Author: George Malik

Today is the last day for NHL teams to sign college-age draft picks drafted four years ago. Several 2021 draft picks will walk as unrestricted free agents if their NHL rights-holders don’t sign them today, and Wings pick Red Savage appears to be one of them.

As Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes, the Red Wings sounded like they were going to sign 5’11,” 185-pound center and Michigan State University captain Savage to some sort of two-way NHL or AHL contract in July, but as of today, it appears that Savage will test the unrestricted free agent marketplace tomorrow:

The Red Wings made center Red Savage the 114th overall pick of the 2021 NHL entry draft. He was playing with the USNTDP in Plymouth, Michigan, at the time. The son of former NHL forward Brian Savage went on to play college hockey at Miami (Ohio) and Michigan State. He completed his final year of eligibility with the Spartans in 2024-25.

Earlier in the offseason, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman wasn’t ruling out getting Savage’s name on a contract.

“We’ve had some discussions on potentially Red remaining in the fold on some type of contract,” Yzerman said.

As the clock ticks toward the deadline, it would appear that those talks didn’t come to fruition.

Continued; as of early July, Yzerman suggested that Red Wings assistant GM and Grand Rapids Griffins GM Shawn Horcoff would be in charge of signing Savage, and again, it appeared that the Wings were looking to sign Savage to an AHL deal. That’s unlikely now.

I’m a little disappointed that the Wings probably won’t hammer out a deal with Savage, because he’s a doggedly hard worker bee of a heart-and-soul player, but the Red Wings have several examples thereof in the organization already.

PuckPedia also has a full list of the players who will become unrestricted free agents if they don’t sign with their rights-holders today…

Bleacher Report’s Lyle Richardson has compiled a list of the “Mount Rushmore” fours for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams over the course of the last quarter-century, and his picks for the Red Wings’ foundational players are, for the most part, empty-net tap-ins:

Nicklas Lidström, Defense

Steve Yzerman, Center

Pavel Datsyuk, Center

Henrik Zetterberg, Center

Lidström won the James Norris Memorial Trophy seven times from 2000-01 to 2010-11 and was the first European to captain an NHL team to the Stanley Cup (2008).

Yzerman is the franchise assist leader (1,063) and captained the Wings to three Stanley Cups, including his last in 2002. Both are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Datsyuk is also in the Hall of Fame, winning four Lady Byng Memorial Trophies and three Frank J. Selke Trophies between 2005-06 and 2009-10.

Zetterberg won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2008 and is fifth among the franchise leaders with 337 goals, 623 assists and 960 points.

An insane list of Hall of Famers fills the Red Wings’ Quarter Century Mount Rushmore 🔥

Full list (via B/R’s Lyle Richardson) ➡️ https://t.co/TeRx6xwuNI pic.twitter.com/hk6MpsIBL0

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) August 14, 2025

I’m not certain whether I’d have Yzerman as one of the Wings’ Quarter Century icons as his career was a little more prolific in the 90’s, but that’s just a small quibble.

Raising funds to keep the blog running…Is always difficult. This August is no exception.

After a really spectacular start, we haven’t received any contributions over four of the past five days, and we’re stuck at about $320 of the $617 necessary to pay the bills this time around.

I know that it’s August, when the hockey news is relatively quiet (other than trade rumors). I know that it’s never easy to ask for funds from one’s readers, either.

But this is how a non-commercial and sponsor-free blog works, and if enduring fundraising drives is how we get by, it’s how we get by.

The Hockey News’s Jake Tye spoke with Grand Rapids Griffins assistant coach and former Griffins defenseman Brian Lashoff about the state of the Red Wings’ defense:

The Hockey News recently caught up with Brian Lashoff, Assistant Head Coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s AHL affiliate, who shared compelling insights into the system and scheme adjustments being introduced ahead of next season by the Red Wings coaching staff. According to Lashoff, it’s important for a team that struggled in a particular area the previous year to reset and establish a new “standard” for their style of play moving forward.

“You see the structure they’re putting in place, the details that they’re focusing on, and I think those types of things are going to give them success in the long run,” Lashoff explained “I think the start of the season is going to be the biggest thing and I think that’s a great thing about their staff, and is setting a standard right away, and then holding the team to that standard.”

Lashoff is no stranger to the Red Wings organization, having played 136 NHL games over seven seasons with Detroit, including a notable NHL debut in which he scored his first career goal from the blueline. However, the bulk of his career was spent in the AHL, where he logged 629 games over 14 seasons with the Griffins, serving as team captain in his final years. In 2023, he transitioned from player to coach, joining the Griffins’ coaching staff. While the shift came with its challenges, Lashoff credited the strong support from the staff around him for making the adjustment much smoother.

The Grand Rapids Griffins posted a promotional email regarding the Red vs. White Game to be held at Van Andel Arena on Sunday, September 21st…

And the email indicates that the Griffins will be hosting a slate of current and former Red Wings (as well as some Griffins alums) for autograph-signings:

JUST ANNOUNCED: Red Wings Alumni Signing!

The Detroit Red Wings are bringing their annual Red & White Game to Grand Rapids on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 3:00 p.m. This special game will feature stars such as Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, and Alex DeBrincat along with future Griffins standouts.

Just announced: Meet Red Wings legends like Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Darren McCarty, Jiri Fischer, Dan Cleary, and Niklas Kronwall during a pre-game alumni signing on the concourse.

You can purchase your tickets here, and they range from $32.89 – $43.26.

Buy your tickets today and you will receive a special discount code for Griffins Opening Night, presented by Huntington Bank on Friday, Oct. 17 in your confirmation email.

Good news for Griffins season ticket members: This exciting Red & White Game is already included in your season ticket package! No additional purchase necessary.

The Athletic’s James Mirtle answers league-wide questions in a eclectic mailbag feature this morning, and one of the questions he answers involves the Detroit Red Wings’ rebuild.

I’m only going to post part of his answer as it’s particularly long–ten paragraphs:

Will the Red Wings ever be a free-agent destination? Is the Yzerplan a massive failure?  — Derek F. 

Here’s the gist of his answer:

Is Detroit as sexy of a UFA landing spot as Vegas or Dallas right now? No. But it’s also not one of the teams that’s going on the top of players’ limited no-trade clauses like some other markets. It’s still an Original Six team, with a strong history and a new building, and it’s also close to home for a lot of NHLers. Patrick Kane certainly likes it there, for example.

The biggest thing working against the Red Wings, and the reason they’re having to overpay lower-tier talent to add free agents, is that they just haven’t been competitive enough. The no-state-tax factor has been talked to death, but the other thing in common between a lot of the teams that most players want to go to (or stay with) is that they win a lot of games. It’s coming up on a decade for Detroit out of the playoffs and they haven’t won a playoff round since that lockout-shortened season in 2013.

Steve Yzerman came back as general manager in 2019, so only six of those seasons are on him — and realistically, given the mess he inherited, this was a pretty long-term project. And they’ve had some bad luck in the draft lottery, dropping more than anyone in recent years and only picking in the top five once (Lucas Raymond at No. 4 in 2020).

But now is about the time you’d want to see real progress in the standings, and the second-half fall-off last season was disappointing.

The big question for the Red Wings is whether they have their elite talent base that can elevate them from wild-card contender to one of the best seven or eight teams in the league. I’m a big fan of Simon Edvinsson. Marco Kasper has flashed potential. And they have other very good prospects coming. We’ll see if their young players will be (a) high-end enough to compete with some of the best star cores in the league and (b) ready when their existing talent like Dylan Larkin isn’t in a downswing.

Adding a marquee free agent right now would be nice, obviously, but the Red Wings are not realistically an Ekblad away from contention anyway. Their biggest hope is a little more patience, as the kids start to hit their stride and some of the other contenders in the Atlantic Division age out. They should be a wild-card team this year, especially with their cap flexibility to work with in-season.

Continued (paywall); Mirtle suggests that this year is going to be a pivotal season for the “Yzerplan,” which is under significant pressure to display some positive results.

Quite frankly, I’ve heard on the grapevine that the Red Wings raised season ticket prices over the summer, and there are fans who are willing to pay a little more for the progress they’ve seen, and there are, of course, fans who are particularly pissed off because the Wings haven’t made the progress that they were hoping for.

The Wings are at a crossroads for sure. I don’t believe that it’s necessary to throw the rebuild in the trash and start over–nor do I believe that Yzerman is going to be fired if the Wings go nowhere this season–but there’s pressure for the Winged Wheel’s rubber to meet the road this year.

WHL.ca’s Cami Kepke examines the Western Hockey League alumni who have been drafted by and/or play for the Detroit Red Wings and their affiliates. Given the late hour at which I’m posting this, we might as well spotlight a pair of players who haven’t received a ton of virtual ink thus far:

Ondřej Becher

Becher made his pro debut with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in 2024-25, putting up 10 goals (including four powerplay markers) and 10 assists for 20 points in 59 regular-season games, despite missing the first nine games of the season as he worked back from a lower-body injury. His 10 tallies tied for second-most among the Griffins’ rookie contingent and he gained valuable playoff experience by suiting up for two Calder Cup playoff tilts. Detroit selected the 6-foot-1, 190-pound centreman with the 80th overall pick in the third round of the 2024 NHL Draft after a breakout campaign with the Prince George Cougars. Becher bagged 96 points (32G-64A) in 58 games to help the powerhouse Cougars lock up the B.C. Division title and first in the Western Conference. He graduated from the WHL with 48 goals and 86 assists for 134 points in 121 regular-season games, in addition to another 22 playoff points (6G-16A).

