Author: George Malik

The Grand Rapids Griffins and Cleveland Monsters are playing a set of AHL exhibition games in Toledo’s Huntington Center on September 26th and 27th. Former Toledo Walleye coach and Griffins bench boss Dan Watson sat down for a 12:19 interview to discuss the event, this year’s Griffins team, and his ties to Toledo and the Walleye:

Cleveland Monsters associate coach Chris Bergeron gets equal time, too:

This is one of those tangentially-related Red Wings stories. WDIV Local 4 posted a profile of Sydney Osgood, who plays on Wayne State University’s varsity soccer team. She happens to be Chris Osgood’s daughter:

This is cute. The Red Wings posted a short clip asking players what they tell strangers they do for a living:

That’s Mr. Kasper to you👨‍🏫 pic.twitter.com/VwGUTdrGFn

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 18, 2026

The YouTube version is below:

EliteProspects posted an excellent story in which Sean Shapiro, Helena Hsieh and Jacob Titus attended 3 big prospect tournaments, discussing the standout players from each tournament. Shapiro liked what he saw from Carter Bear and Theo Rochette:

Carter Bear, LW, Detroit Red Wings

Carter Bear is one of the quietest hockey players around. In fact, off the ice, former teammate Landon DuPont has jokingly said that he’s had to make sure Bear was awake before the game started. But when he’s not hibernating away from the rink, Bear is a menace on it, and he turned into a one-man play-driving force through the neutral zone and attacking down the wing, constantly pushing back defenders and then changing the pace for either shot or passing opportunities. He deserves a shot at playing NHL games this season; it might be a bit rushed, but he’s the type of player Detroit needs in this awkward time period.

Théo Rochette, C, Detroit Red Wings 

Théo Rochette should have been a dominant force at this tournament as a 24-year-old with three years of NL experience, and he was. When Detroit sat Nate Danielson in the second game, Rochette seized the opportunity as the Red Wings’ No. 1 centre. He’s coming off a pretty strong pro season in Switzerland, and in an otherwise underwhelming offseason for the Red Wings, his signing and potential could be one of the underrated bright spots. He will likely spend most of the season in the AHL, but if or when Detroit has to shuffle its centre depth, maybe related to a certain captain trade, Rochette could be ready for an NHL job.

Continued (unlocked), with honorable mentions for Trey Augustine, Noah Dower-Nilsson and Grand Rapids Griffins-contracted Kienan Draper earning “honorable mentions.”

This afternoon, TSN’s Cameron Gaunce, a former NHL’er, argues that Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin having shown up to training camp is a bigger distraction than Connor Hellebuyck not showing up to the Winnipeg Jets’ training camp:

Over the course of a 3:35 clip, Gaunce suggests that leadership discussions will be awkward for their defrocked captain, that Simon Edvinsson’s status as not re-signed as of yet makes the situation worse, and Gaunce compares and contrasts the awkwardness of Larkin coming through the door with Connor Hellebuyck not being present at all.

Daily Faceoff’s Scott Maxwell has been ranking each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams’ respective salary cap situations over the past week, and, according to Maxwell, Steve Yzerman left the Detroit Red Wings in a pretty good place. Sort of.

2. Detroit Red Wings

Last Year: 8^th
Contract Rating: 22^nd
Contracts with No-Trade/No-Move Clauses: 11^th
Dead Cap Space: t-1^st
Quality of Contractual Core: 1^st
Cap Space to Team Quality Differential: t-10^th

Much like the Blue Jackets, a massive “what if” hangs over the Red Wings’ ranking: Simon Edvinsson. It not only creates the illusion of significantly more cap space than Detroit will have during the regular season, which impacts their cap space to team quality differential, but it also alters their contract rating and could change their first-ranked quality of core.

To be fair, Edvinsson’s addition to Detroit’s “core” wouldn’t alter their ranking, it would just change the gap they have over second place from 7.07 to 2.3. That’s a significant bright spot in their cap management, as they’re exclusive with who they give term to these days. Only Dylan Larkin, Mason Raymond and Moritz Seider belong in that club, and Larkin, the worst of the three, is likely out the door soon, and could make it even better.

But otherwise, there’s too much up in the air to fully credit Detroit as this strong of a salary-cap manager. Their contract rating is probably the best indicator of where they sit as a team, more in the middle. While they have some prospects (Emmitt Finnie, Marco Kasper) and lower-lineup players (Jacob Bryson, Wilmer Skoog) on well-valued contracts, they lose out by having far too many overpaid players (Mason Appleton, Ben Chiarot, J.T. Compher, Andrew Copp, Justin Faulk, Keegan Kolesar, Michael Rasmussen, among a few smaller ones). If not for the uncertainty of Edvinsson’s contract, no dead cap space and minimal contract clauses (although one belongs to a player using maximum control to get his desired destination), Detroit’s contract rating would weigh much larger on their cap situation and ranking. Case in point: the Ducks were in the top five before signing Cutter Gauthier. After the signing, it dropped them to 13th.

Continued; I don’t understand how re-signing Edvinsson would drop the Wings’ salary cap situation into “not-as-good” territory. That’s baffling.

The Athletic’s James Mirtle summarized the biggest storylines surrounding the opening of NHL training camps ahead of the 2026-2027 season, and Mirtle did not pull any punches when it comes to the Detroit Red Wings’ struggles both on and off the ice:

3. Detroit: With no permanent GM and no captain, what on earth is going on with the Red Wings?

I honestly can’t recall a situation quite like this. The reeling Red Wings pushed out their longtime top exec — and, oh yeah, he’s a franchise legend as a player — then waited months to ultimately settle on an unusual and unsatisfying interim situation. Shawn Horcoff, the interim GM, kept it close to the vest in his first appearance as the organization’s public face. His incredibly difficult challenge is to dig out of the tough spot his owner put him in. Good luck.

Meanwhile, Dylan Larkin, a disgruntled hometown first-line center stripped of his captaincy, is trying to quiet the noise around his trade request. It’s, uh, not going all that well. The entire situation is pretty volatile. Fans are filled with anger and apathy, and a tough start on the ice could snowball into something worse.

Continued; I know that things are tense and nervous around the Red Wings, but they haven’t played a game yet. I cannot totally freak out until and unless the team struggles out of the gate.

The Hockey News’s Adam Proteau follows something of a trend in predicting that the Detroit Red Wings will finish last in the Atlantic Division standings this season:

8th: Detroit Red Wings

2025-26 Divisional Finish: Sixth

Off-Season Power Ranking: 32nd

Newcomers: Viktor Arvidsson (RW), Keegan Kolesar (RW) Daniil Tarasov (G), Shawn Horcoff (interim GM)

Here’s Why They’re Picked Eighth: We’re not here to pile on the Red Wings, a franchise that once was the measuring stick for all NHL teams. But there’s no denying the fact that Detroit has stumbled time and again, in virtually all aspects of the game.

Nothing the Wings added this summer will push them into a playoff spot. Star center Dylan Larkin still wants out, and Horcoff has no GM experience. So unless a Motown miracle happens, Detroit is destined for another long year.

Why We Could Be Wrong: Every Atlantic team has components worth building around, and the Red Wings have that in defenseman Moritz Seider and wingers Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat.

There’s always a chance Detroit surprises people – that’s why they play the games – but the Wings are facing a mountainous task in a vicious division, so it will take a lot of internal improvement for them to ascend the Atlantic standings.

Continued; it’s going to take a significant amount of work for the Wings to even battle for a Wild Card spot, but I’m not willing to write the Wings off just yet. There are still games to be played.

The NHLPA’s website has posted an article about the fact that J.T. and Jesse Compher are playing hockey in the same city this year:

J.T. and Jesse Compher are making Motor City history 🙌🛞

Heading into this season as the first pair of siblings to represent the same city in the NHL and PWHL at the same time, the two couldn’t be more excited to bring Compher hockey to Detroit: https://t.co/Li2vxM96Ic pic.twitter.com/hWm1VgTdjM

— NHLPA (@NHLPA) September 18, 2026

From NHLPA.com’s Chris Lomon:

From the Red Wings’ Facebook page, with pics:

Poly hockey athletes from Special Olympics Michigan joined us as VIPs at yesterday’s opening day of Training Camp, presented by Ticketmaster!

Athletes got to watch camp & enjoy an exclusive player experience where they were in the spotlight themselves – meeting & signing autographs for Red Wings players and prospects

Continued