Author: George Malik

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took inspiration from the recent MLB trade deadline to discuss the NHL’s “offseason winners and losers,” and he’s not placing the Red Wings in either category just yet:

With the NHL’s training camp set to begin in just over six weeks, why not analyze who the winners and losers are thus far this offseason around the league?

Admittedly, a lot of teams are pretty static and, on the surface, aren’t majorly better or worse.

The Red Wings, right now, would fall into that mushy middle. Acquiring goaltender John Gibson rather inexpensively (for goaltender Petr Mrazek and two draft picks) was a nice get, but general manager Steve Yzerman continues to search for a goal-scoring forward and top-four caliber defenseman.

Yzerman is hardly alone. Most GMs haven’t been able to secure the type of changes they’d have liked to this point.

Continued (paywall); I’m beginning to think that the stagnant trade marketplace means that the Wings will not make any more changes this summer, given that the prices for useful players appear to be so incredibly steep.

At this point, the most improvement the Red Wings may make this summer, the addition of John Gibson excluded, may have to come from within.

Red Wings prospect goaltender Rudy Guimond was headed back to the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats this summer, but he received an offer he could not refuse from NCAA Division 1 school Harvard this week, so he’s committed to playing for Harvard this upcoming season.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff discussed the 20-year-old’s decision today, and Duff added a very wise comment from Red Wings assistant GM and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper regarding players who take the NCAA route:

Selected 169th overall by the Red Wings in the 2023 NHL entry draft, the Detroit brass are looking upon Guimond as a long-term project. They like the idea of him playing college hockey.

“Now I think with the CHL rule and NCAA, it opens things up to a longer runway and more of an opportunity that these young prospects can play,” Red Wings assistant GM and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper said. “Whether it’s playing in the USHL or playing major junior. And still have the opportunity at 19 or 20 years old to go to school.

“It gives you a longer time and more of a development plan with these goalies.”

The Red Wings are pretty much flush with goaltenders in their developmental pipeline right now, so Guimond having the opportunity to not have to “turn pro” after this upcoming season definitely helps him take more of that “runway” to develop his game while earning a college education. For Guimond, going to college just makes more sense right now.

Sometimes all you can do is show up and try to give your best. My summer cold has turned into a fatigue-o-thon that has affected both myself and my aunt…

But I got up this morning and decided that I would give you my best, and work as I am able today. That’s part of the job that I am learning to be better at doing. It’s not pleasant or comfortable, but you show up and you grind.

As the server bill is going to be $477 this year, and I’ve got a big fat bill for $137 on the 17th of the month, I have to work on another fundraising effort, and you’re going to see one of these posts every day this month.

These might not be our favorite posts, but this blog doesn’t have ads, we don’t sell your information, and we try keep your reading experience as clean and as predatory-script free as possible.

If you would be willing to lend assistance in keeping the blog going, I would greatly appreciate it, no matter how small the donation.

Here are the details:

Bleacher Report’s Hannah Stuart has ranked the NHL’s 32 teams’ prospect pools, and the Red Wings receive a surprisingly middling ranking, finishing 13th out of 32:

13. Detroit Red Wings

Prospects to Watch: Carter Bear, Nate Danielson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka

Analysis: At this year’s draft, the Detroit Red Wings got one of my very favorite picks—Carter Bear. In a more overall sense, though, their drafting has been hit or miss for me the last few years. There were some excellent picks, and some head scratchers. But their top picks, in my view, all have a key thing in common: they can create. And that’s not a bad place to start from.

Bear’s tenacity is unreal, and he’s incredibly involved offensively, creating opportunities anywhere he can, on top of that. It’s his tenacity that makes him a perfect fit for the Red Wings, but the rest doesn’t hurt.

And Axel Sandin-Pellikka already looks like a pro when you watch the little things he does. He’ll almost certainly spend time in Grand Rapids of the AHL rather than jumping right to the NHL, but that’s a good thing—moving to North American hockey is always an adjustment, although perhaps less than it once was with today’s emphasis on smooth skating and mobility.

Continued; I can only guess that Stuart’s examining the top of the Wings’ crop, because Detroit has a deep pool of prospects, and a 13th-overall ranking seems a bit low.

Red Wings prospect Michal Svrcek has stated that he’ll be playing for Brynas IF of the Swedish SHL this upcoming season, but the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires are not giving up hope of recruiting Svrcek to play for them after selecting Svrcek in the CHL’s Import Draft.

The Windsor Star’s Jim Parker reports that Spitfires GM Bill Bowler feels that the chapter isn’t closed in terms of Svrcek’s future quite yet:

Meanwhile, Bowler is uncertain about the status of Slovakian forward Michal Svrcek, who was the team’s first-round pick in this year’s import draft.

