or more games. Today, he is well down the path to conquering those odds.

Playing 82 games as a rookie, Finnie has already established himself as a key performer on the Red Wings. On Wednesday, the Detroit Sports Media named Finnie Red Wings Rookie of the Year for 2025-26.

Finnie’s 13 goals ranked sixth on the team last season and his 30 points were good enough for eighth.

With Dylan Larkin looking to be traded and Patrick Kane likely leaving through free agency, one of the questions about Finnie is where will he play this season? If Detroit’s roster had remained close to the same, Finnie might have been headed to a third line role, maybe playing with Carter Mazur, or Marco Kasper or Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. All four players have potential to deliver goals and 150-plus hits per season. Finnie boasted 131 hits last season.

But with the uncertainty of how the top six forwards will shake out, Finnie’s skating ability makes him a candidate to play in that group. He can play both wing and center, and he did spend time last season playing with Larkin and Lucas Raymond.

Continued; my gut feeling is that coach Todd McLellan will probably utilize Finnie as an”energy forward” and forechecker on the 1st or 2nd line, but it is possible that Finnie could find himself playing 3rd line center, too.

Over the course of the short term, the Red Wings need any and all centers that are available; long-term, I see Finnie as the center of his own grinding, forechecking line.