Author: George Malik

The Detroit Red Wings have released their 2025 training camp roster and schedule:

RED WINGS RELEASE 2025 TRAINING CAMP ROSTER AND SCHEDULE

  … Sixty-Two Players Hit the Ice From Sept. 18-20 in Traverse City …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today released their training camp roster and schedule, comprised of 62 players who will hit the ice on Thursday, Sept. 18 at Centre ICE Arena in Traverse City, Mich., for three days of camp before heading to West Michigan for the annual Red & White Game on Sunday, Sept. 21 at Van Andel Arena, home of the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

The Red Wings will bring 32 forwards, 22 defensemen and eight goaltenders to Traverse City to participate in daily on-ice practices and scrimmages. Following the Red & White Game, the Red Wings will break camp to return to Detroit ahead of their eight-game preseason slate, which is highlighted by home games against the Chicago Blackhawks (Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 p.m.), Buffalo Sabres (Thursday, Sept. 25 at 7:00 p.m.), Pittsburgh Penguins (Monday, Sept. 29 at 7:00 p.m.) and Toronto Maple Leafs (Saturday, Oct. 4 at 7:00 p.m.) 

A limited number of tickets remain for select training camp events. Tickets for all events are available on https://mynorthtickets.com/organizations/centre-ice. Ticket prices are as follows:

·       Training Camp Practice (Thursday, Sept. 18): $20 general admission

·       Training Camp Practice (Friday, Sept. 19): $20 general admission

·       Training Camp Practice (Saturday, Sept. 20): $30 general admission

Additionally, a limited number of tickets for the Red & White Game are available to the general public through griffinshockey.com. Ticket prices are as follows:

·       Red & White Game (Sunday, Sept. 21): $28-$63 reserved (additional $3 per ticket on game day)

Select 2025 Training Camp merchandise will also be available for purchase in the arena store on the upper level behind the concession stand. For more information on tickets or merchandise, please call Centre ICE Arena at (231) 933-7465 or visit www.centreice.org. 

Detroit Red Wings 2025-26 Training Camp Roster

Daily Faceoff’s Scott Maxwell has been ranking the respective salary cap situations of the NHL’s 32 teams over the last couple of weeks, and the Red Wings receive a surprisingly high ranking–though it’s a nuanced one, with some criticism interspersed inside the 8th overall spot:

8. Detroit Red Wings

Contract Rating: 23^rd
Contracts with No-Trade/No-Move Clauses: t-12^th
Dead Cap Space: 22^nd
Quality of Core: 2^nd
Cap Space to Skill Differential: 5^th

If there’s one team that sticks out like a sore thumb on this list, it’s the Red Wings. After all, they aren’t even close to being a consistent playoff contender, never mind a Cup contender. Considering all the criticism Steve Yzerman has rightfully gotten for his moves lately, it’s surprising to see Detroit up this high.

But there are two factors that are a driving force for this ranking. First, the three players that are currently locked up long term for the Red Wings are also their three best players: Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider. Also, the Wings fare well because contracts like Ben Chiarot, J.T. Compher and Andrew Copp are no longer in that range like they used to be, but that’s about as good as it gets as far as securing a core long term.

And then there’s their cap space to skill differential. The Red Wings aren’t a great team (and my model agrees, ranking them 21st right now), but they also aren’t spending like a top team either. With nearly $12 million in cap space, they have the sixth-most in the league right now, which means that hopefully when they do spend, it will improve the roster as well.

That said, Yzerman isn’t reliable for spending wisely, and it’s created the team’s biggest weakness: their contract rating. Outside of getting market value for their main core and cheap deals with some of their younger players (like Simon Edvinsson, Marco Kasper and Elmer Soderblom) and a few veterans (like Erik Gustavsson, Cam Talbot and James van Riemsdyk), the Red Wings just aren’t getting good value on their players. Mason Appleton, Chiarot, Compher, Copp, Travis Hamonic, Patrick Kane, even John Gibson are the biggest names for Detroit whose contracts don’t rate well. It just feels like they could be doing a bit better spending in that regard, and maybe that would put them in consistent playoff contention.

Continued; more aggressive trading + better pro scouting + continued prospect development = a better way. At least probably.

Of Red Wings prospect-related note:

In the MHL, Nikita Tyurin had 2 assists, finishing at +4 in 22:40 played as MHK Spartak won 7-1 over Red Machine Junior Moscow Oblast.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses the extra weight and strength gained by Red Wings prospects Carter Mazur, Axel Sandin Pellikka and Nate Danielson:

[Amadeus] Lombardi said at the prospect series against the Dallas Stars that defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka (17th, 2023) “looks bigger for sure, and stronger.”

“Just giving the eye test,” Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson said of Sandin Pellikka, “it looks like he went home and had a really good summer, and he’s prepared to challenge for a spot in Detroit.”