A Detroit Red Wings’ fourth-round pick, reports out of Europe quote Svrcek as indicating he will return to play in Sweden for Brynas, but Bowler is taking a wait-and-see approach for now.

Grand Rapids Griffins defenseman Jacob Truscott was named the Big Ten conference’s “Outstanding Sportsmanship Award” for male athletes, as noted by MGoBlue.com’s Leah Howard and Kristy McNeil:

The winner of the 2024-25 Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award and a nominee for the Hockey Humanitarian Award, Truscott earned his second straight Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

A two-year captain and five-year letter-winner on the Michigan ice hockey team, Truscott led the program to three consecutive Frozen Fours and back-to-back Big Ten Tournament appearances. He graduated with a bachelor’s in applied exercise science and a graduate certificate in Real Estate. A native of Port Huron, Mich., Truscott skated in 166 games for the Wolverines and had 70 points with a +44 on-ice rating and 201 blocked shots — the fifth most in school history.

Red Wings prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s best hockey friend is Anaheim Ducks defender Stian Solberg.

This morning, Norway’s TV VG posted a 55-second clip of the pair giggling their way through a set of 5 questions as the pair prepare for their first full North American seasons back home in Norway.

I can at least tell you that Solberg makes fun of MBN for having a bad temper, and I know this isn’t “hard news,” but it’s one of those August 1st clips that makes you smile when you see how tight the bond is between the pair–but how hard they make fun of each other, too

The Hockey News’s Jake Tye reprinted an article from January’s Hockey News “People of Power and Influence” special, as written by Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff.

Duff profiles Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch, as well as CEO of Ilitch Sports + Entertainment Ryan Gustafsson, and there’s a character sketch of GM Steve Yzerman and the atmosphere of Little Caesars Arena, too.

Here’s what Duff has to say about Chris Ilitch:

Ownership – Chris Ilitch 

If Chris Ilitch can replicate with the Red Wings what he just did with his Detroit Tigers and get them back to the playoffs, the fan base’s opinion of him will certainly change. Currently, Ilitch is seen as a penny pincher by the Red Wings faithful. His parents, Mike and Marian Ilitch, on the other hand, owned well-earned reputations for spending whatever it took to put the team on track for the Stanley Cup.

To be fair to the Wings’ current president and CEO, his parents’ spending wasn’t constrained by a salary cap. They could allow their GMs free rein in order to keep winning, which is part of the reason the Red Wings made 25 successive playoff appearances between 1990-91 and 2015-16.

It’s also fair to say that when Chris Ilitch ascended to the throne as the man in charge of the Red Wings, he was arriving to a cupboard bereft of prospects.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a “split article” on Thursday, discussing Carter Bear’s recovery from a torn Achilles tendon and Carter Mazur’s recovery from a dislocated elbow:

Coaches undoubtedly are pleased Mazur is healthy. The word is that Mazur has added a significant amount of muscle. He has more than his fair share of injuries early in his pro career. Added strength could help. The Red Wings were hoping Mazur, 23, was ready to be of the big club’s mix late last season.  However, his NHL debut lasted one shift before he suffered an injury that put him out the rest of the season.

Detroit management reminds high on his potential.

Mazur is a gritty scorer with 28 goals in 86 AHL games. There’s hope he could compete for a role in top six, although he may have to make the roster as a bottom six player and work his way up.

Both DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills and the Free Press’s Helene St. James have posted articles on Mazur recently, with Mills interviewing Mazur as he attempts to make the Red Wings’ roster as a 23-year-old.

Former Red Wing Igor Larionov is going to be coaching the KHL’s flagship franchise in big-market team SKA St. Petersburg, but Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that Larionov is going to dive into the hockey podcasting sea as well:

“Bookmaker PARI and its ambassador Igor Larionov are launching a podcast about hockey,” the site reported. “Russian sports stars will visit the ‘Professor.’ PARI with Larionov is an unprecedented project in the world of hockey. This is the first time in history that an active coach is launching his own media project.

For his part, Larionov seems genuinely excited to participate in such a project.

“Many people know me as a person who has been connected to hockey all my life,” Larionov said. “And now I want to talk to you in a long, honest, lively format. Within the framework of this conversation, you can remember a lot, comprehend, and perhaps even say something that has never been said before.

“The essence of the podcast is to convey to the generation of young players, to those who love and watch the game, how success is achieved. How the first steps are taken, how young talents move on, how they achieve great progress. It’s time to talk about hockey for real.”

Larionov’s new podcast debuted on July 30. His first guest was Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko.