Author: George Malik

Updated at 9:40 AM: The Athletic’s Chris Johnston updated his NHL “trade board” for the 5th time this morning, and he discusses the potential fates of two current members of the Red Wings’ organization:

2. Dylan Larkin

Team: Detroit Red Wings
Position: Center
Shoots: Left
2025-26 stats: 34 goals, 67 points, 74 games
Age: 29
Contract: $8.7 million AAV through 2031; no-trade clause becomes 10-team no-trade list in 2028-29

Larkin is a speedy two-way center who is an ever-present threat to score. He can handle big minutes and tough checking assignments and is known as a competitive player who battles his way to the difficult areas of the ice. While his playoff experience is limited to just five games, Larkin was a strong performer for Team USA at the Milan Olympics and 4 Nations Face-Off. His contract makes him an even more attractive asset because he’s locked in at a reasonable rate of $8.7 million for the next five seasons. The Vegas Golden Knights — one of his favored destinations — could be lurking in the weeds here.

The thing that pisses me off the most about losing Larkin is that he drives play, and it’s rare to find a driver of play.

Anyway, I don’t think that the Wings will trade Larkin to Vegas without Pavel Dorofeyev in return, and I don’t believe that the Golden Knights are interested in moving Dorofeyev, so we may see a “futures” flip with a third team if that situation works out.

Let’s move on to discuss Sebastian Cossa’s situation:

The 2026 NHL Draft takes place tonight and tomorrow in Buffalo, New York.

The 1st round will air on ESPN in the U.S. and Sportsnet in Canada, and the 2nd through 7th rounds begin at 11 AM EDT on Saturday, airing on the NHL Network and Sportsnet.

The Red Wings 7 draft picks, as of this morning, are the 47th, 79th, 108th, 143rd, 175th, 196th and 207th overall draft picks.

This morning, the Free Press’s Christian Romo and Helene St. James weigh in on what we might occur over the course of the next 50-something hours…

The latest on the Dylan Larkin situation

It’s going on three weeks since someone leaked that Wings captain Dylan Larkin requested a trade to a contender. As the Free Press was first to report, Larkin’s initial destinations focused on the Panthers (no state tax), the Minnesota Wild and the Vegas Golden Knights. That doesn’t mean other teams couldn’t get involved, even with Larkin having a no-trade clause, or that it ends up being a multi-faceted trade.

The Wings need something along the lines of Larkin in return: A top-line center in his prime with a history of scoring. The fact Larkin is under contract for five more seasons, at a reasonable $8.7 million salary cap hit, makes him all the more attractive to teams. Pretty much all teams are always looking to upgrade at the center spot. It’s also why Yzerman may ultimately play hardball and hang on to Larkin. However awkward that might be come camp and games, at the end of the day, Yzerman is running a business.

At this point, I’m all but expecting a Larkin trade to include a 3rd team so that the Red Wings can flip future assets for present-day help.

I don’t see Florida trading Anton Lundell, I don’t see Minnesota moving Charlie Stramel and Danila Yurov, and I don’t see Vegas moving Pavel Dorofeyev (nor can I imagine the Dallas Stars offering Mavrik Bourque) in return for Larkin…

Updated 2x at 9:55 PM: On the eve of the NHL Draft’s two-day extravaganza of prospects, trades and endless waiting for the first round to get over and done with, Daily Faceoff offered some Dylan Larkin “intel” from The Fourth Period’s wise and wily David Pagnotta, who reports that Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman wants to get the Larkin situation finished by the end of the draft weekend, if not by free agency…

Steve Yzerman is holding firm when it comes to Dylan Larkin, but he still doesn't want negotiations with his "disgruntled captain" to drag on.

FULL EPISODE:
🖥️YouTube: https://t.co/cKxA08mAyh
🎧Apple: https://t.co/d61bH73Hf1
🎧Spotify: https://t.co/EjfIuXbKps@TheFourthPeriod |… pic.twitter.com/TraIGkAKds

— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) June 26, 2026

Though we all know the man who has a “disgruntled” player (Pagnotta’s smartly-chosen descriptor) won’t give in until he’s satisfied with the return may very well let things play out for the balance of the summer if he can’t get the return he wants for the Wings’ number one center (that would be Andrew Copp, now, right?)

Anyway, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and John Buccigross offered a humorous take on the situation from Buffalo, where the draft is being held…

Not surprisingly, The Fourth Period reports that other NHL teams are inquiring about the availability of Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat, who has 1 year remaining on his contract:

It is unclear if the Red Wings have an appetite to explore a trade involving DeBrincat, at this stage, but citing multiple league sources, TFP’s David Pagnotta reports teams have reached out.

DeBrincat owns a 16-team no-trade list as part of his contract and does have some control in where he ends up, if dealt.

The Edmonton Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Seattle Kraken and Buffalo Sabres are some of the teams exploring the market for a top-line, scoring winger and could have interest in DeBrincat.

DeBrincat scored 41 goals and added a career-high 44 assists for a career-high 85 points in 82 games with the Red Wings this past season.

Continued; everything for the Wings depends on what happens with the team’s direction post-Dylan Larkin.

We’re going to have to wait and see whether Patrick Kane, who can test the free agent marketplace next Wednesday, agrees to remain here if the Larkin trade isn’t consummated by then, and whether the Wings acquire players that can help now or “future considerations” in the form of prospects and draft picks will determine whether DeBrincat remains…

Though I have a feeling that DeBrincat is a stronger pick to remain a Red Wing than Kane at this point.

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

UPDATE: The #RedWings have acquired a 4th round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Amadeus Lombardi. pic.twitter.com/2LyOV7KLuW

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 25, 2026

It’s a little disappointing to see the Wings “give up” on Lombardi, but the smallish center‘s point-per-game status at the AHL belied a set of injuries that cost him half-season absences over the past two seasons.

Update: According to PuckPedia, the Wings now have pick #108 to use on Saturday:

🚨 Trade #NJDevils
Amadeus Lombardi 23 y/o F, – RFA#LGRW
‘26 4th (#108)https://t.co/TmQdcJbjui

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) June 25, 2026

So the Wings have picks 47, 79, 108, 143, 175, 196 and 207 in this weekend’s NHL Draft in Buffalo.

UPDATE: Here’s the Wings’ official press release:

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses the Red Wings’ goaltending options at both the NHL and AHL levels should the team decide to trade Sebastian Cossa.

Allen believes that Cossa’s headed out at 23 going on 24 this November, with his waiver-exempt status expiring, and, as such, Detroit will have to determine whether Michal Postava is ready for NHL duty after his late-season surge in the AHL, and whether Trey Augustine’s ready to start in GR:

The question Yzerman must answer is whether he can trust prospect Michal Postava to start the season as John Gibson’s Detroit backup. If Yzerman has unwavering belief in Postava, then the Red Wings can play the much-heralded Trey Augustine 45-plus games with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Postava, 24, has given the Red Wings reason to believe he is ready for the NHL. He outplayed Cossa by posting a 17-6 record with a 1.76 GAA and .937 save percentage. He surrendered more than three goals in a game only once in 33 regular season and playoff games.

The only concern about Postava is that this past season was his in North America. Is that enough for GM Steve Yzerman who values AHL experience? Postava did win a Czech championship two seasons ago.

Yzerman’s other option would be to sign an NHL veteran to pair with Gibson and let Postava have more time in Grand Rapids.

Allen also believes that we may see another “Michael Hutchinson” situation, in which the team would have Postava back up Gibson, but also bring in an AHL-level goaltender to mentor Augustine in Grand Rapids:

If the Red Wings are going to go with Postava, Yzerman might sign an AHL veteran to play with Augustine in Grand Rapids. Then, if the Detroit team suffers a goalie injury, the Red Wings would not have to rush Augustine with limited pro experience.

Detroit also has Carter Gylander, a restricted free agent. He played impressively well (7-0-1, 1.62 GAA) this past season when called up to Grand Rapids.

Red Wings beat writers Ansar Khan, Helene St. James and Ted Kulfan weighed in on the Dylan Larkin situation on Thursday afternoon.

Khan wrote an article about the dynamics of Larkin as a moving target…

I’m not the only person who’s disappointed that the Red Wings aren’t holding their prospect tournament or training camp in Traverse City.

However, the 9&10 News’s Kyle Garrison reports that Centre ICE Arena director Todd Spaulding is taking a circumspect view about the situation:

“I think it was cool for everybody to have them up here right in our backyard and right in a small rink where they can see well. So, I think it was cool, very cool for everyone,” Spaulding said.

Spaulding highlighted the economic benefits the camp brought to the area. “I think that there’s quite a few people that come up here, hotels, restaurants and things like that. So I think it’s a pretty big impact,” Spaulding said.

Let’s just say that I’ve suspected this all along, per a transcript of TSN’s “Early Trading” segment from this afternoon on YouTube.

TSN/The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun spoke with Gino Reda about Vincent Trocheck’s standing with the New York Rangers, and the question segued into a discussion of Dylan Larkin’s status.

According to LeBrun, the Red Wings are in no hurry to trade Larkin, and this could go all summer–and into training camp–if Steve Yzerman doesn’t find a fair return for the Wings’ soon-to-be-former captain:

GINO REDA: The Rangers and Vincent Trocheck seem to agree that he should be on his way out of New York.

The sticking point there seems to be that the Rangers don’t want to give him away for nothing. Any progress there?

PIERRE LeBRUN: I think they’re going to regret not moving him at the March 6 trade deadline.

There was a lot of interest in him, and they decided to not move him and wait until the off-season. Of course, they couldn’t have predicted that Dylan Larkin would ask for a trade [from the Detroit Red Wings].

The reason I bring that up is that from talking to other people around the league is that the Rangers would prefer Larkin get traded first so that they can control the centre market with Trocheck.

It sounds great in theory, and maybe that’ll happen that way, but Larkin isn’t going anywhere until the Red Wings get what they’re asking for him. I know people might roll their eyes, but we’re talking about Steve Yzerman here [as general manager of the Red Wings].

From talking to other teams, what they’re telling me is that Detroit has told teams that if they don’t get their price met on Larkin, they’re willing to tell him to come back to training camp in September.

Any other team I’d say that’s posturing, but I believe it when teams tell me that about Yzerman.

Again, Larkin could move any day now. I’m just saying you don’t know how wise it is for the Rangers to sit and wait for a Larkin deal because I’m not sure how quickly that deal is coming.

Here’s the clip:

The Red Wings extended the contract of defenseman William Wallinder, 23, today. He’ll compete for a roster spot this fall as he’s no longer waiver exempt:

RED WINGS SIGN WILLIAM WALLINDER TO TWO-YEAR, TWO-WAY CONTRACT EXTENSION

  … 2020 Second-Round Pick Has Skated in 194 Games with Grand Rapids Since 2022-23 …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today signed defenseman William Wallinder to a two-year, two-way contract extension.

Wallinder, 23, spent the entire 2025-26 season with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins, recording 20 points (2-18-20), a plus-21 rating and 23 penalty minutes in 66 regular-season games. The 6-foot-4, 208-pound defenseman also tallied one goal and two penalty minutes in eight Calder Cup Playoff matchups. Wallinder played the 2024-25 season with the Griffins, logging 19 points (2-17-19) and 10 penalty minutes in 62 regular-season games before skating in three postseason contests. Selected by the Red Wings in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Wallinder has collected 54 points (7-47-54), a plus-11 rating and 43 penalty minutes in 194 AHL games with the Griffins since 2022-23.

A native of Sollefteå, Sweden, Wallinder played two seasons with Rögle BK in the Swedish Hockey League, compiling 45 points (11-34-45), a plus-eight rating and 16 penalty minutes in 97 games from 2021-23. He also helped Rögle BK win a Champions Hockey League title in 2022. Wallinder made his professional debut with MODO Hockey in Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan, totaling eight points (1-7-8) and 16 penalty minutes in 61 games from 2019-21. Wallinder also logged 31 points (7-24-31) in 43 games with MODO’s under-20 squad and 23 points (6-17-23) in 29 games at the under-18 level. On the international stage, Wallinder earned a bronze medal representing his country at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, recording three assists and a plus-three rating in seven games. He also captured a bronze medal at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, finishing with a plus-one rating in five appearances.

Update: Daily Faceoff’s Tyler Kuehl posted the following Tweet:

The #LGRW signed 23 y/o D William Wallinder to 2 year 875K cap hit deal

Year 1 850K NHL, 110K minors, 150K guaranteed
Year 2 900K NHL, 750K minors

Rep’d by @4sportshockey https://t.co/yTUtPWgeMj

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) June 25, 2026