DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted an article regarding Red Wings trade acquisition Keegan Kolesar, a 29-year-old checking forward who hopes to institute something of a culture change after being acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights:

“Really excited to join a group that, playing against them for years now, they have a tremendous amount of skill and talent in their lineup,” Kolesar said in his introductory Zoom call with the media on July 2. “Just talking to guys now, they felt that there was a missing piece, maybe an identity of just having that — not the fighting aspect, but more of the toughness and being hard to play against, being a veteran presence on the front end, bringing guys into the fight. I think that’s something I can provide.”

Kolesar was acquired in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights on July 1 for Detroit’s third-round pick in the 2029 NHL Entry Draft and seventh-round selection in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft. He appeared in all 82 regular-season games for Vegas in 2025-26, recording 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) before tallying one goal in 21 Stanley Cup Playoff matchups.

“You can call me an old-school type of player,” he said. “Forecheck, backcheck, paycheck. I just want to help the team win. I’ve always felt the team comes first in every scenario. If there is any way I can help the team win, that’s what I’ll do.”

Few players have imposed themselves physically more consistently over the past few seasons than Kolesar, who piled up 270 hits in 2025-26 — the seventh-most in the NHL.

“It can be a pretty big toll on the body,” Kolesar said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to be pretty healthy throughout my career. I mean, knock on wood, nothing too bad…That’s an aspect that I try to bring. I think when you have that in your lineup, it makes everyone play a little bit tougher. You can play a little bit more confident when you have someone that is going to go into the trenches and do all the dirty work like that.”

Continued; Kolesar told Mills that some adjustment period will be necessary after playing for one organization during his playing career:

“You play your entire career in one spot, it’s very rare,” said Kolesar, who was originally selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the third round (No. 69 overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. “It’ll take some time to get over it because I’ve made so many great relationships in [Las Vegas]. It’ll take some time to turn the page, but that’s just the human side of it.”

It’s been almost a week since I revealed that Aunt Annie and I are trying to raise funds to defray the cost of paying our property taxes for this upcoming year.

I’ve tried to not whack y’all over the head with this one, but we’re in a tricky situation right now.

Aunt Annie and I make “subsistence wages”–i.e. we make just enough money to pay our bills, but every dollar that comes in the door goes out the door despite our relatively spartan lifestyle.

That’s what happens when we have to live on AA’s Social Security and my very meager wages as a State of Michigan-employed caregiver, and that’s okay, but the property taxes make our situation particularly complicated.

Bleacher Report’s Hannah Stuart “checks in” on every NHL team’s 2025 1st round pick some 13 months after the 2025 NHL Draft, and, in the Red Wings’ case, Everett Silvertips graduate and 13th overall pick Carter Bear has recovered well from a partially torn Achilles tendon suffered toward the end of the 2024-2025 campaign.

Bear’s turning pro this upcoming season with a WHL title in tow, preparing for his first full campaign with the Grand Rapids Griffins:

13. Detroit Red Wings: Carter Bear, LW

How He Performed During 2025-26 Season:

At first glance, it would be easy to assume that Carter Bear had a worse season with the Everett Silvertips than his draft year. This is why we don’t judge at first glance, and instead look further for context. Bear’s point totals this season were lower, with 77 points in 53 games compared to 82 points in 56 the year before, and he got off to a slow start. 

But his point-per-game pace wasn’t really different; last year’s was 1.46 points-per-game, where this year’s was 1.45. He also tallied 22 points in 18 postseason games with the Silvertips. Add to that the fact that Bear was in the middle of overhauling certain aspects of his game, and you have a different viewpoint from which to judge. He really focused on improving the physical side of his game this year, clearly working with an eye toward his professional hockey future as he became more of a net-front presence while also developing other physical aspects of his game.

Future Outlook:

He probably needs more seasoning, so don’t take this as a 100 percent pronouncement, but it would not be surprising to see Carter Bear make the Red Wings next season. The organization is undergoing changes at the top, and captain Dylan Larkin’s trade request has been all over the news, so it’s hard to project anything firmly right now. 

But Bear would benefit from the challenge of professional hockey, and the Red Wings would benefit from his intensity and never-quit motor. It’s not really something they have in large amounts right now.

Continued; Bear is not overly big at 6′ and 187 pounds, but he’s stocky, he’s plucky, and he’s got a lot of take-no-shit grit to his game.

I don’t expect him to make the Red Wings out of training camp, but he does have a bright future, not only due to his skill set, but also because he’s got a hell of a work ethic and “compete level.”

The Athletic’s Max Bultman does some heavy lifting this morning, wondering aloud what the Red Wings’ new management group should do given that Dylan Larkin has not rescinded his trade request nearly two months after the disgruntled captain asked the outgoing GM for a trade.

Bultman argues that it’s a little too early to be planning a warm, fuzzy reunion between Larkin and the new management group, given that we still don’t know who the hell the new management group will consist of, so, for the present moment, it’s about examining what options are open between the estranged captain and a general manager who’s about to assist in the selection of his replacement.

Bultman wonders aloud whether the Red Wings really could convince Larkin to remain a Red Wing somehow, and whether that would even matter given that the rest of the Atlantic Division improved, while the Red Wings…

Waited for a Dylan Larkin trade that did not materialize, treading water otherwise:

The Red Wings made some targeted additions in Viktor Arvidsson and Keegan Kolesar, but appear to be losing veteran scorers Patrick Kane and James van Riemsdyk. They look like they’ll mainly be relying on internal improvement to compete for a wild-card spot.

In other words, even if Larkin does stay, it’s entirely possible the Red Wings are looking at another year outside the playoffs. Is that worth all the boos [Larkin will receive from Red Wings fans]?

From the Red Wings’ standpoint, it may well be. Larkin is a No. 1 center, and it’s likely they’ll “lose” any trade for him. That’s what tends to happen when you’re giving up the best player in a deal. Even if they miss the playoffs again, having him would mean a chance to compete.

There’s no doubt in my mind that any trade in which Larkin is the best player in the trade is a “loss,” which is why I’ve argued that the Red Wings may need to “lose the Larkin trade with dignity” in order to move forward…

Bleacher Report’s Adam Gretz discusses “5 teams that need a game-changing trade after missing out during the 2026 offseason,” and Gretz includes the Red Wings on his list:

Detroit Red Wings: Whether Steve Yzerman stepped away from the Detroit Red Wings general manager role on his own, or if he was forced out of it does not really matter. It is irrelevant to the reality that something needed to change here.

(Yes, it does matter…But not necessarily for Gretz’s point)…

The team is on a 10-year playoff drought, seven under Yzerman’s watch, with some absolutely appalling late-season meltdowns to blame for it. Even worse, his longest-tenured player and team captain, Dylan Larkin, requested a trade this offseason.

Does that request still stand with a new GM? Possibly. Whether it does or does not, and whether the Red Wings trade him or play hardball with him, this is still a team desperately needing something to give it a spark.

Especially given the fact they still have $19.5 million in unused salary cap space and only restricted free agent defenseman Simon Edvinsson left to re-sign.

Potentially moving Larkin out would likely open up more salary cap space.

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. File this one under, “It’s been busy and some things slip through the radar screen.”

I’ve mentioned twice now that Marco Kasper took part in some intense on-ice skills camps held by Yanick and Samuel Dube in Lausanne, Switzerland and then in Kasper’s hometown of Klagenfurt, Austria, working alongside fellow NHL’er J.J. Peterka (among other NHL and European pro players).