Nate Danielson (drafted ninth, 2023), another candidate to make the Detroit roster, said he spent “a lot of time in the gym this summer.”

He’s added eight pounds of muscle to reach 198 pounds. Danielson learned last season, in his first full AHL campaign, that his body needed sculpting.

“Playing against older and stronger guys, you realize that you need that little bit extra, extra weight.,” Danielson said. “I feel great. Especially down low in the corners and just being stronger on my skates. That was the main thing. As the year goes on, tend to lose a little bit of weight. It’s nice to come into camp a little bit heavier.”

Danielson is only 20. Time is on his side when it comes to growing stronger.

“You have an opportunity to get in the gym, an opportunity to work on things that you need to,” [Red Wings assistant GM Kris] Draper said, “and just kind of let Mother Nature take over on some of these underdeveloped bodies.”

Continued

Via Red Wings Prospects on Twitter comes this important note:

Max Plante Named to NCHC Preseason All-Conference Team

More on Plante: https://t.co/zZuV8d3eF4 pic.twitter.com/7eYhlM6CBT

— UMD Men's Hockey (@UMDMensHockey) September 17, 2025

Per the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs‘ website:

One day after being named an alternate captain for the University of Minnesota Duluth men’s hockey team, Max Plante has been named to the 2025-26 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Preseason All-Conference Team.

The sophomore forward, despite playing in just 23 games last season due to injury and national junior team duty, scored nine goals and dished 19 assists for 28 points as a rookie. That 1.21 points per game average for the Hermantown, Minn. product helped make him a 2024-25 Finalist for NCHC Rookie of the Year, and cleared him a spot on the 2024-25 NCHC All-Rookie Team. Plante – who had nine games with two or more points last season – posted a 1.05 ppg average in NCHC games that led all rookies in league play. Plante also helped the U.S. win gold at the 2025 World Junior Championship in January.

Plante becomes the first Bulldog to land on the league’s preseason team since current Philadelphia Flyers forward Noah Cates earned the honor ahead of the 2021-22 season.

2025-26 NCHC Preseason All-Conference Team
F: Sam Harris, Denver, Jr. – 22 votes
F: Cullen Potter, Arizona State, So. – 19 votes
F: Max Plante, Minnesota Duluth, So. – 15 votes
D: Jake Livanavage, North Dakota, Jr. – 25 votes
D: Eric Pohlkamp, Denver, Jr. – 16 votes
G: Hampton Slukynsky, Western Michigan, So. – 21 votes

Plante and the Bulldogs will open up the 2025-26 season against the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Fairbanks, Alaska on Oct. 3-4. The Friday-Saturday series will get underway that Friday at 10:00 p.m. CDT.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James offers her take on Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s press conference, suggesting that fan (and media) frustration doesn’t necessarily register with the Red Wings’ program:

“The goal here is to build a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup,” Yzerman said Wednesday, Sept. 17. “We’re going to continue to try and run a good program, we’re going to continue to try and improve each season with the goal of becoming a playoff team and a team that eventually competes for a Stanley Cup.”

This week marks the start of training camps around the 32-team NHL, and the Wings are nobody’s preseason favorite to be playing next June. But what about just making the playoffs, ending a streak that’s grown to a franchise-tarnishing nine straight seasons?

“I understand the frustration or maybe the lack of, I don’t want to say patience because I think everybody’s been pretty patient, but the sense of urgency within the fan base,” Yzerman said. “I understand it. But you guys heard it when Kenny Holland was here – you want to go into a rebuild, it takes time and it takes a long time. It’s not finishing at the bottom for a couple years getting a high pick and away you go, it’s over.  Just looking around at all franchises, it’s taken along time for them to do it.”

It takes a long time isn’t exactly a marketing department’s dream slogan. Yzerman is right that his predecessor, Holland, used to say the same thing – find a general manager that says otherwise – but the Wings head into camp coming off a season that saw them, for the first time since Yzerman was named GM in April 2019, regress in the standings points-wise, finishing with 86 points, five less than in 2023-24. They were also eliminated days before the end of the season, rather than forcing it all the way to overtime in the final game of the previous season.

Last season was marked by a coaching change at Christmas, and there’s no doubt that Todd McLellan being in charge from the start of camp will be beneficial. He’ll have largely the same team in front of him when the Wings take the ice starting Thursday, Sept. 18 in Traverse City, with only a handful of new faces: Forwards James van Riemsdyk and Mason Appleton, defensemen Travis Hamonic and Jacob Bernard-Docker, and goaltender John Gibson.

“Our goal is to improve from last year,” Yzerman said. “Our younger players taking another step, the addition to John Gibson in goal – how good? Can’t really tell you at this stage,  but I expect our team to be improved.”

Continued (paywall)

MLive’s Ansar Khan found a set of comments from Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s morning press conference which summarize the GM’s outlook for the 2025-2026 Red Wings team:

“I see progress in the organization,” Yzerman said Wednesday while addressing the media on the eve of training camp in Traverse City. “I look at the young players coming into the organization — I look at the young players playing on the Detroit Red Wings today — I’m hopeful that maybe one or two of them, at some point, if not at the start, get into our lineup. So, at some point during the season we continue to build a young core that eventually is here for a long time and competes on a regular basis to make the playoffs.”

The Red Wings return with much the same roster that finished 39-35-8 (86 points), five points out of the final playoff spot, due to a thin free-agent market and, according to Yzerman, limited trade opportunities.

Their biggest upgrade is in goal, acquiring John Gibson in a trade with Anaheim. They also added depth wingers James van Riemsdyk and Mason Appleton and third-pair defensemen Travis Hamonic and Jacob Bernard-Docker.

“Hopefully with a combination of John and Cam (Talbot) we can improve (their save percentage),” Yzerman said. “I look at our D corps with Simon (Edvinsson) going into his second full year. Albert (Johansson) quietly had a very steady year. Hopefully, both take another step. Marco Kasper playing more minutes down the stretch and performing very well. We’re hopeful he can continue that trajectory. Even the (Moritz Seiders and Lucas Raymonds) I consider still really young, and their career path is on the rise. And then I think at the bottom of our lineup I expect to get a little bit more production which will help us five-on-five. Penalty killing (which ranked last in the league), we have to improve that area.

“We know what to expect out of our veteran group (led by Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane). These guys are all well-conditioned, very professional. I don’t expect any drop-off in them. So really it comes from our younger guys improving.”

Continued (paywall)

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

UPDATE: The Detroit Red Wings announced Jared VanZant as the new Grand Rapids Griffins physical therapist #GoGRG

DETAILS >> https://t.co/vCv782Fcrn pic.twitter.com/DYYsJ9w15Y

— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) September 17, 2025

JARED VAN ZANT NAMED PHYSICAL THERAPIST FOR GRIFFINS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday announced Jared Van Zant as the new Grand Rapids Griffins physical therapist, working alongside head athletic trainer Austin Frank.

Van Zant most recently served as a physical therapist from 2023-25 at Team Rehabilitation Bloomfield 2 – Sports Specialty Clinic in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Van Zant also has experience as a human anatomy teaching assistant and student tutor for Wayne State University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program.

Van Zant received his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology with a concentration in exercise and sports science in 2019 from Wayne State University and a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Wayne State in 2023. He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist in addition to possessing certificates in Hawk Grips, functional dry needling, and applied functional science. He is also a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and National Strength and Conditioning Association.

For those of you wondering, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman did address his relationship with the team’s ownership during this morning’s pre-training camp press conference, as noted by the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

Yzerman meets with owner Chris Ilitch regularly and the two understand rebuilding a hockey organization can take time.

“Chris and I have spoken and going back to when he hired me, that it’s going to take a long time, and we’re going to be patient and going to allow our young players to develop, rely heavily on the draft and hopefully over time, these young players that we draft turn into NHL players,” Yzerman said.

“How many years is it supposed to take? I don’t know, is it four, five, or 10 years? Ultimately it’s ownership’s decision when they feel they’re not (comfortable) with the direction of the club or plan, that’s their decision. But Chris and I have spoken about it and he’s understood the process and where we’re at.

“We’re not completely tone deaf. We know the expectations and hopes of our fan base, but we’ll continue with the process and look for opportunities to expedite it whether that’s through trades or free agency, but we’ll continue doing what we have to do.

“Ultimately my job is to do what is right for the organization and we’ll continue to do that.”

Continued (paywall);

Update: Per the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker:

EliteProspects/DLLS Stars/Shap Shots’ Sean Shapiro offers several cogent observations from Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s press conference today:

It’s about building a Stanley Cup contender, not a playoff team

This isn’t news, we’ve heard Yzerman speak multiple times about how he wants to build a team that competes for the Stanley Cup, not one that simply makes the playoffs.

It’s also hard to ignore the fact that this franchise has now never gone this long without a playoff appearance. Yzerman was asked about that multiple times, about the pressure and where things are, he approached each answer as he typically has — he sees progress, rebuilds take time, and one of his new favorite topics, how he sees things different than the media that only cares about getting into the postseason.

One reporter, particular, has had the same back-and-forth with Yzerman in each of his past three media settings if my notes are correct.

“We know they’re are expectations and the hopes for our fan base and for the media as well, but continue with the process and look for opportunities,” Yzerman said. “As I said, to expedite it, whether that’s through trade or free agency. But we’ll continue with doing what we have to do. And ultimately, my job is to do what’s right for the organization, and I will continue to do that.”

Yzerman also spoke about internal growth and the addition of John Gibson, how players like Simon Edvinsson and Marco Kasper will take strides, and how that should help with the long-term goal.

Continued (paywall)