Author: George Malik

Asking players who were born after 2005 what constitutes as “old” is a painful endeavor for those of us from the 90’s, 80’s, 70’s and before:

From the Detroit Red Wings, here’s a Tweet of a minute’s worth of Summer Development Camp action:

On the ice at development camp 💨 pic.twitter.com/GtvG9n2jKg

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 3, 2025

I don’t think that many Red Wings fans would suggest that the additions of James van Riemsdyk, Mason Appleton, Jacob Bernard-Docker and John Gibson suddenly make the Red Wings Stanley Cup contenders.

The Red Wings’ management has done OK in terms of shoring up some deficiencies in the bottom six forwards, and, we believe, it’s addressed the team’s goaltending questions in Gibson.

All of that being said, the Wings’ management team is probably going to have to make a summertime trade or two to truly address the team’s need for one more top-six forward and top-four defenseman.

Not surprisingly, the Hockey News’s Adam Proteau deems the Red Wings to be a free agency “loser” this evening:

Detroit Red Wings: Like the Blackhawks, the Red Wings are an Original Six franchise who have seen better days. Detroit GM Steve Yzerman has been preaching patience with his lineup, but Wings fans are starting to grow tired of seeing him kick the competitive can down the road. And very few moves he’s made in the past few days qualify as legitimate roster improvements.

Yzerman did trade for former Anaheim Ducks star goalie John Gibson, so there’s an upgrade in net. But otherwise, Detroit has only retained aging star winger Patrick Kane, and signed veteran winger James van Riemsdyk and fringe defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker. This is hardly the stuff of Grade-A acquisitions.

Even if Yzerman’s gamble on internal improvement comes to pass, the Red Wings don’t have the elite talent to compete with other Atlantic teams. So you can’t say they’ve been anything other than losers through the first couple days of free agency.

Continued; I’m not gonna bash 36-year-old Patrick Kane for posting a point per game under coach Todd McLellan, at the very least.

I think that it’s hard to be a free agency “winner” when the free agent class is so thin, and you’re just not a “destination team” despite your big-market status. I’d give the Wings a solid “C” in free agency. But I think that’s more of a neutral grade than a suggestion that the Wings have completely failed to address their needs through free agency and trades.

I hope there’s more to come, and that’s an optimistic tone, I know, but I’ve got to hope.

The Red Wings signed 29-year-old grinding forward Mason Appleton to a 2-year contract at $2.9 million per season. I like the signing–it bolsters the Wings’ bottom-six with a 6’2,” 194 pound center/winger who more than replaces Craig Smith and Tyler Motte with a bigger, faster, tougher player with more offensive upside.

I’ll grant you that it’s very much so a depth signing, and an expensive one at that, but I believe that Appleton makes the Wings’ bottom six better than it was last season.

I’m not saying that the Wings don’t still need to add a top-six forward and a top-four defenseman, presumably by trade, but the signing is satisfactory for me.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff isn’t so sure, describing the signing as “puzzling“:

Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman does seem to like to collect honest, 200-foot players who can play in his bottom six. But those aren’t guys who are going to be moving the needle.

Appleton was 12th on the Jets in scoring with 22 points. His 0.31 points per game average was third-worst among Winnipeg forwards who were playing at least 50 games. So no, he isn’t going to be making regular contributions to the offense. His plus-seven rating would’ve looked good on Detroit, but it was 18th overall on the Jets.

Appleton is 6-foot-2 and 194 pounds, so he does bring some size. Will he have an impact in making the Red Wings a heavier team that’s harder to play against? His numbers suggest no.

Appleton’s 4.3 hits per 60 minutes rated 17th on the Jets. His 1.65 blocked shots per 60 was tied for last on the team. Might he be providing a boost to Detroit’s moribund penalty hill? The evidence says no. Appleton saw just 45 seconds per game on the PK for Winnipeg. Six Jets forwards were logging more shorthanded ice time.

So, when you figure out how this move makes sense, let us know, because we’re completely puzzled by this decision. At first glance, this signing has all the earmarks of one that’s going to come back to bite the Red Wings.

Again, I’ll take the signing and run with it, but not everybody agrees when it comes to critiquing player movement, and in this case, Duff makes a good case to wonder where Appleton fits going forward. My hope is that he’ll help the 3rd or 4th line in a more meaningful way than his predecessors.

Per the University of North Dakota:

A total of six members of the 2024-25 North Dakota hockey program were honored by the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) on Wednesday as 2024-25 AHCA/Krampade Division I All-American Scholars. 

To qualify, a student-athlete must have attained a 3.75 GPA for each semester, and had to appear in 40% of the team’s games. Exceptions were granted to injured players and back-up goaltenders. Schools also were required to be members of the AHCA.

Dalton Andrew, Cody Croal, Hobie Hedquist, Louis Jamernik V, Dylan James and Caleb MacDonald were all honored for the their work in the classroom last season, with Jamernik V earning the honor for the fourth time in his career. James was selected for the third time in his career while Andrew, Croal, Hedquist and MacDonald collected their first honor.

James, a 6,’ 190-pound left wing, has just completed his junior season at North Dakota.

The Hockey News’s Michael De Rosa, who follows the Boston Bruins, offers an intriguing take on Red Wings depth signing and defenseman Ian Mitchell:

It is understandable that the Red Wings are taking a shot on Mitchell. It is not a secret that they need more defensive depth on their right side, and he should be a nice pickup for their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, at a minimum. However, he could also be a candidate to be an extra defenseman on their NHL roster if he puts together a strong training camp.

Mitchell spent each of the last two seasons with the Bruins organization after being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in the deal that sent Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno to the Windy City. In 28 games over two seasons with Boston, he posted three assists, eight hits, 36 blocks, and a plus-4 rating. 

Mitchell spent most of this season in the AHL with the Providence Bruins. In 47 games with the AHL squad, Mitchell posted four goals, 27 points, and a plus-11 rating. He also had one assist and a minus-2 rating in 15 contests for Boston in 2024-25. 

From Getty Images: Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider took part in the pro-am for the BMW International Open golf tournament in Munich, Germany today:

Update: Per NHL.com/de, Seider golfed with his friend Tim Stuetzle of the Ottawa Senators:

Hockey meets soccer on the links ⛳️

(📸 BMW International Open Pro-Am) pic.twitter.com/XFdyIf0xaS

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) July 2, 2025

Updated at 7:53 PM: New Red Wings forward James van Riemsdyk spoke with the media today, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan noted that the big power forward has been rumored to be coming to Detroit for multiple seasons now:

“Kind of funny, back a few years ago it seemed like it was a team that was interested in bringing me aboard,” said van Riemsdyk Wednesday in a Zoom call with Detroit media. “Going through the free-agency process, when they started showing some interest, it seemed like a good fit. The trajectory of the team, they’re trying to make a push and the playoffs next year, all the history of being an Original Six place. That was super exciting. I have a lot of familiarity with the team, too. It checked a lot of boxes.”

The Wings are looking for van Riemsdyk, 36, to supply offense in the middle of their forward lineup. Last season in Columbus, van Riemsdyk had 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points, in 71 games. He has scored at least 11 goals every year of his 16-year NHL career.

Being in the NHL that long, van Riemsdyk is confident he can adapt to whatever coach Todd McLellan needs from him.

“Especially over the last few years, as you kind of get older in your career, you kind have a calling card as a player,” van Riemsdyk said. “You have to find ways to get a bit more versatile and add value in different ways to a team, being able to contribute in different ways. I’ve been able to add different things to my game that make me play in different spots all over the lineup. You balance those things to playing your identity and calling card and being adaptable and versatile and being able to play different types of roles.”

Here’s more from 97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield:

The Detroit Red Wings have confirmed the signing of center Mason Appleton to a 2-year, $2.9 million AAV contract:

RED WINGS SIGN MASON APPLETON TO TWO-YEAR CONTRACT

  … Michigan State University Product Has Skated in 400 Games with Winnipeg Jets and Seattle Kraken Since 2018-19 …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings have signed forward Mason Appleton to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $2.9 million.

Appleton, 29, spent the 2024-25 season with the Winnipeg Jets, recording 22 points (10-12-22), a plus-seven rating and 22 penalty minutes in 71 regular-season games. The 6-foot-2, 194-pound forward also finished with seven assists and 14 penalty minutes in 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Appleton played the 2023-24 season with the Jets and set career highs in games played (82), goals (14), assists (22), points (36), plus/minus (+16), power play goals (2), shots (122), hits (107), blocks (44) and average time on ice (16:03). He also registered two assists and six penalty minutes in five postseason contests. Originally selected by Winnipeg in the sixth round (168th overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Appleton has collected 138 points (57-81-138), a plus-35 rating and 124 penalty minutes in 400 games with the Jets and Seattle Kraken since 2018-19. Appleton also tallied 99 points (37-62-99), a plus-five rating and 81 penalty minutes in 120 games with the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose from 2017-20, earning a place on the AHL’s First All-Star Team and All-Rookie Team in 2017-18. He was named the recipient of the 2017-18 Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL’s most outstanding rookie after leading all freshmen in assists (44) and points (66) in 76 games.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff took note of the fact that Red Wings prospect and 2025 draft pick Michal Pradel has his “pick of the litter” after being selected by the WHL’s Regina Pats in the CHL Import draft today:

In all likelihood, he’ll be back again playing for the Tri-City Storm of the USHL.

“Yeah, probably yes,” Pradel said. “I like Tri-City so much. They gave me a lot of games in a short amount of time. So I really like it there.”

Unless . . .

“We will see what is happening also in the CHL Draft,” Pradel was adding quickly.

Well, something happened, and it happened quickly. The WHL Regina Pats made Pradel the fourth overall selection of Thursday’s draft.

Now, when it comes to his decision as to where he’ll play next season, Pradel is a young man with options.

Continued