Emmitt Finnie

Emmitt Finnie stormed through the season with a new letter on his jersey and a plethora of new ways to light the lamp. The 20-year-old led the Kamloops Blazers with 37 goals and 47 assists for 84 points in just 55 games. Finnie ranked 15th in goals among all WHL skaters, fifth in faceoff wins (735, 56.5%) and seventh in points-per-game (1.53). Finnie cracked the 2025 WHL Western Conference Second All-Star Team and was named a finalist for the WHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year. The Lethbridge, Alta. product also went on a 12-game point streak that saw him bury six goals and 15 assists. Upon the conclusion of the rebuilding Blazers’ season, Finnie made the jump to the Griffins to suit up for 10 regular-season games, scoring his first AHL goal on April 5, 2025, tacking on four helpers and suiting up for three postseason matches. Not too shabby for a guy selected with the 201st overall pick in the seventh round of the 2023 NHL Draft! The 6-foot-1, 191-pound centreman signed his ELC with the Red Wings in March of 2024.

Continued; Becher and Finnie aren’t exactly the most-heralded of the Red Wings’ prospect pool, but they’re dark-horse candidates to keep one’s eyes upon as the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 2025-2026 regular season beckons.

The Hockey News’s Jake Tye offers several Red Wings fantasy hockey picks as potential keys to winning your fantasy hockey league, including a surging Marco Kasper as a “breakout” candidate, goaltender John Gibson as a “sleeper” pick, and winger James van Riemsdyk as a possible first-line contributor by default:

Kasper’s Added Minutes and Role Make Breakout Possible

Detroit‘s second line heading into next season is expected to be Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane centered by the young Marco Kasper. The 21-year-old Austrian forward enters his sophomore season and excelled during his time with the two veteran wingers as a rookie, posting a solid +4 net rating after playing 192.2 minutes together over 30 games. With a full season in the top six and more time with the line and on the second power play unit, he should blow past his 37 total points from last season and could also outperform his 50 point total projected by Yahoo for this season. 

His minutes per game last season finished at 15:27 and this should change as he will be in a more secure role in the top six with the potential of even hoping up to the team’s first line at left wing. If they can’t find a suitor for the line of Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, Kasper will have to be the answer but even without landing that job he should see his minutes jump to around 17-18, typical for a second line centre. 

This should lead to more chances to land more hits in which he’s projected to finish with the second-most on the team after Moritz Seider and fire off more shots as he’s projected to finish with only 151 which is just six more than his total last season at 145 despite his playing time likely seeing a sizeable spike. If you also play in a league that counts face-off wins, his added time will likely see him jump from fourth on the team in wins last season to hopefully second or third. 

Continued;

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted an article about Red Wings free agent signing Jacob Bernard-Docker today, noting that Bernard-Docker is still looking to establish himself as an everyday NHL player at 25 years of age:

“There’s a lot of potential there, and [Detroit] is a team on the right trajectory,” Bernard-Docker said in his introductory Zoom call with the media last month. “I’m super excited to go there, show what I got and hopefully be a contributor.”

Originally selected by Ottawa at No. 26 overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Jacob Bernard-Docker split last season between the Senators and Buffalo Sabres and finished with eight points (two goals, six assists) as well as a plus-5 rating in 40 games.

“Jacob Bernard-Docker gives us a little bit of depth on defense… an effective player in his time in Ottawa in particular,” Red Wings Executive Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman said last month. “He plays hard and competes.”

Having a strong sense of his identity is as a player — someone who can be “annoying and kind of always on guys” — helps Bernard-Docker set goals for himself that he works hard to achieve.

“That’s another part of my game in the NHL, I feel like maybe hasn’t been as consistent as I want it to be, is just the physicality aspect,” Jacob Bernard-Docker said. “And there’s been some games where I think I’ve shown I can do that.”

Bernard-Docker said he also wants to show he can be a reliable piece on Detroit’s penalty kill this season.

“That’s one area where I was really looking to develop and show how I played in the minors and maybe I haven’t shown as much as I’d like to in the NHL yet,” Bernard-Docker said. “It’s an area that I think is a strong part of my game. I’m willing to block shots and I’m pretty good on my stick.”

Continued; we’ll find out this fall whether JBD can break into the Red Wings’ top six on defense. That’s his stated goal, and the 6,’ 190-pound right-shooting defenseman will give his compatriots a run for their money.

Via Red Wings Prospects on Twitter comes a 2-minute, English-language video in which prospect Michal Svrcek discusses his preparations for tomorrow’s preseason premiere for Brynas IF against Timra IK:

Quick 2 min interview with Michal Svrček(4th round’25) ahead of tomorrow’s first preseason game. Brynäs had the best regular season team last year and added more veterans including Bäckström, so Svrček has his work cut out for him to lock down a big role. #LGRW https://t.co/Ctun1USjEC

— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) August 13, 2025

🎥 Den 18-årige forwarden Michal Svrcek delar med sig av sina tankar inför torsdagens försäsongsmatch mot Timrå i Holmen Center, Hudiksvall.https://t.co/CvOjWSQE9v

— Brynäs IF (@Brynas) August 13, 2025