It didn’t occur to me until Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff wrote as much that Kasper’s status as back on the ice after suffering a knee injury that forced #92 onto crutches and out of the World Championship mix this spring = good news for Kasper’s overall health:

The NHL Network’s E.J. Hradek discusses two important topics in a “quickie” clip from Monday’s episode of the NHL Tonight on the NHL Network, wondering aloud whether the Red Wings’ next GM can mend fences with Dylan Larkin, and then discussing what restricted free agent defenseman Simon Edvinsson’s next salary might entail:

How does the change in the @DetroitRedWings' front office impact the Dylan Larkin situation?

📺: #NHLTonight on NHL Network pic.twitter.com/cjQGI8QsMI

— NHL Media (@NHLMedia) July 20, 2026

The Detroit News’s John Niyo posted a meaty Monday night column, discussing his top 20 Detroit sports trades of the past 30 years, across all Detroit’s four major sports franchises.

The Red Wings’ best trades–and Niyo lists 7 of them–have involved both taking advantage of other teams’ disgruntled players, and they’ve involved some calculus as to which players would end up providing the most value for their investment over the long haul:

3. Oct. 9, 1996: Red Wings trade Paul Coffey, Keith Primeau and 1997 first-round pick to Hartford for Brendan Shanahan and Brian Glynn

Shanahan wanted out of a hopeless situation in Hartford, and Primeau wasn’t happy with his role in Detroit. But the big winner in this trade was Scotty Bowman, who got the power forward he needed to help the Red Wings end their championship drought. Shanahan was a huge part of the Wings’ three Stanley Cups (1997-98, 2002), while Primeau had a solid career that ended a decade later due to post-concussion syndrome. Coffey, whose attempts to derail the trade enraged Bowman, ended up getting dealt again to Philadelphia, where the offensive-minded defenseman was on the losing end of the ’97 Cup finals. That first-round pick was Nikos Tselios, who played in just two NHL games.

In the case of Shanahan, the Red Wings were able to take advantage of another team’s disgruntled performer in landing the best player in the trade. While the Whalers/Hurricanes got a hell of a second-half career out of Keith Primeau, Coffey flamed out in Hartford and bounced around, finishing his playing days in Chicago.

5. July 1, 2001: Red Wings trade Vyacheslav Kozlov and 2002 first-round pick to Buffalo for Dominik Hasek

Adding the “Dominator” was a stunner, no doubt. Hasek was the top goalie in the world and had just won his sixth Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best netminder. But with the Sabres in the midst of a roster teardown, Red Wings GM Ken Holland pounced on the opportunity to add another Hall of Famer to a stacked roster that was a few years removed from back-to-back Cup wins. Hasek replaced Chris Osgood in net and backstopped another title run, posting a 1.86 goals-against average with six shutouts in the playoffs. He briefly retired after that, then returned twice more to the Wings, winning another Cup in Detroit as Osgood’s backup in the 2008 playoffs. Kozlov, who’d been part of the Russian Five in Detroit, only spent one year in Buffalo before finishing his NHL career in Atlanta.

Again, Dom wanted “out” of Buffalo, and he essentially picked his own destination, so the Red Wings were able to offload the playoff-savvy Kozlov to Buffalo as a return. Kozlov actually had a fairly good tenure with the Thrashers, but they struggled to get over the playoff hump.

WDIV Local 4 posted a 13:30-long video in which Dr. Murray Howe spoke with Local 4’s Nick Monacelli about the imminent (and delayed) opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge:

MLive’s Ansar Khan wonders aloud whether the Red Wings’ next general manager and/or president of hockey operations (whatever we’re calling “who comes next,” anyway) might be able to salvage the team’s relationship with disgruntled captain Dylan Larkin.

Khan argues that it’s obvious that the Red Wings can’t obtain the “equal value” they’re seeking for Larkin from the Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights or Minnesota Wild (who are, admittedly, offering “futures”-based returns).

To stave off delaying the Red Wings’ rebuild even further, Khan believes that the next GM/president and owner Christopher Ilitch must engage in a full-court press to mend fences with Larkin: